No Laying Up - Golf Podcast - 1062: Captain Keegan's Picks

Episode Date: August 27, 2025

Our live reaction to Keegan Bradley's captain's picks for TM USA and the 2025 Ryder Cup: Justin Thomas Collin Morikawa Ben Griffin Cam Young Pat "The Hat" Cantlay Sam Burns Join us in our support of the Evans Scholars Foundation: https://nolayingup.com/esf Support our sponsors: Rhoback - rhoback.com/nlu for NLU x Erin Hills Whoop - join.whoop.com/NLU for more The Stack - code NOLAYINGUP at thestacksystem.com/nlu for 10% off Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Be the right club. Be the right club today. Yes. Johnny, that's better than most. How about him? That is better than most. Better than most. Expect anything different?

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the No Laying Up live show, live reaction. Then we're on the No Laying Up podcast YouTube channels. Hit us with a little subscribe here if you're watching this live and are unfamiliar with this channel. I am Sali, joined by the assistant captain on the European side. Mr. Tron Carter, hello T.C. How are you? Hey, Sally. I'm good. I've been better before. I'm sad today. Yeah, just stock and boring, I think is, it's a bad combo. That was electric, man. My heart was racing. I honestly and truly did not know at any point what name was getting ready to come next. When the Morikawa name came early, I thought that meant

really bad news for Ben Griffin. Then Ben Griffin came. And then I thought that meant bad news for Cam Young. and then cam young came like it was it was suspenseful man and we're going to unpack it all and i'm looking looking forward to doing so um i want to give before we do that we'll give a shout to our friends at roback you guys know how much we love roback the crisp polos the subtle dog logo most comfortable hoodies on the planet we've teamed up with roback and aaron hills to give you a shot at a bucket list golf experience you and a friend will join two members of the n o'u crew for an unforgettable round of championship golf at aran hills again your prize includes that said round of golf with two of us at aran hills a one-night stay

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So go to join.w.com slash NLU to get a free month on. us and start optimizing your life on and off the course again join dot whoop dot com slash nolu for a free on us tc the captain's picks for the united states uh justin thomas colin morocawa ben griffin cam young patrick can't lay and sam burns in that order but i think we have to start off the jump kegan bradley was that a big rope a dope was that a big smokescreen all of this i feel a little bit bamboozled What's your reaction to Kagan not taking himself? I do not believe that it was as cut and dry as he made it, that he wasn't going to pick himself and all of that.

I don't think he wanted to say that, hey, a lot of the guys that I was considering and even some of these guys that made it on the team, they just didn't play well down the stretch and made it probably closer than I think it should have been. And I'm just bummed for Kagan that he couldn't crack the boys club again. This thing reeks of the tag. task force playing it safe uh you know i'm i'm disappointed because i think it's bad for the

content and it's also just i don't know it's just vanilla like i think at the very least send a message to morikawa leave him off the team that's that's the very like the least i wanted i i might just need to take your answers chat gpt it and just have it reapply for the european squad you're going to have to leave shane lowry off the team if you want to leave morocow off the team And it can't all be as exciting as Europe bringing 11 of the 70 of 12 guys in their little boys club back over to Beth Page and all that. Don't think I won't hold you accountable for all of these. Well, I think I get in a way Rider Cup, you know, different than a home rider cup as well. I, it's really hard.

It is, he kind of dismissed it's, it's one of two things. He either lied today in the press conference or lied earlier this week with all the rope adope smoke screen of, the guys that qualified told me they want me to pick myself. like it would it really seemed i came into today expecting him to pick himself it really did seem like that was going to be the case as silly as that has seemed for many many months has been highly and well documented here on this podcast of why i think that is a very poor decision uh i'm now sitting wondering like was this all just one giant media show drawl out from the pj of america and i was watching that pick show like this is kind of genius like it is suspenseful i don't know

what's going to happen. It has definitely increased interest in the event. I'm not sure the event needed it. Like, it is the biggest event, you know, in golf every two years in terms of just media. In New York. Talking point. Yeah, I don't know if it was needed, but it worked.

Like, it really did work. And he seemed a little almost bummed by his own decision of not picking himself. But I would say this. Look, he's been bestowed an incredible honor of being the captain. I've never done either of these things. and likely never will. But it's probably better than even being a player. And again, this could have been one giant media stunt

or maybe there's still the possibility that real damage has been done in the process of his preparation to be the captain. But JT intimated that to not be the case in terms of the communication's been excellent and perhaps a little too forward at times. But I have to commend Keegan for making the right call. I do not commend him for creating a completely unnecessary distraction

over the last year, really. with all of this, but I was on board with the Keegan captaincy, and I still think this could go really, really well. I think it would have been very silly, you know, for him to have tried to do both of these things. And I think, like, again, if you completely remove yourself from, like, trying to win the Ryder Cup, which I know people have different opinions on what this event is in terms of it's an exhibition versus the peak of sporting event,

like you have to be, the PG of America has turned this thing into a complete circus, and they have to be absolutely tickled with how it's all playing out. Like, winning is very clearly secondary to the PGA of America. And I think there's still a very good chance that they win. The U.S. will still be favorites. Still could blow up in their face in some way with how this is all handled. But, man, it's fascinating. It's very fascinating how it's all worked out.

Yeah, I'm not sure I'm ready to give the PGA of America that much credit for them. Just stir in the pot. That's all I'm giving them credit for. Like, they were dramatic about the whole thing. That's what I'm giving them credit for. I think it's amazing how. Keegan City learned so much from these guys that don't seem all that close and friendly, rooting for each other out on the road, out of tournaments.

Like, man, how cold and lonely must have the first 15 years of your career been if you've never seen other guys rooting for one another before? You know, that's, that was crazy. I think, you know, I'm with you on like, I think the playing captain thing, like it's been a bit the whole time like the playing captain thing was it was going to be tough not so much for the captaincy part but i think for the playing part like him being able to go practice right or or you know get himself mentally ready like shit i'm like i get scattered when i show up 20 minutes before my tea time and and you know not so much practice but just i'm not in the right mental zone

to play and uh i i don't know i just i i think the one thing that really sticks out to me is just is the team going to look a lot different going to a dare manner are you know are you going to have is there going to be a lot of turnover there like i think the european team used last year i think you know to get ahead of some of your criticisms of european team bringing 11 of 12 guys back it's not a real criticism that's i'm just mocking your take yeah that's that's not a criticism substituting in you know rasmus and nikolai who are essentially the same player i'm not sure if you've seen that that uh day to golf thing it's like identical that um that overlay.

But I think it'll be really interesting to see which team they take to to Adair Manor because this is both a young team from like from an experience perspective but also like not all that young from a age perspective, you know? And yeah, that's just kind of a weird thing. And there's been a lot of turnover on these teams from year to year. If there's a lot more turnover from 21 to 23 than I was expecting when we were in the RV outside of that event. The fact that Xalotaur has never materialized,

you know, as a U.S. writer-couper has been, you know, not a great thing on the side. Health is a skill. I completely agree. But no, I don't, like, would I be surprised of JJ Spons on the Adair Manor team? Yes, I would. Ben Griffin, I wouldn't say I'd be, I might be surprised. I mean, there's a long ways to go.

I think it's a weird place for me to be of, like, really disliking the process of how it's gone along. But honestly, if we can say here, I think the six guys they took are the six that I would have voted for them to take. Granted, that's why I'm pissed. That's why I'm just, you know,

the content, man, I wanted, I just wanted a curveball in there. I wanted a surprise and Pam kind of spoiled the Burns thing there. And do you, do you put any, any onus on the order that he rolled him out in?

Do you think there's any good to read into that? It was great for suspense, man. I mean, the 20, three final decision was Burns or Keegan and now Keegan's and it went Burns and now Kegan's the guy deciding between himself and Sam Burns for that spot and like I think the he would have been the most justified he could have been if if one of Burns Young or Griffin played

really poorly to end the year kind of played how Godorah played to close the year he would have had the grounds he needed to justify picking himself again I think this would have been silly but we had gotten this far along I'd have been like dude I kind of see where at least you're at. Like you have a vacancy for this 12 spot. This can make sense. I still think that would have been a bad, bad. Again, as much as we obsess over all of the filling out of these final spots,

the Ryder Cup's still going to be decided probably way more likely by Scotty Sheffler than it will be Sam Burns. That's just a much more likely outcome in this thing. Doesn't mean it's not going to talk about. On that front, do you see any like obvious, like it seems like Scotty's got two guys that he could easily pair with in Burns and Henley? Do you see any other obvious things jumping out at you from a pairing's perspective, either foursons or four ball?

And they're doing what? They're doing foursoms second session? Forsons first. And again, I know the thought process out there is why would you do this? Like you guys stink at foursons. But at home, the United States does not stink in foursons. The last four rider cups at home, they have dominated Europe. Like, you're, it's essentially four balls really close on both sides of the Atlantic.

the weight team does a lot better in four ball than foursums and the home team dominates foursums. So the idea would be to get out there and get a bunch of points on the board early with this format. Now, I know there's a lot of criticism for the Moracow pick.

I want to piggyback that pick into this thought as well, which is there is components of Morikawa's game that are really, really good. Like his iron play, numbers like this year still really check out. I know he's not a bomber off the tee,

but he's a good driver of the golf ball as well. and I know he has not trended great as the year has gone along, but it's the putting that's been a major problem. But can I throw a little, I know I'm not allowed to use data according to Keegan because it gets started out the window and there's a lot of fans there. But if you go back to...

It's about how many strokes it takes to get the ball in the hole. Which is what strokes gained is, exactly. Morikawa, again, the putting's been the major part of the problem. If you go back to 2023 in Rome, Europe outgained the U.S. by 19 and a half shots gained, okay? 17 of them were T to green. Almost two and a half we're in putting. Okay.

So if there's a skill you feel comfortable hiding in this event, I would say it's putting. And I think there's a, again, when you're talking about filling out the bottom part of the lineup, you're not talking about somebody's going to play five matches. It would not surprise me at all to see Morikawa pair up with a decent putter. And I've looked at how Beth, Beth Page doesn't shake out great in terms of being able to weigh heavily, evens and odds of who's going to hit all the iron shots yeah well also on that front too i don't think people know what beth page is going to be right we'll see how they set it up it could be no rough in bombers paradise like it's you know there's there's so many things they can do with the setup as

far as but i do agree like you're going to want to have good mid iron play it feels like right like a lot of those uphill kind of how he's made it right irons yeah and like jt in 2023 wasn't striking the ball as well as mora kawa like that was kind of like a dude are you going to find it in there, which was a serious question. And Morick, how is just a little bit different. And I know it's not the most popular pick. It is very clear to me that people online are going to value very recent form, very heavily.

And again, the Ryder Cup's not next week. It's a month from now. He's got some time to get his game in shape. We'll see if a little rest is a good thing. I don't know, but it's a bet on his talent. Again, I'd rather do that than Keegan try to do both jobs. But I don't know, a lot of varying opinions here. and so far it's just been you and I chatting,

but I think we have somebody who might be out, you know, experiencing some of the game right now who might have an opinion or two. Mr. DJ Pye, hello, how are you? Guys, I'm doing great. To paraphrase our good friend, Darren Rovell, I feel terrible for our country, but this was tremendous content, man.

This was like, what a cycle this was. We're out here at beautiful Aaron Hills today, very lucky to be out here. And everybody in the group is just glued to phones. We're just watching the entire telecast nobody can look away oh my god oh my god he's not is he not going to pick him he's not going to pick himself oh my it was it was electric stuff electric stuff great to be here guys what do you think this is the right call do you have what we've talked about this a lot but you know it came down to it uh were you

were you expecting him to pick himself today i guess as well 100% i was expecting him to pick himself uh i feel i don't know i'm of two minds like tc we talk sorry i'm out of breath a lot of hills out here at erin hills it's a walk and talk it's a true walking talk it is T.C., we talk a lot about the great man Sevy, you know, some of these, like, European lions. I feel like Keegan kind of had a chance to be one of those dudes. Sevy would have picked himself. There's guys that would have picked themselves, and they would have gone out and balled out, and you would have been like an American icon forever.

And I think he still can be that, but it's a little weird to be, like, it felt a little more like a Pascal's wager, I think. Like, the worst, like, the least amount of bad things can happen if I don't pick myself. basically like if i don't pick myself and we lose everybody's going to be like do you should have played man and like that's a pretty good way to spend out of my hands guys they didn't want me to do it spend the rest of your career but i think he said all the right stuff i think guys are fired up i'm buying what he's selling and i don't know so it's like what we were saying early on when it was first announced like i've kind of always been in on kegan the captain i'm not really in on kegan the playing captain you know like running that you know running down to the wire if it was

going to be uncertain which i know he said he made up his mind a couple weeks ago but I'm in. I think it was the right call. I think they've got the right team. I'm kind of fired up, man. I'm buying what the U.S. is selling for the first time. So, Salli, I'll see you that week at Best Page. I'm back in.

We needed this. Come on, D. I thought you were coming over to the squad. No, I, I, I, see, I'm up in the air. It was just, it was a fun election to watch. But I got to ultimately vote my conscience here and stick with the U.S. of A. I'm looking at this giant American flag out here at Aaron Hills. I think it's, I'm feeling patriotic for the first time.

in a while about the Ryder Cup. I mean, Aaron Hills is Irish, right? Is there a big Irish flagman? Well, it's Irish inspired until, you know, U.S. American Brooks came and just knocked the goddamn door down, right? It's, it's been, it's been colonized. So I don't know. Do we think that Keegan had full agency with these picks?

Or do we think that he was forced into making some of them by PGA of America, task force? He's just a just a fucking guy. Yeah. I think he had full. agency. I think the way the guys were speaking about him, I think, you know, I think this was what we were saying on the podcast for a couple weeks is like, man, I know what I'm seeing, which is not very much, but I don't know what's going on behind the scenes. And if he's being a

better leader behind the scenes and he's being more transparent behind the scenes, he's letting guys in on the process more behind the scenes, then I think that's a really good thing. And I feel today was the first good, I feel like that was the first, I think that was the first, that's what Europe's all about, you know? We can't do this. Yeah, no, I can't do it. We're not letting do you do it dude i missed the first 10 minutes but i got to assume tc's down bad today he's struggling i am it's a dark dark day uh i think also just man i'm just disappointed too of of uh like i was convinced like tiger was going to come in and just who's fault is that that sounds like your tc i don't know be the guy and all of that because he's been you know whether he was involved in the

process or not i i think one of the things that they probably like made kegan think twice was the actual process like the actual 20 seconds of him announcing himself playing oh totally i totally i got i got a extra hand taken over here so louis i'm in your hands man now watch this i can't i can't wait to see this like what all are you on uh this is number 10 we kind of cut the corner here, Julius. This is like kind of the garden spot here, man. Sitting down just a little bit. Sitting down a little bit, but what do we got? 57?

Off the hill a little bit with a little backstop. Julius Mason. DJ's caddy. Okay. Aggressive 160, he's telling me, I'm going to hit an eight iron here, guys. Sitting down just a hair, but I think it's going to pop out of there, okay.

30 feet right of the hole, he said, he says, I think. I got noise-canceling headphones on. I don't really know. I was hoping he would do the Keegan in and out waggle before he got into this show. There's a sprinkler long right there. I can't remember whose ball ended up in that. That was me. That was me.

That was the beginning of my downfall. Big jumpers out of this rough, too. I remember that from my ball. Oh. Oh, no. You know what was really tough was the split second between when my phone updated and I could hear your guys' audio. I know you hadn't seen it yet. And I'm like, maybe it cut out.

Like, no, it did it. All right. I got to focus on the task of hand. Hey, dude, this is why you don't try to play in captain. There you go. You can only do one thing at a time. You can't do both. Guys, hey, love the program.

Looking forward to listen to the rest on the way up. Electric calling. If you listen to this on the pod, shout to Julius. You got to go find this on the podcast channel to watch the shot of DJ just hit. Julius, they say you gave me a bad club, man. I don't know what can tell you. All right.

I'll see you guys. Thank you, Dege. Does what I was saying about Morcal at least make sense in terms of of the justification in the grounds for this happening and why you want to bet on that? Yeah, I mean, the guys won two majors. One of them didn't have fans there. The other one, you know, was a windless,

windless, uh, St. George's, I don't know. I mean, you know, he's not, he's not the vibes guy either. I don't think, but he's probably, he's probably somebody you're going to, like he's going to be on the next three teams too, right? Like, I don't think he's, I don't know. I think this is the floor for more. Morikawa and, hey, maybe gets it together over the next month. I mean, that said, like, maybe he also only plays three, you know, two or three sessions, too.

I think I do want to push back a little bit on your, on your fours' takes that I think of the home team's done that. I think this is a different away team than we've had in a long time. I think that's where Dodo Molanari can cook a little bit in foursum's pairings and that sort of thing. I think Padraig, you know, for whatever reason, didn't. And I think they've got more options. I think they've got more opportunity as far as, again, I'm on record as saying I'd love to see Nikolai on the team because I think he balances out some of the other traits they have on the other side of things. I also think you could you could easily have both Nikolai and Rasmus on the team, put them out, but just with one guy, you put him out all five sessions and you just have Nikolai act like he's Rasmus or Rasmus act like he's Nikolai. I also want to mention I'm still way, way in.

The President's Cup needs to do this for four foursums. They need to have both guys play out of the same bag. You can only play 14, 14 clubs. That needs to happen. Get weird. I think they're going to need fingerprint scanning on the opening tea at Bethpage to make sure they don't try to pull some shenanigans with some of the Hoyguards out there. I mean, so again, trying to piece together, again, just complete estimation here.

but I would guess Cameron Young, I don't think you make pairings solely based on golf ball, but both Bryson and Cam Young play a pretty rare golf ball and a different golf ball than anyone else. And that, no idea if the math would work out on them playing together, but I would think that it would. And so I can see that as a potential fours pairing.

I'll be really curious to see what they do with J.T. Without Jordan Speath on this team and kind of, you know, he might be more of a four-ball guy. I really have no idea where they'd go with that because I would still like to see Scotty and Henley play together. I know they paired together really well at the President's Cup last year. Again, you take it to a different golf course. The formulas might work out completely differently. The scenario planning, again, might work out completely differently, you know, than it did for that event.

But I don't know, that's kind of, I don't think you need to pair Burns and Schephler together. I know it was really just one disastrous pairing that left a sour taste in our mouth for that opening foursums from Rome. I don't think you need to throw that out, but I also don't think you, like, need to have that. So, um, I feel like Burns and, Burns and JT feels like a pretty good forcums. Aaron, my opinion. Um, I'm also curious to see like, yeah, like what they do with Griffin, you know, I doubt they send them out first session. I think they'll probably try to hide, um, you know, I think there's probably an aversion to,

like, rookies or that sort of thing for at least, at least the first session. Who's going to play, you know, are they going to play the Max Fly Revolution or not? I was going to say probably rookie Ben Griffin, play your own ball would be your first session, I would expect. Now, Cameron Young is his first Rider Cup, but he has played on a President's Cup team. Like, you know, I don't think they'd be as hesitant to send him out an alt shot because he's got more loud tools as well.

Like, that's what you're looking for, I think, in the foursum's pairing is like leaning on a particular skill of someone and being able to exacerbate that with the formula of the alternate shot. but sally who was your first guy like setting kegan aside who was your first guy out off the team speed of course i mean that's my that's my i i you know it's probably mav but i i you know i don't think he beat down the door nearly enough i don't think uh it was necessarily that close i mean i think i think all the guys taken ahead of them are are are more talented players than mav is um he does have some loud short game traits.

But again, I think the match play formula has been proven to say the T to Green stuff is where you're going to lean. And that's the way they went. Do you have anyone else? I think Coyvin. I think they should have taken Coyvin the last spot. Truly. I think he's a straight up killer and I think he would have thrived.

And it's an investment in the future. Silly thing. I don't think he's a PGA of America member yet because he's not a professional. I'm sure they could have, but this organization has... They didn't let Paul Asinger play because he didn't have a certain certification back in like 1983 or something like that. So it's it.

I think, I mean, I do think that like Goderup, I doubt, you know, if you're Novak, Novak and Mav didn't play well enough down the stretch. I think Goderup was probably a very serious consideration, especially when you consider, you know, but I think his floor needs to be higher. And he just didn't, you know, didn't do much at all down the stretch here.

You know, otherwise, I think you'd have to go pretty far down the board. I think Wyndham, you know, just laying an egg this season. Like, that was probably an automatic spot as well. And Max as well. I mean, he was on the President's Cup team last year. That was kind of a controversial pick at that point because his game was kind of heading in the wrong direction there. But, I mean, walking off, you know, leaving.

Italy in 2023, there was nobody that thought he would not be on the 2025 team and not being one of the leaders of that. So some vacancies have definitely come, which is what makes the Europe thing really impressive in terms of just keeping the same team together and nobody really losing form, Lowry really aside, to a great extent is pretty amazing, honestly. So, Sally, were you surprised to hear that Cantlay didn't show any emotion? Stunt. Stunt. I thought Patrick McDonald that was one of my favorite tweets of the year

of the last thing you see before your company analysis just Cantley's picture there that was that was that was it for me there was a lot of really good Zoom related tweets Will DeVries had the you know nothing from my end thanks that always that always gets me

that was really good but it's you know I'm getting old when I'm looking at all their their background decorations those plantation shutters those are I mean like you know, Apollo investments really paying off for them. But, I mean, it is, like, I think driving distance is going to be still a premium on this golf course, and I know a way you can increase your driving distance. And you can go to the stack system.com slash NLU, and you can use code no laying up for

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We kind of bottled it, but he's a completely different player. He started doing the stack and almost has me almost inspired to start doing it. Ball's coming out of a different window. It's higher. He's just, like, he's like 6'1, and I think, you know, 6-1, 6-2, and he's always just buntinged it around out there. And I wasn't out driving him by 60 yards. It was jarring.

It will tell you exactly what weights to swing, when to swing them. It times it all out for you. It gamifies it. It makes it fun. It's great. And there's a stack wedge system that it's going to help you dial in your distances with your wedge. I've only done it a few times. And I honestly think it's helped me with my, you know, just exactly where I need to take

the club back to hit a ball 71 yards is really good. And the stack putting stuff. I know we have a guest that's going to come in here shortly that I think can speak to some of that as well. So go to the stack system.com slash NLU code no laying up. This system will make you a better golfer, especially if you're tight for time and you need something to just do at home or in your backyard or at the range, whatever. If you need a game of fire practice in some way, I cannot recommend this product enough. T.C., we are bombarding you with red-blooded Americans today.

The czar, Mr. Neil Schuster. Hello, hello. Gentlemen. Oh, my Lord. Busy morning. I've been on the phone, been in meetings. I get off the phone. Did you get a call from Keegan? I mean, no, unbelievable. What a faint from the captain. I mean, this gets me so excited. Just playing it out, playing us all like instruments.

Unbelievable stuff. Hard to argue with the squad, man. I mean, you can quibble a little bit with Morikawa. But I was just listening in. I kind of agree with you, Sally. I don't think anybody else beat the door down. You know, would have been cool to see Mav play. Novak and got her up like I feel like those are long shots you might as well go with uh go with

history I am a little disappointed it was going to be a lot of fun if kegan played good for content a lot to talk about but this gets me excited about being a fan of the USA man I mean kind of just played it perfectly just just really good stuff from the captain I love it why are you so excited what gets you excited about it's such a surprise I'm I was convinced he was going to pick himself. And instead, he, like, he just kind of played it out and juiced the, the buzz and made it, like, I just think he kind of pulled a 180 on me. I'm just, I'm shocked. I thought for sure he was going to pick himself.

And he didn't. Neil, I thought for sure. I think your next move is probably, after the ball numbers yesterday, is probably lobbying him to have Mike Vrable as one of the assistant. Sure, bring him out. I mean, he's a red blood of the American, too. yeah i'm down in this this dungeon i'm still grinding k c i'm working through the afc west right now uh stand stand by all my uh all my ball knower takes uh good and bad do you think neal was this a a giant scheme smokescreen like throwing everybody up we were extremely justified in

believing he was going to pick himself i refused to believe like this was this was not a media driven thing like all of his words were making it sound like he was going to pick himself what he told taught Lewis two days ago, which was that the rest of the team voted for him to to be on the team. I guess what's the goal of this to pull this giant smokescreen and other than to generate media interest for this, which makes me feel like the PGA tours or PGA of America is playing puppet. I mean, maybe, or maybe he's just a wily veteran.

Like I didn't, you know, I apologize to Key and I didn't, I was not familiar with his game in this, in this regard. Like, because I agree with you. So since travelers, it's just been like, trying to justify and walk back what he said a year ago of like if i don't make it on points i'm not picking myself and he just like kind of cracking the door open more and more to justify that and if this was a long con and i i don't think it is i think he probably didn't play as well in the last six seven events since then and it was probably like ah man

you know it's going to be hard to justify if i'm in that 1012 spot which is right where he found himself which i was like god he's still going to pick himself he still wants to do it and and he didn't and but he didn't uh he didn't show his hand and i give him a lot of credit for that he he he kind of played played it all the way down to the wire and then was like no i'm going to be the captain and that's the right thing to do and kind of picked all the guys i would have wanted them to pick and you know what collins justified where he sits on that points list it would have been probably a stretch to put a mav mcneely in there over him neal i thought it was all about recent form and i thought it was all about about the last three months strokes gained i thought

that was the only thing that mattered i think you could make an argument about that tc but i think with with colin you probably you can't do it again i can't do this again you can go on history with a guy like colin i don't have no you're not allowed not allowed to think of anything other than one single thing that you've ever cited is the only thing i'm not kidding tc like this one decision this flip this surprise to me like makes me much more confident in kegan bradley as a captain i i i know that's that's a snap judgment i'm literally hopping off like back-to-back called and looking up the news i'm like holy shit this is this is good stuff man like this i was not expecting this so i'm just i'm just kind of processing it in the moment and i think just am young and burns firepower

you've got some new blood with ben griffin some interesting pairing options i don't know the Team USA is very interesting with guys like Henley and Harris English that aren't super exciting but making it on points and then you bring in some exciting guys like Cam Young with the captain's picks I think it's a great team

I'm excited about the Ryder Cup I'm glad Cam Young is on the team I think I'm just blown away at how over the moon you guys are at just the even hint of competence of like how low

how low the bar was yes you're absolutely right about that but like yeah I was looking forward to the Ryder Cup because I thought it was going to be a content bonanza and like just an epic setting up for kind of an epic meltdown potentially if Keegan was a playing captain which I still think would have been really fun

and really entertaining to watch unfold now I'm like man they're probably just going to fucking ball out, man. Like, it's a stack team. I think there's a, like, really, really good chance that the U.S. just balls out and blows out Europe. That's what I'm feeling right now, T.C. Do we think that the assistant captains dissuaded him from playing?

Or do we think that the narrative of them egging him on in guys saying, like, oh, you should play, be sick. we're good we can we can handle this i think anybody that has had experience being a leader in any of these events would have advised him this is probably too much to do that's my opinion don't know that for a fact like one of his assistant captains is jim ferric and who has done this with the president's cup and has done this with the rider cup many times and has been the lead captain the rider cup i would imagine his advice like all the captains we've ever heard from and i have some of this documentation ready uh for what some captains have said here which is

Tom Torrance said it would be the worst decision a captain has ever made. Trevor Emelman said a Ryder Cup or Presidents' Cup captain has tons of stuff on their plate regarding different decisions, media obligations. In this day and age, I struggle to envision a person being able to deal with that and focus sufficiently on their prep and game in order to be ready. Is Keegan one of the 12 Best Americans? Yes, but because he's the captain, I don't think he should play. In my opinion, he should focus on being a leader for the U.S. team and their fans.

Like, that is just some captains that have spoken out on it. I've not seen one person who's ever been involved. in any of these that has said he should do this. And I imagine behind the scenes, it was probably a lot of people. And I think Keegan is like his, his like whole ethos is like, I'm going to prove you wrong.

I'm going to prove you wrong. I'm like, I don't dislike that about Keegan. But when it comes down to like leadership and something that affects other people, I think he had to just be like, all right, you guys are probably right about this.

You probably know something I don't. And I would be an all-time goat if this did not go well. Uh, I think you said it earlier, Sali. He put up in an awesome position now because if they don't win, it's like, well, God, man, if I had played what could have happened, you know, it's like instead of, instead of the opposite.

If you would have played that deep down, if he would have thought he could have, like, could have and would have helped the team. Like, he's got to live with that for the rest of his life. No, I think there's just enough. There's enough firepower on the USA side that I don't think, I think the difference between him playing and, Sam Burns or Cam Young playing is it's a toss up.

I'm concerned about the vibes in your team room. I am. It still needs a lot of vibe guys. I think there are. You look at who are they missing? I mean, they're going to go have some team building at Napa. I still want to know if Bryson's going to come to Napa and hang out. I think he should.

That's really the last question left for me. But God, what a make room for a while situation, you know, around noon for me? Like, whoa, that's crazy. I had to call it. I wasn't planning on calling it. I had to call it. It sucks. You didn't get to experience it live because even like the sequence they did everything was genius.

Like it was great. I mean, the second announcement. So it was JT was up first. And then who was the second announcement? Sorry, I wrote it down, but I can't find it right now. More Cowah. More Cowah. So that was like, oh, okay.

Well, then, you know, one of Keegan Griffin, Griffin. I was like, so at that point I was like, oh, Griffin's out. Uh-oh. Griffin was next. I was like, oh, gosh, Kim. young's out cam young was next and then uh so got all the way down to that pick of kegan versus burns and it was it was good tv and uh we actually also have someone who was there asking a couple questions data boy got stuffed in his locker a little bit by the u.s captain but from normal sport uh hard-hitting

journalist Kyle Porter is joining as well hello Kyle I've got the I got the 2010 uniform uh designs behind me here that's the that's the design of the background uh Sally we might be back they did the right thing i'm i'm going to wrong you guys are simps we're so back we're so back uh what dodo is going to put you boys in a blender it's it's it's it's gonna be great tc is just trying to sew discord here with there's no there's no gods in the team room there's this the team's fine the team's great the team is what it should be it's a home one you don't need to take massive risks what was what was what was kind of the vibe i mean were you surprised what did you expect coming into today and were you was your heart racing like mine was when

he got down to that 12th pick my uh no not not when it got down to the 12th pick but after jt my heart started because obviously you know jt's on the team and then you're like i don't because i had heard as recently as sunday like hey griffin's out and then heard yesterday like hey keegan's not he he's out like he's not going to pick himself um i i you had heard that you had heard the kegan stuff that he wasn't going to pick himself correct yeah wow okay because I was thinking, like, I was hearing the opposite, but I was also hearing the Griffin stuff. And I'm, like, I'm, I'm wondering if there was a legitimate campaign to sew illegitimate leaks or to, to identify leakers. I, I did not hear the Keegan is not picking himself until, like, really late, like, the last whatever's, 18 hours.

So, yeah, you know, and this is the question that I asked JT, this was the, this was my takeaway from the entire thing, Sally, was. I think that Keegan did such a great job of galvanizing this team by not picking himself because it's such an act of selflessness of like, hey, the only thing that I want to do is play on a Ryder Cup team. And I have the opportunity to do it. And nobody would blame me, right? Like, I can do this. And everybody's like, yeah, you played well enough. You've done it before. Like, you've been successful. And he didn't do it. And because of that, the entire team is going to be galvanized around we have to win this Ryder Cup. for Keegan Bradley.

And I think that is, I don't know that he meant to do that. I don't know that it's an active, like genius or leadership or whatever, but the fact that it played out like that, I think is incredibly valuable for the U.S. team. The only has a coach I had. And I know T.C. is going to roll his eyes,

but it's true. The guy wants nothing more than to play and he didn't pick himself. I think, Seth Wall might be the genius here. Yeah. Oh, well, I think Seth was a genius for generating mass amounts of SEO and clicks because you know the PGA of America is deep into

that game well listen it was a masterful job of doing that like this is like boxing promotion it's like good good work by everybody I mean you fooled me I'm just I'm just happy for the PGA of America too that like there wasn't a big technical issue or anything like that that the Zoom call went off without a we can't have those guys on the Zoom for like 55 minutes like that's Passcode didn't get out, like when TC tweeted out a picture of our stream yard and we had random people popping into the stream. We don't like that. We don't like that one bit. Hey, guys, I, this is for Porter and Neil, I guess.

You guys are very bullish here. And Solly's playing his normal role. What is so different this year as opposed to 2024 or 2023? We can go there. I'd say home soil. Zach Johnson. I get that. But overall, performance-wise, you guys seem very bullish for a team.

that looks like the people who did have their back on foreign soil, they're not even on the team anymore. You know, Max is out, top point getter. Brooks, gone, Harmon, gone, Wyndham, gone. That is where the top point scores on your squads. And all of a sudden now you guys are super bullish just because you have home soil where you're expected to win. I just see, personally, and Kyle is more of an expert on this stuff than I am.

I feel like you've got some real consistency at the top. I know Scott I didn't play well in Rome, but he is undisputed number one player in the world. And then you got guys like Ben Griffin, who's coming in at 9th or 10th on the list, but he's played so consistently all year. It's just not on every single leaderboard. Russ Henley, same thing.

Like, I think that guy put him in the foxhole, man. I don't think that guy's getting scared under pressure. I think he's an upgrade from, he and Spawner, an upgrade from Harmon from Rome. And so it's like, I honestly think the team name-wise, the U.S. team is less exciting as from a branding and name and like for casual fans. Like, yeah, Max has more cachet than J.J. Spahn. But like I think J.J. Spahn is playing better golf potentially than Max was two years ago. And it's like he's not, he might be boring, but he's effective. Same with Ben Griffin. Like, does he look like he gets hit with an airbag every time he falls through? Yes. Is it effective? Yes. you know what does he like has he played really good golf yeah you know and then you have some guys

that have like shown really good recent for him you got can't lay who has the historical performance i mean god i think you guys probably flashed up his like career match play record like that's treadstone stuff that's nightmare fuel for europe and he's playing well the last three months you know jt he's he's kind of the uh you know team mascot and just like thorn and europe side he made he justifiably makes a team that wasn't a reach so there's no drama there i don't know i just feel like even if it's a little bit more boring with like guys like harris english uh harris english has played great golf this year like it's i i feel like the floor has been raised which is what i'm excited about yeah i don't i don't know that my optimism has much to do with has as much to do with today as it does just

the entire year i mean harris english russell henley j j spawn they've been better at golf this year than ludwig and victor hobland and rasmus hoigart like they just have and and and I think a lot of American fans, I think I said this on our last pod, so a lot of American fans are looking at these teams on paper and being like, we're going to get killed. And I get that because you've got bigger names on the European side, which is usually kind of the reverse of how it goes. You've usually got bigger names on the American side with Tiger and Phil and, you know, all that.

But I just, the Americans are just better at golf right now. That doesn't mean they're going to win, but I combine that with being at home. And I just think that's a, you have a much better chance, I think, to win this Ryder Cup than you did go into Rome. The only caveat I give you, before I got to jump is better at stroke play golf, right? So when you throw in the foursomes and match play component, like that's where this gets like, okay, yes, like technically in the day-to-day tournament golf, they've been better. But like, all shot, you know, you kind of could throw some things out the window. see it's where Dodo could get in asses potentially.

Well, yeah, I think also, but I mean, I'll give you guys a bunch of credit. Like I think it's a much more malleable U.S. team, like you said, like, you know, Harris Englishes and the Russell Henley's and the JJ Spons. Like those are guys that weren't on these previous teams that feel like they can play situational golf and, you know, they're not the big names. But I think those are the, those are the blue guys you got to have. I guess question for you guys, do you think if without the emergence of Cam Young over the last, I should say reemergence of Cam Young over the last four, six, eight weeks, do you think

Keegan plays on the team? I mean, he said that, I can't remember if he said this in the press, or we did a little scrum afterwards where he was talking about the golf ball, T.C. You'd have been proud. He was getting steep on different guys' golf balls. But he said at some point that he was considering it after the after the travelers right and i to me like his words today were hey this has been settled for a while that i was not playing which even better god that's sick he's just bringing us a lot or it's it's a little bit it's a little bit difficult to believe however i will say his disposition and demeanor throughout was not of someone who just figured this out like 24 hours ago he

was not rattled at all. He was not, there was no like, there was no, it was like, I, this is, and he almost seemed relieved to not be playing, honestly. Like, in the scrum afterwards, he was like, I am so fired up to be the captain. And there was, there was almost like a peacefulness and a relief to not, like, like, I think he would have inserted himself if he felt like it was best for the team. And he very clearly throughout the day, whether it was privately or in public, did not think that was the best thing for the team, which I thought was, again, commendable, but also, like, a little bit of, like, yeah,

like kind of what's always been saying for the last six months. God, I'm going to go on record right now as saying, I want Team Rose to be playing captain at a dare manner. He'll be 47. What's that? In two years. 27. Yeah, he'll be 47 years old.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, I want him to be playing captain. I want Phil is playing captain in like 31. Porter, what do you think the opening, this is putting you on the spot here, but if we had to guess opening forsooms now that we have the team complete, because again, we're talking only picks here, right?

We haven't talked about JJ's Bond. We haven't talked about Scott. I haven't talked about Henley, all those guys. What do you think the most likely runout is of guys in that opening session in Forcings? Scottie Henley. I mean, you have to play Scotty, right? Yep.

Can't Alexander? Yep. I'm trying to think of... Can someone throw me a Bryson Cam Young? Yes. Just send them out first, man. Get, you know, kind of thunder and lightning. J.T. Griffin? I don't know.

Yeah, I would just, again, completely guessing, I think a Burns-Morakawa combination could be really interesting in terms of ball striking and pucking. putting trade-off. Yeah. But you guys have concerns with, A, with Xander, but B with, with, uh, can't lay as well of just, like,

can't lay swing, like, you know, like, I know his putting has been kind of the Achilles heel. His swing does not look as good as it's been recent, a little bit poofier and the low, it's really low with the driver. I'm not trying so hard. It's so impressive. I'm not.

I'm like, that's legitimately what I witnessed out there. him from 16 holes on on sunday i mean do you have concerns with ludwig and hovland i think that you know some of these guys and and i was i was actually ludic's coming he's he's trending yeah trying to figure it out uh i was i was surprised at how it's that how effusive kegan was with his praise of can't lay like he he basically said about can't lay what zj said about j t back in 23 which is like he's he when he talks people listen and he was he was born to playing writer cubs and that was a little bit surprising to me but i think that our view of i think that the player's view of can't lay uh is a lot different than like what i'm not like

i'm not like i'm not diminishing can't lay's experience or his crack record at all he's i think he's like he was a no-brainer to put on this team i'm just saying from pure golf he doesn't seem like the same player he was a couple years ago i hear what you're saying neal i know you got to run you got a packed calendar we appreciate you popping on here and i'm excited that you're excited that makes me more excited for the rider cup so i'll see you in farmingdale gentlemen yeah let's go um yeah it's we have all have a tendency to like when we say a name when we're talking about rider cup that we're just assuming that they're going to be at a certain level of play when it comes to said rider cup which like again scotty sheffle got his ass handed to him uh at the last

Ryder Cup. So it's, it's, you know, I guess I'm just muted in general. Like, I'm not getting, I'm not out over my skis in terms of expectations for this team. Do I think this team can lose? I do. Of course I do. But I also am a huge believer in home field advantage in this event. And I know we just don't get that much of a sample size to be able to be conclusive kind of on, if that's what has been the total, like that's how it's gone. Dating back to 2014, but can we definitively say that's why? it's hard it's kind of hard to say but i would think my where i'm standing right now would i feel really confident in this team if they were going to a dare manner in a month i don't think i would but i think with the combination of the of the home field advantage i think that this the u.s team should

win the right i i agree although sally i will say i i actually would like this team going on the road because i think that um i think that you have a lot of guys that are that are dogs that are not like you don't have the kepkas that are like massive names but you got guys like himley and spawn that have just like figured stuff out over their career and i think that's what kind of like career underdogs a little bit yeah even grishen right that's a little bit what this the feel of this team and i almost feel like it's a little bit better suit i think kegan would be a really good road captain he has so much juice that they like they have lacked on the road in the past do you think this is a back to back you think if they win he runs it back because i do i i i hope

So that had to be the plan. I don't know if they will. He got asked a question in the scrum afterwards. I don't think that was the plan. I honestly make that the plan, but I don't think that was the plan. I think it's like, dude, you know, this one's going to be, in theory, relatively easy to win at home. Like, you should get this one. And then it's like, in theory, in theory.

I mean, Porter, we were sitting in the RV at Whistling Straits. And Sally was like, I don't see how they don't blow them out in the next seven of these. Like, we are entering a decade. We're going to, a decade of dominance is what I said. You also said that the 21 European team was going to win, like two days before that. That was wishful thinking I had to. That was wishful thinking on my part. So I could see, like, I think Keegan would make a great road captain, you know,

you know, I say that I know. Who's a good home captain? Well, I know that, that's why I was like, you don't need to take an unnecessary risk at home. I know you're kind of being a little bit of a renegade here. We need the renegade approach on the. road, right? So if you take care of your home one, and if you want to be the captain for the road one, I think people are going to get behind that. Like, I think that's an easy thing to rally behind. That's, that's the best case scenario for all of this playing out. People are already

behind Keegan in, in so many ways that they either have been ambivalent or been against past U.S. captains. And, you know, Keegan was asked in the scrum afterwards. Somebody asked, would you recommend to the PGA to ask a player that's still like playing well in his like, you know, like Keegan is to ask them to be a captain in the future? And he kind of smirked and was like, I'd probably tell them to like consider all the all the things that go into it. So I don't know if Keegan would even want to. I love that we're talking about 27 by the way. We're going to talk about 31 here pretty shortly. But I do think he has so much, you know, the thing, I was just struck by so many different things. JT mentioned that it's the most

transparent and honest. A captain has been with players throughout the lead up, like the process of selecting the team. And the reason that is crazy to me is because Kagan himself has said, hey, I'm kind of a loner. I'm kind of introverted. And so I asked him about it afterwards. I said, how did those two things go together? We're talking about radical transparency and somebody who's like kind of introverted and keeps to himself and he said the only thing i care about is whatever it will do whatever i can do to help team USA win and he just so clearly like cares about that above everything else that he will put his own personal like even personality aside to try to help the team win which i think is yeah he's just look they might lose in new york

i think he's been an awesome captain up to this point did uh pile anything else else come out of the scrum any other uh he said he's been trying to run the team like you would run the boston sultics uh which i thought was i don't know i'm a big brad stevens guy yeah they could get brad stevens in on the what'd you think about his answer to my data question sol like shooting the low scores and strokes gained are the same exact thing it's the same thing i know and he knows that i think there's some contextual stuff there too as well though of like when you're in the hunt or like all all all strokes gained aren't created equal or all all rounds aren't but in match play it is like like there's not you don't need to just hand pick

cherry pick from the times you're playing good like scrapping something out when it's not there can be really valuable in match play if your opponent also is playing poorly you know so I feel like the general public tends to think that the pressure rounds are the most important you know in stroke play I don't think it's necessarily pressure rounds but I do think there's something to be said for like especially over these last three weeks of hey you know what it's saturday afternoon at caves valley this course isn't a fit for me i'm not playing great and like i'm exhausted and i just want to get to bmw or you know i just want to get to tour championship or i just want to get to to you know through this because i'm 29 from the x

cup you know i agree it's it i agree with that but it's also like sometimes i want the answer of like who's gonna who's really good at toughing it out and not laying an egg in a one particular round because totally i get not a lot of match play matches are like two guys played great usually it's you know it's it's kind of in that middle zone or uh and some sometimes it's it's pillo fights and it's it's really hard as much as we do it i know to look at like we only have information from stroke play events it's hard to project out what that means for match play events but there's very few players that are really good at stroke play that are that would be bad in match play right like it just is uh you know obviously you can look at some little stuff

of like are this guy makes more doubles and more birdies which can be a good thing in four ball like it doesn't really matter that much if you make a double in four ball versus you know but at the percentages we're talking about with a lot of these guys it's just really hard to make meaningful conclusions from all that i'll say this i think a big like good picks i like the picks i think a big next step of one that we don't know the answer to is just like what i've been dying for from from a U.S. captain is the management of these players, the expectations of when they're going to play and how you are setting them up to play their best golf.

It's something we hear so frequently from the European guys of the actual tangible steps the captains take to help them play the best golf. Luke Donald, we're going to play three whole matches. So, like, Europe dominated the first hole in Rome, like completely dominated. And that was a mindset that was put in place by the captain. Like, the first hole is more important

than the 15th hole in match play. like the first hole means a ton like it just changes the win probability so much more than the 15th hole likely will and like setting that mindset put europe on a path to get the crowd galvanized to end that thing in the opening session so what is what gets done from here on out to set all of these guys to play their best golf end up in comfy pairings in roles that they're really comfortable uh you know being in knowing what these set expectations are for playing wise and what the variables might be like if this goes poorly you're going to play in this and having and managing all of that is a massive blind spot for all of us as fans, and it's really impossible to weigh in on in the moment. That's the big question mark for Kagan from now through the Ryder Cup, is getting these guys, one, not competitively rusty. I know they're going to play one event at the pro core, but they all said that they were way too rusty in Rome.

Is one event enough to stay sharp? Like, European players are going to play more than the American are in the coming weeks. I cannot fathom an excuse where they show up and make an excuse of being rusty. Like, you're aware of this problem. I don't know what you've got to do to avoid it. but let's make sure that guys are ready to play because again we're in a different era of when the season ends and when this event is being played than we were you know eight years ago or so

yeah two two things real quick on that i think one he he kegan was i thought a little dismissive of some of the stats and data and stuff and and as it related to my question i thought that was fine but you know he had the quote of hey when you step up on the first team none of that matters and it's like well i understand where you're coming from the way you're saying that makes me a little bit concerned about like the planning of all this like you're talking about solid but i think too i'm going to keep going back to the the jt quote about nobody's ever been more transparent or more honest with us in the lead up i just i would be shocked if you got a brooks and scotty situation it that that happened in rome where they were like we we didn't know

like we had no wasn't it brooks and scottie that they had no idea that they were going to play together or whatever allegedly yes and i i i I just would, I think, I think surprisingly to me, because Keegan has never struck me as the most clear, concise, or best communicator in the world, it seems as if that has been his strength throughout this entire captain's pick process. And so logically, I would think that would continue as they proceed over the next month. Like I would be, I would be very surprised if the communication was not clear, concise, and great, like it's been, um, seemingly thus far i think uh yeah like i give keegan a lot of credit for seemingly taking a weakness and turning into a strength and evolving and and that sort of thing i think some of the platitudes were throwing his way or maybe more of a reflection of previous leadership than they are of the current regime of like kyle like what's the like were there any jack johnson questions or like hey have you talked to zack at all about what he did or because like

like i know he referenced scoutsing right like that's the that's the stats company or whatever and like you guys are talking stats and all that like they're still using the same stats company that seemingly didn't prepare them well or or they made a conscious effort not to properly use the stats be yeah he was asked about like who he's drawn from like who he has leaned on and he actually referenced he said i wouldn't have been able to do this process without my without the vice captains without snetter and uh phyrick and i can't remember all of them woodland hisner and woodland um and so that those were the guys that he ran to he did not and i asked him about hey where'd you are in like the communication and the honesty and all that stuff and he

he didn't say anybody he just said uh doing what's best for the team so the only people that i heard him reference uh were his vice captains he didn't say anything about rome thankfully he didn't learn what not to do yeah he didn't uh yeah he didn't mention zach or anybody like that so i can't believe jack johnson was a captain that just is god i'll tell you who who who i would bring in as an assistant captain here we at least just make sure he's here is max he seems like the perfect dude to have out there driving a car listening to guys just just go up there and scream your head off too like that that is what has been missing from like a u.s. team member is the Shane Lowry that's just out there running down the fairway fist pumping like have that be

max he's not playing like have that be him just running out there getting guys galvanized and like I know this is stupid but I've always said like the US just needs somebody that goes out there to makes himself look silly like JT and Berger on the opening tea like chugging beers like go out there and make yourself look silly and everyone's going to have more fun and you're going to loosen up and you're going to probably play better golf I honestly and truly believe that is as well get Horshiel out there sure i can i can get down with that uh you guys couple couple questions for you from from the from x the everything app uh i've got one from holy falk one will can't lay wear a hat this time will they get a hat that fits and then will that prove he's getting paid now he's got no reason

not to wear the hat that's true i don't know he's getting paid last time though too i think i've come all the way all the way back around on can't lay like he's like all the the memes of his zoom and everything were incredible um i i'm just kind of like in on the character i don't think he's playing a character i think it's kind of who he is i think i'm gone so far the other way that i'm it's like patrick reed like i'm just i think i back in on you all i know is do you think reed got a phone call justine might have but i don't know if reed how far down the list do you think kegan went with the phone calls well that was that was one of my things tc was he kept saying like all these guys were it was these were such hard phone calls i was like

who was who was expecting a call that did uh that the quote he had to todd lewis sallie yeah who who was that that is the biggest rope-a-dope of everything if you know there's guys on that think they're going to be on this team that aren't i don't i don't know there's any one person sitting at home that could have thought he was going to be on the team i mean mav had a case to be made but i don't think he was a lead case what's that kind of i mean barely he didn't knock down the door comments are saying spief of course uh yeah he's probably heartbroken sitting at home i am i know of course as well but no i that was that was the that was the biggest like all right you were totally just playing us and i don't know why like again other than just

like creating buzz around the event i'm not sure the u s team is better off for this giant rope adope you pulled but uh it was clearly a lie when you said that earlier this week of Todd Lewis, so. Do you think Keegan called himself? I bet he looked in the mirror and gave himself the speech. Good, good question here from, from DNL, S-R-I-A-N. Will Keegan unpack the suitcase tonight? I think he waits until they win.

I bet he brings it, but if they win Sunday night, I bet he brings it to the party. On the 18th green on Sunday. I bet he does it in the team room and unpacks it. I'm into that. I'm into that. I'm into Keegan. Like, I think he's, he's just, I don't know. Seth Wall might be the true genius here. Like I said. I think it truly is, having someone who was kind of an outsider, I think is probably, you know, I guess you could probably see the same thing about, like Tom Watson. And he could have tech go. But, yeah. Yeah.

I think T.C., I think that's where, you know, he talks about these phone calls and saw you say, like, maybe he wasn't being totally truthful. I also think he views it from the perspective of Chris Goderup and Matt McNeely and some of those guys of like, hey, maybe I wasn't the 13th guy, but I know what it feels like to be like the 15th guy or the 16th guy. So I do think he has some of that perspective and empathy. that maybe some other guys haven't had in the past. Maybe Ricky got a phone call. I mean, Ricky, honestly, it's played some pretty decent golf

and has been on past teams. Like, I would think he would have gotten one. You said, how old is Kagan? He is 39 years, two months. Yeah.

Next one, he'll be 41. That's the other thing. Maybe he says, no, like, I want to try to make the next one. Like,

like, you know, I want to try and make it. I just, I do think that God are up and young. If one, like, or if,

if Young hadn't played well and Goddor obviously didn't play well those two guys made his life a lot easier by

or like I think Young made his life a lot easier because I think I think he would have picked himself if Cam Young

hadn't have stepped up to the plate I think that's I think that's fair I mean honestly yeah I don't think stepped up to the plate is that an MLB joke

it wasn't intended to be but it is now I think I think he could have made a case for himself over anyone that was left off the team. But I think the sixth that he ended up picking had a stronger case to be on the team.

God, I'm so bummed. It was rational and logical and level-headed. I did get a question here. Jay Burke, does Sallie feel any remorse for cyberbullying Kig's off the team? Absolutely not. I did what I had to do for my country. I've served this country in the only way that I could, which was to call as much attention to this.

as farce as possible. Maybe you would have played great. Maybe you lost it for him, sorry. Maybe, maybe, but I'm relieved that we are not taking that risk. And out of place,

asked if I will apologize to Captain Bradley. I will not. I will absolutely not apologize. If they go and blow them out, then maybe I will say, and it comes out that this was a giant marketing scheme the whole time. I will apologize on that Sunday. So.

He might need to apologize to you for considering it. do you know it gives a lot of great content i don't apologize uh for that at all do you think there is a world where people like a legitimate case for if the u.s loses that this was the wrong decision like i know that's going to happen in the media but do you think that that's like a legitimate case that anyone could have no i mean i well i yeah you you always could i this this frustrates me i i was wrote this the other night or tweeted about it or something but you can only make decisions based on the information you have in in the moment yeah right and and to in to look back and say like well we lost by you know one and a half points so that so therefore it was the wrong

decision that's just i think that's especially like a month from it just seems foolish you know um people could make that case but um i i i am a very firm believer in like decision making is not uh good or bad based on what the outcome of the decision was especially that far into the future. Yeah, I thought some of those quotes the other day were absolutely outrageous. I think you put him in your newsletter, Kyle. Yeah, he said, like, well, we won't know if this is a good decision until Sunday night of the writer cop.

You're like, what? Like, then what, like, yeah, I don't know. But people are very opinionated about that idea, about the decision-making idea. But, yeah. Of note, the U.S. was minus 1.30 on the 3rd. Fandall Sportsbook prior to the picks being made key Europe one uh plus 145 odds as of now US minus 130 uh Europe plus 145 the picks did either uh it looks like Europe has gone to plus 150 uh a little bit so um very little moved uh from this news but again markets are kind

of factoring in the whatever 50 for 50% chance that uh he doesn't do you bring Kyle do you bring Gabby golf girls dad in as an advisor. God, that response to you about how he's on Moira Cowell's bag this week. That, I mean, if you understand any of what that means, like, you're in way too deep, but that's just, like, that was so funny. Hey, Sallie, before we open this up to questions from people that are tuning into the live show right now, and I appreciate Kyle sticking around as long as he had, but the U.S. team has not won a single point in, the last Ryder Cup or the last President's Cup's opening sessions. You guys mentioned a little bit changes that you want to see. Obviously, a lot of it is staying in form or finding new form.

ProCore is going to be a big part of that. Hopefully they talk more about that at ProCore and the PGA Tour media team leans into it. But what other things, Kyle, do you think they could do or should do in order to be more prepared for this opening session that hasn't gone very good for them? Just a refresher. They won 5-0 in the opening presidents cup in Canada. That's true. The second day, they lost all five matches.

Yeah, I think, I mean, if you go back to 2016 at Hazeltine and 2021 at Whistling Straits, I think there's 7 and 1 in the opening session of both have been foursomes. And so I think that they are off to a good start of starting with foursomes. Again, it has been really interesting, Cody, that both sides have started with foursums and dominated over the last whatever that is 10 years 11 years 9 years whatever 2018 Europe started with 4 ball um okay and then they roped him into bad foresomes pairing it was a it was a chess move by because the u.s. 1 3 1 that morning and 4 ball and then then they got smoked in the afternoon yeah okay i had those mixed up but Cody do your question on pro core like I don't think the tour

I think the tour has said to Golf Channel and others that they're not allowed to talk about the Ryder Cup. I hope that was just a tour championship thing. I saw faxas quotes there, which made me chuckle. Yeah, I think getting those parents, I mean, getting the parents right, obviously, and saying even right now, like, hey, here are the possibilities, here's what we're thinking so guys can go in. I just, again, like, I don't, there's a lot of. consternation around the U.S. team because as U.S. fans, we think, oh, we should win no matter where it is, but they have been dominant at home. Like, they've been really good. And I think a lot of that is because they don't, nobody brings any juice on the road. I mean, I was yelling about that in 2023. J.T. was the only one burns a little bit. But I think don't get, don't get too cute with the pairings, with the foursum sparrings. Put your best guys out there. And you should take care of business. and it's it's i guess the um so europe started four so the u.s has won the opening session every year uh going back to 2010 other than 2023 like they they they Europe started with four balls

in 2014 as well uh and u.s won that one two and a half one and a half i'm going back to 2010 i don't remember what happened in that they won that one too they won four ball in that one the U.S. has won the opening session almost every time other than 2023, they won the opening session in O-8. They definitely didn't in 06. That's the last time you've got to go back other than Rome, but they haven't won the opening session regardless of the format. So, um, I mean, I am like, I think this European team, because of the continuity of their little club that they have and, uh, everything. I mean, I'm joking, but like, they have. Are you joking? Kind of. Uh, I mean,

going to leave a top 10 player in the world at home which is tough to tough to see with harry hall there's no spot in the club we're not doing that uh we're not doing that you're not doing that can we talk about 2031 it's in spain we can talk about the great man's heavy what what i was going to say is i think this is a really really good chance for europe to win in the u.s i truly do like that's not a bit um they have like rory made it a goal the 10 seconds after the 2023. And I think they've all been thinking about that and planning for it. And obviously Donald and Dodo and all those guys are great at what they do.

I think this is going to be a, I hope that and think it's going to be a really close, great writer cup, which we haven't really had since Medina. They've all been blowout since then. Yeah. There's just some big question marks too. Like Bryson hasn't been really quite that good since major season ended. And he hasn't played. you know what what is bryson what's the shape of his game going to be like i think it's

going to depend on what his filming calendar looks like i was going to say sallie i feel like he's probably better suited where like he can get up for a video that week of yeah you know like that week between pro core and i'm not worried about bryson getting up i think he's you know it's just a matter if if manufacturing can keep up they can bryson and scotty played together at 2021 would they pair them together uh you that's when that's when bryson said he had a had a brass chest yeah oh god i love this a bit man it's the only it's the through line man it's it's it it just keeps churning it uh i'm so impressed with how they did all this if this was all one big scheme they absolutely got me and i don't feel bad for for for buying into it because they

were telegraphed that this was going to happen um and credit to key and they pulled the rug at the last minute. So anything else we're missing before we wrap. Final prediction. What's the final score? I'll say 15.13 U.S. I'll say 16, 12. I'm going to say 14, 14.

Europe retains the cup. Calling for her retention. I think we still have some merch to go with that. Retained in the USA. All right, Porter, thanks for calling in on the road and for the on the ground reports from the circus of this day that was T.C. As well, Cody, thanks for scrambling to get live on a Wednesday afternoon.

Thanks for tune in live on a Wednesday afternoon. 26, 100 of you still sitting here as we got to wrap this up. Thanks, I'm on the tuned in afterwards and whatnot. So we'll continue to bring the Ryder Cup context. got a fun little one coming here in about two or three weeks looking into captaincy on the honestly he can not taking himself kind of unravels a little bit of what I had going but we'll get through that we'll work on it and then we'll have our normal content around the event as well but thanks everyone and listen you know I'll be in the lab

with the great man Bjorn the great man Dodo great man Jose Maria all those guys the Europe will be making their picks on Monday TC and I are going to chat Monday our Sunday pod this week will be out Monday of Labor Day and T.C. and I are going to react as well to the team Europe picks on Monday evening as well. So thanks, everyone, for tuning in. We'll see you next time. Cheers.