Fairway Rollin' - Tiger Woods Hysteria and Ryder Cup Predictions | Shackhouse (Ep. 78)

Episode Date: September 25, 2018

Geoff Shackelford and Joe House get together to recap Tiger’s win at the 2018 PGA Tour Championship in Atlanta (2:00) before going over some prop bets for the 2018 Ryder Cup (35:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Bonjour house from beautiful Versailles-ish France. How are you today? Jack, do you speak French? Not a word, not a lick. Well, that bonjour sounded pretty good to me. Yeah, well, actually really, the key here I've noticed is you have to really mumble the second half of every word, and you can get away with a lot. You can go, man, yeah, and they know you said thank you. But they see me a mile away.

I've always enjoyed that about the French people. We have some sort of camaraderie because they're crankier than I am, and they just look at me and they know I'm a dumb American. And when I try any attempts at French, I immediately get the, you'd like a latte? Yeah, you are. Well, I love you conceding that you vibe with the French, that kind of snarky, you know, cranky approach to life. They make me look like Norman Vincent Peel over here, House. Well, you haven't been over there now for, what, 48 hours?

A little bit more than that, yeah, a little more than that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got here early. Yeah, so look, a big thing happened. between the time that you arrived in France and today. There is no such thing as a sports bar here where you can go watch golf. You can't get it on any of the streaming apps. It's all blocked.

I was in a total blackout zone other than Twitter for watching Tiger Woods finally win a golf tournament. It was nuts. What? Yeah, they're just, you know, golf's not big here. Well, I know that part, but not even like a sports bar, not even a public place to go watch. international sports? It's France. I'll have one television.

And believe me, they're not going to have the one television devoted to golf. It's not big here. House, nobody knows about the Rider Cup here. You mentioned Rider Cup and they just look at you, the Uber drivers, and I hate to be one of those riders that relies on the Uber and taxi drivers for the Intel.

But literally, you mention to people when they ask you, why are you here? You say Rider Cup. And you just get the stare and then you say something about Tiger Woods and they go, oh, Tiger Woods, oh, Tiger Woods. Yeah, but so that's indicative of something. Well, it's on in the middle of the night. There's that, too, remember, the PJ tour. He won in the middle of the night.

Now, so set the stage. You woke up the next morning. Your phone was obviously filled with elation, at least for me. And you were in the company of other international golf. Riders, what was the reaction of that golf community there in Paris? I think the best way to sum it up is the press conference today, which was way too short. I don't know what they, all the players are moving through too fast. So Tiger only got a couple of Rider Cup questions.

Now, how's these people here live for the Rider Cup? The people I'm looking at from the press center here at LaGalle Nationale, this is what they live for. And they were grilling him with questions of Euros with ratings and marketability and popularity stuff. And so they sensed. They were asking him about that? Yeah, yeah, yeah. They were asked. I couldn't believe they're asking ratings questions.

And Tiger hasn't seen much of the coverage, which was interesting. He said that he has just basically gotten on the plane and hasn't had a chance. But I thought it was a, there was kind of one sweet moment in the press conference where somebody did ask, did you, did you, did you? see the visuals, and that's really kind of what I woke up to was the visual of the crowd kind of closing in behind him, a la Bobby Jones at the Old Course and a la Tiger at the Western Open many years ago, and that was kind of an iconic moment when he won there, and people were just bombarding the 18th Fairway. And he noted today, the House, that he plans after all this settles down, to sit down and soak up that stuff. And again, that's one of those little

missions he wouldn't have made a couple years ago. He would have said, oh, I'm sure it was great, and he would have played it off a certain way. And for him to just flat out say, I plan to sit down there and watch that. I thought it was really cool. And it was genuine, by the way. It was not a, it was not some sort of thing that he had thought up, oh, that'll make me sound cool that I really want to soak up the moment. He's enjoying the fruits of victory. And those kinds of things are the kind of thing that understandably give him great joy to see that kind of, it's not the winning. It's the what the winning does to the people around him.

And one of the writers, there was a, well, he's sitting kind of near me here, but a brutal suckup question about the media. We thank you for what you've done kind of thing. And how is it so bad. Look, he's being honest. My favorite tweet among all the player tweets was Brandt Snetiker saying, Tiger,

thank you. Thank you for what you've done for the tour. Thank you for what you've done for all of us. Our checkbooks, I mean, he didn't say it this part, but it was clear what he was communicating to Tiger. Thank you for basically, you know, creating this, this unbelievable opportunity that I have enjoyed the fruits of your labor, really. Yeah.

By the way, and you left out one. You left that one. He also saved everybody from having to acknowledge that debacle of a FedEx Cup conclusion in the final year of the current situation. You imagine if he hadn't been there anyway. Well, I don't want to take too much time away. No. No time.

You think it's going to be better next year? No, I don't. Well, yes, it'll be easier to follow, but I just don't know if anybody can wrap their head around after so many years in real golf, a tournament where the best players in the world have some sort of a handicap system. And we're giving some shots to people. I'm just not seeing anybody excited and feeling good about that. So it feels like it's terrible. It's terrible. Who did they talk to?

Like the echo chamber there. must be incredible. I will, I will, we'll save this for, for, for next season because it's proper to tackle it. We've got better issues. They had a perfectly wonderful way to reward the best player of next season. And that is the

two million bucks that the great folks at Wyndham, who ought to, you know, step up since I'm giving them a free plug, um, are putting to the winner of the regular season. That's the reward for having a great regular season. You don't need to do anything with the playoff.

Playoff means playoff. It's like the people who structure this don't watch other sports. It's so strange. And I wrote a column for golf week. They're just lamenting all the things about this that are just strange. But that said, we'll deal with it later. I don't care. You know what I won't do?

I'm not gambling on that stupid thing next year. I can assure you that. We are going to get into that, though, because we have the Ryder Cup. And, you know, I'll be honest with you, House. We'll get to the prop bets a little later. I didn't envision so many juicy prop bets with the Ryder Cup. They were very creative, the ones I believe, that I sent you. So I'm hoping we can have some fun with those.

But, I mean, we have to just talk about the Ryder Cup. Finally, being here, this is a long time coming in France. And a long time coming for the United States House, and having not won in Europe on foreign soil since 1993, in case you all haven't heard that narrative a million times, yeah, long time. Are you excited? I mean, the weather's going to be fantastic. It's hard not to be jazzed with the tiger element of going from,

is he going to play three or four matches and what's he going to do to? He's the man. I think they're going to write him. He's going to have to play five matches. No way. Really? You think so? Well, oh, I do.

I do. And the book he's agreed. That's incredible. So let's go ahead and just. just sort of tackle that. I thought he was a four max because just the sheer energy of

and you know he hasn't even been able to watch the broadcast. We began this podcast with the rush of his life since walking off the green on 18 they had a hotel in Atlanta. The U.S. team did. So he went, they had a team dinner.

They got on the airplane. They flew across. They arrived at whatever got all the time in the middle. 1245 yeah middle of the day that's 1245 p.m. Paris time his body isn't on Paris time when they arrived no no yeah and what is he doing

is he sleeping for two days I mean you know I know that he's a world traveler traveler and he has strategies for dealing with jet lag and so forth but you know he just won and he hasn't won since he's been 42 years old in his 42 year old body so I'm just very intrigued by this idea

that he'll have now first sure the adrenaline of the whole thing and the power of the rider cup you asked at the beginning of this am i excited i am as excited for this thing as i was watching tiger win on sunday that's top level excitement shack i think he's feeling the adrenaline you're speaking to because that was one that was my question i was in the queue and uh in our little 10 minute session today i didn't get to ask i wanted to know what he did for recovery and what um he has in the way of restrictions if any of course it was also a subversa way of trying to get to some key intel for that one propette to see if he was going to say, you know, I've told Jim, I'll play as much as I can, maybe not every match or

something like that. But now he's all in. I think he's feeling kind of the old mojo, and he figures he's going to be able to collapse on Monday and put the feet up on the coffee table for a month. And so he's going to ride the excitement of the win and the Ryder Cup and go for it. Now, whether Jim Furik agrees or not, we don't know, they're being very coy. But I like him to play all five house. I just have a hard time seeing him. If there was one time he would rest, I would say it would be Friday morning in the opening session. But it's a four ball.

He's just like, it's go. Go time, go. He's going to play four ball. He's going to play alternate shot. And I think part of this too is necessitated by questions about some of these guys on the U.S. team all of a sudden. Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, and Phil Mickelson. I don't think you have those questions about Kepka. He just threw in one clunker at Eastlake.

He'll be fine. He's proven to us that if he's not mentally engaged, he checks out. Now, he did hurt my feelings. I thought that the $10 million would catch his attention, and I went out of my way to stick him in a fantasy lineup. Brooks, Brooks, Kepka, you hurt my feelings. Ten million bucks isn't enough, buddy? Come on. Well, he had a bad day.

So I think I just wrote a piece for Golf Week about this. And I think Furek actually has some tough decisions to make. I mean, before his tough decisions were going to be, how do I get everybody in and keep everybody happy? And now all of a sudden there are a few guys who you have to say, what do we do here? And then he's got these other, we're getting ahead of ourselves, but he's got two other things.

First of all, Phil is not a man who likes to sit. He basically got Tom Watson, humiliated, fired, and banished for life for daring to bench him. He's one match away from tying the all-time most matches played. He's got two and a half points to being the all-time U.S. leader. And he admitted today, this is likely his last Ryder Cup on foreign soil as a player. So he's tight with Jim Fierich. So Phil, and Phil's very convincing. I mean, he just said today, oh, it's just been a little bit of a putting issue.

I putted great all year the last couple of weeks. I didn't. I'll be fine. And you know what? I bought it. I'm sitting there going, I'm kind of doing my bobblehead impression in the media center thinking, yeah, yeah, I agree with you. And then I went, wait a second. He just shot 13 over at East Lake.

He was 24 behind Tiger. Not so fast. Well, he has been the best putter for the, you know, among this U.S. team over the course of of the year. It's not even close. Yeah. So that piece of it is believable. Then Patrick Reed and Spieth, I think, this is a really tricky one.

Do you know, House, they are a half point away. Now, think about this. How old those two are? They are a half point away from becoming the greatest U.S. duo points-wise of all time in the Ryder Cup. It's insanity. Wow. But the problem is, you look at the way they're both playing. and you look at their dynamic

where their dynamic is to try to beat each other. And if I'm Jim Furik, I'm looking at that going, is that the best use of my resources right now? Nah, no, no, no, no, no. Never second-guess it. You've got to put them out once.

Your lead-in was right. He'll put them out once. They're historically great. Put them out every time. If the vibe is bad. No, no, no, no. If they get funned. The vibe's not going to be bad, check.

The vibe is not going to be bad. Wait a second, though. because he's got Justin Thomas now on this team, who he didn't have last time. And you're telling me he and Spieth wouldn't be a good team to put out? I like, I want Justin Thomas and Ricky together. I think they're perfect compliments. I want to see them, you know, at least three times, if not four times. I think they both played great at East Lake.

They both finished at five under. Ricky shot 65 on Sunday. Put J.T. and Ricky together and let them Instagram that mug. It's the all Instagram. It's the all social team. They can play it with their shirts off. It's fine by me. Let them put the stars and stripes on their chest.

I'm good with that. We don't touch. You don't touch Speeth and Reed. I have no concerns whatsoever about Patrick Reed. Here's what Patrick Reed is going to do. He's going to walk up and remember, oh, remember I just had this match play event this year with Rory McElroy, the European darling, at the Masters, at Augusta National on Sunday. And you know what I did to that guy?

I'm going to be crude for a second. I'm sorry to say it, Sheck. Well, actually, I'm not sorry to say it. I pulled down my pants and I showed him my rear end for 18 holes. And I asked him to come kiss it. Come kiss it, Rory. And you know what? Rory got down on his knees and did it.

From the first hole where he blasted the ball into the woods to the second hole when he missed the shortest of short birdie putts. And it was over. It was, oh. So I'm not worried one bit. Captain America will show up. I want to see Speeth and Reed. Patrick Reed will carry Jordan Speeth.

And you know what? Jordan Speeth is properly incented. He had all this time to work out whatever issues because he didn't play in the Tour championship. Weeks to figure out whatever it is that has been an obstacle to his success lately. And I think he'll be ready. I think he's chopping at the bit. I think Patrick Reed and Jordan Speath are going to be unbeatable.

once again. All right. Well, we'll see. Again, it's just a dilemma I think Farrak has in part because he has so many good players. Now, you mentioned Rory McElroy. I think that's an interesting dilemma for Thomas Bjorn. Believe it or not, I don't like the way this golf course is set up for he and John Rom. Those are two guys who love to drive the ball, love to swing away, and this golf course is not set up for that kind of golf. And I think it's going to be really interesting to see what kind of mojo they have once they've played a few holes out here. It's, it's unusual. We have documentation. We know how John Rom, you know, played T5 with five under. He will only finish two strokes out of the lead. Well, it just, you know, the very end of June, beginning of July. Right. In the French Open,

but they've taken things up a notch. So let me give you a little. bit of golf course setup. This is important information for the wagering strategy strategy. It's interesting in that the European philosophy is the old American philosophy of the years when we had Curtis Strange

and Lanny to their Woosnam and Sevi and Sandy Lyle where we grew rough, narrowed fairways, and thought that would mess with their guys. Well, now they're doing the same thing with us. They have harvested roughhouse that is absurd.

So imagine you have a fairway that's somewhere between 20 to 35 yards. They kind of wiggle. It's a very kind of video game-like look to the whole place. By the way, it's going to be great for matchplay with the water. I'm an architectural snob. I'm just getting that out right now. It's dreadful golf architecture in the sense of the look of it and the fakeness and a bunch of other dumb features.

But the water is interesting. There are clumps of holes that are going to make these amazing amphitheaters like nothing else we've seen in a Ryder Cup. I think noise is even going to be an element in terms of guys looking over to a green watching another match, which we don't usually get a lot of in these events. Usually the holes are so isolated. So that's another cool little element it adds. But you have these kind of wiggling, snaking fairways, and they widen out usually at a spot, which you say, okay, well, that's great.

but usually there's water on one side. And then over on the other side, you have rough that's maintained for about 10 paces at like three inches, and it is thick, ryegrass, poa, that kind of thing. And then off of that, it's just this jungle crap of irrigated stuff that's like five, six, seven, eight inches in spots. It's hack out if you can find it rough. So the idea is that basically it discourages kind of some bomb and gouge stuff. And I guess it's a way to try and make Dustin Johnson, Brooks Kepka, Justin Thomas, Tony Fee now, some guys who might just be tempted to have a partner, put one in the fairway, and then try to get the team further down the hole in four ball.

But like I said, I think it could backfire. I look at the European team and it's like, okay, well, that's great for Paul Casey if he's striking the ball well. It's great for Sergio, who had a nice week last week, and is coming in with a little more confidence now and likes this golf course. It's great for Fleetwood. I think Terrell Hatton will love it. Molinari for sure. And Alex Noren. Alex Noren, you already know how I feel in some of those prop bets.

The guy won here. He's getting no love from the. the bookies as possibly for, you know, most points earned for the European, best rookie. He's got no love. And I think it could be great for him, Oluson, Poulter, maybe. But I look at Rose, who's pretty accurate and Stenson, who's very accurate. But Rahm and McElroy, those are the two I just keep going back to, like, looking at this golf course and thinking, they're kind of hate this. This is not what they like to do.

This is not their kind of gall. So anyway, that's the cool element of the golf course that it, they've gone with a tactic. It wasn't a secret. And now we're going to find out if it works or if the golf course plays no role and it just ends up being great golf. And these guys are kind of not phased by. But man, there's some scary looking T shots out there and some that make you just want to kind of steer it or kind of block it out. And then once you do, it is serious hackout stuff. I will say I did find this year's French Open instructive, the back nine.

I watched it. I made a point of sitting down in late June, early July, watching that Sunday round because I just wanted to see what that back nine was like for the purposes of this very Ryder Cup competition and what kind of challenges. And it's apparent. It's obvious based on the way that the guy is finished, that those T-balls are extremely intimidating and that there is there are there's hazard everywhere there's trouble you can find trouble without trying very hard and i liked this this i like this tactic by the euros of taking you know

hazel teen uh you know what was uh cut in a way and and prepared in a way to create the ultimate birdie fest and we had that and it clearly benefited the u.s team to be able to hit the ball anywhere recover and just really have a shootout. This is not going to be a shootout. This is going to be a ground game, I think. Now, with the water, you have to carry the ball some. But I think that you always want to emphasize that ground game component, right? Well, yes, but here's what's happened.

So we're now here in the fall. And this course is way more lush than what they saw back then. Everything has got, now I wasn't here, but I watched and saw what you saw on a lot of run and a firmness to it. I mean, I've even had Europeans say this place was lynxie, which is hilarious. But it is very lush house. And so it is going to be a more aerial golf course than it was in the summertime. And it's also holding very well on the greens.

So I think you're going to see a little more of that game favor. Well, if that's the case that necessarily means. That tilts back towards the U.S. Because that's the way the guys have been playing, you know, for, for six weeks now. Really since the Open Championship, they've been playing that style of golf. So that that that that, that, um, say, minimizes the advantage otherwise that I would have said the euros might obtain.

All right. Yeah. I, so what we'll say, I think it's just going to be an interesting component of the matches. I would say them compared to past Rider Cups, this golf course is going to be way more interesting than anything we've probably seen in a long, long time because of its role as a sort of a protagonist in this whereas like hazel team had one or two holes that really intervened in a match and really got the guys looking at what the other people were doing and was that third player in the in the game but this one I think has way more holes

like that and that's why it's going to be I think that's more fun a lot of people say no I don't want the course to be a part of this I want to be the players against the other players players, and I say BS on that. I think it's great fun when we have this third protagonist in the golf course. And the Europeans have no plans to put every pin in the middle of the green line like the U.S. did at Azelty, which they're kind of bitter. They should be. It was bad. It was just dumb. It was embarrassing. And it wasn't necessary. I wasn't embarrassed. All we did was go out there and kick a ass. I'm never embarrassed by kicking ads, brother. Yeah, all right. Let me just give you a couple quick notes. And we'll take a quick break. Yes.

But just a few things to keep in mind house when we get to these prop bets. You know, the U.S. is 26, 13, and 2 all time. But of those 13 wins for Europe, and I call it Europe, even though for a long time it was obviously Great Britain and then Great Britain and Ireland. But eight of those 13 wins have come in the last 11 matches. So I think people forget how well the Europeans have dominated at times in this, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the. the modern era, even though the U.S. won 1711 at Hazeltine, and it was a blowout and the largest winning margin for the U.S. in almost four decades. Format, course, House, in case people aren't sure, it's basically the same format since 1979, 28 matches over three days.

Winning team has to get 14 and a half points, 1414. It's a tie. U.S. retains the cup. they're going to open with eight four ball, excuse me, with four ball matches. For Friday, for Saturday morning, they've been doing the four ball first. This is now the sixth consecutive year they've been doing that. You know, there is the option to start, the home team has the option to flip the format. The Europeans like to start with the four ball. And if they get a tie and they feel like foursons is their strength, they go out and do well in the afternoon, and they go home and have a nice dinner.

So that's the thinking there. If you start to look at some of the numbers, though, the Trends House, the U.S. has kind of closed the gap on a lot of the things like Foresome's advantage that we've talked and heard all about. And so singles play, I think, is going to be the most interesting component of this. With the U.S. coming off, a pretty bad singles performance at the President's Cup for their by their standards. Usually we dominate. But in the last five rider cups, Europe has narrowly outscored the U.S. in the force and format, 20 and a half to 19.5. So that perception of U.S.

not able to play alternate shot might be a little bit overrated. So just to me of looking at stuff, that's one of the things that really stood out. And one other thing before we get into some of these propets. I don't know if you read the new golf magazine, Mark Brody, before the captain's picks were made, said the U.S. based on his computations, and he's quite good

at this stuff. Yeah, well, let's remind the people, Mark Brody, the creator of strokes gained. Creator of strokes gained. I mean, the guy who created golf analytics. Which has become, you know, really, really valuable, and it's a great stat. And as more people understand it, as I understand it,

as you understand it, it's lot of fun. And as they use it in clever ways, it's just become a brilliant, brilliant creation. Yes. And so anyway, he gives the U.S. a 39% chance to win an 8% percent chance of a tie. Again, those were before the picks. Wait, wait, wait. Does that mean he gives Europe a 61% chance? That means he gives Europe a correct. Well, yes, if you put in a 53 and then if you, well, no, no, a tie wouldn't include a win for them. So they have a 53% chance. chance. 47 for the U.S. because a tie, obviously. Ah, the tie. Okay. So. Got it.

53. Okay. And if you're looking at any other props, I don't know about anything getting on where matches get to, but only 39% of the matches have reached the 18th Hall. So I would not set up a chair there. That's in the last five Ryder Cups, FYI. And they haven't done anything to this golf course where they changed the routing. so that the traditional 18th is not the 18th or any of that kind of crazy stuff, right? That is correct. Okay, good.

So I won't be confused that way. Yeah, exactly. So for everybody here, and it's a great setup in terms of the amphitheaters. And again, the first hole is next to the 18th, which is interesting for matches going out as maybe a few are coming in at the end. 15th hole is right next to the 18th. And then the 16th is a beautiful part three with this great little. amphitheater and a huge video board and huge corporate chalet building things and that's going to be a sensational part three with with water and play and some kind of a weird hill of rough long which will

make the backpins kind of interesting there too so a sensational venue from that point of view it really is going to just blow away i mean like when you think about whistling straits where we're going next time the United States. Couldn't be worse in terms of swarms of holes and, you know, one match waiting to watch a putt over on the green, you know, in view. None of that will happen on the sling straits. It's just couldn't be worse for, you know, as an arena, let's call it. This is like the ultimate arena for a Ryder Cup. So I understand why the Europeans love it so much and are so excited to, uh, to show it off. And some of the French people apparently will, uh, we'll, uh, will know about the matches here soon. So, maybe, maybe. Well, let's take a break and

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All right. So now, what do you want to talk about on the Rider Cup going forward? You want to get into some of these fun prop bets? Is there anything else about the teams, the vibes you want to cover before we, because I think we'll get some, it'll be fun to cover a few of these things and kind of speculate. I mean, I picked a few. Some are just dumb, but some are really fun. I want to talk about all of them, and I want to talk about them in the context of the guys.

And particularly who's in form, which guys do we trust? Who do we think can flip a switch? And I want to start with one guy, one American. Let's talk about the American point total props first, if you're okay with that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's a topic that's very crucial that I think we need to get to the bottom of. Okay. And that is the most points score, the American team.

Yeah. The odds have the leader there. is Dustin Johnson, right? Yeah, I don't know why I wrote Tommy Flewwood in with the Americans. I'm just looking at the list now. He was, now I know why I couldn't find him on the list because I was looking at the American list. How am I doing?

Yeah, they have Dustin Johnson at plus 450 and Brooks. Okay. Plus 550. I have a very important question for you. I wouldn't take either one of those. Well, let's just wait. I have a question for you. Has anybody seen Paulina?

Yes. My understanding is she is in the country. She's in the country. She is in the country. You notice that the only photograph of the team coming off the plane, there were two. There was a team photo with Jim Fierich and his wife, and then the players and the vice captains, all 14 of them. And then there was a photo of Tiger and his lady friend, and they all looked great, you know, black suit, white shirt, open collar. They looked classy and understated, and I'm sure the French were like,

Oh, nice. They didn't come in their pajamas down the plane. But no wag photos. The wags were kept private, and they didn't want the wags to be seen, but she is in the country. I don't know if this is a good thing. Well, let's talk about it. It's only Tuesday. And over the course of the week, like no other event on the PGA tour or any professional golf level.

are the wives and girlfriends more prominently featured. I mean, they're riding in the carts with the vice captains. They're tracking their men, and they're there to provide moral and other support, all the support that's necessary to the combatants. And I just think it's very interesting, given the publicly reported state of the relationship

between Dustin Johnson and Paulina Gretzky, not married, by the way, where will DJ's headbeat? Now it did not impact or affect in any way, shape, or form his ability to close out Sunday with a scintillating round and put himself into solo third at Eastlake. That was impressive.

And he showed no ill effects. That was a lovely 67 he threw up there for his standalone seven under. But, you know, it's been a quiet playoffs for DJ, right? Lot light. Previous years, we see him going out there and grabbing the bull by the horns and throwing himself into the mix for the $10 million bucks. It wasn't really in the mix for the $10 million this year on any basis other than the points that he had accumulated leading up to the playoffs. Yeah, so it's going to be fun to see who he gets paired with. Obviously, a lot of people think he and Kepka will be a team. They didn't play together in the practice round today, but that doesn't mean a whole lot.

It was Tiger and DeCambeau and Mickelson and Reed were in one group, which I read. I read. I read. read a lot into it, but they were, we were told, we were told not to read into that. Oh, sure. I'll read into it. Okay. So I, I, I, I, I, plus 450 though, for Dustin as, as, as our top point score, I think is, is, is off base, you know. Bad price.

I think, uh, Ricky at, at plus 800 is a lot more attractive. I think he's going to kind of, I think he's going to thrive on this golf course. Uh, it seems like it's one that's just well suited to him. And we'll find out how much he really likes. likes it, but it seems like one that he should enjoy. Well, and his, his, uh, his performance, I think he's going to play a lot. I think he's going to win a lot. Who?

Tiger. Yeah. Well, I'm not, I'm not touching Tiger in this. I, I worry with Tiger. No. That there will be, um, at some point, a waning of the energy. I, I, I, there is a prop here. How many rounds will he play?

I like four. Right. So we open the show with that. Yeah. So you, yeah, the four, uh, yeah, it's, it's plus, uh, it's 10 to for three or fewer matches. So we were pretty sure that's not happening. But again, like a month ago,

you would have been, you would have been jumping on that. Like, oh, yeah, I could see him just playing once each day and then singles. But now, I think the minus 160 for five appearances is, I think the bookies have it right.

Jim, Jim, Ferrick is putting a saddle on his back and he's going to ride him like George Wolf on C-Biscuit. So that makes, that creates this information. interesting possibility, which is Bryson D. Chambot

available at where's my pricing here? Wait a second. He's plus 1100 on top American. Top American. Yeah. So there's also a related prop to this. Who will

Tiger play Friday foursome? Yeah, I don't like that one. Who knows? Why is that? I'm more interested in top American points or rookie points. I just think those are more manageable. Well, I, this, what evidence is there that Tiger's going to play with anybody other than Bryson?

Well, he played with, with Reed and Phil today. There's been some speculation that if, I know you don't agree with it, but if the Reed speith pairing was to be broken up, that Tiger and Reed might be an option. Well, let me, let me, here, that's interesting.

the only combo that I would accommodate if you're going to break up, read and speed for maybe one match would be Phil and Reed. And in fact, I'm going to look for that combination. Is there a prop for that possibility? I have not seen it. Well, I'm going to look for that. I would imagine there will be one added after today's practice round. Because you and I both know Phil gets to pick who he played.

We know he gets to say, this is how often I want to play. And we know that he gets to say this is who I want to play with. and the prevailing wisdom has been that he would be paired with Fienau because of Tony's birdie ability and also the length is just prodigious. All right. Come on, but let's get to some value. Let's get to the, there's some things that stood out here to me.

Top point score, Europe. Tommy Fleetwood is plus 800. I'm all over that. I'm so with you on this. Francisco Mulanari, who should do very well on this golf course, plus 1,100. and Alex Noren plus 1,600. Alex Noren won the French Open here.

I think he is going to play a lot of matches. I think he's going to play well. I've heard the people who are out watching today said he looked absolutely sensational, hitting the ball beautifully, and he is getting no love. How about top overall points score? Alex Noren plus 3,300. 33 to 1. That's absurd.

Mullenari is 25. to one on overall points. Those are worth like a half unit. I mean, that's because Alex, you said it. He won here. It hasn't even been six months. He has great feelings for this place. I will tell you, the one I'm going to

bang pretty good here is Fleetwood at plus 800. I just love him on the big stage. I love him as the rookie in that position. He is fearless. He is a pin seeker. And I think he's going to be a terrific

teammate. I In the way that Thomas Peters burst on the scene a handful of years ago, Fleetwood's not bursting on the scene. We know about Tommy Fleetwood. All you have to do is watch a major if you want to see Tommy Fleetwood's name and that beautiful hair of his, although I still don't like the pants. But if you want to see a guy that's fearless on the big stage is Tommy Fleetwood is your man and he is my man at Plus 800.

I love that number for him. Okay. All right. So now what else stood out to you? By the way, down buried at the end of this fine prop bet list is, of course, a match prediction. They have the U.S. minus 105 and Europe plus 115. So the bookmakers like the U.S. to end the drought over here, which is fascinating. And I think it's going to be close.

I really do. It's not enough value for me. No. I wanted the Europeans to play terribly over the playoffs so that the odds would get driven up and there would be potentially some value in taking Europe. But that's not value at all. I'm not touching that. No, no, no.

It's, it's, it's, you're right. How about, uh, most points scored by any player over under is three and a half, which is an interesting number. I, I feel, I feel the, with the competitiveness this year that that's, that's not going to happen. That nobody's going to win four points. Wow. Yeah.

That's incredible. I don't know. It just feels like the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, are deep. And the quality of play is such that, again, now a whole bunch of people may come in very tired and hit a wall and we'll never know what wrong. Or they just, the pressure got to them as a can in the Ryder Cup. It's brutal.

It's incredible. I mean, the first T-shot, I don't know how those few guys are going to be able to take it back. It's unbelievable, but not only the grandstand, but then you have water left and you have this lost ball crap down the right. It is terrifying and it'll be freezing bright and early. But yeah, I kind of like the under. It's plus 100. Again, not a great value, but kind of a fun one just to keep in mind.

What's the over? Minus 130. Oh, I don't like that. That's not enough value. I love the over, though. What else? What jumped out at you here and kind of making a statement about the matches and what people are seeing? Well, I am going to do, I'm going to, I'm going to,

to create a Tommy Fleetwood Memorial. I'm going to take him in kind of all his iterations. Top rookie point score European, I'm going to play that. Top rookie point score across the board. Both teams, I'm going to take him in that.

He's plus 450 in all rookie points score. On the European point score, he's plus 220. He is what do we say? plus 800. as top European point score.

So that's 8 to 1. And then overall top point score, he is 18 to 1. So I'm going to touch all of those. He has won on this golf course. In the 2017, he did. He missed a cut this year, but he won last year. Yeah, I just love him on this stage. He has gigantic Cajonis.

I just think he's up to the task. I think in the same way that we saw Peters just burned. down the house. That's what I expect at a Tommy fleet with this year. Okay. I like it. I have nothing to argue with you on that. And it is interesting the form that that guy showed at the French Open. Sergio was tied for eight, Terrell Hatton, T-16, Pulter T-21, ROM was T-5. So they had some people play very well here. And a lot of people believe that Thomas Bjorn left off Rafa Cabrera-Bao because he did not show great form. him on this golf course.

And we'll see. He has an amazing match play record. And that's somebody, I still think they're going to miss on this team because he likes playing or he gets along well with John Rom. They were going to be a good team. But he's not here. So there you go. What about you?

What are you going to do? I have one other bet that I'm definitely going to make. Well, what do you like that? I would do exactly what you're doing. Only I'm all in on the Alex Noren train. I think that's just where the values. I don't understand the lack of respect for. what he's done here and the likelihood that he's going to be a horse for them.

It just seems to me that he's primed and ready for that. But, you know, there's a lot of love for the Rose Stenson duo and what they'll do and how Rose will bring Stenson's game up, and Rose is obviously playing very good golf. So that's respectable and understandable. Yeah, all those things make sense. They're a formidable. I'm always concerned as it,

when I look at our team, the U.S. team, and I see that Rose Stenson matched up, I'm like, I'm concerned. If it's Speeth and Reed against Stenson and Rose, you know, that gives me pause. That may be the vehicle by which Captain Furik considers breaking up Speeth and Reed if they go out against Stenson and Rose. If that's the way the matchups work and don't have the same kind of success that they've experienced in their history. Another fun one. Top captains pick points score. Tiger Woods plus 300. Henrik Stenson 550, KC. 550, Poulter 600, plus 600.

Bryce and D. Chambot plus 600. Sergio plus 650. Tony Fienau, who we haven't talked it all about. Plus 900. And Phil McKleson plus 1100. The prop bet makers at Cool's cool. What is this called? I already forgot the name.

I mean, they did one. wonderful work, but man, somebody there does not like Phil Mickelson. He is just at the bottom of every list. And, I mean, he had two bad weeks. He's somebody who does bring it with match play. He gets up for it. He loves it. Well, you never can discount him in this format.

Just the way we haven't, we're not going to discount Patrick Reed, even though it seems like things aren't training well. But he's another person who loves match play. Yeah, I think out of all those names that you mentioned, the guy that I'm going to, um, definitely sprinkle some American greenbacks on is Deschambeau. Because if he is paired with Tiger and Tiger is out there playing the number of times we think that he's going to play, we know that Bryson is in incredible form.

We know that he is a dogged match play competitor, you know, as the U.S. amateur winner. We know that he has the right mindset. He showed up to congratulate Tiger on the 18. Green at Eastlake wearing a beat Europe t-shirt. I mean, he is loving this stuff. He is down for the moment. And I think, you know, that boy genius aspect of him is going to have him in just the right kind of frame of mind for this thing. I feel like in a way also he will be protected because the tiger freak show, the tiger hysteria,

that will carry over across the pond. You know, Bryson just gets to do his thing. No eyes are on. There's no pressure on him to do anything. All the pressure is on Tiger, because Tiger is back, baby. So I like this. I am going to, I feel like the lock of all locks,

and I know you didn't like it, is Deschambeau at plus 250. That's better than two to one odds that he will play with Tiger on Friday. I am going to bet that. But I'm also going to bet Bryson for a bunch of these points scored. Okay. So the two guys I'm riding are Fleetwood and Bryson.

I'm going to play Bryson on the rookie bets. I'm going to play Bryson on the most points bets, and I'm going to play Bryson as paired up with Tiger. All right. Well, I think it's going to go either way with him. He's either going to be all in or he's just going to be so jazzed and so amped up that he's all over the map. My sense is he'll be good. He'll be solid.

What can we do to calm him down? Let's go feed him something. Oh, I'm sure there's some nice rosés, although something tells me he's not drinking this week. Yeah, come on, a beautiful Bordeaux and a delicious foie gras with a starter of oysters and then, you know, cassoulet, a beautiful casselais. Let me send Bryson a menu. I'm going to put it out on the Twitter. Bryson, I'm sending you some food, bro. All right, Housewell, it's been a lot of fun chatting with you about all this.

Just a little reminder to people. Now, a lot of this golf is going to take place at very strange hours, especially on the west coast of the U.S. You're nine hours behind. It's going to be tough. But Golf Channel has the action all day, Friday, of course, NBC on the weekend. It should be great fun. Those are the feeds to watch. There are no alternate feeds.

Just get the channel on, leave it on all day, and the drama will unfold. I'm sure we'll have the usual theatrics. the swag will be flowing. The cold weather swag is always entertaining. Well, there was a, there was a prox, Shaq. Will there be a shush? Will any of the players make a shushing gesture? Yeah, I, that's going to be courageous for somebody on the U.S. side to pull that.

Oh, I can't wait. We're doing it. I'm on that one. Yeah, I don't know what the number is, but that's a yes for House and House's wallet. That is a big fat yes. Oh, yeah. on that one. Anyway, well, House, I look

forward to chatting with you on the Twitter about this, and it's just a reminder, of course, Shackhouse was brought to you by Calloway again today. Hey, you love this pod. Go to your podcast provider, whatever it is, where you get those nice subscriptions. It just comes so naturally to your phone.

And check out the incredible ship show, the fitting room pod. Calloway is pushing out some great pods right now. Excellent content, whether it's kind of wonky stuff, that you need to know about your clubs or just fun stuff about the life and times of the people of Callaway and the players who play for them.

Yeah, I love the Callaway podcast. I'm starting to get a little nervous shack that they're trying to creep up on the Shaggos. I know. I know. They have their lanes and they're very enjoyable. I'm always a devoted ship show listener. Just to hear what's going on over there at Team Calloway.

All right. Well, House, enjoy the Ryder Cup. I can't wait. I'll be covering it all over the podcast. place for my site, golf week.com and golf channel. And I'll give out

my final selections Thursday, as is my way. I like to give out on the Twitter, you know, where I'm going to allocate some capital. So I get on the Twitter

and do that Thursday, hit on some of these props that we just talk about. Good. And Shaq, we will be back Sunday. Hopefully with the, I just,

you know what? I'm rooting for the U.S., but I'm really rooting for just a great competition. Me too. As always. Yeah. Because that makes for the very best.

Shuck. Oh! part of the Ringer podcast network. Jack, we have given out some very good advice. I hope some very smart instruction to all the listeners out there if they're thinking about their Ryder Cup pools, their Ryder Cup selections. You know what is not smart, Jack?

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