Fairway Rollin' - The U.S. Open Gambling and Analytics Guide | Fairway Rollin’

Episode Date: June 12, 2019

Joe House is joined by former Pebble Beach caddie Paul Koehorst to discuss conditions at the course, why the scores will be lower this weekend, and a few picks (3:50). Then the 15th Club’s Justin Ray calls in to give his advice on bets for the weekend (35:00) before Harry Gagnon joins to make some value picks for the U.S. Open (80:00). Host: Joe House Guests: Paul Koehorst, Justin Ray, Harry Gagnon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's U.S. Open deep dive preview. We're getting into the analytics. We're getting into the prognostications. We're getting very much into the nitty and the gritty about outcomes for the U.S. Open. This edition of Fairway at Rollin presented as always by our good friends at Callaway Golf, where you can find the brand new podcast featuring golf legend Johnny Miller. You clearly are a fan of great golf podcast because you're listening to this one.

The day after the U.S. Open is completed, Johnny Miller sits down with Chris Harrison, who you know from The Bachelor of Bachelorette, that whole thing. He's also, lesser well known, a terrific golfer, a deep golf aficionado. He sits down with Johnny Miller, whose credentials need no further explanation. The podcast is called Real Golf Talk with Johnny Miller. and it's available at callawaygolf.com or wherever you get your podcast. Real Golf Talk with Johnny Miller, presented by the Callaway Golf Podcast Network. Today is Fairway Rowland.

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at Golf Digest Schools. Hello, friends, and welcome. Once again to this golf podcast, unlike any other, this is another major championship edition of Fairway Rowland, the Golf Podcast on the Ringer podcast. network. I am your starter, Joe House. This is our Wednesday edition of Fairway Rowland, where we get with some experts on the ground to help you navigate how you're going to

allocate your capital, who you're going to put in your one and duns, who's going to go into your DFS lineups. We're trying to give out some intelligent options, using some intelligence from a couple guys who know where they're talking about. Paul Coherst is on, former caddy at Pebble Beach, he was raised on the Monterey Peninsula. We put P.K. on this podcast to help us understand what the conditions might be like and what kinds of attributes we want out of these guys. Of course, if it's a major championship, Justin Ray from the 15th club is on to give us what his analytics are saying. He's physically there at Pebble. He walked the course today. He's sharing with us what the numbers seem to be suggesting about.

guys who can have some success. And of course, we can't have a major championship preview without a few selections from our beloved Harry Gaillan of against all odds. Their first tea appears to be open. Let's walk over there,

stick one in the ground with our homie, Paul Cohorst. Ladies and gentlemen, now on the tea, qualifying from the Pacific Grove golf links, he hails from Pacific Grove, California.

Paul Coherst, welcome to Fairway Rolling. Thanks, House. I appreciate you having me on. So, P.K., this has been a long time in the making. We connected earlier this year. I knew of your background as an avid golfer. I knew you grew up in Northern California. I knew your credentials included caddying a large number of rents.

at Pebble Beach. And here we are on the eve nearly of the United States Open, the 119th edition to be competed at Pebble Beach. So I had to have you on. Welcome to the show. I needed a guy. We need a guy with a true boots on the ground perspective. Because the thing is, what we get of Pebble Beach,

what the public has in their mind's eye is the AT&T Pro Am in February, which is, you know, among the events on tour, probably not the most serious event. And while it's beautiful, and I always enjoy watching it in February from the East Coast, it's not really a good indication of what Pebble Beach is all about. So we have this U.S. Open, like the U.S. Open's competed at Pebble Beach in 2010 and 2000. It might as well be a different golf course altogether. And so we need the perspective of someone who has lived that life, live that Monterey life to help us understand what's going on here. I think you're the guy. Let's share with everybody your bona fides, your credentials. So I'm from the small town of Pacific Grove, which is just outside the gates of Pebble Boots there.

And I got my first job as a caddy out there at age 18. I started out cleaning carts, eventually moved into being caddy. And for a young golfer, I mean, you can't imagine a better place to work. I mean, you have, you know, I had real experiences there. Eddie Van Halen came to play one day. And he needed me to bring him a six-pack of beer on the golf course. Gary Carter pulls out of baseball to the trunk of the car and, like, literally play catch with Gary Carter. I mean, just have the most insane, unbelievable trouble these experiences.

And then, you know, you get to be on that golf course, you know, all summer long, and it's just having on earth that place. And now as I'm older and you get to watch the, you know, the history of the tournament, it's just great to be able to have a connection to the place and it connects into the course through all these years. So you just mentioned all summer long as a caddy, which is really what I want to talk to you about because this episode of Fairway Rowland

that we're publishing here on the eve of the U.S. Open is deliberately geared towards trying to help the listening public figure out who might be able to win this thing. And when we're getting into the nitty, and we're getting into the gritty PK, the weather and the conditions matter a lot. In fact, we just had a stark reminder of how much weather and conditions,

the impact they can have on the outcome of a major championship by watching the PGA championship at Bethpage Black, where the wind kicked up on Sunday afternoon and literally took out, you know, 20 potential sort of contenders. The only guy that really shot under par at all was, was Dustin Johnson. And our boy, Brooks Keppko, was limping to the finish with a bunch of

consecutive bogeys. And that was because there's a 35 mile an hour wind going down out there that Sunday afternoon. That, you know, problem wasn't necessarily in the forecast. And nobody really saw it coming at the beginning of the week as potentially having an impact on the outcome. So let's talk about Pebble Beach and your experiences there in that summer and what you anticipate in terms of the playing conditions that the guys are going to be confronted

with this week. Well, the days that would worry me as a golfer, what's in the forecast. Today, for example, it's super sunny out there from what I'm hearing low to mid-80s. And those are the afternoons that it's a beautiful picture, postcard, beautiful. day, and then you're just getting your butt kicked the entire way in. But beyond me as a meteorologist, but the calm, sunny days that are warm in the morning, the crazy wind comes in offshore and over the place, and it becomes impossible. And, you know, the same problems, you know, that they had over the years where these greens

have gotten dried out, those are the real conditions that are going to get these guys in trouble and we're going to see really high scores, the mid-70 scores. But with the forecast being cool, like I'm seeing some days high 50s, the early part of the day, it's looking like it's going to be beautiful. And those days, I think it will actually be a bit of a cream puff. And I personally think the scores will be lower than usual. So the forecast right now has the winds maxing out in like the 10 miles an hour, 11 mile an hour kind of range. now, adjacent to the water, you'll get gusts occasionally that might go up into like the 15 to 20

mile an hour range. What holes in your experience are most likely to be affected by that kind of wind impact? I think the biggest hole, I think the biggest town is really nerdy, T-Sot. You know, the T-Sot is 7, which is always a wedge, which is only the sand wedge, but plays as much as the 5-iron and the crazy gale condition. The people are hitting a fan wedge, depending on that pin placement, do have to hang that shot

over a bunker the entire way. That becomes, you know, an intimidating shot. I mean, it's the reason that, you know, people consider it one of the greatest holes in the world is $100,000, because it's an intimidating shot. And I think that

all the shots along the ocean, I think the shot in a 8, which, you know, Jack says that the best second shot in all of golf. The long iron, you're going to have to hit into nine. The long iron is going to have to hit into ten. Those are the shots that are going to be brutal and challenging shots. And I think one thing that we're likely going to see is all the way down the ninth hole, all the way down the tenth hole, that is where that crazy rough that Patrick Cantley showed off was.

on a in the video the other day when you showed it, it's going lost basically just off the, off the stairway. Yeah. Those areas not only are they savage. I mean,

it's real, it is really impossible to find a ball. There's no galleries down that right side. So players will be relying on a Austrian marshal

to find their golf ball. And now they have three minutes to do it. And I, I think that'll be a weird story. I'm, I'm predicting at some point someone's going to lose some balls

on parts of the course where there are no marshals because that rough is so deep. I played it. I'm an old part. I played the course in 92 right before the last open there. And I was a really good golfer.

I was, you know, by most standards. I was like a low single-digit handicapped. And usually I would do right in the 38 range for nine holes. I was a couple strokes out of metalish shooting 49th. on the front nine at Pebble Beach.

Because you would literally be, you know, 10 yards off the fairway, and you would not find the ball. And so those conditions are what we can expect. I mean, and when it gets windy, you know, it's going to be really, really difficult. And some of those shots, for example, the third shot, a third hole,

the T shot on number three, you put that ball long, on that bank and you hit that shot back into the wind because that wind is going to be coming off the ocean. It's an impossible shot. You name it, the entire part of the course from 4 to 10, you're going to be getting hammered by the wind. And then even on the way in, 12 becomes a really impossible par 3 when you're hitting that

dead into the wind. 14 can actually play into the wind, and that's already an impossibly long par 5. And then, of course, you come around the last turn there. 17, in 2010, players could not even hit that green. It was so rock hard. And 18, especially if you're playing for U.S. Open, becomes one of the most intimidating T-shots in all of golf. So a little bit of win, especially in U.S. Open pressure,

when there's this history of guys lacking in Pebble Beach. You know, Gil Morgan in 1992, it's not 81 when the open was, US Open was basically his. And then Dustin in 2010 tried 82, these guys have the U.S. Open. But it becomes a really impossible task. And even though the forecast doesn't have the wind up in that, you know, 1992 category of, you know, full-on gale storm that Tom Cite went out. and one in, you know, 35 mile an hour wins, there's nothing in the forecast that suggests that that's possible.

Your observation is that even like the steady state win in relatively docile conditions is enough to, you know, cause guys, it's the combination of nerves and the championship and just a little bit of breeze that will get guys unsettled. Is that your observation? And let's add that they are the smallest greens on the PGA tour. Right. I think the average is 3,500 square feet per green.

They're tiny green. And so when you're hitting out of rough into those greens, when you're, you know, when you can't fight a ball properly, it becomes incredibly challenging to hit those locations, you know, those pins that are tucked on those tiny green. So, yes, absolutely. even a little bit of wind will affect the scoring. That said, the reason I think the scores will be a little bit lower this year is Pebble Beach is still, this is really kind of an infomercial for Pebble Beach.

Pebble Beach doesn't want the course to look terrible. In past years, it's been criticized for the Greens being super bumpy and terrible. It's been criticized with Greens looking brown at the U.S. Open. And that's embarrassing. And the company doesn't want that. They want to fill that, you know, fill that. course with $550 rounds. I mean, they had golfers playing the course up until last Wednesday.

So I think that they want the course to look more playable and to be more playable. And they had a few greens in that 2010 Open that all had to be built to be more fair, including 13, including 14, which is borderline getting impossible. 17, number nine. So they've rebuilt all these greens to make them a lot more receptive to scoring. and they've added hundreds of square feet to all these greens. So I think that the bigger greens, sort of the taming of some of Pebble Beach's most notorious green,

are going to make it much more scoreable, and that's why I'm thinking the scores will be closer to maybe an eight-under would be my guess. Wow. So I was asked this question yesterday, and just based on the early things that I'd seen, I thought it might play akin to the way that Oakmont played. Now, Oakmont, you know, the green speeds of Oakmont can't be replicated anywhere else on planet Earth.

But just in terms of that format of narrow landing areas, rough adjacent, you know, very proximate to the fairway. And then, you know, hard to hold greens. I thought like, you know, somebody might go out and shoot five under or six under. there might be one or two other guys in that one or even range and then everybody else will be over part eight under is a whole a whole different deal i'm glad that we're talking about the greens because i wanted to ask you there there have been reports already about this version of the greens being the best they've ever been jordan spieth said these are the best poa greens he's ever seen and so your your observation about

the Pebble Beach golf company wanting to put on a good show, uh, seems to, to, to bear out. The other thing that, uh, the USGA came out and said,

they're definitely open on Thursday and Friday to syringing, syringing. I'm going to use that as a verb, PK. That's just putting a little, little light, light layer of water, a little bit of moisture to keep the temperatures under control in

between the Thursday morning and, and, and Thursday afternoon and Friday morning and Friday afternoon rounds because there's a hundred and nearly 160 guys playing over the course of Thursday and Friday. And the days are going to be long, right? It's 15 and a half hour days. The sun comes up around 5.45 in the morning. And you're going to have guys, 160 guys out there walking all these things.

And they want to try and keep it under control. What do you think? What do you anticipate? With the information that you've been observing and what your own experience is, what do you anticipate out of the greens? Well, Pebble Beach is a course that is open 365 days a year. And, you know, in peak season, there's 425 handicaps trudging all over those greens the day. So those greens are designed to thrive, but they're not designed to maybe go to the edge where U.S. Open wants them. I think that they don't have to push them to that edge because there's so much undulation

and enough speed on those greens. All 17 of the greens have that crazy back-to-front slope, and that is this incredible defense along with a little bit of speed. They become so difficult to put that I don't think they need to push them right to the edge because they're challenging enough. They're literally challenging enough on a regular June day when there are those 25 handicappers playing. It is a challenging, those are challenging greens the put on. The other thing I think is a part of it, the tour golfers don't seem to like those Poa green.

I think they criticize them because they have all that budding that happens the afternoon, which some people say is a myth, but I've seen it. They just don't look as good at the end of the day. they just pick up more spike marks. And I think that the Pebble Beach Company and the USJ is sensitive to that, that they do not want to have a course where the greens are bumping on a Friday, pardon me, on a late Sunday afternoon. So I think that the greens will be fast enough.

And with the natural slopes that are in there, they'll have enough defenses without having to really push the green. to the point where they're going to lose the golf course. I mean, I think the other defenses of the course are going to really have to sort of suffice instead of really like, you know, having those greens teeter on embarrassing. Yeah. Well, look, I like this lay of the land that you're kind of creating here. I'm going to push you a little bit.

I want to get your thoughts on one or two professional players that you may have. your eye on, because this episode, this is where we want folks to have some intelligence as they think about their DFS lineups, their fantasy lineups, their one and duns, how they might allocate a little bit of capital. Name for me, based on your experience, is there, a player or two that you have your eye on going into this 119th edition of the U.S. Open. Well, it's interesting because I thought about this in one way. If I was to be optimistic, I would say, hey, who's the player who's going to put the ball on the fairway a lot and is going to hit a lot of green and score and actually go out and win the U.S. Open?

Or who's the player who's going to be able to scramble? Because I think one of the biggest problems going to be the Greens are going to, pardon me, the ruffs around the green are going to be so juicy and thick that is going to be a huge storyline I think the ability to get up and down around those green is going to wind up being a massive story there is a little bit of wind you know when kite won in 1992 he credited his lob wedge that tournament and I think that that could be a big a big factor this year

yeah it was incredible like I watched a replay of his back, no, his entire round. There was like a seven-minute vignette. And he got up and down from everywhere. It was an incredible short game performance. Everywhere. And so I think that that is kind of one of the tougher shots. I was at the AT&T two years ago at the practice area,

and I watched John Ron in a really heavy section of rough. And honestly looked like he was in this section of rough, kind of practicing maybe for what the U.S. Open conditions would be because he was hitting chips out of that or a solid half hour. Maybe he was working through something,

but part of me felt like, I don't know, I wonder if he's kind of in the super heavy section of rough here to get a feel for what it might be in the U.S. Open. And it was crazy to see how much a guy like him who has a, you know, world-class short game,

struggled controlling distance, controlling the way the ball came out. So really, his ability to control the ball out of that rough he was shocked him looking like a two handicaps sort of hacking it out of there. So I would say in some ways, I think that that's up well for Phil. Oh, wow.

No one loves, no one loves West Coast golf more than Phil. No one loves Pebble Beach more than still. I think that I'm not saying I'm predicting him to win but I think that that is one advantage to really have in the field is the ability his wedge game

and his ability to go up and down around those greens I think is gives him a real leg up on the rest of the field I do have a player who I really like and it's a self-loathing pick I mean it's not Patrick Green's dad that you guys did yesterday

but this one this one I'm a little bit upset with it. My heart says, Can'tley. Again, a West Coast guy, not those poet greens, the East Coast guys don't love the Poe as much as those West Coast guys.

And a guy who really, you know, cut his teeth, playing in the Southern California Golf Association, it was a UCLA stud, Cantley grew up playing this kind of, those kind of green. So I think that's a big advantage for a guy like,

but I'm going to throw out Matt Coutcher at 50 to 1 Wow I think so Here's a unbelievable And I'm and I'm fully on the And it's a self-loving pick I'm off the Cooter train from all the shenanigans

Of this year Shenanagan's It's it's embarrassing He's embarrassed himself time and time again On all these incidents from the ruling To the cheapness or whatever But you know glass houses and all that. But Cochre, he's a top 12 bunker player. There's 118 bunkers on Pebble Beach

golf course. You can't hit a, you have to be on point with your sandplay. He's third in greens and regulation this year. So he's getting the ball on the green. He's top 10 in scrambling. He's top 10 in driving accuracy. He's top 13 in birdie. So he's actually converting those greens and regulation. And in 2010, he had a top six at Pebble Beach. Not only that, he's played kind of mediocre

in the U.S. Open. He's kind of been right in the 16 to 25 range year in, year out. Last year, he actually missed the cut. But I think he's, I think that he could be Tom Kite 2.0. He's

totally under the radar. There's all these other great storylines. And, and, And there's this great storyline sitting right there, chance for redemption, finally get that best player without a major, Monkjockey back. I see a lot of great things in the numbers for Couture that he would be a great pick at 50 to 1. I'm convinced. I had him already kind of lined up for,

I'm going to play a gigantic make-the-cut parlay because I like to set money on fire. But he's one of the guys that I'm, I had in there because I saw an anecdote where I was reminded. He shot, and you just referenced this, he shot 68 on the Sunday, on the final round of 2010, it was the day's best number. He and one of the guys shot 68, I think, on the day that Dustin Johnson shot 82. And, you know, that that, having that experience. like in your memory banks

on a Sunday you know when the title is still up for grabs I like it I'd like it a lot so maybe I'm going to start looking at him for some of the top 20s and top tens also and I think

I love it for a top 10 because especially a guy like him who struggles to get over that hump and that narrative is definitely in his head but there's a lot of Pebble Beach that is a field course. There really are a lot of

less than a course that's a birdie fest. It really has a lot of feel, especially on the green. And for a guy like Couther, who putting hasn't been his strength, knowing that he's had some success on those dreams, it makes me feel

a lot better putting my harder money on him as well. Well, this is great. You know what he's available at right now as a top 10 finisher, 4 to 1 plus 400 if you want to put a little bit of capital on Matt Coutcher to finish in the top 10 at the 2019 U.S. Open. We're not going to do any better than that, Paul Cohurst. That's a size, that's, I have the money.

Maybe I'll throw it that way. I think that's the only way for that money to go. P.K., Paul Cohorse, thank you so much for coming on. you are going to be coming on as the rest of the season kind of balances out here. Should have mentioned as part of your credentials, P.K., you wrote a piece for Golf magazine, still available, golf.com last year, ranking the players in the movie Caddyshack. So we have a lot of territory to continue to cover, my friend. Yeah, beautiful.

And I sort of want to add the one thing that I, I didn't get to add is that I think that this open, you know, people always rank the, they always rank, people always rank the majors. And everyone's like, well, what major would you want to win first? And everyone says the masters. And then what's the second one? Well, it's either the open or the U.S. Open and then fourth is always the TPA championship. But within that, winning a U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, I think is such a big deal. And it's like winning an open at St. Andrews. And I think that that kind of ratchets up the intensity and ratchets up the specialness that this, this event is unlike any other. So anyway, it's something that I think is pretty cool about it. But, um, well, that, that certainly plays into the observation, uh, that you made about,

you know, what, what, what's the nerve factor? Because we're going to have slight breeze. We're not going to have the big gale force wins, but slight breeze plus nerves and the heightened you know, anxiety that comes from a Pebble Beach U.S. Open. I like it. I like it as a storyline

for this thing. There is a funny thing, by the way. I looked back at that 2000 U.S. Open that Tiger won in a walk. Look at the rest of that leaderboard. The entire top 12, I think there's only one round over par. And

it was literally, I think that all those guys knowing that there was no pressure to win the U.S. open that day, because the tournament was already done, Tiger had run away with that crazy high scores. No guys were throwing up beforehand. No guys were worried about Captain Tiger. So it's amazing when you sort of have this almost controlled version of playing Pebble Beach during U.S. open conditions. When there's not the element of, oh, my God, I could go home.

with the trophy, the course played, really, the scores were very benign. So it's so funny when you really think about, oh, the pressure of maybe winning the trophy completely changed it for all these guys. So it's really fascinating to see that once the trophy was out of play, guys were carrying the course up pretty much. I love it. I love it. Thanks, House.

All right, thanks, P.K. You know, one aspect of the golf course that we didn't touch on, the driving range, is going to be a hot place to go check out some exciting stuff going on with Calloway Golf this week. Calloway makers of the Chrome Soft Truviz golf balls currently available right in time for Father's Day in two new patterns. They have an updated version of the Stars and Stripes that they debuted last year in advance of the Rider Cup. These Stars and Stripes are going to be in play at the driving range at Pebble Beach by all Callaway staffers. So if you want to try and get one of those guys to toss you one, by all means, go over to the range and try and smile nicely at one of the Callaway staff pros. There's also an

incredible super limited run of suits, which refers to card suits. That is aces, diamonds, clubs, spades. These design patterns are on these truevis golf balls. You can order them right now, but there are not very many of them. Get yourself over to calawaygolf.com. These are Chrome soft golf balls, which means tour, proven, distance, and performance with unparalleled feel. One sleeve of each suit is in a dozen.

So if you've got a loved one in your life that enjoys playing cards, maybe these are the balls for them, or if you have a loved one that loves America, the stars and stripes are the ones for them. Chrome soft Truviz, is available right now at callawaygolf.com. Now let's take a little break.

All right, my thanks to Paul Cohors. Boots on the ground at Pebble Beach. Incredible. We have Justin Ray coming up, but first quick word from ZipRecruiter. What if you had your own personal recruiter to help you find a better job? Right now, ZipRecruiter's technology

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Welcome to Fairway Rowland. Justin Ray. Is it going, buddy? Hey, man. How can you not be fired up? How can you not be fired up? This is, it's not just U.S. Open at Pebble Beach week, and you are literally at Pebble Beach as we speak. Am I right? You're correct.

I'm making a point. You know, a lot of weeks, if you're in a TV compound, you could be on the moon and it wouldn't make a difference if you're at a tournament. Like, it doesn't really matter where you are. You're just kind of in your own little universe in the TV compound. I make it a point every day if I'm ever here to take it all in to make sure I definitively know I am at situation. So walked around on the course today, it's absolutely spectacular.

It's going to be an unbelievable way. Yeah, so let's start with that. In your observation of how spectacular it is, and the weather forecast looks pretty benign. we just had a former caddy at Pebble kind of walk us through what we might anticipate in kind of the June version of Pebble Beach versus what we have grown accustomed to watching it competed, played in February at the AT&T Pro-Am.

What did you see with your own two feet and your own two eyes walking around out there today? Yeah, but I mean, first it's the championship week so you know the Ross was going to be pretty gnarly. You know in February, usually the Rocks is, around two inches. It's about three and a half or four most of the course here. So it's tough.

It's going to be, you know, history says that the rough isn't that penalizing at Pebble Beach, but that's kind of relatively speaking for U.S. Open and not so much for maybe you and me or any other like 10 handicapped or go up there and pack it around. The rough's going to be tough. You know, the greens are small, but, you know, we're not expecting anything too bad. So, you know, we'll see what the scores look like because, Mother Nature certainly isn't going to throw so many wrenches in there.

So it's kind of going to be on the players and how well they can take apart this iconic championship in you. I wouldn't be surprised if I'll say right now like maybe seven or eight on a bar wins. I think it could be something around that neighborhood this week if the conditions hold up like this. Well, I have to just hit pause for a brief second. I promise to all of our listeners that you and I did not compare notes on this before you came on. Our guest immediately preceding you, Paul Cohurst, former caddy at Pebble Beach, said he thought the winning score of this U.S. Open was going to be eight under.

And here you come, Justin Ray. You're backing them right up. You're making us all look smart. You're making me look smart for getting you smart guys on the broadcast. Let's talk a little bit about your work, your analytics, what you're doing with 15th Club in terms of identifying, the performance measures for this week that are going to be, in your view, crucial to, you know, that bright line between success and utter failure at Pebble Beach.

Yeah, so I know I mentioned the rough is going to be a little more difficult, but history says, you know, in terms of how players are penalized by that rough, it's about on average. I'm not just talking about in the U.S. Open. It's pretty average in terms of just a regular PGA tour event week. So even though they grow it up, just the nature of the golf course itself wins to Roth not being that penalizing, which might explain why someone who's super wild off the tea, like Phil Nicholson could win five times here during a pro-amp. So that gives you a little bit of a – it's kind of a microcosm of what the impact of the rough is off the tea.

It's not going to be – it's not going to be that severe. It's not going to be that dictating of guys whether or not you score low or not. Brooks Kefka said today at his press conference that he's only got to hit about four drivers a day. And that's the other reason why the rough is in that penalizing, because it's not very long, guys are able to lay back, hit four iron, hit three wood, whatever might be off the T, and control their ball flat off the T a little bit more. So that being said, to me, it's virtually impossible to win a U.S. Open without having absolutely excellent iron play.

U.S. Open winners hit on average about 13% more greens and regulation than the field, which might not sound like a lot, but that is, I mean, that's a pretty large number compared over guys we're going to finish in the middle of the pack. The average field rank of the last 20 U.S. Open winners in Green and Regulation is about seven on the dot. So that's much higher than a lot of the other statistical metrics when you look at over the last 20, 25 years in terms of U.S. Open winners. And that mirrors a lot of what we've seen at the Pebble Beach Pro Am in recent years.

Each of the last eight winners of the pro am will rank in the top 10 in green, top 10 in Green's and Regulation. So you can't win at Pebble Beach without having stellar iron play. And you definitely can't win a U.S. Open without doing that. So, you know, the greens at Pebble Beach over the last 15 years or so, they are the most difficult on the PGA Tour to putt between three and 12 feet. So that's probably not surprised anybody who's watched golf on the West Coast over the years, you know, events like Farmers Insurance at Torrey Pines or, you know,

one of the other events where it's got the polygraph that's a little bit difficult and get a little bumpy during the afternoons. It's tough. Specifically, it proves that out over the long. long haul over about 15 years. It's, it's about as tough as it gets on those middle, uh, intermediate range to short putt. So, um, you know, I know Brandt's Netiger gets a lot of love that pop stroke and how successful he's been and some of these types of greens. Um, other guys we've pinpointed that are better on Pola than other surfaces traditionally

are Justin Thomas, Webb Simpson, uh, Adam Hadlin's really good on Pola, Cameron Smith. So, um, you know, there's a lot of guys who know who are up on the West Coast played a lot of junior tournaments in California, or they just have a lot of experience as a pro on these types of greens. And I think that experience is going to pay off this week. Yeah, I'm glad that you mentioned Snetiker because, you know, he is kind of a darling in the DFS lineup kind of realm. And also, you know, as guys look, as people are looking at players to put on into matchups potentially or for somebody like me, I, you know, love this. I, you know, love to throw cash away.

So I'm going to play a gigantic, you know, eight guys make the cut parlay. And Snedeker is going to be one of the guys that I include in that. But, you know, his, his West Coast track record, two wins at Tori, two wins at Pebble, all on Poa for sure that that reputation, you know, is well deserved. But I didn't, I wasn't aware of Justin Thomas. And I'm glad that you mentioned him. I, we're going to talk about this over the course of this conversation. My view of the way that, you know, the sort of status of professional golf right now at this moment and what's going on with the tour, I think that there are only about 10 to 12 guys with a legit chance of winning this golf tournament.

And I don't think it's going to be somebody coming from the back. It's going to be somebody, you know, that's in this cream of the crop realm. I think it tends to discount because of how competitive. if it is a potential first-time winner, but a caveat on that because I think Patrick Kentley has as good a chance as anybody to win this. There are one or two guys

who would be first-time major winners that I'd make an exception for. But for the most part, my list of guys that can win this are all major winners. Justin Thomas is on my wild card list. And I was encouraged by what we saw out of him up in Canada last week.

It looks like the risk issue is behind. him and he had a pretty damn good ball striking week. He stunk on the greens. Now those greens are Poa, but it's a different poet's, you know, he was in Canada. He wasn't on the West Coast. What do you think about Justin Thomas this week?

I think it's all about the health of the wrist, as you mentioned. And like he said, it was encouraging to see him play a lot better in Canada last week. Ball striking numbers were good, pretty much across the board. He is, he gained about a half a shot per round in his career on Pola, whereas he's

about dead even 0.00 baseline on all other surfaces in his career. So basically he's about half a shot better putting per round on pull-it and he is on other surfaces, which was really revelatory when, you know, one of my colleagues came up with that number. I thought that's pretty staggering. I wouldn't really think of them as, but that's what the numbers bear out. So if he's healthy, you know, he's as good a ball strike as anyone his game carries anywhere, obviously, and he's got some success putting on these types of greens.

You know, it's kind of encouraging. You know, I know he probably hasn't been as much as a factor in the major 50s since he won at Coil Hollow, but the numbers bear out that, you know, if his wrist is feeling good, you know, he's got as good as stab as almost anybody in the field. And he likes the U.S. Open. He's got a good track record of high performances

at the U.S. Open. So he's on my list. Let me, if you don't mind, if you'll indulge it, go through my list and then get your reaction of have I included somebody that I shouldn't include? And then, you know, who am I leaving out? Any, any glaring omissions. So my list is Tiger. Tiger in all caps. Tiger, Tiger, Tiger. I have Brooks because you have to have Brooks. You can't be a sentient human being and not have Brooks Keppka in a major. DJ, um, impecc, and unparalleled, you know,

paralleled only by Tiger Woods performances at, at Pebble Beach. Patrick Cantlay, just mentioned him. Jordan Speath as a winner at Pebble Beach and, you know, rounding into form that third place at Bethpage where it really felt like, you know, the status of his game was such that he didn't have any chance at all, but he putted so brilliantly. He put himself right into the top five. Jason Day, because of his love affair with Pebble. Now, I had included this guy that I'm about to strike. I had included Frankie Molinari because of the kind of game that he had. and how it felt like to me the performance he had at the Masters was kind of a U.S. Open type of performance, which is saving pars from all over the place.

But he feels like he may have caught a bit of a cold spell lately. And in your newsletter that went out this morning, you shared the fact that since you said through 65 holes at the Masters, he'd only made two bogeys, and then he hit the ball in the water on 12, and it all went to hell from there. He hasn't been 20% of all these plates. Yeah, he hasn't really recovered. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. I want you wonder if that kind of lightning in a bodily found in major championships the last couple of years, it's tough to say that's going to just go away. But look, he outperformed what he was for 15 years as a professional in those majors and 18-month span. And you can't expect that to go on forever. I mean, we've got so much more of a history for Molinari to go back on,

where you've got to think that I know we had a distance, but at some point, like, you know, you see a guy for a decade and a half with the putting struggles he had throughout most of his career. It was always a really good ball strike, a particular with the Giants. But, yeah, maybe we've kind of, he probably was playing a little bit above his head for 18 months or so. And more power, too, it was amazing to watch. some incredible things on the golf course. But yeah, I don't know if he's in that.

I know he's seventh in the world right now, but he might not be quite in that pantheon of players this week going into the U.S. Open. Well, I drew an X through the name when I saw he's never finished in the top 20 in nine previous U.S. Open. So that's enough for me. He's off my list. The wild cards I had in here, Adam Scott, Paul Casey, Hedeki Matsuyama, Justin Thomas was one. We covered him and Matt Coutcher.

So that's kind of my list. I think the winner is coming out of that list. Now, there are two names not on that list. Rory McElroy. I have two big ones you haven't mentioned yet, too. Oh, good. Okay. Yeah.

So let's first hear your big names. So the two of you haven't mentioned yet that I think need to get attention are John Ram, who in 10 starts in the state of California, has two wins, six top tens, and the scoring average under 69. He loves playing these types of golf courses. He doesn't have his students history at Pebble Beach, but I think he is as excellent of ball strikers he is. I know that, you know, you're not going to have to pull as many drivers this week, obviously.

That's where he gains most of his shots, you know, strokes gain-wise is off the tee. But, you know, the success he's had on these types of golf courses, in California on these kinds of greens. One, got his first BGA tour win at Torrey Pines, one in Palm Springs. I think he's somebody you've got to consider. And the other guy finished, he's, so he's European, and he's got the second best scored apart at the U.S. Open last two years. Tommy Fleetwood, shut 63, the last round he played in the U.S. Open.

I mean, I know Tommy's on. Yeah, go ahead. I was going to say, I know Tommy's probably not at the top of everyone's list who's an American golf fan. But, I mean, look, he's got, he's still in a propensity show up in big moments, whether it was the Ryder Cup, with the U.S. Open the last couple of years. Like I said, the only guy with a better score to part of the last two U.S. Open. Then Tompsey would is Brooks Kepka. He's the first English guy more than 100 years to finish in the top four in consecutive U.S. Open.

He's got the game to break through. He's on my set list of guys to potentially win their first major championship this week. So I'm petty. I'm a petty person. I admit it. I own it. I can hold my nose and indulge John Rom because of his impactful record in California. He really disappointed me at Beth Page. John Rom did. I was really... I was so high out of the Best page. Well, and I had him. Now, look, I talked about how I liked to light money on fire.

I had an eight-way parlay that was paying nearly four-to-one odds. And the reason that this was a make-the-cut parlay, right? This is eight guys to make the cut. And it was going to pay out in four-to-one. You know who blew it for me? John Rom. It was just from the last guy you thought. You're absolutely right about that.

I can't remember. I had a couple guys further down the list that made the cut that I was willing to, willing to like, you know, concede that they might not do it. Rom hurt my heart. I mean, he upset me. Clearly. I cannot. I can't.

Well, I... You're missing link on an eggway far away. I mean, come on. Exactly. Tommy Fleetwood is a whole other matter. I have a level of, of, um, upsetment with Tommy Fleetwood. And his final rounds this year have been alarming. His final rounds in good, in, in tournaments that,

matter. He shot a 78 at Beth Page. He shot a 74 at the Masters and he shot a 73 at the Players Championship. And in each of those instances, he took what should have been, you know, top five potentially top 10 finishes and jettisoned, you know, all of his hard work over the course of the week with these, these grotesque outcomes. Now, each has its own. unique set of circumstances. But when I see three Sundays at tournaments that matter, you know, I see him in this kind of form, it looks like a trend to me, Justin Ray. What should I use as a counter argument to that?

The last time you played a Sunday at the U.S. Open, he shot 63. Yeah, but that was Shinnecock. Yeah, exactly. I know it's different, but I mean, look, I've seen. enough from him at the U.S. Open the last couple of years. He has the ability to grind out PARs. He limits his mistakes, which is

much more important at the U.S. Open than making a zillion bird. It's much more dictated by limiting bogeys or worse, not making big numbers, you know, turning, taking your 5 on a par 4, taking your medicine, and not turning it into a 7 or an 8. He's a very smart player.

You know, I I don't like him here as much as I did at Chinicock, primarily because he's not as, he's He's a world-class driver, the golf ball. He's pretty good with his irons, relatively to, you know, to the rest of the world, but I wouldn't call him in the,

he's not in the Tiger Woods, Brooks Keppka-Duston-Johnson-type class in terms of iron play. And I put Patrick Cantley in that class at this point, too. But, you know, I've seen enough from the U.S. up in the last couple years that I have to at least consider him on the list of guys that you have out there. Okay, okay. I'm, I'll, I can get there.

I mean, you know, in the pro case for him, he's currently fourth and stroke. strokes gained off the T, eighth in strokes gained T to green, eighth in strokes gained total. If you're in the top 10 in strokes gain total coming into this U.S. Open and you're a guy with a track record like he has at the U.S. Open, you know, you need to. Yeah, it's worth a look. You have a list there, and I'm not saying like one of my top three guys. I'm just saying he's somebody who's got to be reckoned with this week.

And I'd be surprised if he's not part of the storyline, at least going into the. the weekend. Okay. I like it. I accept that. All right, two guys not on my list, two gigantic Titans of the game, not on my list, two guys with U.S. opens to their credentials, Rory McElroy and Justin Rose. I have my reasons for leaving them off. Tell me why I'm a moron for leaving them off. I don't know if I call you that for Rose. I'm not as, I'm not as, you know, big on Justin Rose this week. He's typically a little worse throughout his career, putting on Polo than normal, but it's not a gigantic difference,

so that doesn't scare me away. His team's re-numbers are still really good this season, but they're all down just a little bit from a year ago, from two years ago when he was, you know, that's this stretch here the last 36 months for Justin Rose has been the best golf of his career, and his ball striking number is just a little bit down from that stretch, which is kind of concerning.

You know, he doesn't have a ton of experience at Pebble Beach. He finished six a couple years ago in his debut. he played one other time and wasn't a factor. But, you know, he's got the game to win anywhere in the planet, but I understand just not taking this week simply for a myriad of factors and because there's just so many other good names successful players who I can give you tons of reasons to take for. As far as Rory goes, so Rory last week in Canada,

he finished in the top six in the field in strokes gained off the team, approached the green, around the green, and putting. Which, if that sounds like it's difficult to do, it's because no one had ever done that in a full field event before. Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah, so that kind of well-rounded golf, we kind of wished that he kept it in the holster for one more week

and brought it out at the U.S. Open. But anytime somebody is able to put together that ensemble of unbelievable golf, you know, going into a major championship, you've got to at least consider him, I'd also say that, you know, statistically through the bag, he's playing the best golf of his career. He's got better metrics through the bag right now than he did. even in 2014 when he won the Open,

the Open Bridgestone and PGA consecutively. He's gaining more strokes. He's got the best strokes game total for a round on the PGA tour since Tiger in 2009. He's playing unbelievable golf right now. We don't have a ton of info to draw from Rory on this golf course. He's played the pro-am once, missed the cut. Nine years ago, he played the U.S. Open as a kid, missed the cut there.

So we don't have a ton of info there. But as far as just the unbelievable level of play. that he's put together. I know some people probably will have a sour taste in their mouth about him, because, you know, he was obviously such an enormous storyline heading to Augustin National. He had such a bad start at Best Page, and then somehow it looked like he was, you know, Trump Slammer Friday morning, and then he picks up the pace and finishes in the top ten. It was an unbelievable turnaround he had that week.

It didn't ultimately matter, obviously, because he was so far behind. But, you know, he's got everything through the bag right now, what he did last week in Canada. yeah, you know, I'm probably not going to put any money down on this week, but I might feel like an idiot for not doing it. And I'd probably be mad at myself if I didn't. I could see why I would not be pleased with that choice because he's just got everything going right now. Well, at a minimum from Rory,

we think that there's one streak that he can break, which is he's missed the cut at the three previous U.S. opens. We would expect him to make the cut this week, right? Yeah, you have to think so. Just based on how well he played last week. I mean, that's the cut of Memorial a few weeks ago. So, you know, it's, it's, I would expect him, obviously, to have a good week. But, you know, this is a crazy game.

And the U.S. Open has a ton of variables. And you can go haywire on one hole and put a nine or a 10 on the card. And, you know, then your week's ruined. So we'll see. We'll see. We'll see out of Rory. But, yeah, I would expect him to break that, that missed up street. Well, speaking of the crazy possibilities at the U.S. Open and going haywire on one hole,

what about Phil Mickelson? What are your thoughts on Phil coming in here? There is kind of this storyline out there that this is probably his last best chance at winning the U.S. Open. Obviously, next year is at Winged Foot. but his track record at Pebble, you know, it's him and Tiger and DJ of current players who have long-storied,

you know, successful careers at Pebble. And honestly, Tigers isn't even that long. You know, he hasn't played nearly the number of times that Phil has at Pebble. Yeah,

when Phil won in February at Pebble Beach, he was his fifth win there, which tied Marco Mirro for the most in tournament history. So, I mean, he has an enormous history of success at Pebble Beach, contended in 2010. I'm going to give you some pessimism here for Phil. Okay. Even for him, by his standards, he's wild this year. There are 209 players on the PGA tour with enough rounds to qualify for stats.

Phil's 208 in driving accuracy. So even for him, he's wild this year. He's 78th and starts getting to see the green, which is still above average, but that would by far be his worst ever rank in that statistic that's that low at the end of the year. He's 22 over par in his last nine PGA tour rounds. He doesn't have a top 15 anywhere since winning here in February. Yeah, if you just had the blank screen with a silhouette outline of a player and couldn't see their face and gave you all those facts,

he'd be like, of course I'm not going to pick this person to win. But it's Phil Nicholson, it's Pebble Beach, 49th birthday on Sunday. it's the only thing that's ever alluded in is winning this championship. He's got more runner-ups in this major without a win than anybody in any major ever. If he could break through on this course, 49th birthday, completes the grand slam. Like, what an incredible moment, but it's just almost as too good to be true. And as much as great as it would be to see it happen, just everything performance-wise for Phil tells me probably not this year. Yeah, I mean, on the one hand, we just have.

a too good to be true outcome at the Masters. I mean, it was honestly the reason that I didn't, at the beginning of that week, put down a bet on Tiger because it just felt too good to be true. I bet on them to finish in the top, top five out of sentimentality. And boy, oh boy, I was never so happy to miss out on the winner, but to collect on a top five.

We can't possibly get two of those too good to be truths in one year. can we? I can't. I can't imagine it. But, I mean, if Tiger can win the Masters after everything he went through, I mean, if you want to have those storybook with the PGA, he's the new face of Matrix championship called Phil completes the slam at Pebble Beach, and then Rory McElroy wins on home turf at the open in Northern Ireland.

I don't know. I mean, he even scripted out like that, other than I guess like Tiger winning all four. I guess that, I mean, that could be about as good as a kid. So I really like Phil. I've really grown to, I love watching to play golf, just to, you know, go for broke, you know, crazy recovery shots, just unbelievable swagger

out there, just go after everything. It's so entertaining to watch and it has been for so long. It'd be an awesome story that happened this week, especially on this course, on his birthday, which would be ridiculous. Like, to win this finally breakthrough, it's just I just can't, I'm an

analytics guy and the analyst say, no thanks. Yeah, that's right. We'll try and keep it sober. We'll try and keep the emotion out of it. Right. Yeah. I want to briefly touch. We talked about Fleetwood. I have been calling Fleetwood, Fee now, and Fowler, the F-Boys, because of their performance, you know, they're sort of walking up to the edge, and then they take a peek at the possibility of winning, and then they turn around, and the tail goes between the legs a little bit. So far this season, the way it's felt to me.

I understand I'm being a little harsh. How would you estimate the, possibility for either foul or female to break through here this week? So Ricky, you know, I was looking at his numbers. He's actually sneaky consistent to the major championships. I know, you know, he had the top five in all four majors a few years back, and that got a lot of publicity. But he's got a, his cuts-made-streaking majors is second currently right now to Brooke Kepka, which I was a little surprised to see.

You know, the numbers throughout his career, though, he's the number one guy when looking at comparing putters on Pola to what they perform regularly. He is like the three red X's stay away which does not like putting on Paua. And all the numbers say, you've got to, it's over a full shot worse per round,

strokes game putting on Paua compared to, you know, other surfaces on the PGA tour. So I'm of the camp that it's just a matter of time for Ricky Fowler. I mean, it was 32 when you won his first major. And I could totally see Ricky having a 30, maybe not. He's not quite as

talented, but you know what I'm saying? Like, he could break through eventually. He's just so talented, he's so good, he's so consistent, has so many close calls. I just don't see it happening on a golf course like this. Now, maybe next year, Wingfoot, I could definitely see that happening. You know, I could say him winning a Masters

obviously. He's a lot of success there, but the Paula putting numbers tell me to stay away. As far as female, I mean, he feels like he should have like seven PGA Tour wins by now. He's got I'm going to, I might not get this specific number right, but I think it's 22 top 10 the last three seasons

on the PGA tour. Nobody else has more without a win than that span and it's not even close. I think second is Fleetwood with like 13. So, I mean, it's just an unbelievable amount of times he's put himself in a position to win and just hasn't quite got over the finish line. It would be really cool to see

him break through and get that second PGA tour and you have won at a major championship at the U.S. Open. You know, most of Tony's Strokes' game come off the team. And like I mentioned before. You're not going to get, that's not as big of an advantage this week on the skull scores because it's shorter because players will, you know, lay back more often.

You're going to see guys to gain a lot of their throats with their irons be more significant. But, you know, he loves the big stage. He's finished in the top 20 and more than half. This clear starts in majors, you know. If I had to pick between phenow and foul this week, I'd lean finaw just because of those polar numbers for Fowler, but if you threw in the other, as you called them so amably, the F boys. If I had

sleep with the pick from those three, I'd pick Tommy at those three guys this week. Okay. All right. That's good. Good to know. Now, we've been on this, this trend of U.S. players dominating the majors eight of the past nine. The only non-U.S.

citizen to win a major in recent memory is Frankie onions, Frankie Molinaria at the Open Championship last year. Yeah. What do you think? Any reason for this trend to end this week? I'll preface this by saying that I think that Brooks and DJ as co-favorants, their hands down, the two best players in the field going into the tournament, I think.

So that being said, no, I would definitely not be surprised if one of those three guys wins this week. But the guy I mentioned earlier, who's got the great track record in California, the world-class player, I think John Rom is somebody that you've got to look at. I know he underperformed at the PGA Championship, obviously, but I could definitely see John Rom with all the success he's had in California, 10 starts, 2 wins, 6 top 10, 119 under par in those 10 starts. That's 119 shots under par in 10 tournaments. I could definitely see John Ron being a factor this week. So he could break that streak.

I think, you know, Tommy Flewwood, as we talked about, I put him in that group too. And then like we talked about with Rory, as good as he's playing, I mean, what he did last week in Canada was just unbelievable. You could definitely see him carry that through and play well again. But, you know, like we talked about, that three straight miscuts in the U.S. Open makes you a little bit wary. And no one's ever won the U.S. Open for a week after winning on the PTA Tour ever. So there's something draining about the test of the U.S. Open to where it's happened to the other three majors, it has not happened at the U.S. Open. So, yeah, I really, I think John, Rom, Tommy's like with Roy McElroy can all definitely break that trend. Okay.

Well, I like of that group, I'm looking at the book right now. Rom at 30 to 1. That starts to feel like value. You're really turning my point of view around on this. 30 to 1 in front of me. I got to look at who else is in 30 to 1. He feels like Paul Casey's territory. He's in the same sector here as Justin Thomas, who the public is a little bit wary of because they haven't seen him.

and Xander Schaughley is available right now at 28 to 1. Okay. So is Justin Rose. Justin Rose, the public is out on Justin Rose available at 28 to 1 right now. So that's who's on either side of ROM at that 30 to 1 number. That's interesting. I kind of like at 30 to 1, I kind of, I might be making a phone call here.

Yeah, yeah, you have my permission. One guy that we haven't done much of a deep dive on, but, you know, he's he's a, a darling of the public, and he earned it. Is Jordan Speath, the trend has been good. It's been positive. That third place finish at Bethpage really felt like it came out of nowhere. And it was just because of how incredibly well he putted those greens. Nothing else about his performance there was like all that noteworthy.

He just putted so much better than everybody else, I think. What do you think about Jordan Speeth? this Jordan Speed this week. Coming off three straight top 10th. I mean, that's how long it's been since he's played as well. That's a very good sign. And you mentioned how great he putted at the PGA Championship. His last 16 rounds, he's gained seven strokes on his opposition, Tita Green.

He's gained 28 putting. So, I mean, like his success in these last three starts finishing the top 10 is almost completely putting. But the caveat to that is the reason why I'm even more in. courage about it this week is that last start of the memorial, he gained more strokes to the green than he did putting. So he basically flipped the script on that trend. He still potted really well, but the ball striking was there too. And it was one of the most well-rounded performances, you know, finishing the top 10 again, obviously. And one of the most well-rounded performances

he's had over the last 12, 18 months. So couple that with the success. He's had at Pebble Beach winning here a couple of years ago. I don't know if I'm ready to set on him to win. I don't know he's ready for that, but it all points to, look, this low theory has had the last few months. He got down into the, I think, the high 30s, low 40s in the world ranking. That's not who Jordan's beat is. Like, he's going to climb back and be a consistent player in the top 10 in the world for the next decade or more. So he's on the way back up. He's got a course here and a venue and a type of setup where if he can make the Puss, can scramble,

limit not be too wild off the team. like we've talked about being loose off the tea isn't particularly penalizing at Pebble Beach compared to other U.S. Open venues. You know, I'm a little bit, I'm not going to say bullish, but I'm positive about during the week this week. Wow. Now, are you bullish enough

for me to include him in my Make the Cut parlay? Yeah. All right. That was a, that was a, that was a, there was no hesitation there. All right, I'm going to let you. If you're going to say, like, if I'm ranking the guys in the field, I'd probably be around like between 8 and 10,

but he'd still be somebody who, I think he's going to be part of the story this week. As well as he struck the ball in Memorial, that's what really turned it around for me because he's found something in his putting, but he's putting his... His numbers are as good as they've ever been in his career. That includes 2015 when he has a player of the year.

But to see his iron play improve, you'd like to see him put it together a few more weeks in a row, but I could definitely see him winning the U.S. Open. I don't know, winning this week, but contending at the U.S. Open this week. All right, so I'm going to let you go in a minute, but I want to bounce off of you. Here's what my thinking is right now about this eight way make the cut parlay.

I want to read off the names and that these are not, I'm not playing all the top guys because I want to get some odds here. I want to, I have this thing available at me, have come back to me at like, you know, four to one or five to one. It's some top guys mixed with some second tier kind of guys. So I have DJ on there. I put Speeth on there.

I have Jason Day on there. because of his track record of success at Pebble. I have Tiger on there. So those are like your top tier guys. Anybody to be concerned about that top tier? Should I be concerned? No, not at all. Days missed to cut the last few U.S. opens, I believe,

but he's still over the last decade or so, one of the best players we've had at the U.S. Open. And his numbers crossed the board this year are pretty good. So, no, that'd probably be the guy I'd have any slight concern about, but I think you're fine. Okay, good. I like it. And now here are the next four guys. I have Sned's. I have Snetiker because of speaking of guys with incredible California performances, incredible Poe performances, incredible performances at this venue have to have him on there. I have Adam Scott on there. And that is mainly because of his recent form and his form particularly in majors. He had a hiccup on Sunday at the Masters that, really was the thing that kept him out of, you know, a string of consecutive, like, top 20s in the majors. But I, I think he lines up well for this, for this venue. So I have

Adam Scott. I have Webb Simpson. You mentioned him. I just think he's playing. Yeah. He's just in a little bit of a streak where he's not thinking it right now. His caddy, Paul Tessori, he's doing all us thinking for him and it's a version of web that actually feels like it makes some sense to me. I have Jim Furek on here, a nod to the old guy. I'm just looking for somebody that's going to make the cut. I think he's made like 17, no, 21 out of 24 made cuts at the U.S. Open. He leads the tour and driving accuracy. He loves playing at the U.S. Open. I mean, what he did at Oakmont is still within sort of recent memory for me. That was an incredible performance. So I have Furik on here.

You had one couple of years ago. Yeah, right, exactly. And then my last one, this is just a form one. And this is a guy that I feel like fits kind of the narrative. Kevin Nah, as my guy rounding out, two top fives at Pebble, just one, the Schwab shootout down there at Colonial. The style of play that was successful for him at Colonial, I believe, was a very U.S. open-y kind of style of play, a very

pebble-bechy kind of style of play. So I have him rounding out. He's in my number eight slot for this make-the-cut parley. Out of those four guys, who should I be concerned about? I like your not pick. He's made the cut in the U.S. Open five straight times he played it.

Yeah, I like all those. You know, Adam Scott just finished runner-up to the Memorial. Jim Furek, I think, is a solid pick, too. Like we said, nearly won at Pebble Beach a couple of years ago. Distances isn't a big factor at Pebble Beach shorter course. a couple other guys who were a little bit off the board who I think are interesting.

I had already written down Kevin Nye. We hadn't talked about it. Charles Haryl of the 3rd has a very long-track record of playing really well on the West Coast. I mean, he's basically made a living, making money early in the season, Wilei in Hawaii, Pabble Beach, you know, these tournaments. And he makes a million dollars every year. And it seems a long track record of putting on Powa the last 15 years. he's played the third most rounds on Polo on the PGA tour.

Not a guy is going to get spooked by this situation, kind of having a little Renaissance in his career, one at the end of the last year. I guess it was still this season, but it was the wrap around. It was the end of the fall last in 2018. He's somebody, I think, could be interesting, get you a little more odds.

And I think, you know, Tiro Hatton's made six straight cuts in majors. He's a guy who limits his mistakes. He can't send him to like the big stage. I think he could get you some odds, and he'd be a guy I picked to make the cut too. I love it. So those are two guys to add,

and I had Hatten on my list of guys I was keeping an eye on. He had a good performance at, what, the Open Championship within recent memory? Yes. Yeah. He's a handful of nice rounds, maybe not, you know, instance is where he was contending per se on Sunday, but he's had some good round inmate championships for the last couple of years. And look, just making a custom system,

in majors, there's difficult enough, and he's done it six times in a row. So, you know, he's a guy's won in Europe a handful of times, you know, playing on the Ryder Cup team last year. You know, yeah, he finished eight to Colonial a few weeks ago. You know, got to the quarterfinals of match play. So he's played pretty well recently. I could see him making the cut, absolutely. That's all we're after.

We didn't set the bar super high. We're not trying to pick winners. This is just to make the cut parlay. I appreciate the addition of those two guys. So 15th Club, the newsletter coming out every day this week, right? Yeah, correct. After every round, just go to 15th Club.com or follow me on Twitter at Justin Ray Golf. If you go to 15th Club.com, any day this week or, you know, anytime, just subscribe to our newsletter.

We get everything that I write multiple times a week. And then, you know, this week for the U.S. Open will have recap notes in your inbox every morning. Wake up, get all the information you need. You'll be more knowledgeable with all your friends. it'll give you, you know, more things to be interested in, all the storylines are following, all the statistics and numbers. And it's not too, you know, academic or verbose or any of that stuff. It's easy to digest, and I think you'll really like it. So give us a shot.

15thclub.com. Yeah, I can vouch for that. It's not too academic for a dummy like me, and it's one of my favorite reads during major weeks. And I just want to write it, and I'm not an academic at all. Well, I just want to double down. I want to double down. Everybody, if you're not following Justin Ray on Twitter, you're, and you profess to love golf.

You are not doing it correctly. He's at Justin Ray Golf. I was on with Pat Mayo at the end of last week. We had to sing your, your praises. We both love following you on Twitter, getting the nuggets as the days progressed during the major tournaments, especially.

We're looking at these matchups that we, liked some live betting and you always have good things to hang our head on. Justin, as always, a great pleasure. We appreciate all the insights and input. We'll be reading the 15th Club newsletter all week long. And I'm inviting you now. We have to do this again at the Open Championship at the end of July, please. Yeah, book it.

Let's do it. You're the man. I appreciate it. Okay, JR, enjoy Pebble Beach this week. We'll do. Y'all enjoy the U.S. Open. Thanks, buddy. All right, my eagle enthusiasts, once again, we love having Justin Ray on for these major tournaments.

So much to learn, so much to listen and learn. Harry Gagnon on in a minute with a couple of beautiful winners for the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. But first, quick word from Friends of Ours at Destination, Kohler in Kohler, Wisconsin. This episode of Fairway Rowland brought to you by these good people at Destination Kohler in Kohler, Wisconsin, which happens to be home of Whistling Straits and Black Wolf Run. Destination Kohler was ranked by Golf Digest to have four of the top 100 public courses in the United States.

Kohler was the site of the 2004, the 2010, and the 2015 PGA Championships. And it's also home of the 2020 Rider Cup next year, the first public course in a generation to host the Rider Cup. Each of the four courses at Kohler have been artfully crafted by Hall of Fame designer Pete Dieh, the legend. He understands the mind and struggles of the amateur, but knows at the same time how to drive the pros crazy. Imagine summer in Kohler, Wisconsin on the shores of Lake Michigan, a couple rounds

of championship golf on the rugged Irish-inspired courses of whistling. straights, then you get a couple rounds experiencing the glacier carved natural Midwestern beauty of Black Wolf Run. Follow that up with a few rounds of ice cold beverages to wash down a delightful basket of hot, fresh, deep fried Wisconsin cheese curds. It is time to get rolling to Destinationcoller.com to book your golf package today. That is destinationcoller.com. Ladies and gentlemen, now on the T from Oswego, New York, qualifying for this U.S. Open out of the Oswego Country Club. Harry Gagnon, welcome to Fairway Rowland. Thanks for having me again, bud.

Always a pleasure. Hey, it's a major tournament. There is major prognostication to be had. This is the preview show where we're trying to give out a couple winners to all of our par-saving paths. you're a known winner every week on against all odds. And so it is our honor and privilege to have you on for these major events, my friend. Let's jump right into it. You shared with me, your thinking, your thoughts.

I agreed with all of it with maybe one slight exception. But let's jump into it. Who do you like at the 119th edition of the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, Harry Ganyon. you know what house it's very easy to go with kefka looking for a three feet and maybe dj as well uh but you know what i'm gonna go with my main pick at 35 to 1 i'm gonna take australian jason day over day in this tournament if if i lose i lose but i'm telling you i've got him at 35 to 1 like i said to win it top 10 is plus 275 and top australian at plus 175 look this is a golf course historical historically, he plays well at and has been extremely close to winning.

Now, something to consider, obviously, if you play the pro-am, you're only playing Pebble Beach twice, you've got to play two other courses, but still, nonetheless, day, is at the top of his game when he plays there. He has his best finish the season on tour as he finished fourth there, and in the past four years, he's posted a second, a fifth, an 11th, and a fourth-place finish. The 16th ranked player in the world has five top tens this year and is eighth on torn putting and ninth off the green percentage. It will be interesting to see if he's around the top of the leaderboard come Saturday, come Sunday afternoon, how aggressive it becomes knowing his past history at Pubble Beach.

This is still kind of an out-there pick since he hasn't been playing that great since he finished fifth of the Masters. He's missed two cuts and the other two events. He didn't finish in the top 20, but his history here, him not playing the Canadian Open where he's won before, maybe giving them that extra week to focus on everything. I feel himself being really focused this week and the challenge for this U.S. Open. Well, one thing that you didn't mention that has me intrigued by Jason Day, his choice of caddy, he has on the bag for this open, none other than Tiger Woods Man. Stevie Williams, who walked around with Tiger in 2000 during the single greatest major tournament

performance in the history of competitive golf. Not a bad guy to have in your corner, right? No, not at all. Give him insight and help him along the way. Like I said, into that Saturday, into the Sunday round. Also, I did mention, you know, top Australian. You can get him at plus. There's eight total Australians.

playing. You can catch him at plus 175 house. He's got to go up against Adam Scott, who has played Pebble Beach the past two years, didn't make the cut. Mark Leishman has never played there for the most part. And another guy that's played a pretty good season, Aaron Battle A, Australian. In the last four years, he's failed to crack the top 50 at Pebble Beach. So at plus 175, 175, I think Jason Day, top Australian, not a bad selection. Not a bad selection. Nearly two to one eyes. I like it a lot. Now, we're just trying to give out winners. We have your selection to win. It's exactly in that class of value that I like. I like getting guys who have major championships on their resume available in that 30 to 1 to 40 to 1 range. That's where you start getting some value. But we're also looking at some guys in other performance categories. You have, an interesting take on a top Asian play. Let me hear about that one.

Yeah, you know what? I'm going to take Siwu Kim, a tie for fourth with Jason Day. Top tens this year. And keep in mind, the favorite at plus 150 is Hideki Matsuyama. And he's never, he never does play the pro-ams. This is like a brand new course for him that he's never played competitively. So I'm thinking at plus 650, Seawu Kim is the second favorite here. I think there's value in this. So at plus 650, I like it a lot. I like the idea of getting a guy who's walked that golf course and seen it and played it under competitive conditions. I do agree with you. Yeah, the weather conditions that you might are going to have to factor in. I think the other day, believe it, I don't know if you saw it was like

89 degrees in Monterey. And then for the tournament this week, I think the high is going to be 62. So it could be windy, a little cool. Kim has already played there this year and finished fourth. And, you know, it was in that kind of cooler, obviously, environment with the February round. Oh, it would be able to remember that? Yeah, I mean, they had to stop for weather. You know, they ended up finishing on Monday. Phil was mad about it.

He wanted to play in the dark and get the thing over with. But they pushed it to Monday. Speaking of Phil, now are my previous guest, Justin Ray, from the 15th club, We do our deep dive analytics conversation. And we both agreed that Phil winning this event at this moment in this season with where he is in his career, with Sunday being his birthday, it feels too good to be true. But on the other hand, Tiger Woods winning this year's master's going into the week, that also felt like it feels too good to be true. How are you feeling about Phil this week, Harry? you know what how about it's like you just said uh you know he's like 25th in the world uh and he's won

plenty before never that u.s open but i think he's uh you can get him at 40 to one uh top 10 i'm looking i saw plus three and a quarter and top five eight to one uh and like you said he's going to be uh i believe he's going to be 49 this weekend and you just can't count fill out he's a guy that loves thrives to play at pebble beach as we know he actually won there like you said uh early this year, shooting a sensational 19 under par. It's a five-time winner there with two seconds. And we'll be attempting to, like you said,

to be only the third player in history at Pebble Beach and a major at the same course in the same year. Like you said, Tiger did it in 2000 with by 15 strokes, which was the biggest margin of victory in a major ever. And of course, the Golden Bear did it when I was one year old in 1972.

So Phil, trying to join some incredible company and this may be his best shot, really, if we really think about it, moving forward to capturing his elusive first U.S. Open. I agree with you. I think this is his last and best shot. Next year is at Wingfoot. He will be 49 approaching 50. And, you know, he should have mostly good feelings about his performance at Wingfoot and his odds there.

But he doesn't have anything that rivals his performance at. pebble beach. And honestly, I'm going to put a little bit on him as a sentimental pick. I just want to have a little exposure in case he goes crazy and gives us one of those vintage fill performances. I'm going to be sort of modest about my hopes for him, but I want to have something on him so that if in case, you know, he does pull some magic out of the hat, maybe this is just going to be a magic year, Harry.

Tiger wins the Masters. Kepka wins the PGA championship and, you know, reasserts himself as the current greatest in the world. Phil finally gets his U.S. Open at Pebble, and then we're in Northern Ireland for the Open Championship, and either Rory or Graham McDowell go out and do that one. I mean, you know, we could have a pretty insane storybook year. It's still out there.

It's still possible. Oh, still. Definitely still. Fox's still out. And look, I mean, I know it's a, I mean, it's hard. And O'Rouria hasn't, I believe it hasn't made three U.S. Open. I didn't make the cut this year at Pebble Beach. But boy, I'll tell you what, watching him, I know we text a little bit on Sunday, watching him just, I had a full party to go to. I had a big event to go to. I just kept telling my girlfriend, and a little bit, we'll leave him a little bit. I couldn't stop watching. boy. I mean, he's hitting, he's hitting 360-yard drive. He's out driving Web Simpson by 45 to 50 yards a hole

went up on long par fours and the par five. It was just amazing to watch and I just couldn't turn it off. And plus, when you have that alert of 58, 59 as a golf fan, you can't help it but keep watching. Now, the 59 alert comes up. That means that, you know, everybody, the life gets put on hold. I hit the pause button on everything else in my life. The 59 alert is up. Everything else goes on pause. You're absolutely right. I mean, I text you just, I mean, I knew you were watching, but just in case you had something

going on, I wanted you to know. It's very thoughtful of you. I always appreciate it. Speaking of things that I appreciate and that I hope our listeners appreciate, let's hit a few long shot top 20s to give out. You know, there's some value here for guys that are probably being slept on a little bit. Let's give out some top 20s that might. cash for folks at some odds

that are pretty tasty. You know what? I got out. You mentioned Graham McDowell. He won the U.S. Open there at Pebble Beach in 2010, thanks to a collapse on that Sunday by Dustin Johnson as he shot in 82. But still, he got it

done. He won it. He's plus 240. He's coming off on it. What a high to qualify for the British as he needed at the Canadian Open. He needed like a 35-footer to qualify on 18 and he banged it. So he's coming in hot. He's

coming in very happy. So at plus 240 top 20 for McDowell, maybe worth the shot. I like a guy that you've mentioned a few times too who you're a fan of. That's Chez Revy. You know, he's a $7.50 for the top 20. And he finished second

in 2018 there, driving accuracy, which will be huge on this type of course. So at plus 750, that's something to look at too. Look at J.B. too at plus 600 at 6 to 1. He's at a second place finish there a few years back. And historically, he's been okay there too.

So maybe J.B. Holmes at plus 6 to 1. All right. So let's do our Calloway Golf epic flash pick of the week. I know that you gave out Jason Day. That is a value pick. That makes a lot of sense to me. This Epic Flash pick of the week presented by Calloway, the maker of the Epic Flash driver

with the most worldwide wins on tour in 2019. Non-staffers continue to play the Epic Flash and win golf tournaments with it. Scott McCarran, a non-Calloway staffer, put the Epic Flash in his bag at the beginning of the year, and all he's done is win three tournaments, and he's at the very top of the standings on the senior tour right now.

Let's go ahead and hear from you, Harry. your epic flash pick of the week. You know what, let me see. He didn't play particularly well last week, finished for a tie for top 20. But I will take, you've got to really consider DJ Dustin Johnson at 9 to 1.

Like I said, he folded at the P at the U.S. Open at Peeble Beach in 2010 when he shot that 82. But other than that, he won the tournament in 2009. He won Pebble Beach, the pro M.

in 2010, finish back, and one back to back. He's got two second place finishes there. And his stats this year on tour through the roof. He's first in scoring on tour. He's fourth in sand saves, eighth in driving distance,

and he's 13th in greens and regulation. So at 9 to 1, DJ with his history at Pebble Beach as well, 9 to 1, pretty good, I think, maybe give DJ a look and take a shot with him. Yeah, I'm going to do that. I'm going to play him. Majority on Monday gave the rationale for why I'm going to play Tiger.

The two guys I'm going to play to win, and we'll just, we'll just see what Brooks does. I don't want Brooks to listen to this podcast and have another chip on his shoulder. But the guys that I'm playing on right now pre-tournament are Tiger Woods and DJ, in addition to all the accolades that you just went through. I mean, nobody has been as good at Pebble Beach other than Tiger. but he's also a U.S. Open killer. His last five U.S. opens, he was third at Shinnock. He missed the cut at Aaron Hills, but we just take that one and throw it in the toilet.

We don't even worry about that one. He won at Oakmont. He was second at Chambers Bay. He was fourth at Pinehurst. I mean, this is a guy that loves the U.S. Open, loves this stage, loves Pebble Beach. I'm joining you on this DJ to win bet at 9 to 1. Harry, your Twitter handle, Harry A.A.O.

You will be giving out your picks, as always, Wednesday going into Thursday, so folks can check those out. And then as the weekend progresses, if there's some live betting to be had, I know you'll be sharing those observations as well, right? Yeah, we'll definitely be getting going to those picks. And there's an outside shot houses. Outside shot, I still might,

I might be going to the open on Saturday. I'm holding back for right. now, but I might be there. So if I do, I'll definitely let you know. Well, that's terrific. And folks can also get some of your thoughts this week's Against All Odds with the Cousin' Sal on the Ringer podcast network.

I think I'm making a brief appearance on there as well. I have a few value picks up my sleeve yet to share. I'm going to share them on against all odds with Cousin' Sal, and I know you're going to be on there as well. So lots of golf content on the Ringer podcast network.

Harry, as always, appreciate you. coming on, my friend. Love it, man. Awesome. Yeah, at AAO, Harry, definitely hit me up. And if you guys want the information, it's been a pleasure. Always a pleasure coming on your show.

Thanks for coming on, buddy. Talk to you soon. There we go, my par saving pals. Hopefully a couple suggestions in there that are worth your while. Want everybody to have strong return on investment this week. We're coming back with Fairway Rowland.

Speaking of returns, we will be back with an immediate post U.S. Open recap. We're going up Sunday night right after we have a winner declared. We're going to talk to Chris Vernon for sure and we'll see what other surprises emerge in terms of potential guests here, Faraway, rolling. It's going to be an unbelievable tournament

prime time here on the East Coast. Everybody enjoy. Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there. And we shall see you on Sunday. In the meantime, let's all hit them straight out there. All right, on the line, the executive editor at Golf Digest and head of instructor content. I'm joined by Peter Maurice of Golf Digest, who has somehow drawn the short straw. I recently had a couple videos taken of my golf swing. They were sent in, and Peter is on the line to help me understand what I'm doing wrong.

Peter, how are you? Good, Joe. How are you? Spectacular. So tell me a little bit about this instructor content program that's going on, this golf school that Golf Digest is running online right now. All right. So first of all, your swings look pretty good. We're psyched to look through those and hopefully we gave you a few good ideas. So pros on demand, golf digest pros on demand is part of a program called Golf Digest Schools, which is basically a virtual golf school that we've created about a year and a half. half ago, creating sort of curriculum style video learning, deep dives, long-form videos with the best teachers in the game. And one of the cool features to the Golf Digest schools is this pros on demand, which essentially gives golfers a chance to send in their swings. You know, you take a little

iPhone video of your swing, send it in, and within a few hours, hopefully, you get back a really cool swing analysis, you know, with some tips and some ideas for improvement from one of Golf Digests ranked teachers. So that's what we did for you. You know, I don't know if you've been back out there, but I'm sure it's working for you. Well, I have a couple questions. I saw in one of the most recent Golf Digest editions, you personally presented a breakdown of Dustin Johnson's driver swing. And I was just wondering with you guys, your expertise, how much of my driver swing reminds you of DJ's driver swing?

Was it 100%? Was it 95%? How close to 100? You know, honestly. And that's probably being conservative. Being conservative, you know, like his equipment might be fitted a little better. He probably has a few yards on you, but it's not because of ability. It's probably equipment and, you know, the great teaching it gets.

but yeah, you're right there, man. I don't know. I think you missed your calling. Well, let me be semi-serious for a second. The way this works, it was super easy. I took two videos, one driver swing video and one iron swing video. I had a pal stand behind me with an iPhone. We took the videos.

We sent them into Golf Digest. And the way it works is they have one of their pros. Go ahead and give you an analysis. And you can receive that analysis back in writing or, or, um, by way of internet communication. I think email works. Peter, are there other ways that the communication can occur? Well, just to be clear, usually, I mean, what the teacher would like, ideally, is a video

down the line from behind the player shooting out toward the target, and then what we call a face-on video, which is kind of facing a player's chest at address, because there's positions you can see better from, you know, one or the other of those angles. And the feedback is usually a video posted to pros on demand, which is that community that we talked about, where everybody, including the Swinger, but everybody else who has joined that group, can see the analysis. Typically, a teacher will send back, you know, here's a couple of things I see. You know, you might want to try this or that. Here's a drill you could use. But it's really cool.

I mean, we've had these teacher lists for a long time. the best teachers, best teachers in America, best young teachers in America, best teachers by state. And it's giving us an opportunity to kind of showcase some of the instruction talent we have on our end in a way that we haven't been able to before. And how interactive is it? Because I like to say that I have a two-way miss. I tend to miss to the left in the first part of the round when I'm amped up. I have my caffeine going. The adrenaline is high. I haven't lost all my bets yet.

And then as the round goes on on the sort of back nine and the ladder holes, I start missing right. It could be because of fatigue. It could have to do with a number of beers consumed. It could have to do with wherever the bets may have ended up. But how do your pros work with somebody that might have a couple different issues that they're working on? Joe, this is getting very personal.

I mean, you know, this is not about your golf swing anymore. There are all kinds of issues going on there. No, I mean, I think golf is a complicated game. And, you know, the way you describe it is, I think, the way the struggles that a lot of people have. You know, they don't really know, they don't have a consistent problem. The problem is inconsistency. So why does it start out like this and turn into this? Why do I play well in these days and not well on those days?

So, you know, the instructors, what we've tried to create is really kind of an open forum where golf, offers can ask questions, can send in their swing videos. And it's really just an opportunity to connect in a community with the best teachers, you know, according to Golf Digest, and in many cases, as voted by their peers, the best teachers out there. So, you know, we set them up. You know, we have a new teacher every week who kind of holds court and the questions come in and the swings come in. And the idea is it's an open form. It's all meant to be community learning. So your questions are posted publicly in this forum. And as long as you don't have a question about,

am I drinking too much in the back nine? Not to say that that question has already come up. But if you have... I won't ask that question. Any questions? You know, it's all average golfers kind of talking about their games and trying to get better. So the questions are posted publicly in the forum,

you know, in the chats. And, you know, the instructor, they're great about getting back to, You know, they're trying to help people, and it's all out there for community learning. So the swing as well, you know, you post your swing. You don't get a, you don't get a kind of a sideline analysis. It's put out there for the whole group to see, which is kind of cool because a lot of people are having the same issues.

So you may not want to post your swing, but somebody does and you say, oh, man, I'm doing the same thing. So you can, you could kind of cheat a little bit and get some personalized advice without sending it in yourself. Well, I love it. And I'm excited to get going with this. I am definitely your demo as an average golfer. But I do continue to have ambition, Peter.

I still have high hopes. It's probably the case. I just had a milestone birthday. It's probably the case that I'm not going to make the PGA tour in my lifetime. But look, I am now at least age qualified for the senior tour. Be honest with me. If we start this off, we get this process going. Help me think about my odds.

to make the senior tour. What would you say are my odds for making the senior tour? I think you got to shoot high, man. You got a lot going for you. Yeah, sure. Sure. This radio game, who knows how long this is going to last. You've got to have some insurance. Well, that's exactly right. My backup plan is the senior tour and no pressure on the golf digest pros. But, I mean, my expectation is that you guys will have me ready by the end of this year. Well, you know, we probably wouldn't put that in writing, but I think your chances are as good as anyone's. And let me just tell you a little something else about, you know, the pros on demand is one feature of a larger program that we're doing called Golf Digest Schools, which is we're going

out and we're connecting with the best teachers in the game and creating these long form video programs, which are all men for average golfers and it's everything from driving to putting. And, you know, it's Butch Harmon, David Ledbetter, Hank Haney, Michael Breed, the best teachers that have always been in Golf Digest. Now we're connecting with him. video lessons that are meant for average golfers. And the pros on demand is another piece of it where you sort of have a live interactive community with great teachers where you can ask questions,

send in your swing. So a lot of great stuff going on. You know, Golf Digest has always been a great brand in golf, and it's synonymous with game improvement and golf instruction, and we're taking it to the future. I agree. I'm excited. The next thing that's coming, be on the lookout, I'm going to send you several videos of my putting.

I have a little desail going on right now, Peter. I need some help. You've already diagnosed it? Are you sure you need our help? I need a professional. It doesn't, it's one thing to diagnose, but what's the remedy? Give me a remedy. Joe, it sounds like you're losing too much money in a golf course.

That's the biggest problem, right? Don't tell my wife. Every weekend, it sounds like. Don't tell my wife. So, Peter, I know you guys have a library of video. from all of your very best pros and instructors, how does somebody like me get access to that video library? So we've created this program, Golf Digest Schools,

and essentially what we set out to do is create the best video instruction available. Golf Digest has always had these relationships with the great instructors, Butch Harmon, David Ledbetter, Hank Haney, Michael Breed, and they've been in the magazine for 50 years. and the idea was how do we take that to the future? So we started creating these long-form curriculum-style video programs. You know, there'll be 45 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour of content from one of these great teachers, all geared to average golfers and the challenges and the desires of average players.

So, you know, it's all in the Golf Digest Schools. And if you go to golf digest.com slash all access, it certainly explains a program and how you can connect with some of these great teachers. We're very proud of it. You know, it's the newest, it's the newest iteration of Golf Digest, and it's going to be a great thing going forward. It gets better every week. It sounds great.

I'm going to check out Ledbetter first. I need to get that putting under control. It seems like you really got an issue with this putting, Joe. Maybe we should talk about this offline. I think it could be more of a mental thing than a physical thing. I hope you're right, but the saying is put for dough, Peter, and it's going in the wrong direction right now for me. It sounds like it is. Hey, we can help. Golf Digest is here for you.

Okay, Peter, how do I sign up for this thing? All right. So you go to Golf Digest.com slash all access. It gives you all kinds of information on what's in the program, how to get started. And Joe, it's life-changing stuff. Or at least it's game-changing. I'll accept game-changing. We'll start with that. So here it is visit golfdigist.com slash all-access and use promo code Joe. for 30% off an annual subscription.