Fairway Rollin' - What to Expect at the PGA Championship With Joel Beall | Fairway Rollin’

Episode Date: May 14, 2019

It’s PGA Championship week, and Joe House is joined by Joel Beall of 'Golf Digest' to make some major observations heading into the PGA Championship at Bethpage Black (3:20). Then Megan Schuster drops by to talk about Bubba Watson's Twitter shot at Phil Mickelson and to preview the release of the player gear collection for the weekend (39:40) before Chris Vernon calls in to offer his picks at Bethpage Black (60:35). Host: Joe House Guests: Joel Beall, Megan Schuster, Chris Vernon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's episode of Fairway Rowland brought to you as always by our pals at Callaway Golf. Birdie Buddies, it is a major week. We are at a major venue. New York can barely stand the anticipation. One New York guy who couldn't take it anymore, the Calloway's own A.J. Bopel was there at Beth Page Black a couple of weeks ago right before they closed the course down to the public. And for all of our enjoyment, he shot a mini documentary homecoming.

Back to Beth Page, Black. We are taking a look at Beth Page from the perspective of a former local who grew up playing the black. AJ is a native New Yorker. He came back to his roots. To wet your appetite for the week, we're getting a look at AJ all over this place. He does a sleeping in the car thing. He's praying for a great tea time. Speaking of what your appetite,

he goes and gets a delicious egg sandwich. It looks amazing. Available right now at callawaygolf.com, and you can check it out on golfchannel.com as well. Homecoming back to Bethpage Black. What a way to start the week. Today's episode also brought to us by Destination Kohler in Kohler, Wisconsin, home of Whistling Straits.

And Black Wolf Run ranked by Golf. Digest as four of the top 100 public courses in the United States. That means these are courses that you can play. Also host of the 2020 upcoming Rider Cup, Imagine Summer on Lake Michigan in the land of beer and cheese, my friends, rounds of championship golf and ice cold beverages plus deep fried Wisconsin cheese curds.

Time to get rolling to destination coaler.com to book your package today. That's destination coaler.com. Hello, friends. Welcome to this golf podcast, unlike any other. Oh, my friends, we've done it. We're here. We're all back. It is a major week here on Faraway Rowland.

The golf podcast on the Ringer podcast, Network presented by our fantastic pal, and Callaway. Golf. I am your starter, Joe House. It is a major week, my birdie buddies, and that means we have major talent for this preview Monday. We are setting the stage from Golf Digest. Joel Beale joins us again. He's on to make amends for saying that he thought Tiger was going to miss the cut at the Masters. He's got some splaining to do. What can you say? Of course, Shusty is on. We're talking about the outfits that the fellows are going to be wearing. Bubba Watson was on a video today. I can't make any sense out of it, so don't ask me to try. And of course, Verno is on. Verdo and I are making our epic flash picks of the week. I'm looking down here. I see the first tea is open, my friends.

Let's go down there and let out a little shaft with Joel Beale. Ladies and gentlemen, now on the tea from Cincinnati, Ohio. Maintenance Guy, Guy, extraordinaire at Aston Oaks Country Club. currently staff writer at Golf Digest and now a playing veteran at Augusta National Golf Club please welcome Joel Beale Al, thanks for having me on buddy, how you doing?

J.B. It's another major. It's another major week. We had to have you back to make some major observations. But before we get into the major observations relating to Bethpage Black, how about a congratulations on the major change over there at Golf Digest. You've got some new bosses now, I understand.

We shared every channel has first stuff. My first order of business was convincing the good folks at Discovery to change Shark Week to Tiger Week. And emails has not been responded yet. So we'll see how that goes over. But yeah, we've been on the market for a couple months now. So good to get all that transition out of the way. Yeah, so Discovery, that's pretty great. You know, it started down here in the humble environments here in the DMV.

and a couple of my family members are our former colleagues at Discovery. So we have mostly fond remembrances of Discovery. And I think if Tiger can pull it out this week, they really have no choice but to switch Shark Week to Tiger Week, right? Especially since Tiger is an ambassador for Golf City, one of Discovery's new golf vessels. So it's been apropos, wouldn't it? It's, you know, there's a real symbiosis.

there. There is a real synergy. I'm going to use some business terms. Speaking of business terms, we're going to jump into this Beth Page Black and we're going to get into the PGA Championship and the historical precipice that we're looking at in the historic moment. But

you, the last time we spoke was the week of the Masters. We spoke while you were down there at Augusta National. Did you not, you did not know when we spoke that you were going to actually play Augusta National that week. Did you? I did not. So, you The media members enter what they called the lottery.

It's a very apropos term because if you win it, it does feel like winning the jackpot. And on Saturday, as Tiger was making his run, I stopped back at the media center, and I saw people breaking out their cameras. And all of a sudden, I thought something really, really bad must have just happened. What did I do? What's my past that's come out that I'm now getting in trouble for? But they found out that I was one of lucky you bastards to get a play on Monday. and I'll tell you what, the expectations were high,

and whatever you can imagine on playing Augustin National, it was their past. It was hands down with the coolest moments of my life. I'm still getting goosebumps about it. It was definitely one of the, I know everyone has on the bucket list, but, man, it was so damn fun. And the only bummer was it,

it was a five-hour round, and it felt like it was over in 15 minutes. Oh, wow. Everyone's been coming up to me. And I will say, though, besides asking how the masters went, and this is a testament to the power of your podcast. Everybody has also

remind me the last time we talked, I mentioned that I thought Tiger Woods was going to get cut at the Masters, so no one's let me lift that down yet. So I will not be making the same mistake today. One out of two ain't bad. Now, we'll move on in a second. Did you play

Augusta from the same tease as the pros? Are the pins in the same positions? What's the configuration? What's the layout? So it's still the Sunday Pins, which really gives you a feel for the brilliantness these guys face on the greens. They move you up, though, from what does those guys play? So the member speeds, it's around 6,400 yards.

So it's interesting. From people who have played the course, they always say whatever your handicap is, you're supposed to kind of shoot the same because as tough as the greens are, you can kind of do whatever you want off the tee and get away with it. And there's no real rough to speak of either. And that was mostly true. I'll say the first six or seven holes I was in such shock. I wasn't even really pay attention to my score until my caddy kind of flat me across the forehead and say, hey, are you okay?

I go, yeah, what's wrong? You're playing like crap right now. Let's get it turned around. So the last 10 holes were pretty good. But the first seven or eight, man, I was putting some doubles up left and right. But, oh, man, it really was something. Hopefully you get experience someday how. Well, we'll see. I got to work twice as hard as I currently do to get anywhere near it.

So at this advanced stage of life, I don't know. But that, that's, that's terrific. I'm thrilled you got to get that bucket list item checked off. Speaking of bucket list items that they could use some, some checking off, Tiger Woods is playing for his 16th major up in New York City, where he's not New York City, in New York State. So Tiger has won once up there in New York, but no one has had two majors in New York since Gene Sarazen in 1927. Is this week, this moment, the time for Tiger to get his second New York win? Just playing out right now, House. The course is setting up for him. I mean, obviously, he won here in 2002.

In 2009, the T6 was actually a lot better than that performance showed. He had a rough first day, and really he just kind of got unlucky. He got a bad draw on the T time. Everybody in that wave really went high. So after that first round, 74, he actually played, no one played better over the final 54 holes than Tiger. It's just he kind of got himself in a rut on that Thursday. But, yeah, really, when you look at what predicate success at that bet page,

it's relatively simple. It's such a long, tough course that you just kind of, I got to find the fairway. And then the greens, they're really not that tough. They're relatively flat, at least by major standards. So you've got to keep it in the fairway and then just find the green. And really at that point it opens up for good putters to excel. And the fact that it's so wet right now up here that Tigers, at least the last seven or eight years,

has accuracy to less them a little bit off the tee. Now with the wet confines, it kind of helps them keep it in the short stuff. So, I mean, you see the stats. there's no one there's no one's better an approach right now than tiger would be he leaves the tour and greens and regulation last year he was right there and strokes being approached so the fact that he can get a little more wild off the sea here and get away with it this week man that that it goes right up his alley and whoever thought not only would tagger be going for number 16 period but the fact that he i mean he's right there as you mentioned the favorites and uh looking at some of the

other favorites there i certainly like tautier's chance a lot more than let's say Justin Johnson and Rory McElroy. Oh, wow. So that's really saying something. I'll pick up on that in a second, but I wanted to kind of link an observation you made about the 2009 performance because you had a story, it's up right now,

golf digest.com, and you pose the question, will a PGA championship at Beth Page be any different than the U.S. opens there? And so Tigers got the win in 2000. And he's got the sixth place finish in 2009. And it's a really interesting juxtaposition this venue, which is really, you know, always had the, the deserved reputation of being a big boy golf course that really tests folks.

And using this venue as kind of the debut venue for the PGA championship in May. So that the calendar change, this is the first time since we're. playing in May and kind of the the PGA championship identity of being something that showcases the greatness of these players and lets guys that can go out and make a whole bunch of birdies go do that and the guys that make the most birdies tend to win the PGA championship. So super interesting juxtaposition there. You wrote about it a little bit. What are your thoughts on that?

Yeah, it's certainly, when you think of the U.S. Open to PGA, it. They're, man, conflicting ideologies, right? The U.S. Open always aspires, protect par. PGA, hey, they just want to see his name Burry as possible. We saw that last year at Bell, Bell Reve. We saw it at Whistling Strait, certainly, every time the Wanamaker visits Ballala. So the fact that's going to Bethpage, you would think, okay, you know, which one is it going to be?

And by all accounts, it sounds like it's going to lean closer to what we saw in 2002 and 2009. Even when Bethpage held the Barkleys in 2012, or I should say now the Northern Plus, in 2012 and 2016, you'll see 8 and 9 under as the winning score, but that's also because the par was different. They're playing at par 70 this week, and it was par 71 for those Barclays events. So it's always really held tough. In talking to people on the grounds and PGA and America officials, it's going to be a very similar setup.

The only really difference is the rough may not be as. long, but with the rain they've had this week, I've had a couple people tell me there's just not going to be enough time to really get out there and mow it as much as they want. So, they certainly had an aspiration to make it maybe a little bit easier, but I don't know if that's going to be the case.

And certainly, if you look at Tiger Woods' record, he does play better when art means a little bit more. That being said, I think what really is at this moment, look at his last three major championships. He's done it all in different types of venues. There was that

Wendy Gussie performance and Carnuski where he finished T6. Last year at Bel Rive when people were going low, that was something that we didn't think Tiger could really do anymore. It was matched these guys

Bertie for Burry, but the fact that he came second to Brooks Kefka at Belvoir showed you anything as that possible. Then at Augusta, when the conditions were really tough over the weekend, he stood right there.

So the fact that his game is translating to all these different venues really shows you he is back. And if the setup really, if it's like anything like we've seen the past couple days with the win out, it shouldn't rain over the

weekend, but everything is so wet. And for the most part, Bethpage doesn't drain that well. This is really, if you're a Tiger fan, you couldn't ask for better conditions. Yeah. So that's a perfect introduction into the next item I wanted to make sure we covered. One thing about the conditions at Bethpage this upcoming week, the guys that tee off in the morning, it's going to be chilly. It's going to be jacket weather. It's going to be sweater weather. at least. And, you know, I'm not sure that the, the mercury is going to be much above 50 degrees.

Tiger tees off at 8.24 a.m. on Thursday, I'm not even sure if it's going to be 50 degrees when he tees off. Do you think that that particular physical condition outside, the ball's not going to travel as far? And, you know, we understand, we've come to appreciate, you know, with the more sort of revealing tiger that his physical preparation, the regime he goes through, the regimen he goes through to get himself ready for a tournament round of golf, it starts hours in advance of a tea time.

Do we think that that early morning, coupled with the cold, represents any kind of a challenge to the tea, Ray? Well, I think back on the hold up. Certainly that worry's been there not only this year, but since he's come back from his latest procedure. But, you know, if you look at both days, it's going to be basically around 50, 55 degrees in that morning wave. And the fact that both groups have to face it, I'm not as worried about it. If anything, I think the draw actually fits Tiger a little bit well in the sense of the wind doesn't look to be as bad. Now, granted, we're speaking on a Monday and we're

looking out on Thursday and Friday. But right now, the wind doesn't look to be as bad Thursday morning as it will Thursday afternoon. That on Friday, looking at the rain, it's really supposed to come down heavy in the morning and the afternoon is supposed to be fine. So the fact that that tigers won't have to necessarily play in the rain on Friday morning, but still get the benefits to playing a wet course. There's a little bit of wind.

It looks like a 10-mile-per-hour run on Friday afternoon. But he's gone to play in cool weather sometime and, you know, it was pretty chilly at Carnucy last year and his back held up just fine. So he's played a few cool weather events already this year and held up. So trust me, I understand why the worry is there. But so far,

Tiger says he's okay, so we have to trust not his word, and obviously not ideal conditions, but hey, he's not the only guy with a bad back. And I think what we've seen from so far this year, there's no way to doubt him at least at this point. Yeah, I agree with you. Now, we can't make this entire segment, the deification of Tiger Woods and, you know, is he second only to Jesus Christ. We need to talk about a handful of other guys out there. It was very, very, interesting to me that you mentioned a tiger advantage over guys like Dustin Johnson and Rory McElroy. And I'm curious as to what you think is the real differentiator between Tiger and DJ.

But one name you didn't mention was Brooks Kepka. So let's go ahead and just talk about the moment that Brooks Kepka has in front of him. nobody has been playing better in the majors than Brooks Keppko over the last nine majors. His score in relation to par is fantastic. His scoring average is fantastic. He's in the upper echelon across all of the sort of historical comparisons over this stretch of nine majors. He's the very upper echelon in all those kinds of measurements. What are you anticipating out of Mr. Kevka this?

week. I mean, there's any of the, better than Aaron Hills, better than Shinnakak

and better than Belariepe, just is a simple fact of, yes, the rough is really brutal here.

However, it's not exactly tight confines. It's a big ball yard at that page. You're not can really

find any street, so there's one really Achilles feel for for Brooks, it's an accuracy. But the fact

that he can, you know, find the rough, it's not that big of a deal for him. We don't really think of Brooks,

we think of him as a big hitter, but he's actually a really good iron player. He's actually 22nd on tour and rough proximity. So talk about a guy who's not going to really be affected if he does find the rough. I think those are those really big muscles coming to play. And another issue with Brooks, when he has had a couple down spots, it's been as putting.

But kind of mentioning, these greens aren't really that tough. So you've kind of got to get yourself on the green, make sure you avoid these really treacherous deep bunkers. You can just find the green, which he's done, you know, throughout the past two years, the 14th in Greens regulation this year. year. As long as he can just find the greens, he should be okay. And again, I know the putter can, it's very hit or miss for him. But if you can just find the green, I think he'll be okay. Man, and we just saw how he played last week at Trinity Forest. And he even mentioned, I think,

on Sunday, he couldn't really figure out the back of the front nine at Trinity Forest. He still almost won the tournament. So not only is this course set up to his needs, he's coming and playing well. I know at the Masters, there were worries of his, as Brooks Kefkatai lost his body, but finishing T-second there that seemed to be a very overblown proportion. And, man, yeah, Kepka is right up there with Woods. I would put those two as one, two as the favorites coming in this week. Yeah, well, they have the same odds to win. They're both at 10 to 1 right now as we record this.

And I was one of those Kepka skeptics. I don't like guys that don't need to go on diets, that go on diets. And he famously was avoiding cheeseburgers for some number of months. And I made a whole bunch of these matchup plays, the no cheeseburger plays and he kicked my ass on all of them. So I'll know better than to doubt Brooks Kevka again. There is a name that I want about. Just out of principle, though.

Talk to me. Talk to me. Talk to me. Talk to me. I think you made the right play. You know, trust me, you never want to doubt Brooks Kefka, but just out of principle, you've got to draw a line the sand and you don't want to bet, you don't want to bet for a guy who's avoiding cheeseburger. So I'm okay with you doing that. Thank you. Well, it felt like, you know, my logic was sound. he's just a he's just i i think honestly he had been back on the cheeseburgers um for some period of time i just didn't know how you know how long he'd been he'd returned to to proper form um there's a name

that i want to mention to you just to see if there's any reason whatsoever to be interested in in this gentleman and his name is jordan spith well i i had made fun of in our office routinely for being a speedbacker. And clearly this year things have not looked well. Even at Trinity Forest in Dallas, his hometown, he had his glimpses of hope, but that's kind of all we've had this year, these glimpses. He hasn't had a top 10 since the Masters last year.

I will say, probably mentioned it earlier, how you can't really get in a truck, at least tree trouble at that stage. If you look at really what's heard Jordan's beat this year, it's been his driving. He has just been all over the place. He can't keep the ball anywhere near the fairway. He's outside the top 200 and strokes gain off the tee.

And you see the rest of his numbers kind of suffer. I think it's mostly that's predicated off of how bad the driving has been. If there's one hope, it's that throughout his career, you know, he's had spells where he's been the best foot on tour. And other times when you just want to look away when he's at the flat stick in his hands. But really the one consistent has been his approach game. So the fact that if he does find the rough, he could get out. out of it. It's the one hope, but, man,

usually the PGA championship. My grand, this is in August rather than this new thing in May, but the PGA championship, more than the other four majors, really, in terms of, you're looking for what the guys with success, they always come in with a little bit of a heater. So the fact that the feet coming in cold is not great. You know, he had a pretty good performance actually at Augusta after that first round, I think he's got 75 on Thursday and kind of bounced back in a nice way and had a nice showing at Harvard.

town, but just since then, it hasn't been there. It wouldn't surprise me if he makes the weekend and gives a little run, but, man, seeing him host the Wanamaker and win the career grand slam, even as a guy who's a speedbacker, I just can't see it. Yeah, it just doesn't feel like, even for Speed Truthers, and I didn't know that you were one of them. I raise his name because I do want to see him get the career grand slam, and I honestly think he is going to get his before Rory gets,

achieves his because I think Rory and Augustine National, he's got a, I don't know what it's going to take. He needs to go, you know, floating in Rays Creek or something. He needs to figure out a way to make peace Rory does with, what's happening at Augusta National. And the fact that the PGA, you know, rotates venues, I think Jordan is going to get one along the way here,

but it certainly does not feel like, this year is the year. Now, now Rory, you, you dismissed him. These statistics for this season are still very impressive, Joel Beale. He's first on the tour and strokes gained. He's first in

top 10 percentage. He got the second biggest victory of this season at the players championship. He's been great at PGA championships, although he hasn't had a, I don't think he's had a top 10 since Valhalla. why are you so quick to turn your back on the Roaster?

Well, you're certainly right. Specifically, he's been the best year, and he's had this new mythology this year of sticking on the PGA tour and through what, 10 starts, he has eight top 10. So, I mean, the guy's been on fire. What really worries me, though, it's just his play out of the rough. And, you know, right now the stats actually say he plays okay.

But really, if you dig deep, Those are numbers really only spurred by one or two really good events. As good as a driver of the ball, he is, he just can't get the ball close when he finds it off. And from approaches from 75 to 100 yards, which he actually should have, as long as this course that's going to play this week, Rory still should have a number of wedges into a lot of these greens.

He's so far off the sea, but he's 183rd from 75 and 100 yards. And just as, even though the greens will kind of even out to playing field for bad putters, just the way Rory's blessed with the putter as of late, it's really hard for me to back them. Trust me,

if you want to go, oh, Rory, I'm not going to stop you, but I just think there are better venues. I think Puebill actually suits this game a little bit and everything we know about Royal Port Rush. I think that could be another spot where Rory comes in this year, but I just don't think Pell really suits this game.

Or excuse me, excuse me, Beth Page shoots this game. Yeah, so that's interesting because, you know, Beth Page is supposed to favor. guys with driver distance and guys that, you know, have no problem with lengthier second

shots in. But I do... And it's funny. In Charles, one thing I also want to say there, it kind of mentioned earlier, this is going to play closer to a U.S. Open setup. Rory won the 2011 U.S. Open. But that wasn't really a U.S. Open. That was when, you know, it was more of a just a normal PGA tour standard setup. the congressional, we're 16 under, where was the winning score. If you look at how Rory's done at other U.S. Open, he really struggled.

In fact, he only has one other top 10 since that win in 2011. So if you're thinking this is going to play more like a U.S. Open setup, I think that's another reason to avoid Roy this week. That's an outstanding point. And that's the reason that I'm going to avoid him. I'm glad that you included that. This is a nice segue. I'm interested in your view on this. seven out of the last eight major winners have hailed from these United States of America.

And you look at all the favorites for this. It is predominantly Americans. Is there any possibility? Who is your leading contender in terms of best non-American? Well, because we just talked to where I'm a single European. That's Tommy Fleet. I know Cleveland was getting a lot of love at Augusta, so maybe people have cooled off on a little bit. But just as we said, US Open's reason to stay away from Rory, that's the reason why I like Fleetwood.

He's had a really nice record the past two U.S. Open. Obviously made that Sunday run last year at Seneca-Cock finished second, but also finished fourth the year before that. Coming off a pretty nice performance at the British Masters, where he was the tournament host. That's a pretty difficult thing, especially considering he was a first-time host at that tournament to kind of be juggling both those duties at once. This is the guy who hits the ball just as far as anyone. We don't really think of Tommy Fleetwood as a bonner. If you look at the numbers, he's right up there with all the big guys on four.

Just hands down, one of the top six or seven iron players. So if you really think the second shot prowess is going to funnel, excuse me, facilitate success this week, I think Fleet was the guy who's going to be right there. And also a guy who, if you look at what really hurt him in a past and kind of heard him in Augusta was the putter. So not to keep hanging on the same sentiments here, but if you're looking where it would be a good fleet would spot, it's a spot where the putter might not be the decisive tool in the bag. So I think just that in throwing the fact that it could be really cold and windy,

I think that fits Fleetwood game. And he's a guy who's going off at 28 to 30 to 1. There's a pretty good odds for a guy of Fleetwood standard. So I'm actually surprised he hasn't got more love this week. Yeah, I see him right now at 33 to 1. And when we hang up before this podcast gets published, and the the gambling public can jump on Tommy Fleetwood. I'm going to get something in on him because at 33 to 1,

part of the thing that I also think about is like it has not even been a full calendar year since he was out on Long Island. He's comfortable on Long Island. And he was burning down Shinnecock on a Sunday, you know, really trying to create some pressure for Brooks Kepka. And he had that, you know, that I just think that the feeling of Loew. Cal, that sense of place. He can return to Long Island. He's very comfortable. He knows he'll be able to replicate a little bit of routine. I imagine 33 to one is unbelievable value. I know for for a fact I'm going to play him as top European player. You and I are both gentlemen that that are interested in allocating a little capital. The odds right now on the prop of US versus non-U.S. The U.S. is available at this moment at minus 140.

The field is out there at plus 110. Do you think that there's any value in minus 140 for the U.S. as the nationality of the winner of the 2019 PGA championship? It's pretty two big names. Another guy who, it's funny, we always ask when his major is going to come and maybe we're just getting a little burnout. But Ricky Fowler is a guy who is someone else is up there who should play well here. Gary Woodland would also.

also as he fall under. Tony Steenow, someone who we always wonder when the breakout's going to happen. This is, of course, that fits his game. Also,

Patrick Reed, a guy who won the Barclays here in 2016. So I like the value, actually, at minus 140. I know people might get scared away with that, at least compared to the European number. But yeah,

I'm with you. I think it's tenolating. I wouldn't mind riding with that. Yeah, it's kind of a way to, like, cover off a whole bunch of names. If you get at that price,

you get DJ, you're getting, Brooks, you're getting a tiger, and then you're getting some other sort of big game hunters that have been around the hoop. You're getting Fee now. You're getting Ricky. You're getting Xander Schaughley, who is really a darling this week. Everybody's finally taking notice of him going out and kicking ass and all these majors. Those are a lot of good names here. And even somebody like Patrick Reed, where I'm glad you mentioned him, there is, you know, this combination of where par is hard to come by and where, you know, the course is playing at a certain length, 7,500 yards or more,

he likes tough tests like that. And obviously the win already at this venue speaks well to it, right? Not only that, but let's be honest, a pretty tough environment, sense of what we've seen from the crowd reaction at times. And this is the guy who's shown through Rider Cups, President's Cups Nogre. And it'll be interesting to see how Reed's treated this week, kind of in the fallout of what we saw in Paris last year, at least with him, Jordan Speets, and Tiger Woods.

but this is a guy who kind of relishes playing in an animated atmosphere. So, let's be honest. As we've seen at the 2002 and 2009 news, but not all players are really up to that challenge. I think some guys, some guys have told me they thought it was overblown. And then when you're actually out in the middle of the storm, man, it's a whole different ballgame.

So the fact that Patrick Reed has shown that, like him or not, he definitely is up to the challenge of these type of environment. So, yeah, at his number right now, I know he hasn't done necessarily a lot, at least since Chinnecock last year when he also made a nice little Sunday run there at the U.S. Open. He's the guy's just not getting a lot of publicity, but, and for his odds, I think people would definitely be well served to give him some consideration. Yeah, Joe Bill, you and I are in agreement on this one. Patrick Reed available to win this golf tournament at 70 to 1?

Hmm. It feels like a little. I mean, you know, that's worth a couple of dollars. Now, I know it's early in the week, speaking of a couple dollars, one of your traditions for all the majors, you give out your favorite props as the week develops. I know it's still the beginning of the week, but is there any prop, one or two props that have caught your attention at this early stage of the week? There are three, and they're a little off the beaten path, but they got a little taller, which I think you'll like. The first one, odds of any of the five PGA professionals from the New York region making the cut, four to one. Now, PGA professionals have had a bit of a mixed bag at the tournament. There are 20 PGA club pros in the field, but they said five from the New York region. The guy who I think is actually drawn a lot of interest this league is Alex Beach, who's an assistant up in Westchester Country Club, up in Rye.

Only about 40 minutes from Beth Page. He's out a ton of game. and as you look at some of the club pros, not all of them really have the distance to compete here, but how the York guys, actually two or three are pretty long hitters. So at 4 to 1, that's something that you know,

hey, let's be on these guys don't get a lot of attention besides the fact that this is their championship. So the fact that you can have a little juice on this side project is something that really intrigues me a lot. So Alex Beach, keep that name in mind as we go through. Do you get all five guys?

Do you get all five guys at those odds? It's just any one of those five? You want to pick one. Oh, I love it. I love this. Yeah, okay, that's a good one. Put the check next to that one. Keep going, my brother.

Number two is the primary hat logo for the TGA winner. At eight to five is Nike. Now, Nike guys have won the last five majors. Obviously, Brooks had two of them, but you have to throw in Patrick Reed and Tiger Woods, the last two masters, Mullen and then Mollinarri at the Open Championship. Really, you can say six is eight since Brooks won the 2017. U.S. Open as well.

So, eight to five might not seem like a great number, but if you look at a lot of top guys, the only do you have Tiger and Books, but then you guys saw a Rory in there. Maunari, Jason Day is a name who played really well here in 2016. Patrick Reeve mentioned Tony Fee now.

A lot of big guys are wearing the swoosh. So eight to five, that's definitely intriguing number. Yeah, and our value play Tommy Fleetwood will be showing up there with that swoosh, right? exactly i don't know how i feel bad that i forgot them but yeah at this point we're losing money by not putting down on it all right eight that that's that's uh better than one and the half to one so we're we're on that one so that's here and then uh the final one the over under for winning score is eight under i think it's going to be under just barely and i know the i know the possibly

facilitated a 9 or 10 under, but I think you're going to see something closer to a U.S. Open. So, excuse me, over. I'm sorry. Over is what I want that. So I think the 8 under is actually really, really low for how the course is going to set up. So I'm jumping all of that. I think it's going to be something closer to the 5 or 6 under a fair. What's the price for that right now? Do you know? It looks like plus 140. This is on... Wow. Yeah. So plus odds. My top sports book. Yep. Plus odds for any score from 273 all the way up north of 280,

because we're playing as a par 70, 280 is par, 273 is 7 under, so 273, 274, 275 on up the chain. Those are all winners. Joel, Bill, do you want me to tell you what the winning scores at this venue have been in the last four tournaments competed? I don't have it in front of me, laid on me. I do have them in front of me because this is a very

important prop to me. I am looking. The 2002 US Open, the winning score on a par 70 outlay 277. 2009, again, a U.S. Open, par 70.

The winning score, 276. The Barclays 2012, 10 under par because of a planet it is a par 71, 274 to 2016, Barclays, par 71, the winning score 9 under, that's 275. Boy, this feels, there is a lot to like. You and I need to, again, jump on this. The podcast will go up.

We want all of our eagle enthusiasts, our birdie buddies, to have their opportunity to go ahead and cash in on this wallet, it's still plus odds. but wow, that's terrific. I'm on this, and I'm very, very appreciative of you calling this to everybody's attention today. Pardon me once it was double-checked and make sure that's right, but at the same time, I don't want to just in case that it is an error. We got to cash on it while we can.

That's right. Well, I think that's the right way to thank you for coming on today and helping us sort of create, you know, the template for success here. at the 2019 PGA championship, Joe Beal, always a pleasure. We look forward to talking to you again, probably with the next major that's coming up in about a month, if not sooner, my friend.

And who knows, maybe we'll be talking about Tiger chasing number 17 at Tebble. Oh, my God. I can't tell you what's happening in my pants right now. You're not the only one. You're definitely not the only golf fan to say that. Put it that way. Yeah, we'll put it that way.

Thanks, buddy. All right, see you. All right, see you. All right, there we go. My thanks, as always, to the homie, Joel Beale, getting the week set up properly. We're going to talk to Shusty. We've got some important topics like what these dudes are going to be wearing out there at Beth Page Black. But first, quick word from ZipRecruiter.

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and assistant to the assistant of the snack bar manager at Cedar Home Golf Club, featuring a brand new clubhouse and everything. She may or may not have had anything to do with that. Megan Schuster, how are you? I'm a fantastic house. How are you? Shusty, it is a major week. We have major golf.

social to discuss and our good buddy, Bubba Watson, did us a favor this morning by curiously appearing on camera in a way that I didn't expect. Let me let you describe this. I think Curious is a really great adjective for this entire video, basically. So just to kind of give some context, last week, Phil Mickelson took a, which we later found out was a pre-approved shot at Bubba Watson. Phil had sent Bubba the video before calling him out, which made me a little bit disappointed. But last week, Phil filmed his latest Cavs workout video in which he said that you don't need arm muscles or calf muscles necessarily

to hit bombs, as evidenced by Bubba Watson being one of the longest drivers on tour. Now, Monday, Bubba fired back with a video of his own. And just to preface everyone, the tweet for the video included the hashtag the glutes. So just great things all around. So just to describe the video to start off, it starts with a shirtless Bubba Watson coming on in selfie mode with a portrait of him,

I believe from the Ryder Cup hanging on the wall behind him. So great setup. He says he'd been in the gym that morning working on his calves so that he could hit high bombs and then goes to a simulator to emphasize that actually glutes

or gluteal activation, if you will, is what's more important than calves to hitting bombs. He ends with the message to fill, quote, you do have pretty calves, but you don't hit the high bombs. People want to see the glutes. So, and he appears throughout the video in some state of undress, which was the thing that I just found unsettling.

Is he, can you, what's your take? Is he completely disrobed? Is he, because he uses, you know, for the, they use like an infrared imagery. of him in the monitor hitting these bombs. He has to have something on, right? Yeah, I'm hoping there's like, I'm like, he looks relatively like damp in the video also, which I don't know if that's sweat from the gym or if he'd just got out of the shower.

I'm hoping, genuinely hoping the latter for whoever was helping him shoot this. No, I mean, there has to be like some sort of coverage going on. but it was it was very entertaining to see him, you know, fully going for it. And Justin Tom has actually replied to this video pretty hilariously and said, nice of you to wear your sweater for the video, Bubba commenting on Bubba's chest hair action.

So, yeah, just all around a little bit of an unsettling video, but I think hilarious nonetheless. So so super duper on brand for Bubba. Like wanting to be in on the joke. wanting to extend the joke having a concept for extending the joke and walking us right up to like the 10 yard line and then leaving us in a place where we're we're a little uncomfortable like

i got a chuckle maybe you get a you get us into the end zone but maybe it could be a uh uh i was going to make fun of blake boardels because uh bubos from from jacksonville right right but it could be a pick six from the opponent's 10 yard line. Now, I don't understand the sweat. I don't understand why he did this without a shirt if the point was the glutes. He is a her suit. Here's suit. He is a hairy man. He's hairy on the front. He's hairy on the back. JT's gig was absolutely on the money. I don't is the point that Bob is trying to make? That he put some ass into it? Is that what we're supposed to deduce?

I think that's what he was trying to say, like, that, you know, he has, you know, the body parts necessary to hit the high bombs, I guess. But I agree with you in that many of his aesthetic choices for the video were a little bit too distracting for me to fully understand the point that he was going for. So, Bubba. Everything about it was Bubba. I'm not sure that he has prominent buns. I don't care. I'm not looking for it. The only glutes that I ever was willing to put into my own life was Tiger,

and that was back when his glutes were getting the way of him playing golf. Nice try. Good job. Good effort. Yeah, yeah. That's what we're giving me. Good job. Very much a solid, solid attempt.

Solid clapback attempt, I guess. Yeah, that's right. But let's leave the real fruitful video action to the professionals. That's what I'm going to say. Yes. I second the motion. Well, speaking of fruitful player action, we have a preview of what these dudes are going to be wearing this upcoming week.

I was, I will confess, Schusty, concerned that we were going to get all this, you know, back in black, because of the Bethpage black theme. Black is going to be a theme all week long. Back in black, everybody's using it. We're going to get a bunch of murdered outlooks. And the scripting that we've seen so far does indeed include some black amongst everybody. But it doesn't look like, you know, necessarily everybody's going full, Gary Player. Give us a rundown of what you've seen so far.

Yeah. So I did a little research this morning into everyone's scripting, at least the ones that have been released so far. And sort of separated them out into the good, the bad, and the ugly categories. there's plenty of all three to go around. So just going to hit a few of the highlights. I'll give Brooks out as a good attempt. He's got some color blocking going on, which is good going with the blues and the oranges

to kind of complement that block that you were talking about. I think overall it's a fairly, you know, conservative look, but I wasn't necessarily expecting anything, you know, too crazy from Brooks or Nike there. But I think it was a solid start. will say my top two contenders, though, are Ricky Fowler, who is going with a lot of the pinks and the orange color blocking, using a few different highlighted pinks to kind of offset. Those more neutral colors, I think he looks great. And then my personal champion is Justin Rose, if you can believe it or not, going with some very floral, very patterned shirts.

He's got one for Friday that looks basically like a Hawaiian shirt. Saturday, he's got pineapples on it. And then Sunday, he has a white shirt with rose pattern going through it. So I really applaud him for taking a risk. He's not the person that I thought would kind of come out and do it. But very exciting stuff from him. So I will say, I personally, and they don't advertise on the show, but if they did, I would say this even more enthusiastically,

I have in the past, like the bonobos line, that's the clothing deal that Justin Rose has right now. Right. And I particularly like their pants. They've been very comfortable, breathable pants. They have in the past not featured such a diverse design flair. But I wonder, so I'm still so mad at Justin Rose for his performance or lack thereof at the Masters. I can't yet exactly get myself into a place where I'm feeling generous towards him. That's fair.

But you're right that out of all, just from an objective, non-petty point of view, his lineup is really terrific. Now, I am a little bit disappointed because Bonobos makes some great patterned slacks. And I don't know why he didn't take advantage of any of that. That's really what drew me to that brand in the first place. But I have to confess, I am right with you, and I didn't expect. this in appreciating Ricky Fowler's lineup for this week. Right. It's great. And you know, it's crazy. I'm kind of talking myself into Ricky Fowler as a potential winner this week,

Shuske. Wow. Wow. And as I look at his rundown, as I look at his gear, I honestly think it's it's the gear of a potential winner. I really agree with you. There's a lot of very confident, very bold choices in his look. And I could very easily see that kind of orange, gray, and white shirt being a prominent factor on Sunday. Yeah, and it'll look good the way that

Beth Page looks right now visually. The Northeast is really popping with the greens and the early spring northeast mature trees. And Beth Page is so big, that state park vibe. I think

that the white and the gray are going to, you know, I'm kind of feeling it. So thumbs up, Ricky Fowler. Yeah, great job. Now we're moving into the bad category, and I'm really, really upset to start this off with this guy. I was really hoping for more, praying for more. Tiger Woods.

I gotta say, the only thing saving this look from the ugly category for me is that he's going, once again, with the Sunday red mock turtleneck. I'm glad he's calling that back again after he had, you know, obviously so much success with it at the Masters. I think that was a good idea. But basically Thursday and Friday's shirts look to me like a grainy television screen. And Saturdays is really only saved because the greeniness doesn't stand out so much against the white shirt as the background. I don't know if you have any differing opinions on that house, but I'm really, really uninspired. Yeah, this is a guy who's scripting is basically like what's in the closet. Right. Like there's nothing a signature about

any of these looks except for the iconic Sunday look and, you know, on the one hand, I knew he was going to bring back the mock turtle neck because you don't win, you know, you don't resume your major streak after the hiatus that he's been on and start changing stuff up. But on the other hand, I still was very pleased to see it and be reminded that it's going, we're going to see it in all its glory again on Sunday. The rest of this entire kit is not really worth. discussing any further. No, no, I think we can move on. My other two in this mediocre category are

Dustin Johnson and Jordan Speath. Dustin Johnson, I'm never inspired by his fashion choices. If he could like ever once wear a color, that would be great. But I know this is sort of his brand. And if, at least if he wanted to go with dull colors, I would appreciate if he gave us a pattern once in a while. But that's just kind of who he is. And then as far as Jordan Speath goes, I like that he's moving a little bit more away from his traditional like shades of navy look. He's got some gray going on. He has sort of a bright orangey yellow and a bright kind of coral shirt that he's wearing, which is good, but still just kind of a lot of gray and very, very safe from Jordan.

Yeah, Jordan's outfits for the masters were vastly superior to what we're seeing here. For Beth Page. And I would think that he, you know, you would feel liberated to get to New York. city and to show some New York flair, some fashion sense. DJ is a lost cause. DJ and I'm going to say something where I don't mean offense to the actual human beings that dress this way, but I do mean offense as it pertains to DJ. He really dresses like a club professional.

Yes. So he is dressing in a way so as not to offend, so as not to draw any attention to himself, so as to sort of present as as a trusted thing. person that, you know, you feel comfortable around and with because there's nothing about the way that he's dressed that calls any attention to any aspect of his persona. And out of your club professional, those are all attributes that are perfectly well suited. They make sense. He is the number one player in the mother effing world.

And so he could get away with just a little flavor. And we know that he's got some spice in his life. he has two kids with Paulina Gretzky for Christ's sakes. So he's got a spicy side to him. When can we see that spicy side, DJ? It would be nice if we could see it even once. At this point, I would even just take a shirt with a fun pattern. Like, that's all I'm asking.

I'm not asking you to overhaul your wardrobe to completely change who you are, but just give us a little bit of flare once. Flair. Number one in the world, flare. Agreed. Agreed. And then my last entry, and this is the only entry that I have in the ugly category house, is our favorite Rory McElroy. Rory's fits look like those of an elementary school math teacher and probably the boring math teacher at that. He's got khaki pants going on, some weird orange and blue striped shirt action happening. I think his Saturday shirt is like legit just a white polo. I don't know what was going on with Nike here or what their plan was for him, but it doesn't seem to be working out, whatever it was. So, again, no offense intended to the actual human beings that fit this category.

Tons of offense intended for Rory McElroy. This is the garb of a retired club professional. Yes. Who has all of his, these khaki pants. I mean, I'm halfway shocked not to see any pleats among this, among this. arrangement. I don't like the shoes. I don't like the shape of the shoes. Maybe in real life when we see them on his feet, they'll look better. But from this picture, they have the look of NBA referee shoes. The color of these khaki pants, it's extremely khaki and extremely

dad demo. I have no idea what the all white shirt is about. There's an all black shirt for Friday. The most sort of aggressive style element in this entire palette is an orange hat that I guess he can wear on either of Thursday or Friday if he so chooses. But maybe it's the case because he did not do great at the Masters, but he has by accomplishment the best year of anybody going on tour right now, that he's agreed to dress himself in a manner where his game is going to do all the talking. That's the best I can hope for as a rationale for this very lackluster arrangement. I think that's the best we can all hope for, honestly, because at this point, if he makes a run on Sunday, watching him in either of those blue or orange shirts

will be certainly glaring to the eyes. Yeah. And I agree with you on the shoes. Very, very odd choice on the shoes. But maybe they're dope. Maybe they'll look great. I hope so. On the golf course, just the angle that we have, it's kind of a rounded. I don't like it. Way too big.

The soles look too big. But Nike, you know, if there's anything Nike tends to do right as shoes. So I'm going to reserve judgment on that element. Yeah. All right, Shoestie. It's a major week. We had major Bubba with his major shirt off. Actually, you know what?

It's crazy. I like Bubba this week. And I might give him out as a pick. but I'm having misgivings now because of that shirtless thing that I'm working hard to get out of my eyeballs. But we have some handsome clothes that we will look forward to seeing with our eyeballs this week. Real quick, do you have a pick for us for this week for the PGA championship? Who's the Shusie selection? Well, I was very excited about our boy Justin Thomas heading into the weekend.

And now it looks like he's not going to play. So I'm potentially thinking of seconding your Bubba motion. Otherwise, I will say I will never feel bad about betting on Brooks Kepka. So this is the thing. It's going to be really hard. You just have to, you know, try and pick up some value in other places because I agree with you. I think Brooks Kepka is probably going to win. He's 10 to 1 odds right now.

He and Tiger have the best slash worse odds in terms of value. They're both at 10 to 1. and somebody try and come up with the explanation, the rationale for why Brooks isn't going to win, because I haven't figured it out yet. No, I can't think of really any compelling argument to that effect. All right, Chusty. We shall reconvene a week from now,

and hopefully we're not licking our wounds. We also are rooting for much better performances out of these clothes on the way they look on this flat screen. We will pick it up again soon. Thank you. Thanks, House. All right, my thanks. As always, to Shusty, we're about to jump on with Verno.

But first, quick word from a couple of our par saving pals. Ethos, you may think you don't need life insurance yet. But if you have loved ones who depend on you, you need to have a plan. I just had a birthday. I have a plan. You need to get a plan as well. These birthdays remind you, go get your life insurance. Thankfully, ethos makes doing a plan.

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No need to pay a subscription fee or have an expensive cable package. Just download the CBS Sports app on your free. phone, your fire TV, your Roku, or your Apple TV to start watching today. Ladies and gentlemen, now on the T from Memphis, Tennessee. He is the assistant to the assistant snack bar manager at Snowman Trail, Golf, and Country Club, importer of Gus's fried chicken there to Snowman. Our very own Chris Vernon. The 50-year-old Joe House.

Is that how, I mean, it's a fine, how do you do, I guess? I have never felt more inadequate wishing you happy birthday. When I see you post on Instagram, a happy birthday wish from Dave Grohl of the food fighters, I have got to know how this happened. Well, look, I got to give credit where credits do. That whole Instagram thing was a surprise. to me, you know, I go ahead and share that social platform. We're at House from D.C. on Instagram to go along with at House of, at the House of Carbs so that, you know, all those walks

of life are covered. But at House from D.C., my man Pat Maldowney of the ringer conspired with Lexie Eater at Callaway. And those two, unbeknownst to me, had some collusion. It was real collusion. It wasn't fake collusion, Verno. Real collusion. And they got these birthday messages. And they put them up on my Instagram story. And late, mid morning, early afternoon, I get a text like, hey, you should look at your Instagram. And I'm like, okay, I don't remember putting anything up there.

And then these birthday wishes start appearing all in a row. And I mean, let me tell you, Verno, it got a little dusty in Northwest D.C. I wasn't planning on it. You know, I didn't know any of this was coming along. So it was, it was, it was very touching, very touching all this love across all of our, all our paths and everything. You're not skipping over this. Why is Dave Grohl wishing you happy birthday? I get why Mallory Rubin is.

I get why Jason Concepcion is. I get why Chris Ryan is. Bill Simmons. And why is Dave Grohl wishing Joe House a happy birthday? Well, first of all, you got to know, everybody from the DMV, we run thick. So my boy, Dave Grohl, is a native of the Washington, D.C. suburbs. And he's just a little bit older than me, but I grew up in the same music scene as Brother Grohl. In fact, I was a fan of bands that he was playing.

And I was going to these shows all around D.C. and Virginia and Maryland, wherever these bands could get access. And this is the late 80s, early 90s, the heyday of the D.C., well, I mean, goes all back even further in the 80s, but I don't want to talk about how far back. You know, the D.C. indie music, the D.C. punk music scene is pretty well known. and there's a lot of heroes that have come out of it. And Dave Grohl is probably the most well-known. Definitely going to end up in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But a very little known fact of Dave Grohl's existence, he is a barbecue maestro.

You wouldn't believe how he, I mean, the man's got smokers of all sizes and shapes all over his premises. and I was lucky enough, me and Adam Rappaport got together with him. And, you know, Bon Appetit is going to have an issue coming up with it features Dave Grohl. And I don't want to step on that too much. But I got to be with Dave in person. And we saw his barbecue setup. And it's an incredible aspect of his life.

Holy mackle. Hey, by the way, real quick, the band that you would go see him play in in Washington, D.C., does the music exist? Like, could I look it up? Oh, sure. The band was called Scream. He was on the last couple records of Scream. S-C-R-E-A-M. In fact, that band made it into one of my favorite, you know, crime novels by a local author who helped participate in the development of the wire.

George Pelicanos wrote a book about a D.C. It's just a crime story set in Northwest D.C. and he talked about one of the characters going to a Scream show. I mean, Scream was known for, you know, it's time here in D.C. How awesome is that? All right. Hey, so check it out. The championship is it Beth Page Black, by the way.

Oh, I heard that. PGA Championship, Beth Page Black. I don't want anybody, I don't want anybody yelling at their iPhone yet. I thought we were going to talk about golf. We are going to talk about some golf. It is another major championship, and there is one guy who we haven't seen since he put on a green jacket, and that is none other than Tiger Woods. Let's get into this week with Tiger Woods. Tiger, Tiger, Tiger, Tiger, Wood.

Verno, we haven't seen him in a month. Where has he been? We've seen him on a yacht privacy. We've seen him at the White House. Yes, good point. We saw the Kakamami. video of him like limping. We saw him,

hobbling. In terms of golf, in terms of golf, we have nothing. Now, I did see some footage of him playing in shorts at Bethpage where, you know, some folks last week. He took privacy. I don't know whether the tail is accurate

or not, but I think he might have taken the yacht from Florida up there to the outer edge of Long Island, maybe two weeks ago. he's just been practicing well he could have and that was an easy trip for him they're showing him in his practice round

and it's like 50 degrees and wet and he's wearing like a toboggan and he's all bundled up so he's out there for the practice round and day well this is I hope I know there's not going to be any rain when they're actually playing

and I'm hoping the rain kind of tapers off I didn't look at the forecast there for today or tomorrow, but I believe it tapers off end of the day tomorrow at the latest. So they're going to have one day, Wednesday for it to dry out. But look, this thing is going to be playing long. That's the reputation. It's well-deserved. Every data point that you want to observe about this golf course is that it plays long.

Here's my question to you as it relates to Eldrick Tiger Woods. His tea time Thursday morning is 8.24 a.m. and I bet the mercury, the temperature at that time on Thursday morning, I would be shocked if it's much north of 50 degrees. What do you think that means, if anything, to Tiger and his performance on Thursday? Well, as an older gentleman, we know that the cold can, right? Like the cold can effect, that ankle that you hurt when you were in seventh grade, you start to feel it

but it gets gold outside. If you've had a million surgeries on your knees and back, it's probably not the greatest of condition, but I am more comforted by the fact that he has played Best Page well in the past, and more importantly, he has played great

in the last three majors that he's played in, and he is playing great so far this year. A couple things. All right, so you've got to remember, the last three times we have seen Tiger in a major. He tied for six and had the lead at one point at the British Open. He was second at the PGA and he won the Masters. So that's the last three times we have seen it.

But we always talk about guys and how well, you know, do the guys play really well in the majors, whether it is Brooks Ketka, obviously, the king of those. But when we talk about Tony Feinauer, we talk about Dander Shafley, some of these guys. that really have stepped up when it comes major time. It's now not a one-off. It's three in a row that Tiger has been right there,

you know, with a chance to win the thing. The last three times we've seen in major. I don't want to interrupt you, but along the way there, also a victory at the Tour championship, which is, you know, ostensibly the 30 best players in the world at that point in time based on the point system they use.

So he threw in there. He threw into that mix, you know, going up against the world's best and putting it all on top of them. So really, I, it's, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I don't call that a major necessarily, but it's, it's, it's, it's, it's world class golf, that's for sure. Okay. Okay. So he has played great when it's mattered most. Um, he always, he says that that's how he played the schedule right now. But Joe House, I'm going to blow you away even more. Okay. So I was reading this article today. on golf week. And it was talking about Tiger Woods and kind of,

you know, the success that he's had recently at majors, but then about this year. And we know that Greens and Regulation can be something that we should look at regarding Beth Page Black. A place where he has obviously, in 2002, which is a long-ass time ago

now, he won the U.S. Open there, but he's the only player underbar that entire 32 holes. This season, Tiger Woods has hit 75.6% of the Greens and Regulation. I think that's pretty good. It's amazing. To put it into context.

Yes. The best Greens and Regulation mark of Tiger Woods' career is 75.2, which is lower, the nobody has done so far, 75.2, that was in two. he won nine times and he won three majors. Oh, I see. We're in a historical frame of mind, are we, Berno? Oh, we are. I'm feeling good.

I mean, both week, you just had to give me a couple cents to make me believe. And now I'm starting to talk myself into, oh, my God, could you imagine? Could you imagine if we started off the season with Tiger Woods. is winning the Masters and then the PGA championship back to back. Holy Max. I mean, it's as unbelievable as thinking about that Monday of

Master's Week and looking at how he'd been, you know, playing up to that moment in the season and forgetting about the fact that he's got some magic up his sleeve that is, you know, some combination of mental fortitude and a world-class mind and strategic approach and putting all that, all those non-quantifiable

attributes to work at Augusta. And, you know, the Thursday and Friday rounds at Augusta National, when he came off the golf course, he was so satisfied. He was so, like, quietly enthusiastic. He just had these nice smiles. He wasn't all smiles. He wasn't flashing those big teeth of his, but he is coming out confidently.

And then he let the magic do its work over the weekend. So I'm not going to sit here on the Monday of PGA Championship Week and try and come up with a reason not to think well of him other than just the basic historical, challenge of it. He's never won the PGA championship and the Masters in the same year. There are only a handful of guys

in the history of the game that have done so. He hasn't won two majors in New York. The last guy to have won two majors in New York, I think, was Gene Sarazen. I mean, there's a bunch that's just golf history that's up against him. But who am I to

say that Tiger's not coming out to make golf history again? Oh, so all right. So let me do the flip side. The flip side, beyond all the fact that he's playing insanely well, like at a level where we are actually weirdly matching in some of the statistical categories when he was at his peak, though he does not hit the ball as far as though he does not put the ball at the same ridiculous rate as he did once upon a time. Some of these numbers are now showing up like Tiger at peak of powers.

That being said, you've got to remember, they've had two majors here, which were that 2002 U.S. Open. And I mentioned he was the only guy that was under part of that week. The last time was 2009, and they had a U.S. Open here, and that's the one that Lucas Glover won. There were only five guys under par that week. I feel better about him when you are talking about in that range. Like, I don't want a tournament where the winner is going to be 16 under, where the winner is going to be 16 under, where the winner is going to be, you know, you've got to get to 15 under to 20 under

to try to win the thing. As much as I do, can you just stick around, a round par, a few under, and if, God, if you could get, if you could post a red number,

you are dead in the midst on this thing. That's when the smarts can come about. He's playing it, you know, the course management is just out of this world. And the second thing is, can you imagine what that New York crowd is going to be like for him? Well, that's right. And we saw at Bell Reeves where there were just the throngs and throngs of people.

And it took all of Kepka holding him off. And then, of course, we saw in that Tour championship, as you mentioned, you know, we saw how the defected guys in the mask. We saw it. Now, imagine when, and they're nice at Augusta, right, when Francisco Molinari walks up in 12, he's getting food in New York, like, that's what happening. It's a great point. You're reading for you to fail audibly. They are audibly rooting for you to fail. I was watching this special, the PGA ran over the weekend from the last time.

And there's one where they're like booing Sergio Garcia as he walks in the T-Barr. And he waggles, and then he waggles, he waggles, and he hits one. And there's this New Yorker with this big gold chain that's standing behind the T-box. And he goes, all that foot. And this is what you have to deal with. So now imagine, when you hear those roars going on elsewhere, and it's already distracting, imagine when everybody is actively rooting against you, it's going to be lawless. if he gets cracking.

The same way it was when Phil, you know, had that crowd at his back. There's nothing like those New York golf crowds. It's just a different world. And the Tigers got that thing on his side. God bless the rest of those guys. I'm right there with you on all of that. Do you have a tiger prediction?

Oh, I think he's good. Like I told you for the Masters, I said he'll be there right at the end, and how this is now, again, If it had only happened at the Masters, or if it only happened, but you mentioned the George Championship, but what a big tournament that is. He's there at 6, you know, at the British,

with a lead on the last day. He's there at second at the PGA, and he won the Masters. I think he will be in the top 10 with a chance to win the 10. Okay. Well, I'm going to give out top 5 for him, because I love the way you're talking, and I think if he's anywhere, if he shows up and he's not rusty at all, because we really don't know anything about how fine-tuned his golf game is,

but like, woe to those that doubt Tiger Woods preparedness. So I'm not going to be somebody that doubts that he's available right now at better than two to one odds. It's plus 217 right now to take Tiger inside the top five. I want Tiger inside the top five just because of what that means for our enjoyment of watching this tournament on a Sunday. And that's the way I'm going to go at it.

Now I'm going to, I want to put the pressure. on you. We're going to do our Epic Flash pick of the week. This is the PGA championship now, Verno. Epic Flash driver by Callaway featuring their revolutionary flash face technology. They use artificial intelligence and machine learning. I could use

some of that to help me speak better. They're promoting faster ball speeds all across the face. The Epic Flash models have the most worldwide wins of any driver model in 2019. It's the number one selling driver model in the United States per golf data tech. So let's go ahead and jump into it. Do you have one name? Do you have two names?

I mean, we already have Tiger Circle on the Hoop. Who's your pick for winning this thing? All right. So we're going to do the Tiger thing for sure. But now I wanted to look a little bit further down. You're just getting such bad odds when you're talking Kepka and Johnson, Rory, and some of these guys. So looking down a little ways into that 20-something.

range, right? Yes. And the ones that I like are, as long as he doesn't withdraw with an injury, Jason Day. Oh, God. I'm with you. I'm always worried about it,

but it's 21 to 1. I mean, he's won a PGA before. He's played really well here. The last big event they had here was the Barclays and he finished two bad in that one. He does well at this course. And in fact, he has the best aggregate scoring of anyone that's played at least eight rounds there.

Yes. And so what I did is I went through and if you talk about it, the guys that have played at least eight rounds, it goes, Jay, Fusufusin, Tiger, Mickelson, Sergio,

Ryan Palmer, Bubba Watson, Lee Westwood, Ricky Fowler, Rory, DJ, Snetica. And that was in order from best to worst. But they're all great.

These are the best guys at that court. Then it played those rounds. So Jason Day has the best aggregate score of anybody at that course. And he's 21 to 1. That's one of them. Probably think a flyer on Bander just because he's always good. I mean, and he's got five top 25s and four top 10s in eight majors. So you just got to be in the mix.

And he's been in the mix. And so I listed off those names. And so I'm trying to match up. Anybody had super long on for somebody that was on that list that we know has played best page really really well. And so now, all right, so Day, Zander, obviously we're doing the Tiger thing. And now I'm going to let you choose for me, all right? I'm happy to do it. This is going to be my, this will be my epic flash pick of the week.

I like the way you're setting it up for me here. Do we want? Volvo Watson at 55 to 1 or Phil Mickelson at 60 to 1. So it hurts my heart to do this. But I got to go blah Verno. I'm looking long and hard here. I mean, he has three starts at Bethpage over the past 10 years. He has not finished outside the top 20 in any of those events.

He was tied for 18th in 2009, tied for 10th in 2012, tied for 13th in 2016. And he scores very well. in some of these advanced metrics, the strokes gained T to green. He's looking very good. There's also a thing with Bubba and the particular grass on these greens. It's Poa, which is like a cool season grass.

It's a grass that can survive, you know, cooler climates like the Northeast. And Bubba has been terrible putting this year. He switched his putter. But he's only played two events on Poa. One was at Riviera and the other was down in Mexico. And at both of those events, he gained strokes putting against the field,

which was a vast improvement over what he'd done otherwise. So I'm just, you know, Bubba has this track record and I get a hat tip to my boy, Pat Mayo for some of this data. We know this. He plays well on track. that he likes, and we call him Bubba tracks. So Augusta is a Bubba track, Riviera is a

bubba track, the place up in Connecticut, River Highlands, he plays great at the TPC in Louisiana. What if Beth Page is a bubba track? You hear what I'm saying? Yes. I think 55 to 1, and we saw, hey, we saw him earlier this year. You remember this?

We're all watching the Masters and the Tigers they have it, and then they, like, Then they, like, move the camera for, like, for the first time all day, they're like, and bubble Watson has a chance to take a lead with this putt, and you were like, what the hell? Like, I didn't even know he was, I didn't even know this guy was in the mix. Yeah, exactly. Run on the last day, and at one point, had a chance to be right there at the top.

All right, Verno. So that's, that's four names with four different kind of angles that we can give out to folks. We like Tiger. I'm going to play him as a top five. We got to put a splash on Xandershoff. you have them at 25 to 1. I see him at 28 to 1. So he's in that range right now.

Jason Day, former major winner, lover of Beth Page Black, available on my book at 25 to 1 to win. And Bubba Watson, at these incredible odds, I mean, it just feels like value.

60 to 1 we're giving them out. Now, you can also get some of these guys. Sergio and Bubba. I mean, Bubba is available right the second at, almost two to one to top 20.

I'm going to do that quickly. I'm going to do that before this podcast goes up and these odds go in the wrong direction. Because it feels like somebody's sleeping on Bubba. Now, speaking of sleeping on something, the last time we spoke, you had not had an opportunity to go out with your beautiful, brand new apex irons and the smoke flavor. Have you made it out yet? Oh, have I ever?

Oh, I'm so happy. Hey, not only have I made it out with them, I actually decided, you know what, I am going to finally just take a lesson. And I took a lesson from, you know, one of the PGA tour pros at my club, and it changed everything. It was like, I was like, you know what, I've got these unbelievable new clubs. I am done being average. and so no I mean listen I'm not kidding you when I tell you now I had I had my clubs for a long time I absolutely love them I told you that I because you had offered me clubs in the past and I swore by mine um everything about these like I can swing I'm an overswinger um and I you know they always tell you if you can slow down and you can swing easy and I'm not going

and act like I'm Ernie L's now or something, but the club, like, absolutely does the work. It just does. That's the idea. And I understand that over-swinging, that's just you trying to get your money's worth. I understand that.

That's it. That's it. And so these are, no, I absolutely love them. I love them. So the big challenge is going to be you finding your distances. Now that you're hitting the ball, you know, longer with these apex irons, The other thing I did to you, and this is in anticipation of us playing together and how many strokes I'm going to ask for from you, I set you some balls down.

I set you some of the Callaway ERC softs. And these balls have a couple things going on with them that I like, that I'm excited for you. I don't know if you put any into play yet. I know you're a deep truevis, man, which makes a lot of sense. But these ERC softs, I'm telling you got to try them. It's a distance ball with a hybrid cover. It's a multi-material cover. So these balls can go a long ways.

And I'm at my advanced age, Verna, looking for extra distance where I can get it. But the other thing I love, they have this triple track alignment aid on them. There's three stripes on them, two blue and one red. And you just have to line that thing up. It looks like a giant alignment. When I'm looking down at it with my eyes that need glasses, and, you know, even I am able to try and hit the middle of the ball with the putter. Have you tried these ERCs yet?

I have told you, you are, and you are hard selling me. You are hard selling me now. I have been so, I have the soccer balls, the Truvus, as you mentioned, right? Yes. I have lived and died with those soccer balls. And so for you to get me to give up, right? And everybody I play with, there's never any disagreement on whose ball is who's. That's true.

That's true. And I typically have the yellow one just in case somebody else has the white and red somehow. So I've got the more rare, the yellow with the black on it. That's the OG. That's the real OG. Yeah. So you are going to, you're doing the Lord. work and getting me to move away because I have tried, I'll tell you this, I've tried all kinds of

balls that have come out over the course of the past year, all kinds of different balls. And I have gone back to that truvis every single time, every single time. So I am, and listen, it's good because it's a Callaway product, but I am willing, now I have gotten, you have sent me these, and because it's you, I will put them into play. And, and, And as long as it goes in the fairway, as long as it go in the fairway, I'm going to fall in love with it. But the stick of that thing goes out of bounds, I'm back at my soccer ball. Fair is fair. I just wanted to give you something to mess around with, just as you have something to compare them to.

I'm very interested. I have never used the alignment thing. How did that work? You just put it down and line it up. What do you mean how does it work? It's your eyeball takes over. No, is it best for putting or is it best when you are out in like the fairway? It's intended for putting.

It's definitely intended to be a putting aid to help you find the sweet spot of the putter face. And, you know, they did all this scientific stuff. More of that machine learning and the artificial intelligence and all the rest of it, they have some feedback that looking down at three stripes is better for your eyes and looking at one. I mean, who am I to argue? I'm just a bad golfer. I'm with it. And I play with a bunch of those bozos that, you know, draw a line with the Sharpie on it.

Who needs that anymore? There you go. All right, Bruno. Hopefully we gave out some winners. I know we'll be in touch over the course of the week. Maybe we'll tweet a little bit once play gets started. Let people in on some of our live betting angles as we come up with those strategies because there's always some live betting strategies, isn't there?

Live betting strategies. I caught Kepka. Did not come through at the Byron. Yeah. Hey, I shout out to Kane because that Joker just was, he was out of his mind great. He did it. He did it. He took care of business.

That's what you're supposed to do if you want to get your first win on tour. You got to go kick ass on the weekend. So he did it. Well, I can't wait for the PGA. Tell Dave Grohl I said hello. You got it. I'm going to ask him to send you some brisket. Thanks, Verno.

All right, thanks, thanks. All right, my part saving pals, there we go. preview is in the books. I think we've given you hopefully a little bit of early week guidance as you build out your lineups as you think about allocating a little capital as you start wrapping your head around the delicious storylines of this week. We shall be back in just a couple days. This is the Monday preview. We're back on Wednesday with a deep analytic dive. Justin Ray from the 15th Club is back. Justin and I are going to go through the same. deep analytics as the

previous show that we did around the Masters and of course our beloved Harry Gaillon from Against All Odds is on we're going to make our final selections the Wednesday before the tournament gets going on Thursday and then something to look forward to on Sunday right

after this PGA championship has been decided the Wanamaker will be in somebody's hands. They're lifting it up but looks a little bit like the Stanley Cup to be honest. Lifting up the Wanamaker and we're going to be going live on Fairway Rowland and giving you our immediate reaction

and hopefully maybe the further coronation of Eldrick Tiger Woods. But until then, let's all hit them straight out there.