Fore Play - PLAYERS Week feat. Kurt Kitayama

Episode Date: March 7, 2023

Kurt Kitayama fresh off the gutsy win at Bay Hill joins the show for the first time (01:08:02). We discuss marking his 1 centimeter putt on the 72nd hole, overcoming a triple on the 9th, and taking down Rory down the stretch. Before Kurt joins, we get hyped for The PLAYERS Championship, break down the Tour’s latest schedule changes, including aggressive comments about controversial limited-field, no-cut events, and react to Tiger not playing.You can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/foreplaypod

Hey, 4Play listeners, you can find us every Tuesday and Thursday on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or YouTube. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. Oh, Rick! What's up, my brother? I've got a buddy who struggles with that shot. A lot. His name's Frankie Burrilli. So the guy's actually gave him a nickname of butter knives because he always knives to the cross the green.

Rock 100. Now you've got to break 90. We appreciate what you guys do for golf. It's been really cool. Thank you. You're making it cool. We appreciate it. I was like, hey, Phil, you only fucking $29.99.

And he grabs 100. He's like, yeah, I won 90,000 of these yesterday. He goes, take 100 and go fuck yourself. What? What are you that different? It's ain't a hobby. Foreplay, brought to you by Barstool Sports, presented by our very good friends at Chevrolet,

the bow tie, EVs, EUVs for everyone everywhere. We love you. Chevy. Huge week. This is the first week of the year that I go wall-to-wall-to-wall consuming golf. coverage. I did it tonight. I recorded live from the players championship every night. I was just watching Paul McGinley and Brandl Schambly going at it, going over, talking about 17, talking about all the different players in the holes, the excitement around the tournament. And it's the first week of the year

that I really do that, that I really watch all of that coverage. And it just gets me fired up. They're sitting there right in front of the 17th hole. We're coming off a great weekend. We got Kurt Kittiyama on the show for the second half. We talked to him for about 30 minutes. A lot of to get to. It's myself and Dan. We got Trent and Frankie who decided to do their crazy travel, as you guys all talked about, or we all talked about last week, going from Petal Beach to Myrtle Beach, getting there at like one or two in the morning, waking up, Frankie's saying the national Anthony. I got pulled over. Did the Myrtle Beach all day, and then they drove from there down to the players championship, I believe. So they were just like, we're going to do that. You guys

do the podcast. So here we are. It's myself a Dan Rappaport. Are you fired up for this week, Dan? Oh, I'm fired up, dude. This is, this is a golf heavy week, 156 players, which we just don't, we just don't get that very much anymore. And it's a dying breed. You know what I mean? Like 156, everyone, there's no amateurs in the field. There's no guys who won the tournament in 1986 who are going to shoot 82, 82, and call it a week.

This is a 156 of the best golfers in a world on a golf course that I think is kind of a popular punching back for people, which I really don't get because all the players. love it and I think it's fucking awesome. I'm really excited for this week. Golf feels hot right now after Bay Hill. There's controversy with the new designated events. There's just a lot of things happening. The only thing missing is Tiger. Yeah, I do want to get into the Tiger thing.

You know, I was stunned. I mean, there were, there were just whispers afterwards that he felt good, that he was having great recovery. He looked good. I heard, you know, the term that his gait looked a lot. better that people felt like during his showing at Riviera and the players championship and his role, kind of him and Rory being the faces of the PGA tour throughout this last tumultuous year, the whole deal, just felt like he was going to play.

And the fact that I'm going selfishly, I was hoping he's going to play so I can see his ass Friday, Saturday, Sunday. But he's not playing. You surprise not playing? Yes and no. I mean, I think after Riviera, there was definitely a lot of optimism. And rightfully so. We talked about a lot on the show.

He shot better on the weekend than he did. over the first two days, which is a huge sign of progress. But I just think at this point, it's just too close to Augusta to risk anything. And also, it kind of is like we just talked about, 156 players. This is a hard tournament to win, a really hard tournament to win. It doesn't really favor any type of player. It's not like Augusta where you can kind of show up and, you know, the Freddies of the world always because there's so much local knowledge involved.

Now, this is just like a pure test of golf. And I just think it's too close. I don't think he thinks he can win it realistically. And I don't think he wants to risk anything. But yeah, it's definitely like a, you texted me. You know, late when I texted you back, I was like, it's kind of depressing because it is just a reminder of the reality that we're in right now. It's like even if there are these positive signs, it doesn't mean that there's that that the status quo was changed. He still just can't do it.

I'm a little mad at myself. I got a little too hyped up, right? And I, you know, I will say that the beauty of being a Tiger fan forever is that you've always been able to be hyped up because he's always delivered. It might take several years. It took 11 years in between major championships. So it's not like it always delivers right away. But it's easy to get hyped up about Tiger like we always do. I watched him shoot that.

What was it? The four under 67, I think is what it was on Saturday. And you're like, here we go. He's not only, he's like prancing around the golf course making Eagles. It's fucking done. Let's go.

He's obviously going to play. He might play Bay Hill and the players. He's going to play everything. And then it's just like, you said, it's a reminder. Like, oh, no, no, no. That's not the case anymore. He is going to pick his spots.

Part of me is like twisting into my own head of a positive of him being like, I don't even need to go through like another warm up and play the players championship. I'm fine. My game sharp enough. I'm going to be able to go into Augustine Nationals, kind of the way that I was thinking about it. And I'm consistently reminding myself, too, that he did go do a practice, sort of drive a cart around, walk through whatever it was at L.L. ACC. So he's clearly got the major championships are on his mind of kind of the targets.

I guess that's not surprising. So Tiger's not in it. I imagine the player's championship has to be pretty bummed out. The tiger's not showing up. I would think 100 million percent. And it's funny, you know, through the prism of these no cut events, you know, there's been a lot of talk this week about, you know, trying to guarantee that all the stars are going to be there for all four days. That's kind of the main selling point for the no cut. There's only one guy on the planet who actually impacts ticket sales. And it's Tiger Woods. You know, it's like Colin Mori Kowah was the only top 10 player who missed the

who missed the cut at Bay Hill. Like did that really, did that really change things? Tiger's the only guy whose absence is genuinely missed. But yeah, definitely, I mean, but also it's kind of like,

it's not a good thing because he's gone because, but when he's there, and I thought this was amazing at Riviera because I wanted to see what it was going to be like, whether he still sucked all the energy out of the tournament, one million percent he did. It was all the best. players in the world. Anyone would talk about was Tiger Woods. And on Live from, that's all I'd be

talking about all week. I'm saying I'd still prefer that. But it does give you an opportunity to sort of it frees you up a little bit. Tiger takes up a lot of mental energy. He takes up all the mental energy. And you are right. We were with, so this last weekend, we were with a couple guys that are Thunderbirds and have obviously their hands heavily in the WM Phoenix Open and and everything that goes on with it, running it, operating it, everything. We're talking. We're talking. We're talking about getting because the designated events stuff was unfolding there's a lot of trauma there's James Hans making all kinds of comments Max Homa had comments that went viral people are going back and forth they're calling tour hypocrites other people are defending it we'll get into all that

but they were talking about you know how it's going to affect their event and you know they kind of made the comment of like yeah there's pretty much nowadays like one guy that uh we would like or we would be committed to trying to get there and it's Rory and then we even we kept talking for a little bit, kind of got to the point where like, even that doesn't really matter. And then they were like, oh,

if you want the like the truth, truth from going way back to the beginning of like when we take over and we're like a full year out, there's one guy and it's just Tiger Woods. It's just like how is there any way we could possibly get Tiger Woods to our event? Because I think you're right. Like I don't know that anyone else in the game can even come close to actually impacting the ticket sales or the or the,

you know, the ratings that much. And it might even be more now. A really impactful way. It might even be more now because of everything that's gone on. Like the public curiosity is just, he's a Shakespeare character. Like, he's been through everything he can play.

He just can't walk. I mean, you just, you just can't make it up. And so, you know, if he never had his downfall, the multiple downfalls, the scandal, the back surgery,

this. And he just like winning, winning, winning, winning. Yeah, you know, I think he would still, but I genuinely do believe that how tumultuous his career has been contributes to his mystique. Yeah, it is, it is funny to think about like, oh, this guy can't play, but he can't walk.

And yet it happens, it's Tiger Woods, who was already under a microscope. We're like, oh, shit, we're like zooming in on, can he walk up and down a hill? And that's the guy. So anyways, he's not here this week. Sad, I was going to go Tuesday, I think, if he was there. And we're all going to go and try to, you know, see if we could see him.

or maybe chat with them on Tuesday, Wednesday. We still got Frankie, Trent, and you are all going to be there Tuesday and Wednesday. And then I believe Frankie and Trent are heading home. They've been on the road for like a week and a half. I'm coming down. I'll be there Friday, Saturday, Sunday. For Bolt a Blazer, Equinox 2 Silverado, Chevy EVs are for everyone everywhere. We actually saw the Silverado EV for the first time in person and the flash.

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They're affordable. You don't have to be rich to have an EV. So go get a Chevy EV for everyone everywhere. I'm hyped up. I never been to the players championship before, which is amazing, but I've never been. I've been to now the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA, I've never been to a British Open. I've been to quite a few PGA tour events. I've been to the Phoenix Open a bunch. I've been to the Honda Classic. I've been to the Zurich Classic.

I've been to quite a few events. Never been to the players. I heard it's an absolute blast with the stadium course and the actual design of it where people can pretty much have a vantage point to see a lot of golf. you know, they kind of make the, a bit of a party scene, kind of an amphitheater situation on 17 with that hole and that there's, you know, obviously the famous chain smokers thing from a few years ago,

but they have concerts and the whole deal, and it's Jacksonville and Jacks Beach. So I'm pretty fucking excited to go to the players championship this week. It's a, it's a sneaky, really, really, I don't even know if it's sneaky anymore, but it's a great week. And I think what you said, it is,

they design, I mean, it's called Stadium Court. They design the golf. course for fans to be able to watch it. So that little corner there is 16 green, which is the par five over the water, 17, and then they go through the tunnel. And you can see what's happening. Yeah, it's a really, really special week.

And then because they have it every year, a lot of the stuff they have built, there's not like tents. It's more like permanent structures. The build out is huge. And the merchandise that we have in there, it feels like, you know, the barstool PGA tour relationship is just, we're in the honeymoon. I mean, we're probably best friends. Yeah, we spoke about it last week.

And, you know, if you tuned in and you saw us all, Players' Championship basically tattooed on our foreheads and how far we had come from a handful of years ago where Trent and I legitimately wore disguises to try to get into PJ Tour because we had been booted for, you know, allegedly violating some things. And where we're at now, it's amazing. It really is amazing how far it's come, how much they've helped out. People have been watching the Billy Horsal video.

numbers are doing great. We appreciate that. That was huge in the PGA tour. They actually reached out to us. We're like, you know, the course is open until this date. You guys would like to come film anything. We would love to try to orchestrate that and help that happen. And then the merchandise, the fact that that is co-branded, that doesn't just happen overnight. That's months and months and months of work that we've been in a good place with them.

So it is quite interesting how far we come with the PGA tour. I assume, you know, a lot of people can probably draw the conclusion that some of it's probably lived based of, of like the tour is reaching and up against an existential threat. At that point, you pretty much need as many friends as you could possibly get, especially in the media. I think we're probably impactful with a certain demographic in the media,

so that probably has played a role. The only thing, the thing that's always been the biggest negative for us with the PGA tour is that you could never really figure out who it actually is that was ever roadblocking things. Because everybody you talk to, be like, oh yeah, we're a fan. We think you guys are actually great for the game. We listen to this show. We like that.

We'd love some bars to swag even. Like, oh, yeah, you got like a hat we can get. It always went well. And they'd be like, you know, we're in with it. Unfortunately, you know, with us, it's, it's, it's, it's been a, it's, it's, it's, it's it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, well, I'd be like, well, I talk to this person, that person, that person. It's like, everyone seems to be on board, but nobody's actually getting it done.

And now, again, I think over the last six, eight months, that has sort of, the winds of change have sort of found their way into the bar. Stool 4 play PGA Tour relationship, which has been great. So I'm wearing a players championship fucking hat right now with the Barstool logo on the side. I'm excited to see all merchandise. I hope so. It's left when I get there Friday. It might not be.

And I'm jazzed up to just experience the tournament. I'm going to be doing kind of a combo of like having a media credential and probably having some access to some hospitality areas. I'm going to be there for the weekend. So I'm pumped to get there. I'm pumped to start talking about some players because, again, I was just going through and and I was glued into the live from. I just fucking love it.

I've always said that. I can't get enough of it. And I was going through the leaderboard too because we were preparing to chat with Kurt and the whole deal. And I think Jordan Speath might be one of the most interesting players in the world of golf to talk about right now because it's felt like for like two, three years now, he's kind of been like on the cusp of being back. Yeah, he got the win in Texas.

and he's had many events where he's right there. He almost fell off a cliff last year at Pebble Beach. And then he did fall off a cliff in the last five holes this week. And bogey, three of the last five holes to go from 10 under to seven under, 10 under would have won it. That was completely shocking that that would occur. So I don't really know where to feel like I'm at with Jordan Speath. But as we talked the beginning about Tiger Woods and Roy McRoy

and the players that can actually draw pure interest, I think Speeth's as close as anybody. you know, that might be able to draw a little bit of a difference. And I don't really know what to make of his game, to be honest with you. Yeah, I think he finished third in the PIP. I think it was Tiger, Rory, and then Spieth. So I think by that metric, he is third as far as needle movers. I think the thing with Jordan and I was going to try to playing that well, you know, without.

Yeah, like it's not even playing that well. I get the PIP, right? It's like Rory had a phenomenal year and won the FedEx Cup and the whole deal and almost won the open. And for Speed to finish third and like not playing horrific. but not playing up on the level Roy McRoy. Yeah, no, he's definitely not. I mean, like you said, he's flashed up. He was, you know, he finished second in the open to, to call.

And he's, he's had like teases. I think what's particularly intriguing about him right now is that his ball striking has been really, really, really good. It's actually his putting that has let him down the last couple of weeks. I saw some stats that were like his putting, or his tea to green last week was like as good as it's been in a long time. And then, you know, obviously with, with Jordan, there's always the Augusta tie in and people think that if he's as a pulse and two working hands,

that he'll be a factor there. But, yeah, no, there's a bunch of guys you can win this week. There's, there does still, you know, still feels like John Rom is the best player in the world, despite a, you know, definitely a disappointing week last week. Sheffler was right up there. Rory was right up there. And all three of those guys were playing together.

Dude, I saw they were talking about John Robb shot 76, 76, and then still finished tied for 39th. I was like, how the fuck did he shoot 76? twice that he's still tied for the 30s. I was like, that's really not that bad. So, so yeah, ROM's obviously the best player in the world. I agree with that.

Rory coming back. It's so interesting in golf, man, how somebody can go, you know, I mean, it felt in the fall, obviously, like Roy McRoy was the unbeatable guy,

the guy, and it's like he can't tee it up, but he doesn't win every week. He's never going to finish, like, not in the top five. And it's the last few weeks you looked and it was like T30. It's 40th at their year. And then all said,

he essentially should have won yesterday. It feels like he's incredibly close to winning. And it's like even, it almost makes me feel better knowing and understanding and feeling like I can one day have it and one day not. It's one of the great cliches in golf. But it's like it doesn't take much to be a little bit off. And when you're a little bit off, the game is so incredibly or infinitely harder than it is. And I'm listening to Brattle talk about John Rob and his driving and how last week he had like

the worst driving stats, you know, he's had. And you're like, he's clearly the best player in the world yet. these bad driving stats so you can just lose it really quickly. But I do, you know, talking about these different players, I do agree with you in that if it were Tiger playing this week, we probably the only thing we were talked about up to this point is Tiger Woods. And without them, yeah, we're going to talk about it for 10 or 15 minutes like we did. But at the end of the day, it allows for this incredibly compelling opportunity for us to have another leaderboard Sunday like we've had recently a few different times at the Phoenix Open.

You know, it was Rom and Sheffler and several guys right there yesterday in this past weekend, tune in to the back nine. And it's Spieth and Sheffler and Rory. And then you get a few names in there that, you know, you've come accustomed to like a Harris English, these guys that are in there. And then you get a totally kind of random to the average fan name in there like Kurt Kittiyama, who's up there.

And you're like, this is awesome. There's so many different stories going on. that you otherwise would, you know, it's not even that you would, you wouldn't hate on them, but you're like, you do as big of a tiger guy as I am, you realize that like, you just tune everything out because you don't as a human. I don't have the bandwidth to focus on that many things or be excited about that many things. I'm just hanging on, even if tigers in like T-49th, I'm hanging on that four-footer for par because I think if he makes it,

it might propel him into feeling good about himself going into Augusta and five. weeks and like you're you're forgetting about all this other fascinating shit in the world of golf that now we get to focus on yeah and it's that's why i was saying my feelings when he played riviera were like a little complicated because obviously the tiger show is like so electric it's it there's nothing like it in in golf and and i ride it harder than anybody or you know just as hard as anybody but it was almost a little bit disappointing how much he sucked the oxygen out because we can't we just we got at some point we're going to have to move past the game's going to move past and it kind of already i mean it kind of already has right he's not

playing this week he he he he was 16 behind john rott i mean for as good as for as good as he looked he was 16 shots back and that's what i thought was it was cool about the netflix show with tiger not being a factor is like it was a preview into a new era the the the true post tiger era we're going to need these guys and this crew of stars that are playing this week this is going to be the core this is the core this is the these are the guys who are going to usher our game into a generation. And last week was a preview what it's going to be like. And this week is another preview. And so I think it's good for us to get these dress rehearsals without Tiger. I mean, life without Tiger is more is realer than it's ever been. And, and I just, I think that these

weeks are, again, just a reminder of like, he will be here when he can be here. But we cannot count on him to bring the juice to the events. We just can't. Cam Smith will not be here this week. He's the defending champion. He lives in town, I believe five miles or so away from the course. he's obviously banned very interesting tidbits about how he will be you know they're going to acknowledge it is for when I've heard they're flying the Aussie flag which is a staple there for the defending champion he's got his club in the picture in the in the clubhouse in the champions area so they're not going to shy away from that but he being a jacksville guy is a staple at the other side of the driving range at TPC where he would warm up hit balls practice all the time I saw them talking on TV about how he was fishing buddies with the superintendent at TBC Sawgrass. And he's banned now from the event this year because of Liv. Jay Mottahan's comments last year when he was introducing and talking about him as a champion. He said Cameron doesn't live very far from here.

And every time he pulls his car up the road, he's going to receive a hero's welcome is what he said last year. Since that time, obviously, Cam Smith has essentially been, he is banned. He's banned from the tour. He's banned from TBC Sawgrass. I haven't allowed on property at this point. So that dynamic of another defending champ, and I say another because Phil Nicholson with the PGA championship last year and him going in as the defending champion and not showing up,

not even showing up, was such a weird dynamic that we spoke about. Obviously, PGA of America, PGA tour are different, but same reason, same thing, same situation. We've got Cam Smith not showing up, not being allowed to show up, not even being allowed on property is what they were talking about, is pretty fucking wild if you think about it. It's just, again, it's just this last year has felt like three years. I can't get over the fact that Liv's first event was like less than 10 months ago.

It just feels like, I guess it's because there were all these rumors that were going along for so long, but this thing has only been a real thing since June. It's absolutely wild. Going back to Rory, I think he's going to win this week because I think, I think the players is the turn because because it's not a major. And I don't want to sound cruel, but it's like Rory has done everything that you could possibly do since he won his last major in golf besides winning the major. He's won the players.

He's won the FedEx Cup. He's won absolutely everything. And no matter what, he gets back to number one, he's the spokesman of the PJs, or all this stuff. But it's like, does it really matter that much if he doesn't win a major? And it's not fair. It's not fair to judge it that way. But when you win four by the age of, I don't know, 25 or whatever he was,

that's what you're judged by. And so I could totally see him winning this week and getting back to world number one. And it's a huge deal and everyone's riding the Rory train, but it's not a major. And it's true. I mean, it's fucking true. The guy has to win major championships. It is funny. I was thinking as you were saying that, like if he does win this week, will that be that iconic?

It doesn't change anything. No, it'd be, I mean, don't get me wrong. It'd be awesome. I'd be fired up. I imagine some of the shots down the stretch of the, if he rips driver on 18 like he did when he won, it'd be awesome. It'd be awesome. but in the grand scheme of like golf history and whatnot, it wouldn't really do much for him.

It's like he needs to just, he needs to start kicking off major championships. So I agree. I could see that. I feel like it's a no-brainer that he's going to be up there. He's going to be in contentioning. He's going to be on the leaderboard, which again is exciting.

I fucking love watching Roy McHourn play golf. It's great. In terms of the actual tournament, it gets spoken about a lot when this thing comes around. But it's an anybody's guess who can win. It never seems to favor anybody. It's Pete Dye. You know, you get short hitters out there, Webb Simpson won,

and you get, you know, absolute bombers like Rory, who's won it before. A few years ago, when JT won there was one of my favorite experiences, watching that tournament when he was hitting just hard rope draws, high cuts, he's hitting all kinds of cool shots, being the shot maker that he is. So it just delivers some very memorable golf, I feel like. And like I said, it's kind of a crapshoot in terms of a specific stuff. that you're going to focus on going in. Last year was all about the weather.

There was like a day and a half or two days off. Oh, it was clear Monday finish. Yeah. Severe wins. It was severe wins when they came back. Like borderline unplayable on 17. Everybody was hitting it in the water. Forecast this year looks good.

It looks like it's going to be high 60s, low 70s. I think I saw last I looked Friday morning. It's like 30% chance of rain, but it didn't look like much more precipitation throughout the whole thing. So we're going to get into. the Barstool Sportsbook and how great that is. Kirk and I are recording a show that's going to go out. We're doing a show Wednesday.

It's going to be our first iteration of the Barstool Sportsbook Golf Gambling Show that doesn't have a name, I believe, at this point. So we're going to get more into the picks now, but we are going to do the for the cut on this show. My point in saying all that is for people that are going to make, you know, wagers, all that. Forecast is key in that. And if you're trying to focus on a certain playing type, it traditionally at a guy at, at, at, at, at, sawgrass doesn't really favor anybody in particular. Yeah, no, it's a golf course that, like you said, everybody is one on, which I think is, you know, one mark of a good golf course, right?

Like, you don't want to have to feel the great. They have no chance. It's very, very rare that it happens. No, I'm just, I'm just excited for the week. I feel like if Rom wins, it's like, is he going to have an all-time win? You know, is he going to have an all-time year where he just wins everything? You know, it feels like, before the cut bet, by the way, we got to talk about is, like, going to be a dying breed next year because there's not going to be that many events with cuts.

But it's an interesting time for the players championship because it's like with the elevated events next year and this year and they've all feel so huge. This doesn't feel as different from other events as it has before, if that makes sense. Like I think with the API last week and how big that was, you know, the players used to stand alone as like, all right, this is the first really, really big event. It feels like we've had three of those in the last four weeks. Yeah, I didn't really think about that, but I think you're right. I think we just saw everybody play. We pretty much just saw all the top players in the world. This episode is brought to you by Woop,

the official fitness wearable of the PGA tour. I'm feeling better today after a pretty decent night's sleep last night. I will say that amazingly throughout the weekend that we had at the Dadbot Classic, which again, we'll talk about a lot on Thursday show and the whole squad is back. A lot of my metrics were pretty good throughout the whole weekend. I was going to ask, was that like a bingy week? Or was that more?

I mean, were you going after it or what? Yeah, I mean, it's definitely, it's definitely an aggressive week. It's not a crew completely comprised of like aggressive drinkers. So what happens when you get a crew like that is like everyone just kind of fuels everyone else and you never really slow down with again, this group is a little bit of a mix, probably a handful of us that that really like to drink. They're going to have cocktails from like when we wake up until we go to sleep. but very few people were pushing to go to a bar late night or anything like that. So you actually get a decent amount of sleep. So even if you didn't treat your body particularly well, you learn through the whoop app and through using whoop like I have for years now,

that if you do just get a pretty good consistent night sleep, even if everything's not perfect. Yes, the alcohol is going to hurt you. That's incredibly, that's so much more helpful than if you do the same thing and you just don't get that much sleep, your body has no chance. And so my metrics were actually decent, like I said, for such a big week of the dead by classic this past week. 87% of WOOP members say they feel healthier with WOOP with everything from personalized recommendations to sleep coaching. Woop uses data to provide you with these steps you need to take it to maintain positive routines and build healthier habits. The new WOOP 4.0. It's sleek. It's great. It's the official fitness wearable of the PGA tour.

Big week for the PGA tour. So go on over to Woop.com. That's WH-O-O-P.com. Use the code four to save 10% off your order. The designated events, big announcement last week from the tour that those will have no cut and they'll be limited fields. I believe 70 to 78 players depending on the event. They're going to have massive purses and they will have no cuts. Now, the obvious, the quick sort of comment from that is like, hmm, the PGA tour and a lot of people that have been chirping on the PGA tour's side, Tiger Woods included. one of their big negatives was like that format what they're doing over at live is not championship tournament level top tier golf it's 54 holes it has no cut that's not my world-class golf that's not my top-tier tournaments that just ain't it chief here comes the pj tour no cut limited fields and people were clearly calling that a little bit hypocritical one guy in particular james han who has been going on um oh rampage. He said he was asked by Golf Week about, you know, the changes and the designated

events and the reaction. He said, I hate them. I'm going to say exactly what 99.9% of fans said about players leaving for the Lyptor, which is that if our players just said, we're doing this purely for the money, I would have a lot of respect for them, but how they're covering it up and what they're doing and trying to make it a thing about sponsors and fans and saving opposite fields event. I think that's all bullshit. All the big names. that are talking about this new product. If you just come out and said, hey, we're doing this for the money.

They want more guaranteed money. And this is another way to funnel more money to the top players in the world. I would have a lot more respect for them. I bring these comments up because I think a lot of people probably agree with that sentiment of like, the top guys and golf are pretty positive about this because the top guys in golf are guaranteeing that they're just going to make a lot more money now. But the top guys and golf, I mean, they're the best players. It's not like there's a closed group or it's like, oh, these are the top.

And this year, I will say like the PIP. And he had a point where he said, oh, the player impact program. Like that, I agree. I'm not a huge fan of the player impact program. But the guys who are going to be in this event, in these events are the guys who have earned their way in there with their play. In any walk of life, the people who are best at their job have more leverage and get paid better. And this is not a close shop. So I'm fine with the limited events.

I actually think I listened to Peter Malnotti, do a couple of podcasts. podcast interviews where he explained that basically what they were saying is they ran thousands of simulations and what they determined was, you know, if you make these events 120 players, basically those guys from 70 to 120 won't play the non-designated events because they'll just play the designated events, whereas now you don't have them in, those guys are going to have to play, which is going to lead to better fields. I get it. And I don't have a problem with it because, like I said, everything is earned. There's no, if you play shitty, you're not going to be in those events. And if you're playing well, you're going to be in those events. So I don't really have sympathy for the James Hans of the world

who are like, oh, what about, well, you know, you don't want to say play better because it's become almost like a caricature. But at the same time, it's like the best players are the best players for a reason and they get paid more. Like that's, the, the rank and file PGA tour player has probably had it a little bit too good compared to the stars for a long time. And that's changing now. But I don't really have a problem with it because it's still that meritocratic piece. They still, they got there with their play. Yeah, that was Scottie Schaffler. I was one of his big points was it.

He believes it's a meritocracy and that that is true. And one of the big key differences is, you know, live the Pat Perez example. Pat Perez, big friend of the program, love Pat Press. He, uh, you know, he last year on Liv played pretty poorly overall and made a shit ton of money because obviously outside of his guarantee or assigning. bonus remember that was. He's on the Aces, the four Aces, I believe is the team that he's on with DJ and they won all the time.

So he would come in with some pretty poor scores relative to everybody else. But his poor play wouldn't get him outside of the top X in the world so that he would miss these events. He's in the events because he's part of live. He's on a team that's really good. So even if he played poorly, he played just well enough to get his team or help his team occasionally. Sometimes I get to the point where they would win and he would get like an extra million or

couple million dollar bonus every week because. they continue to win and that's not necessarily a meritocracy. Where as one of the key differences in this is obviously that it's the best players are the ones that get into these events and by earning the highest percentages and parts of those big prize pools, you're playing the best and therefore you're going to earn that. And even if you finish last in one of these events that are no cut, so you're guaranteed X amount of money. You played well enough to get into that event.

And if you continue to play poorly, you'll play yourself out of these events and you won't be able to get in them in the future, which is a key difference. What a Max Homer's big points last week. When he was asked about it, he said he could rant forever. And again, he was incredibly measured and thought out in his talking about it like he always is. But he said, basically, look, we're a product. And we need to be very smart and careful about the presentation value and the quality of our product. That product being the entertainment of the PGA tour and professional.

golf on the highest level. And that product is the best when all of the best players and all the best stars show up to the same events and play throughout the entire week. And I think that's an incredibly important point where like I think those leaderboards like we got last week, when people do tune in myself included and you see, you know, Rory and Spieth and Schephler up there in a leaderboard, that is infinitely more compelling and more exciting. And if that's going to happen more often by doing it this way, that's just better for the overall entertainment product of the PGA door.

Yes, I agree with the limited fields. I just think they shouldn't have gotten rid of the cut. I don't see what keeping the cut really how that impacts it. Because again, the stars don't miss cuts. That's why they're the stars. And like, I just think, but what are you going to cut it from 70 to 30? Like, what do you, you know what I'm saying? 40 in ties.

I mean, the masters, the masters goes from like 80. eight players or 90 players to 50 in ties. Yeah, you go from 75 to 40 in ties. I just think like, I think back to those WGCs and how soulless some of those Saturday and Sunday rounds are where the guys are a million off the lead and they're playing just for cash. And that's just not. And I, I don't think that the benefit of having the guarantee of the stars who, again, don't miss cuts that often because they're the stars. I don't think that that should have been enough for the tour to sacrifice this piece. But like you said, the cut was something that was in the beginning of live. That was something they talked about.

Like, no cut. I mean, that's not a real thing. Tiger Woods. And I've said this a bunch this week, but it's very impactful. You know, when he was asked at his Hall of Fame induction ceremony, what's the record that you're most proud of? You guys set all the records in the world. He said, my cut street.

My cut street. Because some days, you're not going to have it. You're going to be on the wrong side of the draw. You're going to get terrible balance. But for six years, I was better than half my peers every single week. I just don't understand why, like, narratively or symbolically, they would go away with that. And that's where I think James Hahn does have a point. Like that part of the no cut just kind of feels like they want a guaranteed payday.

Yeah, I agree with that. I mean, I think that's a good point. I think that's probably where the merits of him being like, that's a little bit BS, what they're saying, probably carries the most weight in that, you know, you're not going to drive a ton of interest in the event. Like the only guy that it's like, what's, if anything in there should be like a tiger, can't miss the cut clause. I actually think that that would be the most well-received thing that the PJ tour's ever done. Like, if Tiger's going to be in the event, he's guaranteed to play all four rounds, even if he shoots 90 both days, I think everybody would agree with that.

But them trying to stretch that out to like anybody else on the PGA tour and it having a similar effect to the overall success of the event and compellingness, the compelling nature of the event Saturday and Sunday, is just probably, not true. And I think that's probably one of of James Hott's main points is that like, no, you're just doing it for the money, grab the guaranteed money for these guys, which if you really

want that, like, just play better or the cliches of meritocracy. But I could understand that Tiger Woods just is not allowed to miss a cut clause. I completely understand that. Or it's like, if this man agrees to play in the event, he's guaranteed four rounds, but nobody else is. It's kind to be the version of like hanging,

like, you know, retiring somebody's number in the NHL. You hang when Gretzky's 99. in the rafters nobody's ever allowed to be 99 it's like tiger woods if he plays at a pj tour event once you reach a certain level of whatever the hell it is certain number of wins if everybody wins more than 80 events at this point in the history of golf tiger gets grandfathered in they could just play in any tournament and they're guaranteed to make the cut i would like that more than i would like uh this whole provision of them doing a lot of events now by the way like a lot throughout

the year that are just not going to have cuts the majority i think that the top players next year are going to play like 20 times and I think I did the like 11 of those have no cut. And so, you know, we're moving toward a model that kind of reminds me of tennis. And tennis, basically, they only play best of five sets in the majors. And so every other tournament feels a little fa cacta because it's not best of five. It's like if a guy beats Rafa Nadal in best of three sets, it doesn't carry nearly the same weight as if he beats him in a major in a best of five. And so we're moving toward golf is moved toward no cuts. It kind of reminds me of like the ATP tour. It's just kind of actually a pretty similar situation to golf where the tour doesn't own the majors.

And so the tour has these events. They're called Masters 1000 events and they have more money and they're in cool places and they have history. And it's nice when people win them, but it's not it's not that same format. And I just, I don't know. Like, in a couple years, it's going to be like these weeks where there's 150 players and there's a cut. like those are going to feel like throwback weeks which is kind of strange yeah and those are going to be what like the pebble tournament is that going to be one that's like that like those are going to be no i'm saying t and t none none of the the only time that the pga tour players are going to play full field events against top fields is the majors and the players that's it right because if they're playing a full field event that has a cut it's not going to have all the top players

and if they're playing an event with the full field with the top players, it's not going to have a cut. Yeah. So I'm trying to think like the tournaments that are going to be old school, but without any of the top players are going to be like the Pabble AT&T. And I think what they're going to try to plan now, right, to rotate them around the designatedness of the events. Is that kind of the plan? Yeah, which I also don't think is, is a awesome thing for the fan. It's just like for the casual fan, I think they need to know, oh, we're playing, this is Pebble Week. that's a that's a big one to try to keep up with oh who's in the field is this designated this year is this

designated that year i i just don't think that that's that's the best thing but again there's sponsors it's very complicated the tour has so many different parties that it needs to please sponsors you know at the end of day maybe the sponsors are saying you know what i want the guarantee that they're going to be here all four weeks we have the 20 million dollars or 25 million dollars we're the one who's paying for it so this is what it's going to be that that could like very possibly be the situation just from a fan perspective. And, you know, people, we like to bet on who's going to make the cut. A lot of people like to bet on who's going to make the cut.

I just think like, you know, we had tournaments that were 75 players, where all the best guys played and no, and there was no cut. And it kind of, the WGCs for 10 years, whatever it was. And they kind of sucked. Yeah, they weren't. They didn't resonate. Nobody cared if it was really like the only, the only time I remember them being that important was when Tiger Woods played them and won them all the time.

But that's because Tiger Woods was playing. It wasn't like anything particularly. exciting and it never to me seemed you know they'd be like oh this guy's won x amount of wgc he's like i don't care like okay he's won like how many pj tour events it's all i care about so you're right i don't think they ever really got to that point um where they stuck out and it is very tricky at this point for the pGA tour in my opinion to to navigate a situation where they clearly have a product and i think about 10 or 12 weeks of the year if done properly can be great where you get the best players together at courses that people know

that they remember that they, after watching for decades, become acclimated with the finish in the back. And Bay Hill is one of those because you've seen Tiger Woods mostly, like win their fucking eight times and take off and rip off his hat and make the put that we're already missed. And like, you've seen that a million times. And you become accustomed to like, this is a big week now. And again, it used to just be the weeks that Tiger Woods played were the big weeks. he played Tori Pines.

He played Bay Hill. He played certain events. And when he played, he played Firestone. Like when he played those, those were just big events. And now they're trying to come up with other ways. And I think that they have a product that could 12 or so weeks out of the year be a phenomenal product. Where, like I'm saying, you get the best players together at courses that people remember. The problem is they have like 40 something weeks that they have to like keep everybody happy.

And that's just not sustainable at the highest level. of entertainment. It does get watered down. There's really not much that they can do about that. And the rest of the year, I think they're going to have to pretty much accept it. Like, they're only going to be able to attract the hardcore golf fan that's really going to watch that. That's going to watch the end of the Honda Classic like we did, which was great. I honestly thought that was great. That was compelling. Those storylines, people trying to break through through and seeing new names up there and hearing all about their journey and seeing their family members out there. like that was great down the stretch for new people.

But that's pretty much only going to draw in the hardcore golf fan. And the only time you're really going to be a mainstream like top sport and even come close to driving that kind of attention is going to be the majors and another six weeks or something like that on the PGA tour. And that's actually kind of what they're going towards. But I think like you said, I don't know they're going to be as successful to the fan if they alternate that thing around. because it's like, no, you need to have the staple courses, weeks.

This comes after, you know, March Madness or whatever when there's a hole in the schedule. And if they keep moving them around, I think it's going to lose some of the ability to have those giant like 10 or 12 weeks a year. I completely agree. I also think the Honda Classic really lucked out. It was a genuinely compelling finish. But there's going to be an event this year, a non-designated event that Denny McCarthy wins by four shots. And it's a complete snooze. And so my question is,

you, do you think in 30 years, the PJ tour will still have this 40 event structure where they have all these tournaments that aren't the biggest tournaments because it feels like live and, and even Jay Monaghan would probably, if he would come on the show, we'd love to have you, Jay. If he would love to, if you would ask them, did live, if it did. He needs two week notice. He's got to go through both houses of Congress for that one. If you shine, this is shine the light on. the PJ Tour product. It's been like, it's a little bit of like a dog eat dog.

We got to really look at this thing. And I just don't know that from an economic standpoint, those other tournaments, they're amazing what they do for their charities, but for the business of the PJ Tour, is that sustainable? Is it sustainable to have those 30 non-designated events? I don't know. And everyone keeps pointing to the Honda as evidence that they can succeed. The Honda was like a great finish. Like you can't count on that happening every time. No, you can't. And you're right. That is like those tournaments are just going to, to suffer dramatically when that happens, you know, 10 times a year or eight times a year when you have an event that doesn't have the big stars in it.

Isn't that like a notoriously famous golf course? Doesn't have a compelling finish or leaderboard. And people have basically no reason to watch it unless you gambled on it or unless you're a hard, hardcore golf fan. So I do think the gambling thing is going to be a huge reason or huge way that they can try to continue to garner interest, even if they don't have the big stars. It's the same reason I, you know, I'm locked into the Edmonton Oilers Buffalo Sabres game right now. Our guy Alex Bush, it's like, you know, you decide you're gambling on a game.

You fire up the Barstall sports book. I do think that's a way that they can continue to be compelling because, you know, or try to go in a different direction, I guess, in how they drive interest in their sport is to hammer that. and to be able to get, you know, interesting, unique things in the, in the gambling world that people hammer in golf. And, I mean, look what, look what fantasy football did for the NFL. We talk a lot about how the MLB used to be kind of the king in, in the U.S. especially. And NFL got to the point where they just weren't even playing World Series games on certain days because NFL now owns multiple days of the week. And that's how dominant they were.

People could go back to, obviously, the way the NFL has managed their league over the last 20 years. But fantasy football has been an enormous part of that where people have to watch, you know, games because they got to watch their guys. They're locked into fantasy football. They've been in league for 20 years now. If golf could finagle some sort of, you know, something that's consistent, that's simple, that's different than it's been thus far in the gambling space in golf, you know, I do think they can be. continue or at least somehow figure out how to get a lot of interest in tournaments that don't have the biggest stars. But outside of that, I really don't know how they have a path going forward that's going to

make it 40-something weeks of the year a truly compelling product. Not to get all parental, but it's time we had the talk, Dan. You know, the one about that three-letter word that ends in X, not the one you're thinking about it's not it's not okay we're talking about a tucks yeah we're talking about a tux so don't go in that dark dirty place you're thinking about going all right when you need a tux the best place to go to get one is the black tucks the black tux makes it super easy to get an on trend top quality guaranteed to fit tucks without ever leaving your house here's how it works take the black tucks fit quiz pick the style you want to rock and boom you're

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to be using the black tucks when I go to Frankie's wedding. Dan's got a wedding this year later this year. The black tucks, you got to be. There's going to be, you know, people with these things that are profiled. They're probably going to be putting out videos and pictures. You got to make sure you're dialed in and looking good. The black tucks are going to help you do that. So I'm a big proponent of these guys and making sure that I look good and sharp and have the right tux for this summer. rent or buy the black tux is the place to go when you need a tuxedo for a wedding or special night right now when you go to the blacktucks.com slash four and use code for you'll save $20 off your order that is t h e b l a c k t ux dot com slash four code for to save $20 the blacktucks dot com slash four use the code for homa he did an interview after where i saw some quotes where he was basically saying like look live has live has good ideas they definitely have some good

ideas and they benefit from starting from a blank slate. If you were starting the PJ tour from a blank slate, it would look nothing like it looks today. I mean, it's, but again, you know, part of that, that how it's developed and the, and the quirks and the intricacies and the tournaments that really mean a lot to the local communities and how they have those history, that's part of the PJ's tour's appeal. But if you got a bunch of consultants into a room and said, let's create a golf product, it would probably look more like a live product where it's, you're going to have these 12 events, you're the same players. So it's, you're right. They, they are fighting a bad, between trying to compete with this new enemy and make it as, but they can't,

they can't completely bail on what got them there. And so, yeah, it's, you know, again, we're, we're just still in the middle of this thing, man. It says everything's still changing. We still haven't, we even got to a live player wanting to come back and that's going to happen soon enough. I mean, we're just in the middle of a, we're going to look back on this time in 20 years and be like, that was the most bat shit five years of all time. Dude, I was catching up on the latest the newest drive to survive Formula One, uh, 20, 22 season on Netflix.

And there's maybe nothing, uh, better in the dramas of sports than formula one teams and the dichotomy between their A driver and their B driver. And the fact that they drive the same exact car and one of them just drives it better than the other. And when the others drives it like shit for a long enough time, then that team forces that person out. to the point where sometimes they just like tweet about the fact that they're like hired or not

hire they they signed one of the other drivers from the other team and it did you know it did make me think like how can we get the dramas going and golf a little bit more when bryson and brooks as shitty as that actually was and how like and and how like bully is that actually was in a lot of it that drove the drama in golf in a big way and bryson himself drove the drama in golf in a big way and bryson himself drove the drama in golf in a big way being this just completely different kind of preposterous personality and his approach to the entire thing. And if, you know, if I is trying to think about like if there was this drama about, you know, if Dustin Johnson on his team and live forced one of their guys out and signed

somebody new, like if it was as big as Formula One, there could be some drama around that. Obviously, that's not going to happen overnight. That's not going to happen now. We all laugh at it now in the mascots and all that. But if there was some element of that in the world of golf, could that drive drama going forward or intrigue or something? Liv took all the controversial guys. They took Bryson.

They took Brooks. They took Patrick Reed. I mean, they took the lightning rods. And it's probably not a coincidence, right? Like those personalities probably felt shafted by the PGA tour. But like it feels like the only spice we get now is Tyrell Hatt and bitching about the golf course. you know what I mean like everyone all the stars are just super nice we just talked to kurt and you're like hey he's what a nice guy that's that's what you get what the p.

troy stay is a bunch of really nice dudes because I feel like a lot of the big characters did go to live it makes you think too that now that you said I've never thought about this before but the the fact that all the controversial guys that get fed up with pretty much everything are all at live we're not going to have to go that much longer before they start getting incredibly fed up would live, right? Like those people don't just, I don't know, man. I don't either cross those Saudis. I don't think they're going to piss off MBS. That's a different level of risk. No people are never happy. The type of people that bitch are about every kind of stir up controversy everywhere that they go. It's like when somebody that's been to like four different

jobs is a problem at every job. And then that like fifth job, they're like, oh yeah, this is this new opportunity. Like within a year or two, they're, they're stirring up drama. Like we're not too far away, in my opinion. From these guys that live are going to start bitching about the way this is handled or that, they're not going to stay happy forever. They're all the dramatic, controversial guys at the tour, like you just said, those people don't just go somewhere and instantly become happy with every facet of life. No chance. I don't know.

They did get paid like $100 million and sign a contract that says they have, they can't say anything, but they've signed a contract that said they can't say anything basically that denigrates the league in public. That's a contract. And if they do that, the contract can be voided. They can, you know, if they don't, if they don't promote the league on social media, you know, these details of the contracts have come out. So I don't know.

I think it's different. I think the PGA tour for like as much as people like to hate it on it. They would let them hate on it, right? They would like Patrick Reed would say stuff and or Brooks would say stuff and nothing would happen. They've lost that control now. They've, they've been rewarded handsomely for it financially, but they have lost that, they've lost the autonomy to bitch, so to speak. I didn't realize they couldn't even.

They're like contractually obligated to not say negative things about. the Livtor. I mean, we've been talking about this and, you know, not to tease anything out, but like we're, you know,

we've been talking about interview. I mean, they have to get every interview approved. It's, it's like, you know, it's like if a, if a player in a team,

on a football team, you know, they could be suspended for the team from, for conduct detrimental to the team. It's the same idea. That's so wild to me to think about that. But I mean, I guess,

I mean, it obviously makes sense. Something that I'm sure we were very much believing that that was occurring when we first started talking about live a year ago before dan was even on the show but to hear that it's actually and see that it's actually in there is pretty preposterous thing um i was mentioning gambling earlier i do want to get to the for the cut we got to do this um because it's a big week we've come up so amazingly we have i believe we've won three weeks in the four weeks that we've lost i think we only had one guy out of the four that missed the cut in all of those weeks? I don't think we've had a,

I don't think we've had a week where it's been, we definitely haven't had a week where most of the guys missed, and I don't think we've had one more two missed it. I don't think we have either. For the cut is back. Last week, I think we had all three guys made the cut except Brian Harmon, who I think finished tied for last with our very own Kevin Kisner.

They were both like 13 over bar or something, I think, through two rounds of golf. Kiz actually texting me. And he's like, I'm watching this Billy Horshal video and he goes, your game looks a lot like mine. We should pick up a different sport. I think he texts me and I was,

you know, we were at the dead by classic. I wasn't that plugged into the leaderboard at the time. So I looked at he, I think he shot like 80 that day and was 13 over for the week. But we still are very much up. We're still knocking at the door of this for the cut bet every single week. We're right there.

I have, I believe, a 7 and 0 record that's far and picking guys to make the cut. And before people would say, oh, you pit, I did pick Doug Gim in there who hadn't made like that was that was a Houdini and others. And I've picked a few favorites or, you know, big guys, but I've picked a few wild cards as well. Overall, everybody has a winning record now. Frankie is six and one. Trent is six and one. Dan is four and three.

We're back on the four of the cut this week. Frankie and Trent submitted there's Frank Borrelli. The third went with Keith Mitchell, which I think is a great choice. and then Trent Ryan from Cedar Rapids, Iowa went with Billy Horshaw. Very topical. Obviously, Billy Horshaw is in our latest YouTube video, which people should go out and check. Very dramatic scramble match at TBC Sawgrass, 17th hole, the whole deal. You're going to want to go check that puppy out on YouTube.

And we're obviously going to be highlighting that throughout the week. We're wearing our cool players hats in that match, which might have propelled some of our good shots. But Billy Horsal, Keith Mitchell, I'm going to go. Well, I'll go to Dan Rapport first before I go to myself. Dan, who's your pick this week on the For the Cut bet? My pick for this week is Harris English, finished second last week. He's a guy who's missed a bunch of cuts in the last couple of months. He's coming back from hip surgery.

But this guy, when he's playing, is one of the flushiest flushers on the PGA tour. Remember, 2021 made the Router Cup team, was ruthlessly consistent that week. Feels comfortable, obviously in Florida coming off good vibes. just a flusher of the golf ball. It's going to keep it out of the water all week. Harrison is the pig. I'm looking it up right now that Keith Mitchell is plus 5,000 to win. So I'm trying to give people a little bit of an idea of, you know, what our favorite.

Oh, Harris English is plus 9,000. So he's 90 to 1, which is, again, going to help. We want people that are, we want people that are obviously a bit of long shots to get those boots up. We had an 8 plus 825 hit one week. That's what we're looking for. I'm going to go with a guy that's also plus 9,000 to win, which is Adam Scott. Adam Scott, I believe, has not missed a cut since the PGA championship last year. He's played well as far this year.

He's played in four events. Century didn't have a cut, but the other three, he obviously made the cut. Past champion here also has a very nice golf swing that people might like. So if you're trying to avoid the water and the beat die and the crazy lives, where you're standing with one foot in and out of bunkers and on a fucking weird hills and all kinds of shit you got to deal with, you might want to be a ball striker with a great golf swing. So I'm going with Adam Scott.

So for those at home that are counting or calculating or whatever, uh, the four picks are Keith Mitchell, Billy Horshaw, Harris English, Adam Scott. You're going to go to the Barstool Sportsbook, which is a great app. You're going to want to use that puppy. You're going to go to, uh, exclusives.

and then you're going to want to go to more bets with barstool, more odd boost, whatever it might be on the bottom right, and then you will see the for the cut bet. I also saw that the whole and one bet is back this week for TVC Zagrass, which I like for those that don't know, we discussed it a little bit, but we were red hot with the hole in one bet. Me and Trent were all over it.

It was a great time. Started after the century when Dan said, no chance we take the hole in one bet at the century. It did not hit, but then the next week it did hit. It turns out that it's like a crazy thing to get the odds, right? So a lot of books don't carry it every week. So that's why the whole and one bet lost a bit of a momentum. But for the players championship, it's back.

Obviously, obviously, 17th hole with Sawgrass, you're really going to be thinking those front pen locations. They probably only give us one, I would imagine, the front pen where they can spin it off the hill and those balls have a good chance to go in. That's going to be a huge moment for us that are going to take the whole and one bet. but I saw on the Barstville Sports book, it's minus 186, yes, so it's a big favorite, plus 130. No, a reminder for the Barstall Sports book that you can get all kinds of live in-game bets and odds. You can move the line with teasers.

You can parlay a bet within the same game or across different sports. Easy to navigate and use the app, data and content to keep you informed and easy and secure registration, more ways to deposit and withdraw. you can download the Barstool Sportsbook app today. Use the code 4. That's F-O-R-E to create an account. You get a $1,000 new player bonus. If your first bet loses, get up to $1,000 in bonus cash.

Must be 21 plus. Gambling problem. Call 1-800 gambler. And I believe March 10th is when the Barstall Sportsbook goes live in the state of Massachusetts, which is a huge announcement. So I believe March 10th, which will obviously be later this week, during the players championship. I'm excited to see what those odds are for the for the bet.

I'm not exactly sure what those will come in at. And then I saw another prop bet in the Barcelona Sports, but an albatross was plus 800 for this week, that there could be an albatross. Again, you'd really be, I think, if you're on the albatross train, I think you'd have to rely on maybe the 16th hole. and when they do one of those like middle right pins where you can hit one and then it comes off that hill and rolls into the hole, I feel like I've saw somebody get, I've do that before. But the albatross, I might have to sprinkle a little bit on the albatross bed because if somebody does get an albatross at the tournament, I don't want to be the guy that didn't bet on it.

And then a lot of the odds for top 20, top 40, all those types of things are not quite out yet. But next show, we're going to plug in mine and Kirk's chit-chat midweek. We're going to plug that into Thursday show. We also have a special guest on Thursday show, which is the reigning United States Open champion and a fellow collegiate classmate for like four seconds of Dan Rapaport. That is right. Yeah, we went over to his rental house, beautiful house right on the beach, man. Life must be really good to be the U.S. Open champion.

And it was like one of those modern houses where it's basically all one big window. You can just see the beach at all times. They know what the moneymaker is there. It's the view. And so they lean into it. We went over there, did a podcast interview. Also film something else that people will eventually see that we've been cooking up that I'm really excited about. So yeah, big week.

Big week. I'm quite excited to get down there. Like I said, at the beginning off the top of the show. A lot of golf talk on this one because it's a big week. We don't really get this very often in the show where we get to just hammer away about. this tournament and different players and different holes and the excitement of it. I love watching people. Even like, dude, there's a lot of holes.

Even like the ninth hole at par five where that's a crazy dog leg around the hill they they have to hit. And you see guys occasionally go forward if they really pipe one or if the winds right. And then they always end up, especially if they miss anywhere right or short right with kind of a horrific like horrific. I'm like, Pete die lie. It was like the rough's all so awful. and the hills are just enough that it's uncomfortable and awkward and you can't quite judge how it's

going to come out. You get all those throughout the entire tournament. The one hole that's kind of the new one, is it like 12 on the back nine now? Yeah, 12, they've screwed with it a bunch of times. It's like drive, but they can't really figure it out. But I'm jealous because you get the really cool experience of knowing every hole of a golf course and then getting to see it in person. That's only really happened to me at Augusta and Pebble Beach, but you're getting that this week. Yeah, I'm pumped to see it in tournament form.

I agree. I think that hole, that 12th hole, they really haven't nailed yet because it's a, it's in theory, their latest iteration of it is very cool with the water all down the left. And there's like a fairway bunker that runs all the way up to like 80 yards short of the green. But it's so punishing that people don't really go for it. I feel like that often, which would make it a lot more interesting. They can kind of hit it. It's like design just on the safe edge enough that like,

Guys can kind of hit a long, like I feel like they hit three wood or something even just up short, right and like hit a little flip chip almost wedge into that green or something. But 16 awesome, 17, awesome, 18, awesome. Even 15. They had a crazy tea shot through like the trees. The second hole I love watching guys hit a huge draw off the tea and then try to hit like a cut into that green. It's just a fantastic golf course to watch. So I'm pumped for the players this week. We got a big interview like I said coming up.

I'm the dumbest kid at person. I'm the dumbest person of all the time. you played TBC Sawgrass like three weeks ago. Yeah, yeah, played it. So I've seen those holes before. That's a tough moment. That's a bit. I can watch, actually.

You can watch. Well, you were saying first time, first time, first time. And I'm thinking he hasn't been here. And then I'm like, no, I'm pretty sure he's been here. I've been there. But I haven't seen it in tournament for him. So I'll give you that. I have not quite seen it in tournament form.

So point is I'm still pumped for that. And then next show, too, we'll have the whole squad back. We'll be able to go over this past weekend. Every have we'll be able to talk about. video with Billy Horshaw and the shots that we did hit on 17 and in other moments throughout playing TBC Sawgrass, which Dan just forgot that we did, but I was going to let it slide because we're trying to end the show. So thank you everybody for listening. I hope everybody enjoys Kurt Kittiyama, most recent winner on tour. And then Thursday, we've got Maddie Fitz

and a whole lot more to get to. So go watch the YouTube video. If you're on site this week, say hello, go into the tent, buy Barstool, Players' Championship merchandise. It means a lot to It's doing well already. So if you're there earlier in the week, don't wait, get in there, buy some stuff because you might miss it later in the week. Hit it hard. Hit hard.

Drive, Chip and Put for Glory and PGA Tour 2K, the most authentic golf simulation game in the world. I don't think any entity, any group of people, has personally endorsed this game, PGA Tour 2K more than for play. You can play as Tiger Woods. You can play coming up as the Barstool forplay guys, whether you're new to the sport or you're an experienced golfer.

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TBC Sawgrass on there, so you can go try your luck, try to play the course as best as you possibly can, play it with Tiger Woods, play it with a bunch of people that you know, play it with a bunch of your favorite players. That's what 2K does. There's a lot of great gameplay online. There's societies as well. We got our own.

There's tournaments that you can play in. So go by PGA Tour 2K23 now at PGATor.2K.com. That's PGATor.2K.com. And again, any golf video game that's got Tiger Woods in it where you can play as Tiger Woods, I think that's a no-brainer. And we all know that. So go get involved. Go over. go check it out at pgaator.2k.com.

One quick thing about 2K, their newest ambassador with that beautiful red square on his, on his sleeve is Matt Fitzpatrick. So another synergy with the brand. Oh, wow. Wow. There you go. Who's coming up again on Thursday show?

People didn't know that already. So go check out PGA Tour 2K, see us on there, playing our societies, playing our tournaments, and get involved in 2K. What's going on? Kurt.

Hey, how's it going? Doing well, man. are you you got to be doing great yeah i love it i love it i love it we uh we appreciate the time i imagine the last 24 hours been crazy it's been pretty active um yeah thanks for having me no we're pumped to have you yeah we'll uh we'll pretty much jump right in i um you know i know you're busy it's obviously players championship week but we are joined by um most recent winner on the pGA tour uh proud owner i would say of probably the swagiest ball mark or marking of a golf ball ball ball ball in the history of golf that I've ever seen on the 72nd hole

where you marked it for about a centimeter, which I love or everybody understands why. But Kurt Kitty, I'm a welcome to the show for the first time, and congratulations. Thank you. I was stunned that you marked it because I would have been nervous about,

like, what if you try to put it back and it goes in? Or like, did you ever think about, why don't I just go and just knock it? It was the closest I've ever seen someone mark a ball ever in history. Yeah, I know. It was kind of weird. Because, like, I think he wanted to do a mark. it and then I, when I marked it, and I was thinking, when I went back to put it down, I was like,

it was like, I could, this thing could, like, fall in. Like, if I put it too close, it's going to fall in. And, uh, but yeah, it was like a weird scenario. Yeah. And, you know, I'm glad because I get, uh, as a viewer, right, like you like that stage. And obviously that's a lot of the reason that it goes down. But I was with a group of like 20 guys at the time where you were kind of watching and finish up. And somebody was making the point of you don't want to.

take all the spotlight out and then have all the energy sucked out of the whole place for when these other guys are trying to put because obviously their putts matter for a lot. So it's probably the right thing to do. But I've never seen a ball marked that close. And then everybody was debating the rule of like, what if he marks it goes to put it back and it just continues to fall into the hole? Do you have any idea of what happened in? I think you just replace it and then he just played from there. Because like once you've marked on the green, like that's the spot and nothing can really

happen after that. Yeah, I just wasn't, I wasn't sure we were debating and going back and forth a bunch. But, but yeah, it was, it was, it was clearly an interesting situation and one that you earned and one that us as fellow Taylor Made athlete guys were very excited about because the Taylor Made logo just sat right there and the camera zoomed in on it. I think they got their money's worth right there for the contract and having you on the squad with the Taylor Made logo popping on TV. Yeah, so I want to get in a little bit to your backstory because it got a little bit of play here. But, I mean, you, You are sort of professional golf at its best, right? Like you were someone who was not an All-American.

They called you the project, right? They were really hammering that nickname on the broadcast. I don't know how often they actually called you the project, but they made it sound like that was your name, was Project Kidayama. You played on absolutely every tour, basically, known to man. What's the craziest place that you played a tournament? Because I'd imagine you've been to, I mean,

how many countries have you been? Do you keep track of this stuff? I haven't kind of a while, but it's, It's probably, you know, over 20 or 30, you know, just getting up there. I don't know, probably like India or Bangladesh. Like Bangladesh probably no one's really even heard of or whatever, think of going to. You know, when you're on the golf course there, there's this train that goes, goes off.

And there's people literally sitting on top of it. On top of the train. On top of the train. It's wild. Yeah, you didn't see that coming down the stretch at Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill Club and launch, did you? No, definitely not. Yeah, I was texting with my friend Alistair Dockery, who's a friend of the program,

and we were talking about, he's obviously Chico State. You guys have played some golf at all the different tours, and his term was just a pro's pro. He was like, you are a pros pro through and through, which I feel like's a great compliment. Yeah, no, that's cool. Been through it all. feels like been everywhere

just kind of yeah speaking of been through it all I mean these last 24 hours we kind of touch a very very very beginning but from when you win until now it's uh it talked me and walk me through a little bit of that because it's not like you just won and you got to go on vacation

or soak it up it's like now you're at you know one of the biggest tournaments that you'll play uh all year at the players championship so the last 24 hours have that imagine nothing's even really sank in because it's just been go go go go go go go know yeah i mean right after you know you signed a card and then you got all these interviews you got a press conference the awards ceremony more interviews um it's it's tactic you just you don't really have time to sit and relax and finally once you finish we finally had you know sit in the

locker room um kind of gather those thoughts just hanging out with my coach and um trainer and Tucker and agent and the locker room guys just hanging out. It's nice. It's quiet. And then even then we have dinner and everyone's having a good time. But, you know, when you finally do get your time alone and you're in the room and trying to get to sleep, I thought like through the whole thing, I would be drained and ready to just pass out.

And it was like the adrenaline was just still pumping. I couldn't fall asleep. I was doing everything. I was up to like three until I finally, finally fell asleep. It's such a, it's a career-changing win. I mean,

you know, you already had your PG tour card and, and you had a nice season last year. I think a lot of, there were some people were like, oh, would this guy even be in the tournament next year? Yeah, he would.

He finished 41st in the FedEx Cup. So, you know, you would have played your way in there even by next year's standards. But, I mean, this is different now. You won a tournament and you beat Roy. McElroy and Jordan Speef and Scotty Sheffler to do it. Is there a moment where you kind of allow yourself, I don't know, down the stretch or to just kind of appreciate all that you've been through

and the journey that you've been through to take you to that moment, you know, because those are the ones you're dreaming about when you're playing golf next to a train that people are sitting on top of. Yeah, I mean, I got the chance to think about it really, you know, I marked that ball on the last And, you know, I'm like, I can't mess this up. You know, I've kind of gone through and, you know, the losses that have come to, you know, being different. And, yeah, I mean, it's pretty surreal. So the 72nd hole, how, you know, Rory had some comments yesterday talking about how he wish he had been leaderboard watching more because on the 14th hole he was too aggressive. There was a lot happening late with five, a handful people tied for the lead.

Jordan Spieth and Rory, some huge name, Scotty up there. How, how was it tough at all to stay tuned in to exactly where you stood? Or were you hawking it pretty good on exactly what you needed to do to get it done? You know, I made a turn. I knew I was down at least one and I got to 11. I saw a big scoreboard and I was down two. And I was like, I was like, man, like it's hard to make birdies. And so from there, I didn't really think about it.

until I got to the 13th green. I could kind of see like a little bit of a scoreboard. And all of a sudden it was like it kind of looked like T1 was next to my name. And I was like, man, the people are drunk. Like it's, it's playing tough to the finishing stretch. And it's like a whole other level of like alertness. I felt like, you know, because I mean, you're still like grinding away. But then all of the sudden you're like, you're thinking like, okay, I need to make birdies.

And then all of a sudden, like, they're back at where you are. And then from there, you're like, you're like really looking at the leaderboard. You're like, what's going on? Like every, every hole. Was the line on 17 was bold, you birdie 17. Was that the intended line on 17? No, it was left like at that MasterCard logo and then trying to cut one in there. and it started probably in you know almost at the flag and and cut over but i knew i hit it solid

and uh i had enough like if i hit it solid i knew i had that cover um and yeah i mean it just ended up perfectly you know i think everyone kind of figured that after nine you know you'd be done because you were the the davids to those golias people didn't give you much of a chance and then and then you have that disaster in nine. Is that shot? Is that a shot you've struggled with before? Did that come out of nowhere? And then how were you able to,

I don't know if it was a conversation with your caddy or what it might have been to steady yourself and make those seven parts in a row or whatever it was and get that birdie on 17 to clinch it? Yeah, I mean, it was rattling because it kind of came, it didn't feel like it was that bad of a shot. It was like a little towed.

And I mean, if you're left of that bunker, there's not much room left of that bunker. And so that's why I just, you know, went down with a three wood and next shot. But when I was, got up to the green and had a chance to like settle down, I actually felt fine. I didn't feel like I was losing it or like get really anxious. And I still felt pretty calm. And that's kind of what I told Tucker. And he said, he's like, yeah, you look at it.

He's fine. We'll just get out. You know, you've been playing the back man well. It was good after. that's that's a really interesting that's a good thing for him to i mean that's a great thing for him to say like you look fine because it says to you that i see it in you i see that you're not rattled by this moment i imagine that gave you some confidence yeah definitely it's like all right well you know i'm feeling it and i look it like that's a good thing talk to me about tucker a little

bit because this is new this is kind of a new uh little partnership between the between the two you how did this whole thing develop uh when tuck was out of abandon he's my brother catty's up there too. So they got to know each other and, you know, they've known each other for years. And, you know, when the opportunity came that I was looking for someone at Phoenix, he called him up and he happened to be there at the same time. He was doing some stuff with this true aim ballmarker and he didn't have any of his stuff to, you know, make notes, but he was ready to go anyways. And he's like, let's just do Phoenix and Riv. And if you like me, then I'm ready to go.

And, you know, hit it off great. So we're going full time. It's funny that he gave, I like that he gave himself two weeks. He's like, don't, if things don't go great first week, I get two weeks on this thing. He baked that. I was like, I was like, are you coming back full time? He's like, well, let's see if you like me first. less than two weeks.

I love that. I mean, that's got to be, obviously he's had success with Bryson and had success with Bryson at Bay Hill. It's got to be helpful, I would imagine, going in and being, you know, finding yourself, like you said, tied for the lead.

You see your T1 next to your name. It's got to be a comforting feeling to have someone like that at Bay Hill with that much experience that you could lean on. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, even, you know, through those bad shots, he stays calm like there's nothing, like nothing happens, which definitely gives you, you know, there's no panic in him.

So there's no reason for me to panic. He still believes in you. And, you know, it's easier to trust that. Truly with vodka, people were checking it out. They're looking at the Truly can. They're going, there's vodka in this? And the answer is yes. There's vodka in this.

Try Truly Vodka Seltzer. The Barstool Classic kicked off today in Myrtle Beach. By all accounts, it went incredibly smoothly, with one small exception of Frankie getting pulled over as they arrived on site. But he recovered. He sang a beautiful national anthem. I saw a walk-off putt at the truly putting contest. I saw people having a fantastic time out there drinking these truilies that are made with real fruit. They like to keep it real over it. Truly, that's why they use no artificial flavors or sweeteners made with premium vodka for a crisp, clean, and refreshing taste. Fewer calories, all 12-ounce cans have under 110. calories, which means plenty of refreshing flavor that won't weigh you down. Low sugar, every truly vodka seltzer contains only two grams of sugar. You can find truly vodka celtzers near you at truly hardseltzer.com. A huge thanks to them coming in.

Year five, five years in a row, they've been the title sponsor, the go-to, the key, the main sponsor of the Barstool Classic. And again, that puppy kicked off Myrtle Beach, one stop down, 24 stops to go. I'm going to be at the Barstool Classic Monday, just outside. of the Tampa area. I believe Sarasota, Florida is where the Monday Classic stops at. So I'll be there. I cannot wait to have myself a truly.

Can't wait to get involved again with the Trulies with the Riovodka. So do yourself a favor. Go check out truly hard seltzer near you at truly hardseltzer.com. I know you live in Vegas. Is that right? Yeah. Yeah. So I know you guys got a pretty good squad out there now.

I know like Taylor Montgomery's out there who we had on the show. Colin Mori Cowan is out there. there, David Lipsky, who I know likes to get after it. I texted Colin yesterday and I said, you know, Kurt's like, I'm really impressed and he goes very, very good. He's very, very good. So I would imagine that, you know, playing with all these guys a lot in Vegas and having beaten them probably helped you believe, like, I've done it before. Why can't I do it on this stage? Talk to me a little bit about the Vegas golf scene that you guys have out there. We have a great crew, you know, we can get any game that we want and, you know, just a high-level

competition, which is exactly what you want. And it's fun. It's good fun because it's challenges us and we still have a good time. And just gives me an opportunity to keep learning from everyone because everyone does something really good. And it's nice because you have close enough friends where you can pick each other's brain. You know, it's not like you don't feel like you're competition, but you're like, you know, you still want the best for everyone.

And so that's, that's, like, great about having that kind of group. Give me something where you pick somebody's brain out there, right? Because you hear that a little bit, especially when we get around the master's tournament, you start to hear tales of guys that played with old champions and they picked their brain about this and that. What's something that you've picked, you know, Morricow or one of these guys, you know, brains over that, that helped your game or that you just thought I should go out of my way and ask them about this or that. Yeah, I mean, like for Lipski, for example, like his, his chipping's unbelievable. It's Pat got special.

Yeah. And so, you know, just picking like what he's feeling like or like, how's he hit, how does, how does he hit like that high spinner? And he kind of like shows you how to do it. And then you kind of try it out. You know, sometimes it's not a feeling that you actually like and you're like, yeah, maybe that's not for me. And then, you know, just like, take.

Hey, it was putting. Like, sometimes, for him, it's, you know, like, why is it so simple, but it's, like, not that easy to roll it like he rolls it, you know? Yeah. And so, like, I think a lot of it's kind of like trial in there. And you take, take little parts that feels good and helps your game. They, they try to make it seem like you were the worst golfer of all time when you were a freshman. Like, that, that was the theme yesterday where you, I mean, you couldn't have been that bad. I mean, I was struggling to, I didn't, well, I mean, in the fall, I didn't make the, the playing squad at all. And that didn't qualify. It was in it left and right. But, I mean, just like every year it seemed like I got better just by, you know, working hard. It's just this guy, he's got perseverance, man. They did, I think, like, right away when I tuned in, the first thing I heard was like, this guy was the worst player on his college golf to you.

I was just like, wow, that's a little. I mean, they made it sound like you couldn't break 80 to save your life. Oh, no, it wasn't that bad. You might have been hearing from my coach. You know, he exaggerated sometimes. Yeah, yeah, that's a broadcast. You know, it's entertainment. I get it.

Where's that red cardigan at right now? It's in my suitcase. You know, it's a little warm for it right now. I love that thing. I love that thing. I will say it does. It looks sneaky good on you. It's like not everybody can pull off a red cardigan.

I thought you looked really pretty natural in that thing. Thanks. I mean, I'm not the line. You know, it's not typically in my style, but I saw myself. And I was like, maybe I'll wear this. I think you got a rocket. Were you, were you at, did you go to the TPC's hoggrass at all the day? Or did you give yourself a little day off?

Yeah, I went for a little bit. I went to check in and, you know, I got like a little bit of workout in and some recovery. Just every person on the property telling you good job. Just thanks, thanks, thanks, thanks. Yeah, pretty much, yeah. It's a good feeling, though. I saw that the tour put out a really good video of you and Tucker arriving. And it was like, I think Jordan drove by and Roll.

his window down and gave you like a congrats. I bet it's like your greeting to every human went from like, hey man, good to see you, good luck, to everyone's just congratulating you, which has to be really cool. Yeah, it's a, it is really cool. It's like it feels like earned like another level like respect, you know, it's like this guy, you know, earned it.

You did, that's a tournament that earned it. That changed your golf reputation for, I mean, you know, you win one of these designated events, All the top players are there and you do it at Bay Hill. You do it the way that you did it. Yeah, it's like, and now your top 20 in the world, which that's got to be, is that, I mean, is that sunk in yet that you're one of the 20 best golfers on the planet? I know, that was pretty, okay, I didn't even think about it, but Tucker said something about it. And I was like, really?

I was like, that's a huge job. Huge. Pretty good. Yeah. Like, yeah, it's pretty good. It's pretty love. So you got to be happy about that. Did you look at any, you said, you know, you're up, you, it was hard for you even go to sleep, you're up till three.

You look at any, like, highlights or any footage of yourself when you're just lying there trying to fall asleep? I got back to room, like, close to the night, and I just turned the golf on it. And it happened to be, like, the last four holes. And I was just watching, I was like, wow, this was a crazy finish. Everyone had good looks. I didn't really, really good look on 18, right? 10 feet on 18. stuff that was burning the edge

speed was burning the edge it was like a crazy finish because I didn't even know it was like really I knew like a solid score but I didn't realize how you know close it could have been or like how much like close tighter was Rory beat you in the fall right at C.J. Yeah. And you got them back.

Is Rory McElroy versus Kurt Kittiyama the rivalry that the PG tour needs and is the rubber match going to happen at Augusta National? Yeah, that'd be awesome. It's always a good, it's been a good battle with him, but I think I got to up the resident day a little bit. He still got you by a little bit. Yeah.

Do you like care at all what the other names are in the leaderboard? Does it affect you on the back night or your sort of, I mean, imagine even the groans when if a Rory misses are louder, they're more palpable when it's players like that. You know, do you almost like elevate yourself because you're playing against, you know, some, the biggest names in the world of golf? Does that change anything for you? I don't know. Maybe. I think so.

Yeah. I mean, it's like, I mean, everyone's so good. It doesn't really matter. It's like when the leaderboard's like that, you know, you, no, you're never going to like get it, you know, no one's going to give it to you. You're going to have to go and get it. It doesn't matter who it is. And so, and especially with like a leaderboard like that, but I think anytime it's, it's, it's. It's close race like that.

You're going to have to make the put to win. It's not like these guys are going to make bogey on the last three. It's going to be you're going to earn it. Was there any consideration to laying up on 18? Once I saw a lot. Once I saw a line, I was comfortable with it. Not really. It was all based off the lie.

And I was able to get enough club on it. Yeah, because on TV, I mean, we haven't watched that tournament year after year after year. Sometimes people hit it over their left and they don't even think about going for it. So I guess it was hard to tell on the coverage what exactly the lie looked like. Yeah, the lie was, I think I was watching like, they're like, oh, that looks like a tough lie. But when I got up there, it was not that bad get my eight iron on it and it was just going to play like a little jumper. So now that you're at, now that you're at the players, what's this, what's this week look like? What's this preparation look like for you and talk?

What's kind of your guy's routine in terms of getting familiar with the playing this? I believe for the first time playing the players. Yeah, first time I was going to say, right? Yeah, first time. I think, I mean, Tuck, he approaches it the same way every tournament. It's, you know, it's just another course. It doesn't matter, you know. He said that prep's always the same.

We, you know, get our numbers. He has a pretty good game plan before we're, before I even get on the course. And so there's nothing like, my thought process is pretty simple, really. it's like he tells me what he thinks and um usually it's pretty good so we kind of roll with that everyone was seen to be talking about last week the new designated event structure are they're going to be only you know 70 players top 50 guys you're you're into those now so that's got to be a really good feeling just knowing that you got those eight events no cut you got a lot of checks coming

your way yeah it's a good feeling for sure um i still even understand what's going on with the schedule so well you're going to have to become a little bit more attuned to that because you're in that here now that word it actually matters yeah so i'm still still adjusting to everything it's funny it's like a week ago it's it'd be very funny kurt's like against it he's like i feel like there should be more players in those field now he's like oh 70 players no cut i love it like great god like why aren't they telling us why aren't they telling us about all this oh all right sounds good now uh so i saw the um i was listening to i was watching live from earlier and they hit me with i believe your career earnings of the PGA tour going into Bay Hill were 4.1 million and you won 3.6 million yesterday.

I know a lot of it's about winning tournaments and prestige and all that, but pretty much doubling your career earnings in one week. That's got to just give you some serious freedom financially being like, wow. Yeah, I mean, that's something that was I thought about after. was like, wow, this is crazy, you know, you know, see that much money. But I was also thinking, like, in the moment how, like, that wasn't in my mind at all. It was, you know, like, it's easy to think about that.

Like, you're playing for this much. But, like, in that moment, I was kind of, like, be thinking about it, like, I just was thinking about winning, and that's, like, all that came into my mind. And, like, it could easily distract yourself from, like the money coming into play and then really getting like shaking yourself up and and get nervous um so that was that was cool just kind of something that I was thinking about yeah do you jot any notes down afterwards or anything about like this is how I was able to feel this way in

this moment or do you do anything like that um I have I have in the past but you know now that you say that a great idea that I could do yeah let's get out of no-pad let's do this together let's do get it. Journal, you know, everyone's journaling these days. You have a journal after the victories? Of course. Well, the only reason I thought that was like when I play a really good round of golf, I was taught by a guy who gave me, you know, a lesson a couple of years ago.

Like, when that happens, write down in your notes what, what you were thinking about, whatever your swing thought was that day or whatever. And it really has helped when like you lose it. And your players like us that are pretty much weekend golfers, you play like a real asshole all of a sudden. You're like, I'll never figure it out again. And you can go back through that occasion and be like, that day, that is that swing thought. Sometimes it can really help.

Yeah, definitely. I mean, it's always good to recall. And like, this good stuff that happens and the bad, like, why, you know, the thing was so good with Tucker. It's always like if something bad happens, like, why did that happen? Why did we hit it short? Was it the wind? Was it that I misjudge the weather or did you hit it fat? and it's, you know, it's always like coming up a solution for something.

You get your first chance to play in a rather famous golf tournament in one month. Are you going to get to Augusta before the Masters? Do you think that's going to be when you learn everything? Yeah, I'm actually going to go Monday, Tuesday, after this week. Oh, my God. So the guy wins $3.6 million. He gets to the top 20 of the world rankings. And he's like, yeah, Augusta, how did that come together?

Were you just like, agent, get me to Augusta? Well, when I got the invite, they say you get five round, practice rounds. And I was like, I was super if I can go right after the players. And just, you know, just go, I'm going to play it twice and just play it like just normal. I don't even worry about anything. And then I haven't scheduled, I haven't scheduled anything after that to see, you know, maybe I'll go talk and actually like think around it. But I think just the first couple times I'm just going to enjoy myself.

So they give you a handful before tournament week. Five. Five. That's a lot. Five's a lot. That is a lot. It feels like, I mean,

not that you don't deserve it, but it feels like they can make that four and maybe give some other guys a lot out there. That's great. So that just works out nicer that you already had that plan and then you win and now it's going to really be nice going in there. Yeah. That's fantastic.

That's fantastic. You got to be, have you played Augusta before? No, never so this would be my first time played it on a video game or anything before watch the master's tournament by chance of watch your twice yeah that's it you know 13's a par 5 so's 15 you're gonna yeah you're gonna try to draw it on 13 just FYI if you can uh well they move that T back they move that T back yeah you can hit your cut you're fine that's

true they did move that T back um I'm excited to see that amazing stuff Kerr it was really fun to watch yesterday. That leaderboard, I think a lot of people looking at that back nine after what happened on the ninth hole, probably weren't picking you and to kind of prevail through all that with some of those names and that iconic of an event. And after people would think you'd be real and after the triple on nine and to come out and make the huge party on 17, pretty much made like a 50 footer. It felt like on 18 and then had a really cool ballmark situation.

So incredibly impressive. You're playing great golf. the journeyman type. So yeah, it's just really awesome and congratulations. Thank you. Appreciate it. Yeah. Thanks for taking the time.

We'll look this week. We'll see you this week. Thank you. We'll see you out there. Thanks for having me. Absolutely. Thanks, Kurt. See you.

See you.