Halford & Brough in the Morning - It Was A Masters To Remember For Rory McIlroy

Episode Date: April 14, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at a busy weekened in sports (3:00) including some Golf and a weekend Canucks loss, plus they chat with Sirius XM & CBS Sports golf analyst Jason Sobel about what was a memorable Masters, as Rory McIlroy (27:12) wins his first green jacket and long-awaited career Grand Slam. This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da- The party is over. Matt Baroy has his masterpiece. What are we all going to talk about next year? Now for Zuccarello and alone on net he scores! Matt Zuccarello deep south Kevin Lankenen. Hoggy missed his man. Poor guy. He's played good hockey and he missed his man. Move on. Let's get him a present. Good morning Vancouver 601 on a Monday.

Happy Monday everybody. This is Alfred. It is Brough. It is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec Studios in beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adog, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Alfred and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first and trusted choice for debt help with over 3,000 five-star Google reviews. Visit them online at sans-trustee.com. We are in hour one of the program.

Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling, Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you and step. What a weekend in sports. We got a lot to get into on the show today. Guest list begins at six 30 Jason Sobel is going to join the program. He,

of course from serious XMPGA tour radio, as we heard in the intro, Rory McElroy ended his long wait for the masters on Sunday, beating Justin Rose in a playoff to claim his first green jacket and the career Grand Slam. We'll talk to Jason Sobel about that at 6.30. I believe he will be driving from Georgia, out of Georgia. He was on the, he actually talked to Rory

after the third round on Saturday. So we'll talk to Jason Sobel coming up at 6.30. 7.30 Axel Schuster is gonna join the program. Whitecaps sporting director,, white caps on fire. They're tops in the MLS. They're in the conca calf cup semis, maybe a new stadium on the way. We'll talk to Axel about that at seven 30, uh, eight o'clock satir. Shaw is going to join the program host of Canucks central here on sports net six 50. Now that the Canucks season is just about done two games left.

When are we going to get clarity on Rick Taukett's future as head coach? We'll talk to Sad about that at 8 o'clock. Also, speaking of the Canucks games remaining, there is one tonight. Canucks, Sharks, 7 o'clock from Rogers Arena, the penultimate game of the year for your Vancouver Canucks. So we got a lot to get into on the show today. Without further ado, Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. What Happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools resources and safety training

visit them online at bccsa.ca As I mentioned in my intro Rory McElroy great drama on Sunday in the final round of the Masters after missing a five foot par putt on 18 To win it he rallied made sure he did not miss His latest chance to win a green jacket. He did so, so in winning the Masters on Sunday, Rory McIlroy now becomes just the sixth player in the history of golf to win a career Grand Slam.

Most recently, of course, Tiger Woods doing it. A really, really, really exciting drama filled and emotional day yesterday. So I was talking to a listener on Thursday and he was saying how Thursday's hit with Adam Stanley got him interested in the Rory, Rory McIlroy story. He was casual golf fan, but he thought, wow,

that was pretty compelling story that Rory McIlroy's got. I guess I'll follow him in the Masters this weekend. And boy, am I glad we focused on that narrative heading into the tournament because I cannot imagine a more dramatic way for Rory to get his long awaited career Grand Slam. Amazing theatre.

And I mean long awaited. For anyone that would have been a roller coaster win. Let's do a little recap here. Okay. And I'm probably going to leave details out of this. You'd be like, well, you forgot this. I'm like, yeah, I'm going to forget stuff. A lot happened on Sunday at Augusta national.

Okay. For Rory McIlroy, went in there with the lead. And then there was the tough start over the first two holes where things didn't look good. Started with a double bogey on the first hole and two holes in. He had already lost the lead to his playing partner, Bryson DeChambeau. Then came the bounce back where he actually established what looked to be an insurmountable lead. But then he blew that lead, including another double bogey on the

par five 13th, where he actually played it safe by laying up only to hit one of the worst wedge shots of his career into the water. It wasn't Ray's Creek, it was a tributary. A tributary. Of Ray's Creek where he put it into the water. But then a couple of more birdies and things looked good again. Rory was gonna do it. Or was he?

Because then came the long putt on 18 by Justin Rose. Wait, where did Rosie come from to get to 11 under? Well, he got there, and that forced Rory to make par on 18 for the win. All he had to do, make par on 18 for the win. One of the most intimidating driving holes in all of golf. And he pumped one down the middle, and par looked almost certain. Of course, then he, what are you doing, man? Pushes a wedge into the bunker. Rory has not always been dialed in with his wedge game.

You know, a 13 puts one in the tributary of Race Creek. Then he puts one in the bunker. I felt sick to my stomach after he put that in the bunker, but he falls that up with a nice bunker shot, leaving him a very makeable putt, which he then misses, sending this thing to a playoff. So it's back to 18 to play the same hole that he just blew it on. Once again, pumps a drive, maybe even better drive this time, but so did Rose and Rose had a decent approach too. So what's Rory going to do this time with his approach? Well, this time he nailed it with his ball rolling back four feet from the cup.

Even then though, I didn't know what was going to happen. Actually imagine because it's Rory, the worst case scenario, which would have been Rosie making his pot, which was a makeable pot, leaving Rory with a short one, just putting it all back on his shoulders to keep the playoff alive. And don't forget what happened recently at the U S open where he missed a couple short ones, um, and blew the U S open to DeChambeau. Um, now if Rosie would have made that putt, would Rory have missed his? Well, we'll never know because Rose missed leaving Rory to step up

and make it. And the scenes after he made it will go down in golf history because, look, I just went over why that was a roller coaster in a vacuum. Sure. Right? Now consider the context, and this is what we got into with Adam Stanley. Rory hadn't won a major since 2014. He'd been looking for the career Grand Slam for

over a decade. Last year chokes away the US Open and he finally, finally got it done. The career Grand Slam in golf is a big, big deal. Rory's only the sixth golfer to do it. He joins Tiger, Jack, Gary Player, Ben Hogan, and Gene Saracen. Among the legends who didn't win the career Grand slam, oh, a guy by the name of Arnold Palmer, never won the PGA. Tom Watson never won the PGA. Lee Trevino never won the masters and never really cared for Augusta until

it was too late to care, but that's another story. You know, I was thinking about while I'm watching that, this is why I still watch sports. Yeah. Cause some people, you know, they come up to us a lot and they're like, do you still like sports? I'm like, yeah, I don't know. I've become a little cynical about some of it. Um, but it's, it's for moments like that where it all comes

together to produce this incredible drama. There's the perfect storyline or narrative, whatever you want to call it. There's the perfect setting. You know, so much of golf is about, so much of sports really is about the spectacle and the crowd and where the game is being played. But most importantly, most importantly, is the human element. Where someone is either going, someone or some team

is either going to own the moment or get owned by the moment. And it's funny because Rory did a bit of both on Sunday. Like there were times where you're like, I can't believe Rory is choking this away again. And other times where you're like, I think Rory hit the golf shot of his life. Like I think he hit the golf shot of his life

four or five times on Sunday. He owned more moments than he got owned in, but just barely. So look, I'm a massive golf fan, of course I'm going to be into that. What did you, more of a casual golf fan, think of it? It was the, why it was so compelling is the stuff that you're talking about because in the

moments down the stretch, there was an undeniable level of pressure. You didn't have to know a single thing about golf. You didn't have to know a single thing about sports to know how much pressure was on the individual. The great golf writer, Alan Shipnuck, who we've had on the show before, I think he summed it up best.

I'll dance around the expletive, but he said, this is why tournament golf is so effing compelling. There's nowhere to hide, and the ball is just sitting there mocking you. This is an X-ray of Rory's soul. And I was like, damn, like that's deep, that's heavy. But that's, everyone can understand having to sit

and wait for a moment of pressure. And everyone can understand that all you've got on this golf course is hundreds of thousands of people staring at you. Some of them pretty close. this golf course is hundreds of thousands of people staring at you Some of them pretty close the only person that you've got to kind of confide in is your caddy But even the caddy is like this is on you like I'm just here to offer some advice and hold back Don't blow this. Yeah, it's like I could use the money and That's the stuff that kind of transcends. Well like the hardcore golf analysis

I want to play some audio here from Rory, just talking about the nerves, the nerves of the day and how, you know, it's relatable because we've all gone through this where you can't eat and your legs feel like jelly and you got the, you know, shaking hands and the whole bit happens to everybody. But you know what? Some people think that it doesn't happen to the athletes. And they're like different, they're different. They're above that.

And I think knowing that they're not makes it even more compelling. Here's Rory McRoy to tell you all that nerves affect us all. Those nerves that are natural and they're all good things. If you weren't feeling like that, I think that's more of a problem than when you do feel them. But it's such a battle in your head of just trying to stay in the present moment

and just trying to hit this next shot good and then hit the next shot good. And that was the battle today. My battle today. My battle today was with myself. It wasn't with anyone else. You know, at the end there, it was with Justin, but my battle today was with my mind and staying in the present.

I'd like to say that I did a better job of it than I did, but it was a struggle, but I got it over the line. Um, so we'll talk more about the, the masters and Rory's big win with Jason Sobel coming up in about 20 minutes. Um, I was just thinking though, over the last little while, two events have really, uh, got my attention and made me like, feel something while I'm, I'm watching it. Um, and it was not, one of them was not the Canucks lost to the Minnesota Wild over the weekend. It was... It was the Chicago St. Louis game.

Yeah. It was that and it was the Four Nations. Yeah. And in this, God, I'm gonna sound like such an old man here, but in, um, in this time where we talk about money so much about sports, you know, and it's been going on for a while, but like, you know, definitely with golf, but also we're always talking about money when it comes to the NHL and you know, gambling ads have taken over, um, you know, the airwaves and the internet and everyone talks about gambling and you know that sort of thing that yesterday

and the four nations on when when Canada beat the Americans do you think Rory cared at all about the money that he made like he made millions of dollars yesterday he's already made millions of dollars. And no one cared about money when Canada in the United States was playing that game. Yeah. That is, that's purity. Yeah.

That's the purity of sports. When the state- Yeah. And that's why we watch because for us as Canadians, our stake in that Four Nations was bigger than just hockey. And then yesterday we all felt the pressure that Rory was under, and we kind of felt his emotions of the pressure to get that career Grand Slam when it had taken, again, over a decade to get that done.

He was mid-20s when he was one green jacket away from the career Grand Slam and everyone thought, yeah, it's going to be easy, he's just going to get it. Like, he'll find he's that good. Well, life happens then. And think of all the stuff that Rory's been embroiled in since then, including the live stuff. He's had a bunch of, you know, off-course stuff in his personal life. He's kind of a vulnerable figure and he leaves him out there. He leaves it out there to be vulnerable. Unlike Tiger, I would say, who wasn't a very, he was like a dominant figure,

but he put up a lot of walls, right? You know, like he, but Roy was kind of out there. And that, I don't know, for me, that's why we watch sports. And I hope one day, and I tweeted this out afterwards, you know, when Rory won, there was that sense of, he's like, he said it was immediate relief. Like that was the number one feeling.

Yeah. But then if you watch it, then there was that immediate jubilation. It was like, yes. And then came the tears. It was like, yes. And then came the tears. It was like all the emotions came out. And like, this might sound cheesy, but that's how I imagine if the Canucks ever win the Cup,

that it'll feel. Like, it'll be like, they did it. They finally did it. There was that relief. And then we'll probably like freak out and like go crazy. And then, you know, we'll probably look back on all the hard times, which which we're gonna talk about soon right you know that that made it all worth it and I you know I was thinking something like

I almost feel sorry for like the Vegas Golden Knights fans what they have the things are good for them it started out well but what have they been through you don't know pain you don't know pain You don't know pain. You don't know relief when they won the Stanley Cup. They were like, oh, it's cool fun It's not really here again. Yeah, anyway now It's gonna be a hard transition to talk about the Canucks and wild on Saturday night of Rogers Arena But we're gonna try the Vancouver Canucks fell in their third final game of the season on Saturday Matt Zuccarello the ageless wonder final game of the season on Saturday. Matt Zuccarello, the ageless wonder, 247 over time,

Wild beat the Canucks 3-2 on Saturday night as they inch closer to a playoff berth, although Calgary just won't go away and they won last night. But we'll talk about that in a minute. A major talking point from Saturday's game honestly had nothing to do with a huge win for the Wild or another loss for the Vancouver Canucks.

It had to do with Yakov Trenin, not to be confused with 80s comedian Yakov Smirnov, Yakov Trenin. What I can only describe is the greasiest, dirtiest punch I've seen in a fight in an awfully long time. Fracturing the orbital bone of Derek Forbort while Derek Forbort was on the ice and defenseless. In the game, for those that missed it, Trennan got a five minute major in the game as conduct for being the aggressor in a fight. No supplemental discipline though

from the NHL's Department of Player Safety, despite the fact that he was booted from the game and his actions resulted directly in a pretty serious injury for a player. There's been some online chatter about why there was no suspension. It seems to have something to do with the book interpretation of the aggressor suspension and that you actually need to be a multiple repeat aggressor as opposed to just an aggressive aggressor in the moment.

None of it makes sense because this is now the second instance in the last couple weeks where I've seen something on the ice in a fight saying, I don't know what, but I know that that's suspendable. The other one of course was the Chatfield, was it Conor McMichael fight with the Washington Capitals and the Carolina Hurricanes? Those two instances in a fight, guys going way over the line and the NHL's Department of Player Safety not suspending either of them. You know the tough thing though is it's a fight, guys going way over the line, and the NHL's Department of Player Safety not suspending either of them.

You know the tough thing though is it's a fight. I know. Right? So I don't think, I'm playing devil's advocate. I mean I thought it was super dirty. But Trenton might have thought it was dirty that when they were going down, Forebort was still throwing punches, right?

But the linesmen hadn't come yet. And when the linesmen come and try and break it up, especially when a player's in a defensive, defenseless position like forward was, it was pretty greasy. And I love the people who are like, what about the spear from the bench from bluegrey? You mean the poke? The poke? Are you comparing the two? I think- One poked his bottom, which is padded, and the other one broke his orbital bone.

There's a difference in those two. It's just an unfortunate way to end the season for Derek Forebort too. Started with some injury concerns, had some rough stuff personal, personal wise, early in the season and played really well, I think, this season and I think gained a lot of respect from the fan base who, you know, like Adog was like, he's just one of the new guys that isn't working out for the Canucks and he's actually like a pretty good player, like it was a really important part of the PK and I hope the Canucks resign-sign them for next season and to end your season with that. And then all of a sudden you're like, oh, okay,

well now this makes the summer a lot harder because I'm going into the summer where I'm hoping to stay in shape and you know, now I've got a broken orbital bone, how's this going to change my off season training? And by the way, off season training is going to be a big topic of conversation for about the next week. Would you like to play the audio on that? Sure.

Okay. We got the audio here. This is Takedon Pedersen with regards to his summer. So a lot of the conversation now as we focus on the Vancouver Canucks, including Satyarshah coming up at 8 o'clock. We're gonna be looking forward to the future. I know there's a couple games left, including one tonight against Macklin, Celebrini, and the Sharks, but there's a lot of conversation about the head coach and getting some clarity on whether or not he's gonna be back.

And then, I guess, as a tangent off that, what the head coach wants to see from a number of players going into next season, including number 40, Elias Pedersen. Here's Rick Tauket discussing Elias Peterson and what he needs to do this summer, what he needs to do training wise, and what the club can and can't tell him to do. Here is Rick Tauket on Elias Peterson.

Well, I think when you go in these situations, you really want to get your training dialed in. You know, like example, Thatcher Demko. He's almost got his training to, like science to a day. This week I'm doing this, this week I'm gonna take off, this week. So every, he knows what he's doing every week.

He's got a good team together. You know, and I think we're just trying to understand PD for his training the last couple of years, that we can help him. But listen, you know, he's, we can't tell him what to do, but there is going to be some standards that we all have to come into camp with. So whatever you're going to do, you got to make sure that those standards are withheld.

You know, that's just the way it is. So we've got obviously no more, uh, Pedersen for the remainder of the regular season, no more Derek Forward, Thatcher Demko, no more Tyler Myers. I don't know if there's any point to rushing him back into the lineup. We might see more and more guys coming up. Rushing him back into the lineup for two games, including one tonight against the Sharks. Delpho to play tonight and I don't see any reason for it to play a veteran on Wednesday when the Canucks finish off their season against Vegas.

As for Petey, we played this audio and this is setting up to be the narrative of the off season for Pedersen. I don't know when, uh, the Canucks are going to have their end of season presser. It might be Friday. Um, but we'll have to wait and see on that. Um, you know, I imagine even though he's hurt, he's going to be there. At the press conference. And I would like to hear from him about what he

thinks about all this talk, including the, um, suggestions that he stay in Vancouver and train using the quote unquote resources that the Canucks have. Um, now some people have noted and they're right to note that the Canucks don't have like a dedicated practice facility. Ah, yes.

And maybe that makes staying in Vancouver less appealing. And also just staying in Vancouver might be less appealing for a guy that might feel that he needs to get away. The thing is, last season he needed to get away. You know, at the end of the playoffs, I think we all went, eh, been tough for Petey. You know, ever since he signed that contract, and even before he signed that contract, there was all sorts of pressure on him.

Didn't go well for him down the stretch, didn't go well for him in the playoffs. Get back to Sweden, have a good off season. Hopefully feel, you know, get that tendon him in the playoffs, get back to Sweden, have a good off season. Hopefully feel the, you know, get that tendonitis in your knee figured out. But you know, by all accounts from the Canucks at least, he didn't have a good off season. And you know, whether or not this whole thing sounds like the Canucks needing to essentially babysit Pedersen because they don't trust him to do the training by himself.

I think what Takeda is saying is whether or not you stay in Vancouver or Sweden, there's going to be standards for the off season like there are every year. It's not new, but there are standards for the off season and those have to be met. Now, the problem with that is you can say there are standards, but that won't change if Pedersen shows up to camp next season and he doesn't look good again. Yeah. Right?

Like, the expectation right now with Pedersen is that he has an off season, whether it's in Vancouver or in Sweden, and he comes back and he comes flying out of the gates. That's what we're hoping for this season, right? Yep. And, you know, people will not have time for excuses. he comes flying out of the gates. That's what we're hoping for this season, right? Yep. And people will not have time for excuses.

And that's assuming by the way that he's still a member of the Vancouver Canucks. Again, the Canucks are saying, we've got all these resources and I'm sure some of it is strength and conditioning guys. Some of it might even be sports psychologists, because they have sports psychologists on staff there. They've got these resources for Pedersen. Is he going to use them or is he not going to use them?

It's his choice. The Canucks can't tell him what to do in the off season. That's the CBA rules, but it is incumbent on him to come back and be a lot better next season than he was this season. Okay. So we got a lot more still to get into on the program. The rest of the NHL news, a lot of the playoff stuff has already taken shape or continues to take shape.

We'll get into a bunch of the stories from the weekend. We'll also talk about the Vancouver Whitecaps. That's all coming up after Jason Sobel. He's going to join us from somewhere near Augusta to talk about Rory's big victory at the Masters yesterday. That's all coming up in the next segment. So don't go anywhere. You're listening to the Halford and Brev show on sportsnet six 50. It's Canuck central with Dan Riccio and Satya Arshaw,

your destination for everything Canucks exclusive interviews, inside info, and even the post game show. Listen four to 6 PM weekdays and on demand through your favorite podcast app. Rory back and through. And he's made it! He's done it! It's a grand slam roar and Augusta National. Corey McElroy on his knees, bent down in a motion, clutching his head. He's won the Masters. He's won all the Grand Slam events. He's the sixth in the history of the game

to enter golf's greatest group. 6.33 on a Monday. Happy Monday everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands & Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest. Visit them online at Sands-Trustee.com. We are in hour one of the program. Jason Sobel from SiriusXMPJ Tour Radio is going to join us from somewhere in Georgia.

Parts unknown. So exciting. Big day yesterday at the Masters. We'll get into that in one second. Hour one of this program is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle. You get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell street in Vancouver to the

phone lines. We go. Jason Sobel joins us now on the Haliford and Bref show on sports net six 50. Good morning, Jason. How are you? Good morning guys. I'm doing well. Your producer threw me for a loop there. He said, uh, the guys just want to know where you are. And I'm like, um, I, I, I, I, I don't know. I don't't it's exit 87 going south on 95 if you want a specific landmark there but I don't know I'm somewhere in Georgia driving home after one of the greatest masters that we've ever seen okay here's

an easier question where were you when Rory finally done got it done were you in that amazing media area that they've got at Augusta National or did you try and go out there and see it with your very own eyes? I did try to go out and see with my own eyes. I walked the first seven holes. There's no inside the ropes badges. I'm a spoiled media guy who's been doing this for a long time and every other event I get to stand wherever I want and see as much like that and

uh... the better as we are just like the patrons are walking around outside the ropes that there was such a large gallery of people following that final pairing of lori macklemore and bryce de chambeau that you are going to have and what you're sitting in place somewhere uh... and waiting for that you could not see anything. So I walked four or seven holes, saw a very little, walked back to the press building

and watched the rest from there. So I know you're dialed in on the gambling side of golf. Were you able to monitor Rory's odds to win throughout the day? Because it was such a roller coaster. I'd love to know at one point was he like a sure fire like minus 1000 to win and then what did that get to during the various ups and downs of the day? I wish I had like specific timestamps if Laurie had told me that he was going to do this,

that they were going to be very severe peaks and valleys throughout the day, I would have said, cool, let me kind of note that with the better gods fluctuating back and forth. He did not let me know that that was going to happen. So I didn't keep a total eye on everything. I know that at one point, I believe this was maybe after 10 or 11, he had a four or five shot lead maybe at one point, three five shot lead. I think

I tweeted out he was minus 2500 minus 3000 somewhere, something in that range, essentially bet $25 to win $1. So Rory was, we call that the favorite in the betting industry and Rory was very much the favorite. I think Justin Rose at that point was 40 to 1, which sounded like a good bet by the time he got to the playoffs, but 40 to 1 doesn't pay off if he doesn't win the playoffs. Man what was the most memorable shot of yesterday Because you could go with a bunch of amazing shots, the seven iron, the eight iron, the nine iron, or the wedge that finally got it done in the first

playoff hole, or you could go with some pretty awful shots, the two wedges, one at 13 and then the one at 18 that he pushed into the bunker. For me, it was the one that he pushed into the bunker because I thought at that point, I was like, no, man, no, like that's the crazy thing about golf. There are people listening to this program right now.

You give them, you know, one shot or even, you know, five shots, they can put that ball on the green. There were literally like 10 quote unquote most memorable shots of the day from Laurie McElroy I say remember remember Fred couples when he won the Masters in I believe was 92 and his ball hung up there short of the green on 12 and like even today we're still talking about it's still so memorable. Laurie had a shot on 11 from near the trees on the right, I think it was actually in the

pine straw a little bit, and it looked like it was bouncing short of the green, going into the water, that treacherous pond left of 11 green, and it just somehow stopped. In normal, ordinary years, we would have said that was the miracle break Laurie needed, and that's why he won the Masters and yet there were 12 things after that that happened that caused us to forget all about his ball stopping right there and he doesn't win the Masters if that ball rolls into the water. The wedge shot on 13 is completely confounding. He played the whole conservatively. I was arguing with colleagues as he was playing it and

said the best driver of the golf ball in the history of the game, why is he not taking driver on a par five? And I said, fine, he's playing conservative. He's playing for a par. That's okay. He's got the lead, except he had a conservative three wood down the fairway.

He had a conservative layup shot. And then he's 86 yards out and says, you know what? I'm gonna try to spin one in there to two feet play this aggressive And he's spun it off the front of the green bay double bogey that's gonna be very memorable But again not if he wins if he loses that's really really memorable stuff 15 the second shot there 205 It's about five feet really memorable much like Phil Mickelson Years ago would have been more memorable if he'd actually converted the eagle attempt afterwards which he put a really bad stroke on.

17 there was an iron shot that you'd say in normal years wow that's the one that won it for him we're gonna remember that shot forever except that 10 minutes later from the middle of the fairway on 18 he hit the most nervy wedge shot from one twenty-five into the right bunker. And you say, okay, well, he made one from that right bunker before, so maybe this will be the most memorable shot. And he hit an okay bunker shot, then hit maybe a worse putt that he did on fifteen, leaving it low side with the Masters hanging in the balance.

I guess that's what happens when they put the graphic on the screen to claim the career grand slam, which has never been on a TV screen before and you didn't get it done there. And then we go to the playoff and okay, now we hit the same wedge shot, but same yardage, but to three feet, he winds up converting it. So I, that's a very, very long winded way of saying, I guess I'll go with the wedge shot in the playoff because that's what wanted for him but there are a whole lot of shots to point to. Man that was a that was an excellent recap Jason it was just I mean it was an incredible day of ups and downs and just so exciting so dramatic so what does this what does this mean for Rory?

Like if you're thinking about his legacy in the game or just what it means to him personally, I mean, we all saw the relief in his body. Like that was like a full body relief when he made that pot to win it. And then we all saw the other emotions in like the six minutes that it took for him to Make the pot go see everyone and get back to the clubhouse

What does this all mean for Rory? So I said yesterday morning as we're doing the pregame show on Masters radio I said throughout the day that there was no going back It was either going to be the greatest day of McElroy's career or the worst day of McElroy's career. He goes into the two-shot lead. I didn't envision a scenario in which he plays really well and doesn't win and we go, oh that's okay, I'll get him next year. Like it was either going to be pure joy, pure relief from Maury McElroy in winning or absolute devastation.

And maybe he doesn't even come back from losing another close call at Augusta National. And I don't, like I said, I don't think there was any in between. Now we look at his legacy and is he the greatest European player of all time? Maybe. Nick Faldo, 70 by by Estero certainly can stake a claim but no other European has ever won the career of grand slam which is kind of how we define greatness in golf which is across the board playing every major championship to the best of your abilities to the best of anyone's abilities. So is he the greatest player of his generation? Again, depends on how you define generations. If Tiger and Phil came before him and

the Ludwig Obergs are going to be next generation, then yeah, you put him up against guys like Jordan Steeve and Justin Thomas and even even Scotty Scheffler and he'd say yeah Rory's the best of the bunch. He's the most accomplished player of all of them and so yeah it does a lot for his legacy and I would also say that if Rory lost yesterday, I don't know if you know Quail Hollow next month for the PGA Championship, He's won there four times. It's his place. He loves that golf course. He might not even show up if he loses at Augusta. We might not see him again. He might be at hiding forever. He wins this one yesterday and it's like, all right, now everything's easy. I mean, it's like pushing a boulder up a hill. He's gotten to the top. Now we're just going downhill from here on in. And who knows how many more majors he can win.

Do you think one of the things that's appealing to Rory McIlroy, or maybe some people are turned off by it, but let me use the word compelling, is that he is very vulnerable as, as an athlete, as opposed to a guy like Tiger who kind of, I mean, he became vulnerable eventually, but when he was in his prime, he was more robotic and you know, he acted like nothing bothered him. Rory was talking yesterday about all the nerves he felt and you know, he's not really afraid to admit that the worst case scenario does enter his mind sometimes because he's a human being and of course it will. It's a great summation there.

I've said many times that Laurie McElroy is maybe the most open and honest athlete we have, star athlete we have in all of professional sports maybe open it on us to a fault. You know, I think there are times when he's stated his opinion on something and then six months later, and certainly the PGA Tour live fight and battle and on ensuing negotiations. I think certainly his opinion has turned think thoroughly uh... he's his opinion is turned off some people because he's changed his opinion on things a few different times and

yeah i i've always thought that what having an open mind able to change your opinion especially in public setting it is probably a good thing it's probably uh... you know shows that you do have that vulnerability but yeah or he is is a regular guy. He is a human that happens to be really, really good at golf.

But he has worn all of those emotions all over his face, all over his sleeve, and told us all about them for a very long time. And I think that's why so many people, without any sort of personal investment, were so emotionally attached to what he was doing yesterday because they felt it in themselves. Like, hey, I have dreams, I have goals.

Maybe some of us have fulfilled those goals and some haven't, but you can understand the player trying to fulfill everything that he's ever wanted in his life. And he was able to do that yesterday. You know, what's kind of funny is like Justin Rose is a pretty compelling figure at Augusta too. Like how many times has he had the lead at the Masters and he finally had a chance yesterday and nobody is talking about Justin Rose today,

but maybe he'll get his time coming up. At least he does have that one major. Jason, thanks for joining us on the road from the Masters. It's always great to get your... And there he goes. All right, we lost Jason Sobel. Well, at least he got a little bit of the goodbye. He got tired of my rambling.

No, no, no, you weren't rambling. You're excited about golf. I'm also... Yeah. Okay, so that's the end of the golf talk. And thank you so much to the couple of listeners that texted in and said golf is boring. Really just like right when I'm like getting excited about something I read a text like golf is boring talk

about the Canucks. Fine let's talk about the Canucks. Let's talk about the same things that we're gonna be talking about for the next four months. Although, it does sound like the Rick Taukett situation may not be up for debate for long because over the weekend on Saturday, Elliot Friedman had this report on Rick Taukett's future in Vancouver. So Vancouver got eliminated from the playoffs this week, but they have some business that they're gonna need

to clear up towards the end of the season. Number one, Rick Tauket. And Tauket's full contract is up. There is a team option for next year. Vancouver had indicated that they would maybe hold them to the team option. If he was going to coach next year, it would be in Vancouver.

That set, it seems that Canucks have kind of cooled down on that one a little bit. And the one thing I do believe is nobody, not Tauke,t not the Canucks want this to drag into the end of the season after the end of the season too long into the summer. I think you're going to see how this is going to work out come down pretty quickly at the end of the season. I think the both sides want to make sure that everybody knows where they're going, what's happening so that they can get on with the rest of their plans in the summer. Number two, Brock Besser. Ian McIntyre had a big article this week where Besser said he thought it was unlikely he would stay in Vancouver. I understand the big issue here is term, Ron.

I never say never, but term is the issue that both Besser and the Canucks have found hard to bridge. So Term is, Rick Dollywell has reported the issue with Term and Brock Besser. So we'll wait and see on that. The, the Tocket situation, I don't know if Tocket and the Canucks are talking right now, but there's no reason for them not to. Tocket said that he was all in on the Canucks are talking right now, but there's no reason for them not to. Tauke said that he was all in on the Canucks and their playoff push and he didn't want to talk about it.

He said that on our show. He said, I'm all in kind of guy. I have to be all in on something. Well, the Canucks aren't going to make the playoffs. And, uh, you can spare a few moments from preparing for the San Jose Sharks tonight, the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday to talk about this very big situation. I'm sure the Canucks would love to actually have an announcement for the end of season

presser, actually have some finality on that, assuming they get the decision that they want from Rick Taukett. Yeah. I was going to say, you can either really decision that they want from Rick Tauken. I was gonna say, you can either really turn that end of year media availability into an uplifting one with a big announcement that your coach is coming back, or, hey, where's Rick Tauken today? You're not turning that frown upside down. It's just a bigger frown.

That's what it's gonna come down to now is, and this is just optics-wise, I don't really think the organization cares too much about it, but it is a way to put a silver lining onto what's been a disappointing season that you are able to not just reach an agreement with talk it, but get that piece of business out of the way early so you can get to the other pressing issues. And there are many with the roster construction of this team. Right. And then it's gonna go down the laundry list of what are we ensuring for each individual player going into this offseason? To make sure they come back in top shape for next year and that course starts with Elias Patterson

But it also I think extends like another huge offseason in terms of the work that you're gonna do in beginning prep for that You're demko because we've already heard from Patrick Alveen about how they like the team's goaltending, they like the tandem, but the unspoken part was, that tandem has to be healthy and rested, and we have to find the balance between them that we couldn't find this year because Demko wasn't healthy enough to really sort of find that perfect symmetry,

the secret sauce, if you will. What's a good balance between the two of them? What did you think of the note that Freage had in there that the Canucks have kind of cooled on using the option to bring Tocket back? Yeah. I mean, that narrative, it took on a life of its own to a certain degree, especially, I mean, and everything does in this market. I mean, let's make no mistake, anytime there's a report out there, it's going to get dissected to death with the 11 Canucks related shows that we have programmed here on Sportsnet 650. But I think like I stand by what we kind of analyzed at the first point, like it was

they were putting the message out there as a sort of warning to the 31 other NHL teams that like Rick is ours and we're going to keep him. And it got construed in a variety of ways partly because of the market but partly because like I don't know their media relations hasn't exactly had like the deftest touch this it also Unbelievable right that they would bring them back on a one-year deal if he didn't want to be there is like well You're coming back maybe a more savvy savvy message or you know the way that it was put out there could have quelled that noise a little bit, but they don't do things that way. There is an abrasiveness and a bluntness and a very direct way that this management group deals with situations and people. People are

starting to pile up the receipts of individuals that have previously worked or been employed by the Vancouver Canucks that didn't love the way that it ended or didn't love the way that negotiations went but Also, like there is a cutthroat nature to the business that can leave emotions and nerves raw Like that's just a natural thing I'm sure there's lots of general managers and president of hockey ops across the NHL that have run afoul of employees, agents, players, coaches along the way. Right. I don't think it's entirely unique to Vancouver,

but in a very short window, the receipts are starting to stack up a little bit. Right. It's nice that we're going to get some finality on this apparently pretty soon. If I had to guess, a bunch of my buddies have texted me, like, what do you think is gonna happen? I'm like, I don't know, but if I had to make a guess, I think Tauke is gonna be back. I don't even, I mean, I'm fairly confident

that he'll be back. Yeah. Fairly confident that he'll be back. And it's not just because of the morsels that we get when their media availability's happened. But I mean, he sounds like a guy that was fully invested in winning games until the games didn't matter anymore. And if you hear him talk now, I mean,

he is talking quite thoroughly about what guys need to do for next year. Yeah, he's hinted at a few things, right? Like, you know, um, even talking about Dakota Joshua, it's kind of like an eye towards next season or some of the young guys. Talking about Mancini and Pedersen, how important these games are for them for like next year.

Like, I think he understands that some of the groundwork being laid here and it is silver lining stuff. Cause ultimately the goal of making the playoffs was missed, but can you take something positive out of these final games for next season? And that to me indicates a guy that knows, you know, it might not be an ideal circumstance, I think a lot because of what happened this year. And there's probably a lot of, like I said, raw nerves and feelings, but it's also the idea of, do you want to go into the open market or the abyss depending on how you look at it?

Because you don't know how the other Coaching jobs are gonna come to the surface or materialize I think you know a few it's not like Philly is primed to have a dream season next year or the year after that Or maybe the year after that, you know So there's and the other jobs that you want to look at you do have to yeah They're open and yeah, they're available and yeah, they could probably offer a lot of term and a lot of money. But if, you know, we talked about this with Rory winning the Masters, if money isn't your end game and your objective and your desire, then you have to start looking at, and it

comes back to where do I have the best opportunity to win? Well, I think money matters, but I think- But if it's not the driving force. Right. Yeah, yeah. You know? Well, there's probably dual driving forces, right? Like one is the money and making sure that you're paid like you think you deserve to be paid. And the other one is giving you an opportunity to be successful and giving you an

opportunity to not have all the noise and distractions that you had this season. And which is why everyone is going to have to get on the same page when it comes to Elias Pedersen. Because you might think I'm picking on the guy, but he is the key to the Canucks' success going forward if they keep him. If he can come back and play at the level we've seen him play at before, the Canucks, I'm optimistic. If he can't, I'm not. It's as cut and dried as that. We got an open segment on the other side. 7.30, we're going to talk to Axel Schuster.

Whitecaps, they're newsworthy right now. And I know you were at the dominant win over Austin over the weekend. He said one of the most dominant MLS wins you've seen of pretty much like any team. Should have been seven goals on the board. Right, so things are going well for the Whitecaps. I got my tickets to go see Messi. I'm sitting in the upper deck. I was like, it was totally.

You got your tickets to go see Miami. Let's just make the mark. Sorry, sorry, no, no, no, no, no. I got my tickets to go see the. Let's just make the mark. Sorry, no, no, no, no, no, no. I got my tickets to go see the Whitecaps. Yeah. That's what that that's all the hardcore like fans are like actually I'm going to watch the Whitecaps. Oh well 50,000 other people are gonna go watch. Is he actually in Miami? Well, we'll see. We'll talk to Axel about it. We'll see if he's in Miami. Once again. Can you imagine? Oh my goodness.

He is so committed to the bit. I applaud him. We got an open segment on the other side, so text in any questions or comments. It can be about anything that happened over the weekend. Text them into the Dunbar Lumber Text Line 650-650. You're listening to the Halford & Bruff Show on Sportsnet 650.