Fairway Rollin' - Tiger’s Return, Jon Rahm’s Potential Move to LIV Golf, and a Universal Golf Ball Rollback

Episode Date: December 6, 2023

House and Hubbard are back, and with a busy winter season, they run through the recent cycle of golf stories. They start off by discussing Tiger Woods’s recent return at the Hero World Challenge and his playing future (03:02). Then, they talk about the rumors that Jon Rahm will head to LIV Golf (15:43). They end off by discussing the finalists for the PGA Tour Player of the Year, the universal golf ball rollback, and more (39:27)! Hosts: Joe House and Nathan Hubbard Producer: Eduardo Ocampo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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To this golf podcast. In December, unlike any other. Oh yes, my friends. This is a very special early holiday edition of Faraway Rowland. Golf podcast on the Ringer Podcast Network by Birdie Buddies. I am Joe House. starter joined by my incomparable accomplice, our PGA tour correspondent, Boots on the ground, Nathan Hubbard, bonus, holiday special edition.

We've got six things in 60 minutes. I am your starter. The leaf rule is in effect. We're going to take down the topics of the day. Golf apparently never sleeps. It's becoming like the NBA and the NFL. No breathers in the office. season. We're just cranking along here, my Eagle enthusiasts, it is a two ball. We are

swinging simultaneously. Nate Dogg, how is your rollback? Not a lot going on at the moment, house. I mean, it's all going on constantly. It is on. This is supposed to be the downtime, the quiet part of the season, the time in which all these guys desperately wanted a break from golf to rest their bodies in their minds so they could gear up for the start of the season on the 1st of January and they are not getting it. This is as much of a busy season for golf

as we've had in a long time. We've got deadlines coming down to the wire. We've got rumors flying around of players moving. We've got Grant Thornton, PGA, LPGA stuff. We've got so much house. Yeah. Like the greatest player of the modern era,

I'm distinguishing him from the greatest player of the previous era. Tiger, Eldrick Woods, Eldrick Tiger Woods, His Holiness the Tiger, playing golf, walking on a golf course. Sort of. I'm not going to say that he was walking on water, but it was the best walking, let's be honest, the best walking we've seen out of Tiger since his accident. That's my humble submission to you, Nate.

Doug. Yeah, it was difficult to see him at the Masters, correct? Yeah. I mean, it just, it was a, he was laboring. Yeah. So I'm of a few minds about this. The first thing that everyone has to remember is that Tiger Woods is the most mentally gifted athlete potentially of this or any other generation. It's him and MJ, right? Yeah. That is the greatness that always existed. And so he never comes into a tournament and says, well, you know, I'm not sure what I've still got. It comes into every tournament and says, I think I can win. Absolutely.

I still believe I can win. And then he stands up off the podium and occasionally the PGA tour will track him with the camera and they show him stepping off that podium as gingerly as any human being has ever stepped off a podium. In Mexico, for the tournament that was at his place, they showed him walking down a flight of Spanish architect staircase, a beautiful staircase.

His gate was anything but beautiful. And there is now a very clear gap between what he says on stage and what he's able to do, and he's allowed to be in that place. but man, I mean, I got three texts from professional golfers, only one of whom is related to me with that video. And they all said, is it me? Or is he not walking right? Like, how in the hell is he doing?

He looks jacked upstairs house. Well, that's the one. I thought that was what was going to be. Now, let's be honest, you don't have to name names. Those texts didn't just say, look at how he's walking. They said, look at how that. man renovated the upstairs apartment because God damn. He went to the, I don't know, whatever the fanciest furniture store is and he loaded up. Mark McGuire's locker. Yeah.

Oh, you said it. Not me. No, he looks terrific. He looks terrific. But the gate does not look terrific. It doesn't and I just can't imagine the mental toughness it must take to play through. what is just so obvious, 24-7, 365 pain. I think he loves the competition still. He told us he intends to play golf once a month. I mean, he's basically going on the working man country club circuit. If I get out once a month, it's a great month. Tigers off.

And look, he was long. In many days, he was very, very long. I buy that there was rust. He was doing weird. I mean, his par five scoring was not good this week. Everything else was okay. And he showed the glimpses and he made a 48-foot putt. And it's all still there.

I just so want golf in this moment in time to not pretend that Tiger Woods is the savior of the moment. Because as we will talk about in the other 10-minute segments of this, podcast unlike any other. There is so much happening. Every moment that we get with Tiger is a gift, and he is no longer going, you know, Larry Bird ain't walking through that doorhouse.

But look, he is that savior because he is still that dude that everybody wants to see play. And if he plays the Genesis, and if he plays the players, and if he plays the four, majors. I'm watching.

That leaves room for a couple of. We're all watching. We're all watching. No, everybody's watching. The, you know, the thing with his body and what he seems to be efforting. I mean, I, you know, we're just, I didn't get a chance to sit down and interview the man, but he's still generating swing speed. Clearly.

He can't use the foundation. It's not a, it's not a swing that's, that's, you know, coming out of the, out of ballast. It's a top, it's a top heavy swing, but he's still got the swing speed. So, you know, if he can stay healthy in view of the laboring, walking and his back, which has had all those multiple, you know, everything's interconnected. And was hurting him this week. Yeah.

Right. It's all interconnected. Every moment is a gift. I think the story of this man since 2010, almost, has been injury, injury, he comes back, we get a respite, and then something else happens or something else fails him, because the man has just punished his body both on and off the golf course. It's just the story of Tiger. The greatness always comes with the Achilles heel, and he has some well-documented Achilles heels. But listen, I love this athlete more than anything.

Do not hear any hate. What I'm just cautioning us against is expecting too much, because it's going to make those, maybe he doesn't win the Masters, but how fun would it be if he's in the hunt at Riviera? If he can get right, just I think that's got to be okay in this moment because he's 48 years old.

He's just, when you look at the limp and you look at the gate, he is laboring, and I just don't think for him that laboring is ever going to go away. We always thought, well, we'll get Tiger back, and because he's Tiger Woods, he'll have the same pure skill sets,

and he can win into his feelings. 50s the same way Mickelson won at Kiowa, right? But it's a different thing because Tiger sure has all those skills. But man, he does not have the, he's not taking his leg up over the ropes like Phil had the flexibility to do even at 52. Well, the next segment that I have teed up for you is, of course, the business of golf because it is the natural segue to the observations that we are. making. Now, we believe it is deliberate that Tiger Woods put himself on the policy board.

We know it to be true. He told them, I must be on this policy board. We think it was not a coincidence that Rory McElroy has withdrawn from the policy board. Not a coincidence in the sense that an entity that he has a business relationship with, an investment in the form of Fenway partners seems likely to be making an equity investment in the PGA tour. Here is the business of golf angle that I'm going to pitch to you as it relates to Tiger Woods. Every time Tiger Woods is on television, those eyeballs are the real deal eyeballs. And if he can make a cut in however many events or if we're getting Saturday and Sunday Tiger eyeballs, that is a boost to the entire enterprise. That changes what the tenor of the PGA

tour's television presence might look like and feel like. I think it's deliberate that he is in this shape. He's worked himself into this shape. He's saying that he intends to play once a month. We all have as sports fans and as golf fans. I mean, we're golf nerds. But look, once a month, circle the calendar, tigers out there playing, and those events are going to be the events that we want to see, right? Yes. And we got into this place because Tiger Woods cured all ills.

He covered up all warts. He masked the horizon. You didn't even have to look at the horizon because he was a cash cow machine. and what is now readily apparent after these tumultuous three, four years in golf is that there was no leadership

thinking around corners and thinking about how to build for the next generation. What happens when there is no tiger? And that is where we stand today. We have no star who comes even remotely close, and I know we're going to talk about Rom and the rumors in a minute.

Not a star that comes even remotely close to him. there's not a group of guys who compare. The money and the tournaments goes away when he's not there. We didn't learn how to tell the stories of people other than Tiger to make it compelling because we didn't have to. The entire sport of golf got lazy as fuck because Tiger dragged them along for two decades. And so what makes me nervous about what you just said is it's only buying a very short window of time. depending on the decisions that get made

over potentially the next few days' house, golf could be distilled down to fucking tennis where people only care four times a year. It's the same small group of people who are always in the finals. We don't tell the stories about anybody else. And the sport literally gets diluted to the point where it's just not what you and I have fallen in love with.

So as much as I love Tiger and I so badly want to watch him win a gust or the U.S. Open or something, go win a tournament. There is a part of me that because of my love for the game wants tire to drive the bus behind the scenes to a place that does not require him anymore because where we are is a reflection of his dominance,

overshadowing, running a real business and creating a real long-term viable option for the sport. No argument with any of that. observation. And I think, you know, your, your, your boy, Tim Fincham, uh, you know, in, in retrospect, if you were really doing the business case is the one who, with the missteps and the misfires, but that's another argument for another day. I hold him responsible for the dissatisfaction, the disaffection of the rest of world players that are really the folks that are the bread and butter of this upstart live league and that could be the thing going forward

that that has two different kinds of professional golf competitions. Unpack unpack that for me because you believe that Fincham did not pay enough attention to the rest of the world and just put tournaments in Jackson, Mississippi. That is a fact. Yes, 48 tournaments in a calendar year. on PGA tour and trying to go around and sell them to every backwater and getting TV to allocate the resources and the infrastructure money to go try and service and an audience that really only exists for the top events and the major things.

No tournament regularly in New York, no tournament regularly in Chicago, no tournament regularly in any other real major city outside of Atlanta. Few others, Dallas, Los Angeles. And the rest of the world. I mean, you just watch the enthusiasm of these consecutive week events in Australia. In Australia. What's going on? Like how is that happening with that level of enthusiasm?

And the only presence, genuine presence is by Liv. Live has an event down in Adelaide. The tour doesn't have any kind of exposure to that. And we watched it, you know, in the President's Cup in 2019. It was thrilling. It was sensational. Yeah. Amazing.

In any event, let's go ahead and jump into the other aspect of this business of golf thing, which is that the shifting sands under our feet around the leverage of the PGA tour, and it's still rival until it's not a rival, the Liv Tour, in the form of one John Rodriguez-Rom, He has more names in his name, and I don't mean to be disrespectful. But yeah, let's talk about John Rom. Because he's going to live, Nate Dog. He gone.

He gone. Yeah. It hasn't been formally announced, but he won't. I mean, you know, everybody, the golf Twitter paid attention to the fact that he is not playing the MX event of which he is the reigning champion. The field announcement came out and John Rom's not. listed amongst.

Well, let me caveat that one. Okay, okay, okay. The caveat on that is, that is the same place where the year before he won, he basically threw his putter into the ground

and said, you know, hot mic's picking him up with the fucking piece of shit putting contest. Like, he does not like that tournament. And with the layout this year, with AT&T being an

elevated event, with RIV being an elevated event, there's a lot of guys who are not going to play Amex. And in fact, like my own brother, if he'd qualified for those first two events through FedEx Fall, was not going to play Hawaii or Amex. He was going to start at Torrey Pines. And so I think you'll see Tori be a place where a lot of guys start. But look, there's one counter to this, which is he has said on multiple occasions, and I know that I'm already undoing my argument by saying that, that he's not going to talk about this anymore. I mean, he said, this is the last time I'm going to say it. The only time I'm going to say it,

I'm going to pledge my fealty to the PGA tour. If he addresses every rumor that gets started by the live bots, you know, he's going to be responding to everything that comes out. At some point, you've got to just let it ride. It is also fair to say that historically, when these rumors have swirled, he has shot them down. It sure feels like in this moment, where there's smoke, there's fire.

And so, House, I have an opinion on this, but you know, you and I spoke offline about this. There's a lot of people who are like, oh, he's changing his mind now. Well, come on. Like, you can't change your mind. There is a ton of shit that has happened since he pledged his loyalty and fealty to the PGA tour.

There are a lot of reasons why John Rom now would be considering live in this moment. But it is also, I think, a majestic chess move from Yasser once again, if he actually in the middle of this negotiation, seeing that the PGA tour is talking to other people, recognizing that he's got some weakness, says, I'm going to go take a top three player in the world right now to try to force your hand. But House, talk to us. Are there, do you feel differently about Rom going to live now than you did before June the 6th? Of course, of course, June to 6th changed everything. It's just the point that you're making. And I'll fill in a little bit of the detail that I'm kind of hearing in the undercurrents. Rom is dissatisfied with the leadership, both in the form of the commissioner of the tour,

but also in the player leadership. And by that I mean Rory McElroy's Club. Yes. He is not. He is not. And some of this has to do with the fact that he lives in Arizona. But he's not part of the jupe life.

He's not going to Grove 23, not hanging with Tiger and JT, not invited to participate up front in an equity investment in the TGL. Now, he could have got there. he could have told him I need an equity investment. But I've been, you know, I think that's a reasonable basis for him to be looking at the current leadership, both in terms of the players and the actual, you know, smallest D you can imagine, decision makers.

Yeah. And there is, I believe, some genuine resentment there. It is, of course, always been the case that he has not fealty, but a great relationship with the Mickelson family and the role that the Mickelson family played in his growth and maturity as a golfer from Arizona State into his professional career. Obviously, his relationship with Sergio Garcia is extremely well known. and, you know, I think he in always along the way, in his describing of his attitude towards the guys that made the decision to go to live, he was always pretty generous. You never heard him out, you know, hurling insults or epithets at any of those guys. And the amount of money, I believe, is 300 million.

Right now, the telegraph has published a piece that says 450 million pounds. So I think it's 300 up front, 300 U.S. cash up front, and then some back-end stuff. But you don't get that check, you know, sort of upfront. You and I have documented well on this show, our resentment and distaste for Live. The format, what it represents, where the money came. from the purpose of it. I have absolutely no problem at this moment in time with John Rom going and getting that check. I think the PGA tour has absolutely fumbled the ball on this. And I mean the leadership. I think the fact that these meetings with eight outside investors are happening

in October and November. House, we were talking about this on this. this show, us two dummies, talking about on this show back in June, as soon as this happened, we said, yo, number one, I'm telling you through my back channels, DOJ going to have a problem with this. Number two, just for the sake of leverage, you better, because every single deal point that matters in that agreement that was announced has been punted to the long form, you better go find an alternative in the event that the DOJ doesn't let you do this deal or that the Saudis become unreasonable when it comes to putting rubber to the road. The meetings were happening in October and November. Like, we still didn't have these things big. Why were they not happening

on June 7th? Right. On July 6th, on August 6th, like, there's not enough time. And so maybe you extend it and you go, but these dynamics in negotiation, have been fumbled throughout the process, going on CNBC and giving the guy on the other side of the table exactly what he wanted, which was validation of being a good human being and somebody that businesses could trust.

You gave it to them on CNBC. And now, without developing an alternative quickly, you've given them a ton of leverage as this time clock starts to run out. And they're no dummies. So they said, fuck it. In the event, we are going to lose out to this and American private equity or American investors

are going to take this opportunity away from us. The DOJ forced out the non-poaching clause. Let's go grab the biggest guy who will think about this. And that's John Rump. John, take the check. Take the check because I hope it forces at some point a reasonable reconnecting of the best players in the world playing golf.

You should go get paid before these dummies figure it out. Well, that's the calculus to me. I think that when he's sitting and trying to handicap how all of this might ultimately shake out, I think it's not insane that even if he spirits off for this 2024 season and maybe 2025, the whole thing is going to be back on some kind of unified platform in soon enough. Yes, because nobody cares if live, if John Rom goes to live. you and I will not watch it more often because he's over there. Definitely not.

I mean, you know, part of the thing that's out there in some of these reports, and we'll see as the announcement gets made and, and folks start making appearances, is that he's asked for a change in the format at Live, that there is, you know,

the reintroduction of a cut, where I should say the introduction since it's never been in a cut, and that they play 72 holes, both of which would immediately, I think cure the OWGR issue. Yes. Let, let guys,

you know, under the official world golf rankings, um, get some of a breath of that fresh air again. Um, but, you know, I,

that all remains to be seen for, from his perspective, he is an outsider. He's in the Arizona life, not the jupe life. Yeah. Um, he thinks that,

that he is at, at least as valuable as the top five or six guys in terms of, a personality that shows up and can compete at the highest level and win majors and that that's valuable to the tour. And he doesn't think that he's going to get compensated for pledging that fealty that he pledged, that he has the pathway. Rory's got his equity. Rory won the PIP.

Tiger is Tiger. The other guys are satisfied with the PIP and whatever business interests they have. he thinks of himself in that tip top top four or five guys and he's not being treated fairly get that check and you know i think he could still have the thing that he's uh asserted is important to him as it relates to the tour and the history and and legacy missing out on two years of tour events does not at his young age deprive him of ultimately going out and and winning those events whenever this thing again uh ends up on a co-joined, rejoined platform, Nate, dog. Yeah. I think if you look at shots gained data from the last year, there is not a live player in the top 30. If you look at the data golf rankings,

there is not a live, Bryson DeShambos is 28th. The top live golfer is Bryson Deschambeau. So there are not to date the best players in the world over on that tour. Brooks Kepka's awesome victory. aside, like included. That's great. He won one. Great. There are guys who come out of that fit, but just in terms of consistent ongoing basis. Rom goes over there and it changes the calculus because I'm way less impressed with a Scotty Schaeffler win at Riviera or at Phoenix or or or if Rom is not in the field. He is a dog and it does change the way I feel about the sport. And what

sucks about this is it's not going to make more people watch live. It's going to make more people not watch golf. It's a complete loss for everybody involved in the equation except John Rom. And again, I do not blame him. All of the people whining, how could he change his mind? I tell you how he changed his mind. The whole thing is screwed up and you got to go take care of yourself in the same way that Rory and Tiger and others have taken care of themselves through this process. You got to just go at some point, go do it when they're hanging that check out there. It's not because he needs it or is grubby for the money. But I trust John Rom to be charitable more than I would.

The donkeys run in the PGA tour process right now. That's for sure. And you just basically made the case that I was trying to articulate in my typical clumsy fashion around why tigers return on a monthly basis. if ROM is missing and you you undermine the competition in that manner, Tiger's showing up on the scene, not in terms of what that does to the quality of the competition, but what it does in terms of genuinely creating interest in these events,

that's how you can compensate for it a little bit. But boy, does that put a lot of pressure on Eldra Tiger Woods to stay upright and healthy for the seven months, six, seven months that are in front of us. Okay. Our next topic, somewhat related, I guess. But House, before you go there, can we just make this point?

If you are live right now, this is your strategy. Your strategy now is kill the PGA tour because you can wait it out. Your strategy is Rom leaves. He joins us. And for the next two years, the PGA tour cannot get sponsors as excited. about this. They cannot get the TV rights as excited. The extra money that they're asking for from

the tournaments and all the, you know, additional amenities just do not end up working for the sponsors. And at some point, you've got the live guys getting paid well, by all accounts, treated well. You can say what you want about, you know, the characters who are involved over there, but the players, none of them are like, yo, this isn't exactly what I asked for. I mean, Brooks kept is complaining he didn't have the schedule. But it sounds like the tour treats everybody well and the tournaments are run. You're just biding your time and you're literally waiting for the tour to collapse in on itself so that all of those guys basically say, okay, let's come back together and live wins.

And however it gets reassembled, it gets done under the banner of what the Saudis put together. That is their strategy. And if they take ROM, right now in this moment, it looks pretty good. well let me ask you to clarify a bit RIP Charlie Munger there's nothing more powerful than patient capital and that's what the Saudis have well they have infinite patience

but you at the outset talked about the notion of killing the PGA tour I think where we're headed and you know we're kind of already there is a tour with maybe 15 events, maybe, right? It's the elevated events and then no reason to watch anything else.

Because really, the things in golf that support the industry in terms of the television, television entertainment product is the majors. And then of the 15 tour events, how many would you say are like, are there eight bread and butter? It's the players. It's Riviera. It's the memorial. Arnold Palmer, but nobody really cares. Phoenix, maybe. Tori usually feels like a big one because it's the first one that people actually pay attention to.

I mean, that's where we are. So that's the tour. That's the tour. There's the tour, right? Maybe Hartford, maybe Pebble because it's a course. But no, I mean, the people don't care about those. Right, right. So, you know, you can always do the stuff about, you know, it's the harbor town or whatever.

none of the Texas events. There's not a single Texas event. No, nobody cares about colonial. Right. Nobody's going to care about wherever they keep the Byron Nelson. It just, it doesn't matter. It does not matter. And what we found this year through the experimentation and through what I thought was a willingness

to try some things from the tour that they should be commended for was that when all these players came together, the ratings were great house. No tiger, by the way. But in those tournaments, they were up and people were watching. watching. And it was interesting to see all these guys go head to head. Because it was more times of the best players playing at the same time at the same, you know, competition. So it wasn't just the four majors. It was the four majors plus the six or seven additional times. Pardon me. But when you haven't invested enough in telling the stories of the guys who are not named Tiger Woods and you lose the reigning master's champ who, if nothing else,

everybody knows is that dog in John Rom. Like, it dilutes the field. Are you going to get, are you really going to talk yourself? I mean, Ludwig O'Bair may be super interesting and he may hang around, but like, we're not into him yet. Are you really going to talk yourself into Victor Hovland yet? Are you talking yourself into Shafley if he stays or Morikow? Like, it, we just, we've lost already. And when I say we, I just mean we as golf fans, right, have lost the window.

to build up the stories and the brands of these guys. Again, tennis is the best example. You don't know hardly anybody outside of the big three for decades. And that's why nobody watched the events in between. We're headed that way unless they completely rebrand the way they tell these stories. Well, let's see this upcoming full swing season. That will be interesting. And I'm, you know, we have some of our,

resources that could give us some indication of how some of these storylines are going to play out and what the emphasis will be. And we will nose around and share with all of our eagle enthusiasts out there what might be coming and whether that is a kind of lifeline to the stories that the Nate dog is observing are necessary. But look, a bunch of those stories reside among the, you know, the other podcast have been calling it the mule uprising, which I appreciate and enjoy. I mean, you know, Jim Herman is the ultimate mule. The anonymous petition seeking a special meeting with the PGA tour Illuminati. And this is a petition circulating where the signers want to talk to decision makers and the policy board about the following four subjects.

the allocation of FedEx points at various events. The number of limited field events contemplated in this schedule. The PIP, the impenetrable, inscrutable PIP, and the leadership policy board players representation. Those are the four topics, I believe. Now I get it right? Yeah. But who cares?

My brother is not signing that shit. Like, he's not cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. He understands that this tour goes the way of the stars, even if they're not remotely shining as brightly as they ought to be, even if they haven't been developed from a branding perspective by the tour to the point where they can take over in the post-Tiger era and carry the same weight in ratings, whatever. He knows that.

that if he wants to get in there, he's got to play better. He knows that. There's no special treatment he gets. Does he believe that there are interesting guys outside of the top 20 whose stories should be told and that actually golf tournaments have really interesting moments that aren't who's in the lead, right?

The cut cam, which Max Homa has been a huge champion of, we've been a huge champion up. Like, that's just drama. It's just sport drama that we waste every single week. It's actually interesting to see coming up 18, guys who are playing, right? All that does he believe that we can do better there and that those changes would benefit all? Yes. Does he think he deserves more money as a share of a tournament for finishing 25th?

Fuck, no. Well, that's because the money. comes from one place and properly, I think it's distributed to the right place. Yeah. I just wouldn't over...

Look, some guys come out and they vent their frustration. There's 200, you know, guys on tour, which is a lot. And amongst 200 guys on tour,

you're going to have a few who are just like, hey, they're going to... But I think there is a large, silent majority. Yeah,

they'd love to get paid more. But they also, know they're getting paid more right now than they ever have for being really freaking good at golf, but not the best 10 players in the world. And so you're either, and it also is not fair to say, shut up and take it. You have no voice because the golf tournament that we just watched last week with just 20 guys was boring as hell, dude. There was no fucking drama in that thing. It's great. Scotty won. Awesome. How much did you watch? None. Who cares? You know what? That's a lie. I watched every opportunity to catch a few holes of Tiger in a row.

You know, that's what I was watching. That's what I clicked in. And I could just watch Tiger for a little bit. Then I clicked off. That was it. When Willie Z, God love him, shaking off the rust, working out the kinks after back surgery, is plus 12 and he's in 20th. Like, who cares?

It's just dumb. It's not the same thing as an intriguing moment in golf where Lucas Glover could, you know, come up and go head to head with John Rom. So whatever. That's the way I feel about the sport. But I'm just telling you that I think the mules, as they've been deemed by others, are being probably unfairly represented by a few vocal peeps who, hey, try. Shoot your shot, man. Travis Kelsey got Taylor Swift.

Maybe you will be able to convince the leading players on the tour to be even more generous. in terms of what they flow down to players. But really, if you want to participate in that, play better. You are in some capacity the Washington Generals. Your job is to go play the Globetrotters and smile, and nobody cares what's on the name of the, you know, what the name is on the back of the jersey. No argument.

I think you're right. We'll keep an eye out to see whether or not the mule meeting, you know, actually goes down. fart. That's what I call it. Wet fart. A couple other things on our list before we get to the event of this week, which actually, you know, college football got super quiet on Saturday. I'm going to watch some of this golf. I'm going to watch, I guess I have to go to the CW. The promotions event for Live is happening this weekend, which I think has genuine stakes in it.

It's in Abu Dhabi. so I think that's some nighttime viewing. And then this Grant Thornton thing, and we will get to both of those events. But I do want to make one observation. It has to do with Scotty Sheffler. It has to do with him at the, at the hero. And it has to do with the fact,

limited field, Port Willsall-Torris with the broomstick. Scotty finished sixth. Here, I'm even going to be generous. I'm going to exclude Willsallet Torres. We're not going to say that Scotty finished sixth out of the twilight. because it's not really fair.

But let's say he finished sixth out of 19. That's top third performance. And all the reports about Scotty were that he was grinding his, yeah, strokes game putting. Sixth. He was grinding, grinding, grinding. Phil Kenyon was there

and they were spending extraordinary amounts of time on putting. He has a new putter. It looks like Cameron Newport to me, but I'm a big dummy. It's made by a company called Olson. but look, there'll look to me

my uninformed amateur eye some confidence, a different kind of confidence with the putter in hand. And that's noteworthy, which is why I've taken the two minutes to go ahead and put us on this path,

Nate, Doc. Yeah. I saw the end of it, and I saw when his lovely wife, who's a lovely human, came up and gave a big hug and said,

I'm so proud of you. And in the first couple minutes, I was like, this is a nothing tournament. Like, does he even care about the fact that he won? But then I think your point is exactly right. I think he's had a really tough go, man. He's had a really tough go. You talked about, you know, the guys that have,

this is supposed to be the quiet season, and there's supposed to be some rest and some recharging. And he disappeared between the Ryder Cup and, you know, this past weekend. properly so. I hope he was doing some some recharging but he also got into the lab. There's no two ways about it, right? Yeah, yeah. So I think that was

actually a very genuine moment and I think the guy who probably cared most about this tournament and the outcome is the guy who won the tournament. And that could be a good thing for our 2024 rooting interests. Speaking of

Scotty Sheffler, one of the five names put forth, as a nominee for player of the year. Let's look backwards, 2023. The five nominees, Victor Hovlin, Rory McElroy,

John Rom, Wyndham Clark, Scottie Sheffler, what does the tour do? Does the tour go ahead and stick John Rom in the eye on his way out the door and tell them,

you know, the four wins that you had over the course of the 2023 season and the master tournament that you won? Go suck a fat one. because you ain't here no mo we can't celebrate we can't put you on that p o why john rob didn't wait around to see whether or not he's going to win that uh i guess the grammy's leaving out zach brian it's like dude what are you doing yeah uh scotty's on that list uh scotty had a a tremendous

he obviously led the tour in scoring average and he had uh an unbelievable strokes gained performance The second best ever since Tiger, right? Yes. The data golf folks did some of that math. Yep, yep. And I think Justin Ray's done some of that math as well. But yes, right, because Justin Ray was doing it while we were talking about our major forecasting. Yes.

So, but he ain't going to win it. He did win the players at Phoenix. Yes. But he lost four other tournaments because of the putting issue that it appears he is feeling better about. So I just don't think you can do that. And I don't think you can give. player of the year, I mean, unless there's been an astronomical number of wins, I don't think you can give to somebody who has not won a major tournament. And that is my problem with Vic.

And it's why I think it would be hilarious if they give it to Victor, who by the end of the year sure looked like the best player in the world. Yes. In winning the FedEx Cup and in carrying it over to that birdie on the first hole at the Ryder Cup and on and on and on. Yes. I mean, even Victor, I think, at one point he was 10 under on Saturday, I believe, at this tournament. So, I mean, he sort of found ways to, he's still playing great golf. I just, he didn't want a major yet. Is he going to in 24? I'm pretty sure in our predictions pod, when we come back, we're going to talk about

Victor Hovlin winning a major in 24, but I just don't know that you can do it. Who do you give this thing to, House? Victor Hovlin, because, you know, the tour is nothing, if not consistent. he won the tour championship he won the playoff event um what have you done for me lately the answer is obviously rom rome deserves it uh now there was you know a difference between the first half of his season the second half of his season and you know he didn't finish out uh as strongly but i mean four wins plus the masters i think that's a that's a player of year to me yeah i mean i will never forget watching him bound up the stairs up that steep hill at Riviera.

Yeah. Into player dining to see his family. He had a huge smile on his face. He was just, it wasn't cocky. It was just confidence at peace, happiness. His family was all there. Like, that was on Thursday. And I just, I turned, I said he's going to win the golf tournament, Mark.

He did it. And I think he genuinely, for the purposes of one of the things we touched on earlier, like winning that Tiger tournament at Riviera significant. Like that's a thing that legacy-wise matters to him. I think he'd loved being on that podium with Tiger. And so that's why I regard him taking $300 million and basically taking two years off so he can come back and keep doing it, doing it. Like take the check now because nobody else is going to give you that check.

The tour is not going to make you whole. That was part of our speculation after the June 6th thing. what's the tour going to do to make guys whole? The answer Night Dog is nothing. They're going to do nothing. A guy, you know, Rory's going to get the equity and the TGL stuff, but, you know, that's not, that's not $300 million. I bet it I, good luck to him getting, having that turn out to be worth $300 million. In any event.

Other noteworthy things in the world of golf story came out at the end of the week. I don't think the USGA and the RNA wanted this to be. in the Friday news cycle, but it came out that the governing bodies have a target for a universal rollback of the golf ball, that that piece of equipment is going to fly less far under scientific parameters that they're going to put in place and demand that the manufacturers adhere to. And all of us are going to play this reduced flight ball, predict, hilarious outrage from the players.

The manufacturers themselves are coming out, I think, this week with their points of view on this. And we have in barely six months' time gone from a modified local rule with bifurcation, which is like a recognition that the pros play different shit than all the rest of us play anyhow. And maybe they could play a different ball as well to. the pushback to that by the manufacturers and the players, the bodies are like,

okay, well, here's what we're going to do. We're just going to take the whole thing back because we're positive that it will be beneficial ultimately to the venues that golf is, is played in and that the recreation, recreational aspect will not be impacted. I can't tell you how many dozens of balls I'm going to squirrel away between now

and 2030. that's all I'll tell you right now, buddy. I don't think you and I are going to notice a whole lot. I'm sure you're right about that. I just don't think we're going to notice a whole lot. I think my issue with bifurcation is one of the coolest things about golf is that you and I can step up on the same T as a pro and play. And we can play the stuff that they play. And you're right.

We can play a reasonable approximation. A reasonable approximation. And that's why. one of the fun things about golf is just sort of the through line from pro all the way to the shittiest golfer, from men to women. It just is, it's what is special about the game as a sort of public sport. So I don't have much of an opinion other than I have been convinced in reading the reports and looking at the actual distance changes through time and what the actual differences were in testing. I have been convinced that this is not going to be a very big deal for you and me, and that it's going to make the game of golf more interesting,

and that it's going to put less reliance on driver wedge, that it's going to force guys to test more skill throughout the bag and actually have more skills as golfers. Do not think it's a coincidence that you've got a bunch of giant drivers and putters that are more successful at the top of the PGA tour. But I also think above all else, why the fuck are we talking about this now? In this moment of division in golf, we need another issue to talk. Like, just go away governing bodies.

Well, I don't think they, I'm not sure that they, it was their goal and intention to announce this like now. But they had something, some sort of decision to be made. Why not be like, yo, how about we figure out whether there's going to be a complete nuclear Chernobyl meltdown in the sports? board of golf over the next month. And then we can decide what the new rules are. Because it's not even clear who's in charge. I mean, it's great that these bodies are going to say something. But as you just said, like, what if we just tell them to go fuck themselves and we just

keep buying the normal balls? No, look, I'm going to push back on this because the USGA and the RNA are not the tour. And I don't give, they, I don't think respectfully, they give a shit about the tour. Why do you give a shit about them? What are they in charge of? The no fun? the U.S. Open and the British Open. Those are two pretty important tournaments.

Why do they get to tell you an old man with a handicap that's higher than you'd like it to be? You know, like that suddenly you've got to change a completely different competition. They make all the rules. Like, you know, at some point, somebody's going to come up with the rule that you don't have to hit out of a divot that you hit into the dumbest rule in all of golf. Like when you used to play the modifications to the rules are better. better now. When you used to play pickup basketball, you would check the ball of the top of the key, wouldn't you? When you were playing half court. First of all, you'd play half court because you were always old and full court felt like a lot. So you would check. That's not in the rules of the governing basketball body, fever, whatever the hell it is. It's a modification to make the sport more fun for that moment in time. Like, who the hell are these people?

I think differently about this. And I don't, I mean, I don't think it's... I think it's the right decision. You just made the right case about it impacting us not one whit. So I don't... Yes. And I think it's better. Like, the technology will keep getting better and like we can't keep expanding these courses. All of those reasons resonate with me.

I just think this moment in time, let it sit for a little bit. let's try to save the sport overall before we start making decisions about what ball an amateur can play because we think it might keep him from hooking it into the fucking road. Well, to be fair, all this does is start the timeline for the process. There's a comment period, like, you know, it's a reminder. Who cares? It just sounds so stuffy and dumb. When, like, we don't even know if there's going to be a tour. I don't think they care.

I think this is about, you know, the future of golf, which is something that those governing bodies are a lot more invested in. So you support this decision. Well, I mean, for the reasons that you articulated, I don't really have a giant problem with it. I also, it's just 2030. Like your point about, you know, the advancements in technology, like, who knows what will be out there in terms of ways for the game to be

enjoyable by that, by the time that the both. ball thing drops in. But in any event. I support the decision. I just think the timing is weird. That's all you're hearing from me. Sure, sure, sure. No argument with that observation.

We have golf on TV this weekend. I alluded to it a short while ago. Two events, one of which you have to go find on the CW, but it's a 72 whole event being competed over three days in Abu Dhabi, featuring some PGA tour play. some names that you've heard of, a major winner, all trying to earn their way into a spot on the LiveGolf rosters for the upcoming season. The guys who jumped off the page at me were Kyle Stanley and Chris Stroud and Jason Duffner.

Those are the names that I saw. How about you? Do you see any names in the announced field that caught your attention? there were of any particular interest, do you? No, no, I did. I was way more interested in this when it appeared that the tour was going to allow people to go do this.

And I thought that we might have seen some players with permission go play this. And in fact, a number of players believed that they had the right to do it. It became clear over the last month that, in fact, they would be punished and that it was not possible for them to get the exemption. So it actually is a list of, yeah, I mean, of course, if you're Duffner, like, why not?

Like, of course, if you're Stroud, like, you've already burned the boats, like, why not? Go try. Like, fine. The drama around Live, unfortunately, like, I also got less interested in this event when now it's like, hey, what's actually happening at the top? Why is Graham McDowell being re-signed if we need some spots for some guys to jump over? Is Rom going to come over? If Rom goes, do the Saudis even care about getting Cantlay or Shaflay or any of the other top players? Or do they feel at that point they've struck the mortal blow and they'll just sit there and wait?

In which case, you could make a case that they took Patrick and Zander's money and gave it to Rom, which will probably piss off Zander's dad even more than he's already pissed off. Those are the dynamics that right now are fun to me. the live qualification thing, I think is just like who's gonna really struggle next year on that tour for money. Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Let's talk about the other golf tournament that's happening this weekend. The Grant Thornton Invitational down in Florida the first time that we're going to see a 54-hole event featuring PGA tour players paired up with LPGA tour players. they're doing a kind of a scramble in the first round.

They're doing pure alt shot in the second round, and then they're calling it modified four ball for the third. Both players drive, and then they swap balls on their second shot until the, isn't that that's like, is that, that's not a shamble. That's kind of a modified, okay.

In any event, it looks pretty fun. Tiburon, you know, down in Naples. Yeah, what's not fun? I mean, if you're looking at pairings, we got some fun ones. I mean, Nelly Cordo, Tony Fienow, I think are going to win this event.

But I'm not looking that far past Rose Zang if it's in Tiburon, Rosang and Sahith Tagala. Sehith won nearby in Napa and Rose went to Stanford. Like, let's go. We're close. Well, no, no, no. Tiboron's in Florida. Oh, it's not Tiboron in like, oh, well, then fuck it. I'm out.

I'm out on that. It's Florida golf. It's classic, you know. It's in Naples. I still think that duo is, is interesting to watch. Yeah. I like Sagstrom and O'Bair, too, the Swedes. Why not?

I think that's super cool. I mean, you know, there are some, how did this come together kind of pairings? Like Harris English and Celine Boutier? I don't know. I mean, Harris English, that's, that's a Sea Island guy. Do they have, how, how did they even make the connection? I don't know.

I mean, she should ask Joel, how he met Lily Vu. I mean... Yeah. Well, Lily Voo, I mean, you know, I hope he sought her out. He's like, hey,

you're a badass major winner. Can we play together? And she's like, hey, you're the Netflix guy. Yeah, let's do it. He is so out of his league on that one. It's fine. It's great.

It's playing way above the hoop. Yeah. Tom Hogi and Cheyenne Knight. I don't know. You know, why not? Camp, Champ, and Alice and Corpus. it's fine. Cam Champ out there banging the ball

325 yards down and then Corpoo's you know bringing it home. I think this is going to be a fun event. Yeah. We're not going to gamble on it. Even if it's not in the right Tiburon. I'm going to tell everybody not to gamble on this one. I mean, maybe you know, you get you get a matchup that you like.

Don't gamble on this one. This one I would say don't gamble on. No. I have nothing to add clearly. The only thing to gamble on is get on Alabama right now while there's still an underdog. Put as much as you can comfortably can and then go get some more and make yourself a little uncomfortable because Alabama is not going to be an underdog on January the 1st. So that's my recommendation for gambling. Thank you, House. That is nothing to do

with golf, but I, at least we know which Alabama we're talking about. It is gambling. Yes. All right, my birdie buddies. Look, I fully expect that between this podcast posting and the end of this calendar year, another half dozen. Yeah, we're going to have another six and 60 to run through. Probably, you know, for sure, information surrounding John Rom's departure from the tour, which would be intriguing. Maybe there'll be some deals announced between the PGA Tour and domestic partners or international partners.

And this live event will go off and we'll see what comes of it. But look, lots of places across the country. It gets dark too early and it's too cold. The East Coast, we're getting these days around 55. And if the number begins with the five-nate dog, I'm looking at the wind and I'm looking at the sun. If the wind of the sun are in the right, you know, I'm out, I'm out there.

I'm going to do it. Leaf rule, it's in full effect. It's 77 degrees in Los Angeles today. We're fine. Oh, my God, you son of a bitch. We're fine. We're fine. I would try to talk about most of the,

of the country that doesn't reside in Los Angeles and have those beautiful courses perfectly manicured available to them at all times. But look, we will be back here on this fairway roll in airwaves as the news continues to trickle out. Maybe there'll be some season-ending awards. We gave player the year to John Rom, I think. But there's other stuff that we can get some other superlatives

and accolades. In the meantime, if you are able to catch a 50-degree day, and, you know, get your turtleneck going. Please, by all means, let's head them straight out there.