No Laying Up - Golf Podcast - 846 - U.S. Women's Open Half Way Show

Episode Date: June 1, 2024

Wichanee Meechai is your leader through 36 holes at the 2024 U.S. Women's Open in Lancaster, PA. Only Andrea Lee, Minjee Lee, and Yuka Saso are under par as the rest of the field scrambles to figure out Lancaster Country Club. We are joined by Marina Alex and Jane Park as we break down the action so far. Get an Amateur update from Jordan Perez, run down the leaderboard and more. Thank you to Yeti for presenting all LPGA content at No Laying Up for the year. If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining The Nest: No Laying Up’s community of avid golfers. Nest members help us maintain our light commercial interruptions (3 minutes of ads per 90 minutes of content) and receive access to exclusive content, discounts in the pro shop, and an annual member gift. It’s a $90 annual membership, and you can sign up or learn more at nolayingup.com/join 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 into the no laying up live from the Kill House. This is the US Women's Open halfway show.

My name is Randy and we have a good one on the hand for you tonight. Let me introduce you to who's on screen with me. If you happen to be watching live, if you're listening, it'd still be a great show for you. Mr. TC Tron Carter. How are you my man? I am great Randy. What a couple of days it's been Shout out to all the people of the greater Philadelphia area. It's the gap. It's been awesome and

Cody McBride Sarge, have you enjoyed the first couple days? It's amazing big. This is exactly what we wanted This is what we signed up for. Unfortunately, some big numbers out there. But I could not be more excited about how we've seen this course, 36 holes in, and kind of the leaderboard that we have. I know it might shock some people, but I'm Jack, man. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Even we'll get to it. But it's fun to be excited about. Last but not least right now, Jordan Perez. Listen, some amateurs are bucking their head and who else to educate us to let us know about these amateurs than Ms. Jordan Perez. How are you doing this evening? I'm pumped guys.

Like last year on the amateur front, we weren't doing so hot. Wasn't that much excitement in terms of low-end, but this year we've got quite the race and I'm just pumped. I'm excited along with a great week of golf. I mean nothing better than a good low-am race. That's for sure.

Amen. It sounds like somebody's dog's excited too. Yeah, my dog. That JP's dog? Yep. I love it. Joining us in just a bit, they're hanging out. They are going to, you want to talk about a call

to the bullpen. We have a couple of great guests waiting in the wings. Excuse me. Two women that participated in the US Open the last time it was at Lancaster, Jane Park and Marina Alex. They are going to bring the heat here in just a bit. But before we get there, Cody,

tonight's live show brought to you all the listeners, all the viewers by our good friends at Yeti. That's right. Yeti Cooler is big, but they got a lot more than just coolers. They got cups, they got koozies, they got new French presses. They got a bunch of stuff, man. I want everybody to head on over to Yeti.com, shop their complete product line. And I want to just say a big thank you to Yeti. They're our presenting sponsor of all their LPGA content all year long.

We're able to go to events with their help. We're able to bring us these extra LPGA only shows because of them and specifically the LPGA podcast. Couldn't be more appreciative of Yeti. So please everybody go over, check them out. You can still get some custom engraving customizations stuff done if you're looking for Father's Day options or just send a link. You know, if you if you're a

dude sitting there and like, Hey, I'm a dad, what am I what am I gonna get for Father's Day? Send a link over, you know, help them help you. That's what I love. So Yeti, I appreciate their support. They're definitely helping us, but what else we got big? I think we're gonna have another sponsor, like mid later on in the show. You wanna give them a shout out now? Absolutely, Foot Joy.

We're gonna have a moment of joy these major weeks. They're always fun. So we'll be highlighting our own moments of joy a little later in the show. And that's brought to you again by Foot Joy, the official shoe, glove and rainwear partner of NoLayingUp. So, how did we get here? I know everybody watching, I will keep the recap quick, but for those listening, for those that have not been able to catch the first two days quickly, Nellie Korda sent shockwaves through the tournament, through anybody watching on Thursday morning,

her third hole of the tournament, the par 312, she made a 10, a seven over 10, including what was it, three balls in the water, and just completely unexpected. From there, she just was not able to right the ship. She ended up shooting a first round, 80. She was not alone though though among star studded names really struggling with this Lancaster layout. Rose Zhang would shoot a 79. Brooke Henderson would

shoot an 80. Lydia Ko would shoot an 80. In fact, crazy stat, the 10 highest ranked players in the field averaged a 75.5 stroke average Thursday. Just to give you an idea of how difficult it was. But, but there were people that played really well. Amazingly a number of amateurs. We saw recent NCA division one champion Adele Cernusik. She shot a one under 69 15 year old Asterix tally shot an even par 70. She was joined by us am champion Megan Scofield and USC's

Catherine park, but leading the way was Japan's Yuka Sasso. She's the two, excuse me, the 2021 us women's open champion from Olympic club in San Francisco. She shot a two under 68. Her flat stick was amazing. She gained over five strokes on the green. The only three other women under par were, let's see. I mentioned Adela Sirnusik. We had Andrea Lee shot a one under 69

and Thailand's Wikini Mekai shot a 69. Now fast forward to Friday, we still only have four players under par. Thailand's Winneke Mekai is setting the pace. She's four under. Andrea Lee, some theatrics eagle holeout, which we'll get to. She shot another 69.

She's at two under. Two US Open champions, the aforementioned Yuka Sasso, and now Minji Lee are both at one under par. They are lurking. And then we have a collection of eight women at one over par. We'll get deep into the leaderboard in just a second. Gentlemen, Lancaster has obviously been- And ladies. And ladies, sorry, has been a star of the show. I'm curious, what has been the biggest takeaway, the biggest thing you've learned

through these first two days? Tron, can I start with you, please? Yeah. A, it's that the USGA still has some backbone in them, that it's not the kinder, softer, gentler USGA. They've still got some grit there. But more importantly, I know she missed the cut, but I learned that Nellie's got some dog in her. Starting, you know, shot 80, faced the media afterwards, answered things, was classy, was composed, was still confident, comes back out today,

shoots even par, flirted with making the cut. And I don't know, I thought that was as cool as seeing her win. You get punched in the face a little bit by the golf course and she didn't complain, she didn't whine about it, she took it and is moving forward and using it to get better. And I think she will get better through the year. She'll probably win two or three of these things by the time the year's done.

Yeah, for sure. You can put a lot of emphasis on that 10, but it was just a sloppy day all around. She even said that it was just a bad day in the office. And I think that resonates with a lot of normal people out there And it's kind of crazy to think that you know She seems to have had she has her game figured out so far this year and there hasn't been that many bad days

And the days that we thought like oh, you know Nellie's out there with her or see your D game They're still right around even par But you know I think the biggest thing around this course is that you're going to get exposed if you're out of position and she, you know, that the 12th hole is not just like, that's what a lot of people are going to remember, but she also made like six bogeys on the round. She had three birdies, but that opening, that opening stretch is just, I could not have envisioned a worst start to this US Women's Open not just for Nelly, but probably for the championship

There's a lot riding on Nelly performing at this championship But overall man at TCI echo everything that you said about About her play today. I mean she fought and she she could have laid down her cards and just said hey This is it. But man, she got, she put herself in position to like truly make this cut and a couple of putts dropping here and there, you know, she, she would have been right there. But man, I'm, I'm, I'm impressed as somebody could be not expecting to miss the cut.

It was great to see. Yeah. Nellie shot a second round 70, even par 10 shots better. I mean, of course, if, if you give her even a bogey on that, on that par three 12th on Thursday, she's a four over par and certainly within striking distance. So Jordan, a number of amateurs are showing out. They've shown up. They're showing out. What, what, what do we need to know about?

Uh, I think the three big ones here heading into the weekend asterix tally Megan Scofield and Katherine Park. What can you tell us about each of those young ladies? Wow, yeah, they this is a phenomenal group of AMS for made the cut this year, which was really cool The only other actually that you mentioned earlier was NCAA champ Adela Sirnosik who made it right on the number. She saw it 79 today. She had pretty tough time out there. But as far as those who are really in this low M race, so we've got Astris Talley, the 15 year old that everybody's talking about who shot 70, 71, T5, one over. Megan Scofield also shot 70-71, five shots. They're both five shots back at one over.

And then Catherine Park is T13, 70-72, two over and six shots back. And maybe, you know, of winning a US Women's Open, who knows, anything could happen, right? But in terms of the slow-amp race, there is some serious legitimacy to it. So when I look at all these players, first of all, all of them played. Anwar, all have a really high level pedigree, have all won some big time events. And I think, you know, you look at Astris, yes, she's the 15 year

old who's really impressed. One Sage Valley finished TA Anwes. I think one of the coolest things I remember that Asteris did was she had like a five foot par putt at Champions to make the cut at Anwes. And then I think she made like a 25 footer to top 10, which was just the coolest thing ever. But I think this week in particular, I mean, her mental game has really showed out a lot. She just looked really composed, which she's told media that she's been nervous, but she looks fine. And she's actually, I think I want to say in the second round, she exceeded the field and driving distance, which I was just like, they're coming. Like I thought we talk about the juniors, we, we talk about the juniors on like the men's side a lot who

have kind of emerged and have played a lot of sponsors exemptions and have shown out, but they're really showing out on the women's side too, and it's incredible. Astrick is such a testament to that. Megan Scofield played at Auburn, won the US Women's Am, got into this event by that. An incredible ball striker, that's basically how she won at Bel Air and had played fine in her final year at Auburn. But I'm fairly certain she's waiting around for that Curtis Cup in a few months and she'll actually be playing in that by virtue of her win at the Women's Am, I want to say. But yeah, just

an incredible player. Doesn't hit it the farthest, but I'm certainly not surprised that she's in this mix. Catherine Park from USC, notoriously great driver, iron player, but ever since she got to USC, she's really honed in a lot on her putting. I remember hearing her talk about at one point last year when USC made it to that championship match at Greyhawk, the last year Greyhawk when they played Wake Forest. USC was really, really focused in on wedge playing for every single player. It's kind of interesting. There's this template of player that goes through USC and the things that they

focus on. But I don't know, it was really impressive to watch Catherine these past few months. She struggled just a little bit early in the spring, but it really came together at the end. She won two big titles, won a Pac-12, and then qualified, I want to say, for the US Women's Open. I don't know if it was on her birthday or right before her 20th birthday, but she's one of those players that also in a similar position to Megan Schofield is would be a fantastic fit for that Curtis Cup team.

So excited to watch them. Shout out to Catherine. She she was playing. She she played the back nine in under part of day. She also played the first two days with Carlota Saganda, the slowest player in the field. And I think they were on the clock for at least 18 of the 36 holes they played together. So, uh, props to her for battling through that. Jordan, let me ask you this of those three. It's,

it's so difficult for an AM to really hang around through 72 holes at a difficult us open. Uh, would any surprise you, would any shock you if they were like front page of the leaderboard Sunday? What are your expectations for the weekend? No, this, it could it be, could it be an Ingrid Lidblad situation just a few years ago at Pine Ninals? Perhaps, but I wouldn't be surprised if any of these players really did hang in. But I wouldn't be surprised if any of these players really did hang in If I had to think of anybody who might emerge from that group of three at the top I would think it would be Katherine Park, but I'm I'm so open to any of them

Just freaking crushing it. They this is a really exciting crop of players I guys I'm just grateful from last year because last year Lowam had very little juice so I'm just happy to see them up there on the leaderboard. Please anybody run away with it. I agree JP but uh looking at stats wise and I want to give a quick shout out to the USGA and of course everything that we get for this event uh statsats wise, putting not not good. So he shout out her short game, which are strokes gain short gain is like top 20. I think she's 16th right now, but strokes game putting 98 given up strokes there. It's kind of wild because even like coverage that I've seen, it seems like when she's on the screen, she's making every putt, but that's

clearly not the case. So there's, I mean, if she starts actually, like making a third of these chances that she's actually getting, like, you're right, she could be the one that starts climbing up here and separates herself from the rest of the amateurs. Yeah, it's certainly the Achilles heel in her game kind of similar to Amari Avery. When she got to USC, they had they had some parallel weaknesses. But yeah, if Katherine can turn it on, I really think she will be

up there on Sunday. Awesome. Jordan, thank you. We're going to bid you adieu and we're going to bring in a couple guests now, if that's all right. That's all right. Thanks, guys. All right. Thank you, Jordan. Joining us us to guests, good friends. I can't think of anybody better to help us really get into the action over these first couple of days. The first is Jane park.

Okay. She's the 2004 U S amateur champion. She actually finished tied for fifth here at Lancaster in 2015. Jane is a good friend of the program. She's, she's one of the best. She's one of the best women in golf. I can't see your face right now. TC, I think he's reading from a script or something like that. Incredible introduction. The fabulous Jane Park TC, we're

gonna get an apology from big before the show is over. You got to pronounce the name, right? I Really I can't say it Jane. How do you how you played here? How do you say the name of this of this golf course? Can we first discuss how much you butchered? with Johnny's name Well, I mean it before we get there let's let's spice this up even more big. I think we have another guest here that we're going to bring. We do. Let's just bring her in.

Let's just get everybody in here to shit on me. Two time LPGA winner. She was actually a co first round leader in 2015. That's a four. Yeah. Marina. Let's go. Let's go.

We're Chani. You try anything you'd like to point out that I've messed up so far. Just please. Let's go, Marina! Let's go. We're chani, me chai. Anything you'd like to point out that I've messed up so far? Just please. Dude, it wasn't even close, man. It was not. I give you a lot of credit for trying, but I didn't know if we should have interrupted you there or let it ride, but if we let it ride... No, I like to say it's a bit.

I'm terrible at pronunciation, so we'll just go with it. Ladies, thank you so much for joining us truly on a Friday night. I know you have, uh, much other stuff, more important stuff going on. So we thank you. Let me ask you this Marina. Yes. What do you remember from 2015 and how much different do you think this golf course is playing this year than it did?

Uh, what would that have been? Uh, nine years ago? Nine years ago. Nine years ago. I mean, and Jane could probably back me up on this. I think on the onset of just watching, the conditions look a lot firmer and faster. I do remember being able to hold greens. I mean, it's weird. Like I look at the game that I brought in as like whatever a second year LPGA player. And I had a first round co-lead with Carrie Webb,

which is wild because she's like, Jane and I both discussed like pure idol from a golf perspective and shooting four under no one shot four under out there yet. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I mean, that's not, that's not been out there. So, and, and we were all kind of waiting for that. And I think the conditions just firmed out, which is, is great. I think that kind of speaks to, um, the improvement of golf over the course of, you know, let's say nine, 10 years, uh, distance length, ability to generate spin.

You know, I actually think that it, it really echoes, you know, where the game needs to be. And we're kind of there with it. I felt like the game I have now versus nine years ago, like I don't necessarily know if I could play this course and shoot for under again. And I'm a much better golfer now than I was then. I mean, so it kind of just speaks to the improvement of golf across the board.

Yeah. Jane, let me ask you this. Is this a proper US Open test? Is this what you like to see? Is the course too difficult? Has it been unfair in your opinion? No, no. It's a great test of golf, obviously.

And I mean, we're all used to seeing carnage during us open. And that's what we tune in for. You know, when the guys were struggling at Shinnecock, that was like, amazing golf watching. So yeah, I mean, you obviously, you've got a lot of top players that are struggling, but it's really hard to get fully prepared, I think, when you're playing in these majors and you almost have to be like, man, it's hard for everyone and it's not only going to be hard for me. And coming in with that mindset is I think really huge. And plus, on this golf course, you don't really have to hit it far to score well. You just have to be really precise with your irons. You know, good distance control and obviously lag all of your six footers. That's how I did it, man. I like, I liked every putt.

So Jordan was talking about Kathy and like, at the end of the day, her iron game is statistically going to propel her through the weekend. You know, it is not about making lengthy putts, like that's not going to happen at this golf course, just with the slope, the undulation, you're trying to hit precise irons that are below or pin high that you can continue to two putt hole after hole and just wear the entire golf course in the field down the fall striking. And she has proven that like, I don't know where those stats are coming from, but truly like that will, that will take her into the weekend, probably more than any other amateur and most likely more than any other professional.

If she has that much control of her ball striking game, she doesn't need to hold putts, even if her strokes gained on the green is not statistically great. I don't necessarily think that's going to stop her from being a really big contender in this weekend and, and ultimately having a really great championship run. Jane and Marina, who do you like, who do you see on this leaderboard, whether it's Andrea Lee or Minji or Yuka or someone, you know, say in the top, top 20 top 30 even they could rise up like, who's whose game kind of fits that mold of pretty accurate,

great iron player, gritty. Because it's probably, I mean, really looking at the forecast, it's only, it's probably only getting harder too, right? Like it's supposed to be sunny the next two days, wind's still up. It's going to be more of what we've seen Thursday and Friday. So who do you have your eye on? I think Anna Nordquist is a good one to watch. She's so solid and she rises to the occasion in these big events. She's not afraid of the big moments, but she is a grinder. And she's an excellent putter. But yeah, that's that's, that's one of my my picks. And obviously, Minji and Yuka are right up there. And they're they know the big moments too. So I'm just so excited to watch. And obviously, you know, Wichani, Wichani, Michani.

What did you say earlier? That was so bad. I don't even know. Marina and I were just kinda shit talking to you like on our little text thread. I said Wichani, Wichani. No, it wasn't even that close. What's her game?

You guys know her, I have to admit, a name that I recognize, but I don't really know her game. Haven't watched a lot of her play. Does this really surprise you? Is she a very good iron player? How would you assess her game and how much of a surprise is it to see her atop the leaderboard? You can fact check me if I'm wrong on this, but I think she had a really great finish at Mizzouho two weeks ago. I'm not positive on that. I thought she finished third.

Wachani is a ball striker. I mean, she hits it far. She has solid control of her irons. It's not shocking. If she's got good game off the tee hitting majority of her fairways, she has enough length that she hits, she's hitting a shorter iron into the green, maybe relative to the field that it doesn't shock me.

She's up at the leaderboard. I mean, she's had really, I feel like knocking on the door, you know, solid game, maybe trying to build that own internal confidence of who am I? I'm out here. I've been out here for a while. You know, is this my time? And maybe she's tapping into that a little bit more than she has in the past. But I mean, not shocking at all.

I really don't think so. I mean, I see a lot of the Thai players have total complete games. You know, they're majority of them are are multiple time winners. So, you know, it's not like who is she? Where does she come from? I think she's been there, maybe just not as in the eyes of everyone here on the, you know, out following women's golf in, you know, a day to day, but definitely has been there for years, just kind of tap it on that door waiting to kind of push through. I mean, she's she's won, not on the LPGA tour, but she's won five or six times on worldwide

tours. So she knows how to win. And she's she's been on the LPGA since 2016, I believe. But just watching her today and yesterday, she looks so confident over the ball and she just like a lot of the girls are very tentative with their swings. But she is just ball striking the shit out of it right now. She's her irons man. It's just it's amazing. It's amazing to watch someone swing that freely in such a big moment. And you just kind of wonder if she's gonna continue that over the weekend with all the pressure that's gonna be present. How far back is too far back, you feel?

That's a great question. Not out there. Not out there in those conditions. I mean, I would say three or four over is definitely not a stretch. If any of those in that category piece together two really solid rounds on a Saturday and Sunday, you know, get themselves back to level par or possibly one under under like that is not out of the realm of possibility by any means Agree, so we saw, uh With with chani, is that right with chani with chani me chai Whenever I don't really know I try to say it as fast as I can but marina what's your nickname? Oh, she does not I don't think she has one.

I don't think the girls have a nickname. I know, but I only know her as with Chani. Well, she's leading the field right now in a shots gained approach at plus 4.2. So no surprise speaks to her exceptional iron play. Let me ask you this. How difficult is it to sleep on a 36 hole lead? I mean, it's difficult in any situation I imagine,

but in a US Open on this heart of a setup, I can't imagine, take me inside to like what she might be thinking and feeling. And how easy is it when a little doubt seeps in and maybe she makes a double tomorrow? Like how quickly can it all kind of crack and go sideways? You take it Marina. I'm I taking that? Well, that kind of like maybe might have

been 2015. I honestly that's a long ago. I remember playing well the first and relative second day but ended up finishing like maybe middle of the pack by the time the whole weekend was over. So yeah, it definitely happens when you don't have experience with that, when you don't have experience with contention at an event or let alone a major championship like Lancaster where all the elements are being thrown at you, like it's testing your whole game physically, mentally. Yeah, you're going to probably crack. It just depends on how much you've prepared for that in terms of calming yourself down, re-grounding yourself, trusting yourself. You know, that is kind of where the difference lies in those who

are major champions and those who are really great exceptional golfers. And I am not discrediting anyone ever who hasn't run a major championship because that's a bulk of us, right? We've not won majors. It doesn't mean we're bad at golf by any means, but it just means that we haven't quite figured out how to take the uncomfortable and make it truly

comfortable. And that is kind of a skill that is acquired, but also maybe like inherent in just who you are as, as a player in a person. And, you know, I'm not the Wachani maybe that like, I have no idea. Like, we need to let that see how that unfolds over the next two days. Yeah, she looks like she's in the zone. Speaking of players who have won majors, Minjee Lee, Yukasaso, who like kind of walk us through that. What are you seeing from them over the next couple days? And let me just piggyback. It feels like to me the tournament's right there at one-on-one.

And no disrespect to even Andrea at two-under, but it seems like Yuka and Minji, that's what we're watching tomorrow. Yeah. I mean, man, obviously I love watching Minji swing the golf club and same with Yuka. I mean, she's like the female Rory with her golf swing and it's just so, it's awesome to watch. Um, but I, I mean, the leaderboard leaderboard looks great. It's going to be, it's going to make for a really great weekend. And, um, honestly, I just want to watch more carnage. I just want to watch more carnage because that's that's what I don't know. The US Open has always just has just always correlated with like difficulty. And you know, Mike Davis was was setting up all the a lot of these courses and I don't know, I kind of want Mike Wan to just go like crazy. Well, it's, it's, it's such a void for golf fans, I think right now where it seems like

we get some possible to create carnage on the men's side because the equipment is out of balance and you know, they like they push the course enough to where you course enough until they lose it basically. And I think it's kind of one of those things where it's like, it doesn't matter if it's men's golf, women's golf, whatever, I want to see the US Open at least every other year or every few years be the US Open that we knew growing up where everybody's playing with a little bit of fear. And it's not just, hey, I know, I'm gonna hit golf shots. It's no, like I'm gonna, like I'm in this battle of wills against myself and the golf course and the field

and the USGA and credits to all the ladies out there. Like it seems like there's been not a lot of complaining. And you know, it seems like really other than some shots at 12 yesterday, like it's not like there's any one hole that's catching everybody hole that's, that's catching everybody. It's just a stern test start to finish. Yeah. I think that, you know, if I'm being perfectly frank, I don't feel we play tests regularly enough other than major championships. So I think it's very easy for players to get

in the mindset of attack and birdie because that is the game that we are playing week in and week out. You know, it's make as many birdies as you can. It does not there's very little consequence to anything else. And then you get to a major like this week, or probably any of the majors moving forward, like I can't imagine soale will be a whole lot different than this week. And it's just, you need to totally revamp your mental game.

You know, it's not a tack, but sometimes you don't even realize what you're doing. You're kind of just in that mode of like, I'm gonna go for this pin or I'm gonna, you know, I have a wedge in my hand, like whatever the case may be, like you're not totally thinking about the consequence of what will be if you don't execute. And I think that happens to some of these top players because they're trying to win tournaments weekend and week out. And I totally understand they're not being

maybe tested enough from the penalty standpoint. And then when these majors come, they're like, whoops, this was a mistake. And I totally, I am not like judging them by any means because I've found that that's happened where you get very accustomed to routine pars even if you've miscued and then you're out there and you're like, well, I've miscued and like I better hope I make a bogey, you know, double. And I think that's where I really wish that we would play a few more times a year where, you know, the errors matter. And sometimes those errors don't matter. And that's not

something we're used to week in and week out. So I think that's kind of where you see, you know, kind of a discrepancy and just why are players not at the top or like what's happening. And, you know, this week was a super challenge. I mean, from my memory, and Jane can attest to that this course is really hard, whether it's soft or firm or not, like it requires every single test of your game. And I think that's where everyone is just kind of like, whoops, I don't think I came into this with enough perspective, like, you know, what the course was entailing.

And it entails a lot of discipline. It entails a lot of mental discipline to hit the correct shots off the tee and the correct shots into the green and not try and be aggressive. Cause this is not an aggressive course. You know, you're, you're making pars everywhere and you're maybe capitalizing on par fives and that's, that's kind of like the game you're playing. And trying to, trying to stay away from those big numbers, which obviously, uh,

there are a lot of, there have been a lot of big numbers. there are a lot of, there have been a lot of big numbers. But yeah, I feel like piggybacking on what Marina said, you're pretty much playing defense on a course like this. And if you make a bunch of pars at the end of the week, you're gonna be pretty close to the lead. So yeah. Let me ask you something as competitors and kind of tying into the themes that you're talking about.

What's it like though, if you do start making a couple bogeys, let's say you have a double, fighting that instinct to like, oh God, I gotta chase birdies now. I gotta try to get back to level par. Is it, is, can it almost create like a vicious cycle where you get too aggressive? Cause I'm just, it's fascinating that we're sitting here on Friday night and in the top 20, we have three amateurs and only one of the top 20 ranked players from the Rolex rankings. I can't remember a major like this. And I'm just

curious if that's kind of coincidence or if it's Marina, to your point, these, these top ranked players are just kind of not used to this style of play and maybe start pressing and it just can kind of snowball on them. You want to take it Jane or you want me to take it? I mean, it's a bit of both like every player out here is game, right? You know, whether that's Yuka, Minji, Hannah Green, Nelly Korda, like they're exceptionally good golfers. They are unbelievably good golfers. I just think that

everything that comes with winning a US Open, you know, it brings a lot to the table. You know, you're a US Open champion, all of these things, the amateurs, it's amazing how great they're playing, but you know, they're also not playing for the same stakes that a professional golfer is playing for at the end of the day. They're getting maybe some Amateur World ranking. They're getting notoriety for that 100%. And I'm not discrediting their game. They're all solid players.

I know that. I've watched Catherine play Seminole years ago at a college event. She's an unbelievable golfer. I know that she's going to be a great player down the road. But at the end of the day, you know, you've got a lot of long earned, you know, battle hard players that have been on the LPGA for years trying to make a name for themselves. And there's a lot of individual pressure that goes along with that. And you know, you know, you're trying to be the US Open champion at the end of the day. That's a hard feat. You know, that that requires every single element of you physically,

mentally and emotionally, like you need to be firing on all cylinders to make that happen. And I think there's just a lot of self induced pressure, whether that's acknowledged or unacknowledged, that kind of makes things turn out as they turn out. And I think it's the player that can kind of just push that all aside and say, I'm gonna play my game today. And honestly, like Yuka, I was super fortunate to be paired with her that first two days at Olympic. And I had never met her before, I had never seen her game,

and I was totally mind blown by how good of a driver of the golf ball she was. I mean, she just absolutely crushed it off the tee, both distance but accuracy. You know, she hit and I could you could go back to strokes, gain off the tee. It was probably off the charts at Olympic what she did. But then she also put it unbelievably. And that kind of echoed round one that we saw yesterday. And I really have a lot of faith in her for the next two days, because at the end of the day, if she's going to drive it well, both with length and accuracy, that's going to be tough to beat. And she feels confident with her putter. So you know,

that's a it's a really lethal combo when you're feeling good. It feels like kind of a good, good comp to just, I think at Olympic, there's a lot of elevation change. Like you're hitting a lot of uphill iron shots. You're hitting, there's some wind out there. You know, it seems like that's kind of the challenge at Lancaster. You're, you're, you're hitting uneven lies. You're kind of the challenge at Lancaster. You're hidden uneven lies, you're hidden uphill, downhill, firm green. You're trying to keep it below the hole as well.

Distance control is huge. Yeah, I mean, it seems like that's definitely something that's prevalent in her game. And question for you guys, as far as like the week to week LPGA tour, is that a setup issue on the tour or is that a venue issue to where some of these venues they just can't set up in a way that really challenges? And I think for LPGA, it seems like it's tougher to set up than maybe for the men's game because you can kind of err on either side. You can set it up too long. There's a lot of more variables, it seems like, with the women's game, with the spread in distance from, you know, the shortest player in the field, the longest

player in the field, right? But like setting aside Palace Verde, Wilshire, founders every year, maybe Shadow Creek, it doesn't seem like there's that many courses that they can set up to really, you know, challenge the best players in a way that's different from the week to week. Yeah. I guess I would agree with that. Sorry.

Just the question. No, no. It's weird because you said three venues and I'm like, I love all three of those venues. No, I know. Those are the three venues that stick out. But other than that, I'm like, there's what? 35, 40 events on a schedule. Yeah. Those are the only three that I can pick out.

I know they hate me because I'm like yelling at them all the time about it. But someone's got to yell. What are the solutions though? Right. Like, is it just, you know, and it's tough to get venues to give up, especially up in the Northeast to give up their course every year. It's tough to let, you know, memberships say, hey, in the Northeast to give up their course every year versus- It's tough to let, you know, membership say, hey, we're going to burn it out. We're going to make the Greens firm. We're going to narrow in the fairways. We're going to grow in the rough. Like all those things would really, it doesn't need to be every week. You know,

there are some venues where it just absolutely doesn't make sense. And you know what? Let birdies reign supreme. Like I understand that as an attraction to watching golf and it shouldn't be taken away. But I think that if we can find a balance between adding that element, but also adding a little bit of challenge that's not a major week, that kind of just finds that middle ground of,

hey, an eight under or seven under winner isn't the end of the world here. Let's see how this pans out. Especially when the venue can make that happen, whether that is upper Montclair, Founders Cup, or Liberty, or Palos Verdes. Just bake it out, let's see what happens. I mean, I don't know, I'm biased. Like I like that kind of golf. I love, I also love British Open.

I like, I love, you know, elements challenge. Like I like all that more than just once a year. Like I think it's fun. Yeah. I think, you know, it just depends on what the viewership is looking for. But I think variety helps a lot. Let me ask you this, speaking of viewership is looking for but I think variety helps a lot. Let me ask you this

speaking of viewership, you guys are watching this week as as fans as we do um each week. I think we we've been very critical of NBC in the past. NBC Golf Channel but uh II think weeks like this are awesome. II think they've done a really good job with coverage. I think not only is there a lot of coverage,

but they have good cameras. They're not just focusing on a handful of groups. You have different angles, you have statistics, you have Shot Tracer, you have all of that. It's augmented by a wonderful USGA app where folks can go in and their shot link data and they can see like every shot that every player's hit. If they want to track certain players. My question to you guys, one, I mean,

I would imagine you guys have thought this is a good viewing experience and how much does that matter? Do you think it matters to trying to lift the women's game? Again, when we speak week to week, is this just more of an outlier? Or is this something that we can work to get to more often throughout the calendar year? Well, I, oh, a shout out to Mel Reed because she's unreal.

She's just so fun to listen to. And Mel is on. Yeah, let me just say Mel is on Golf Channel. She's she's part of the live. I texted her yesterday and I was like, did you practice those throws or like what what went on there? Because I'm like, they're way too good for you to just wing it. And no, she was electric.

Yeah, she just went with it. She's lifting up that baby. So she's she's getting strong. She's sneaky Mel. Yeah. So sorry, Jane, I cut you off there. But if anybody has not been watching live from on Golf Channel, that's been a fantastic addition as well. Mm hmm. Yeah, I mean, Mel killing it. It's great to have a player who's still playing and to get her input and obviously to the American market, it's so fun to listen to someone like Mel Reed and her British-isms, if you will. I mean, you know, I'm married to a British guy, but like, it's just so fun to listen to them explain golf in a way that I'm not familiar with. But obviously, and then you can get like an inside look on, you know, other players with her story, her little story with Charlie.

I've got some stories with Charlie too, but they're, like she said, they're not really safe for public consumption. Yeah, yeah. But yeah, I think it would be, it's huge to showcase these girls and not just their golf, but Charlie, again, ripping cigarettes like out on the course. Like, I think the last person that I've seen do that. Oh, shoot. I'm going to blank on her name. But, you know, you don't get those old school

players anymore. And she's, she's just, I just love watching her watching her play, you know, again, with her ADHD. And, you know, we're all kind of ADHD in a way. But yeah, it's, it's refreshing. It's refreshing to, and I think it brings more people makes us more relatable. And I'm sure Marina can attest to this. If I had a dime for every time someone came up to me and said, I watched the women's game more because I can relate to you guys more, I would be a billionaire. Truly. And I don't really know what to say to that.

I don't know if that's like a slight, you like hearing that? Yeah, I was like, that's great. And then I was like, wow, this seems very, very derogatory. It's kind of in a way because I don't know. I mean, the men watching the men, they're just like, I mean, for lack of a better word, they're just freaks of nature. Like no one can do what they do with a golf ball. But yeah, it's almost like

derogatory in a way. But I mean, whatever. Yeah, I always think of it as as a compliment, because it's like, like, I can hit the same distance as the ladies out there. And yet they're still so like they like, we have the same distance as the ladies out there and yet they're still some like they have like we have the same Physical like there's limitations. I can't hit the ball 340 yards, but I can't do any of this stuff that that you all do Peter green or the accuracy or like it I mean, it's just such a unique cool skill set and Everything's so out of proportion in the men's game that it's unrelatable.

And I think that hurts the men's game a little bit. And whether it's with venue selection or just rounds taking forever and all that, whereas I think with the ladies game, it's hey, everybody's hitting it from these same distances and you're just so much better at it. And I think that to me is more impressive than, hey, I can hit a drive 340 yards and you can't, bottom line. That to me is just like, cool, that's

one specific skill. But when you take that throughout the bag and then add the accuracy in and the putting and the chipping, to me, it's more impressive when it's relatable, when it's not relatable. No, fair enough. And I think that we're seeing more of that just through coverage and shots. And it's tough, at first, there's, I just feel like not enough of a sample

to watch women's golf in its entirety and say, well, you know, these women are really actually good at wedges and mid irons and their disparity from a, you know, target standpoint. It's like if you're aiming at the pin, you know, how far offline are you hitting it? Not very, to be honest. Like there's not a lot of women that hit that far offline tee to green. But I just don't think we've seen enough of that. And we're seeing more of it. And I think that's great. And I think that it's just really only amplifying what you're alluding to in the sense that, you know, these skills are real, like, accuracy is a real thing that the women,

you know, we kind of really hone in on because we're not going to ever overpower a golf course at the end of the day. Even you know Nellie as long as she hits it and as straight as she hits it, you know, okay you take away whatever happened on the 12th hole yesterday like she's really not overpowering the golf course to the point that you know she's back in contention, regardless of that number, it's just, it's all about accuracy. It's all about how good is your distance control? How good is your control of how much release you're getting on the greens?

Understanding your span, understanding where to land the ball and what that effect is coming into the pin and into the green. You know, that is something that I feel like female golfers are very in tune with because, you know, that's our only option at the end of the day. Like we're playing longer courses and firmer courses and we need to know are we flying at 140 or are we flying at 145 because there are very distinct differences in those things for us in terms of result. Whereas a male golfer can fly at 140 or 145 with

exceptionally amount, an exceptional amount of spin. And maybe that change on the green is 15 feet versus 22 feet. Okay, big whoop. You know, like it's not it's not 10 beat versus 50 feet, which could be the case. And Jane, you can correct me if I'm wrong, in terms of your landing spots are so necessary. And you need to be so precise in order to be able to get the outcome you're looking for. So precise. And especially going into week like a major championship. If the greens are releasing a ton, you're going to especially going into a week like a major championship, if the greens are releasing a ton,

you're gonna have to take all that into consideration. And also depending on how you're hitting it that week, because major championships are never, it's never a good idea to try to work on your swing or your ball striking. You kind of, you know, you play with what you got because, you know, having more than one or two swing bats on the course isn't ideal.

But you guys saw that clip of Nellie that Taylor made posted where she's reading out how far she's hitting a golf shot and she was off by two and a half yards, maybe at most a ton of like, all these girls were, they are that accurate on, you know, how, how they've hit the shot, the result, the, the fly number, the carry number. Um, you know, it's, it's a premium, uh, getting those yardagesages right and knowing what you have to work with that week.

Hey guys, I got a question for you while you're here real quick while we're going down this route. We hear it a lot on the men's side and we hear it definitely in the college ranks, but is there anybody on the LPGA Tour that's like stated, I am chasing distance right now. Like I am doing everything I possibly can to get my ball speed up. No, it's unheard of right? I feel like I agree with that a couple years ago. No, yeah, I'll give you like an example of this. And like, I'm not knocking this player because I play with her all the time. And I absolutely love her. And she's a phenomenal player. and I absolutely love her and she's a phenomenal player. Afa Munoz was trying to chase a little bit of distance, right? And I understand it. Her and I don't hit it far.

At the end of the day, if she doesn't hit it fairway, her or I have zero strength to get that ball out of the rough, onto the green with any amount of spin that's going to make any sense for the shot that's necessary in order to get it to the hole. So giving up 10 to 15 yards in the rough is absolutely not worth it if you have to hit it onto the green from there. You're trying to be in the fairway to generate spin, not necessarily playing out of the rough like Bryson and all these guys who are hitting it miles but they're hitting it offline they also have the strength to hit it out of the rough with a wedge that's going to stop like women's game just doesn't necessarily have that physically so it

doesn't it doesn't make sense to chase the distance for 10 yards. I tried to chase the distance before I stopped playing. It's just like, what for? With those weighted, you know, those, what are they called? Yeah, the swing sticks. I was in the gym doing it like, I don't know, two or three times a week. I threw my back out and I could not, I couldn't practice. And I'm like, this is dumb. I'm just gonna work on my accuracy. But yeah, like we've we just don't have the speed to generate, generate spin, which is in any no, I thought is like 115

pounds soaking wet. So like, how much distance is she going? Like, 15 pounds soaking wet. So like how much distance is she going like? She has to far. I give her a ton of credit. Like, I mean, I'm playing with her regularly. Like she has gained a lot of distance and now she's kind of honed it in and she's hitting a lot more fairways. I think there was maybe like a give and take in terms of like getting the speed and reining it in for accuracy. Like I don't know how that whole process works because I've never actually attempted it, but she's kind of like, no, I did speed sticks and it whacked my swing out real bad. I was like, we're out. Yeah.

The accuracy goes down and my coach is like, what the hell is going on with your swinging? It's like the foundation of your entire game just gets withered away. Right? Yeah. It went from like, I don't know to, I don't know, even further. And he was like, let's just abandon this mission. What was your max? Your max swing speed? Oh, no, my max swing speed at like at its absolute most, like 95.8.

Oh my gosh. Mine was like 90. I got it to 99 but I ended up on the floor. So it was like during a practice session. No chance. Yeah. And I'm like, well, I mean, yeah, that went like 250 in the air. Ash, you had a joke all the time. That girl's like 93.7 and she's actually flushing it out there. Flushing. Like flushing it. It does not matter. It doesn't matter.

Major champion. Yeah. Puts the shit out of the ball. I do think of, and this isn't necessarily like to pick on her, but I think a lot of Maria Fosse and like she absolutely pounds the ball. Unbelievable. She's also really hot. She is.

Okay. She's a hottie. She's hot. Okay, but pounds the ball. Y'all can say that. Us three up here, we can't say that. Yeah, you can. But like she's not hitting any fairways. She doesn't scramble very well. Like that's it. So you're always like, wait a second, when's this unicorn going to come around? And then

you think of like, oh, yeah, the next generation here. So if we look at a rose, rose doesn't hit the ball that far. But like everything is so dialed there. And you're like, oh, what? It's so hard to be like the what if of like, but but if I could add that one thing here, and it's just fascinating to stay here and watch because again, on the men's side, they're every single one of them are chasing this. And it's just fascinating to stay here and watch because again, on the men's side, every single one of them are chasing this. And that's just not existent at all over here because it's such a premium on accuracy.

Yeah. And I think you look at like Nelly, Yuka, like their natural talents of length, but accuracy, right? They're not attempting to chase that. Like Nelly's not trying to hit it further. Yuka's not trying to hit it further. They just happen to hit it far and well and straight a majority of the time. And like that's what makes them exceptionally good week in, week out. Same with Minji, same with Hannah Green. You know, that's not their intention ever, but it's just their gift. And they happen to be further than the average and they happen to be extremely, extremely accurate off the tee and into the green. And like, you're not, you know, that's not replicable over the course of like training and all those things. That's just talent.

And that's why her great and like, I love that for them. I really, really do. That being said, a lot of, a lot of courses that, and I think Marina can agree, some of the courses that we play, especially with set up, if we, Marina and I, when we were playing together, we'd hit the same irons, I call her my twin. Yeah, we were twins. We were golf twins. We called each other twin all the time. Our accuracy was like, wait, chart. When did you hit seminar and 141 in the air? Yes. Hey, twin. Good. Yeah. So you know, our drives would be we played

practice and we're like neck and neck. But anyway, that being said, if we carried it five to seven yards longer, these golf courses would be so much easier. Like prime example, Lexi Thompson, when she won in Prattville, heaven forbid that golf course ever comes back into rotation because Marina would struggle. I've played there before. I know exactly. Oh my gosh. I would be like, wow, these girls are hitting wedge. I'm like slinging in a five iron from the other side. I guess I can't carry the bunker. Five iron. I think I played with Lexi like in a practice round. She's just carrying bunkers

with a three wood and I'm just dinking it out there like playing angle golf and she's just driving at the green. But yeah, getting that that getting that those few yards could mean so freaking much um makes the game so much easier but we have our strengths marina and i just we just hit the fairway and we you know we're just accurate so i guess we have that we have that code it's so interesting because it turns all the statistical and strategic stuff on the men's side completely upside down, which I love. Everything on the men's side is just hit it, it distances everything, accuracy doesn't mean anything. Having a wedge instead of a seven iron is the only thing that matters even if you're in the rough, right? And Marina and I, whenever the we watch the men play,

we're always texting each other. We're like, can you imagine hitting a drive 325 in the air? And we just like, I don't know, we just get like a hard on over it. We're like, I thought you almost made a blocky comment there. I actually was about to make a Rory comment and I was just like, wow, man. I was hitting wedge into every green. Let me jump in here because I have used so many times I've said I really enjoy watching the LPGA because it is relatable so I am I will put my hand up that is something that I say but I don't what we're talking about here is it doesn't matter if it's male female it's more like if you're long

or not long if you're high spin or you're not high spin, because I don't put a lot of spin on the ball. I don't hit the ball very far. So watching the game this weekend in Lancaster, it's not about the women per se. It's more like the type of golf that I am able to play. It's just optimized. And it's it's the best in the world of the type of golf that is available and relatable to me. So I really hope you don't think of it as derogatory as like, you know, oh, we're taking pity and you guys are it's like, hell no. Like watching you is like, damn, that's how good I could be in like a different lifetime. But but to Tron's point is like, I can never carry the ball should I can't carry the ball to 80, you know, let alone three. Neither Randy's apex heights are so low to where like he's he's landing it short of a lot of these things like, like being

down on the sand belt with him and watching him play. Like Sonny. Yeah, like where to land it, how much release like that's all. Yeah, so when I watch me, send me your address, I'll send you my speed fix. I'm not using him anymore. I'm not touching that. So I did say, I really hope you can think of it as a compliment. Because for me, at least like

it's coming from a place where it's like, y'all just play the best golf in the world of like golf that I would be capable of playing. We appreciate that. I'm still taking offense to it but whatever. I'm not anymore. I've got to do is it's not just relatable like on the course it's relatable off the course as well like every time I go to a LPGA event or hang out at a high level women's event, I leave with a smile on my face. I can't say the same thing at men's events. Is it because of the golf or another reason? It's because the ladies are delightful and like it's every ladies, the media officials, everybody. It's just like, it's such a more pleasant experience. And that's relatable as well of,

hey, like I, you know, I, I love being at the US Women's Open last year, or like, there's just, there's something about it that it's, you know, it's just delightful, right? Like, the course isn't stretched out in a million yards long, and logistics are easier and all this stuff. And that's where getting back to NBC, I wish that, like, they show that it's possible. Like, they're, they're good at telling the stories when they care or when they have the proper resources to do So and week to week if they actually told the stories of you know, hey like it on this hole It's important to land it here. It's you know and told it from the LPGA

Women's golf point of view with with your skill sets in in mind of, Hey, you know what, like apex heights and spin rates and swing speeds, like not just applying the exact same things that they talk about on the men's game, like do a women's golf broadcast. Don't just, don't just rinse and repeat over, like, you know, really tailor it. And I think that's where there's a real opportunity there with whether it's Mel or I mean shit the two you guys Mean it's you know, they do want you means you'd be good Marina, which means you'd be great is still got plenty of game What do you guys talk? No, I know 25th and total strokes gain. She's fine. Come on. Give it out there. Yes, you are which is

She's fine. Come on. Get her out there. Yes, you are which is Shocking to you. I guess I've been working with That makes more sense. That's true. Watch your caddy on this and shout out to Nico, of course while we're here We go find it to double down on that question TC and I'll throw this at Marina But you talked about different setups and you talked about how different US Opens are. And, you know, we all know that you have a statistician and you guys work at charting courses and everything. How different is this week coming off the main mundane, you know, week to week LPGA tour setups where like, you know, the, the, there's only been one tournament so far this year where a single digit under par is one and that was nine Under at Palos Verdes everything else has been double digits with almost more in 20 under range than it's been in the teens under par

Yeah, this is how what I was talking about how big of a difference is this and how do you like? How do you prepare for this is it just charge? Okay? You don't because that's basically what I was saying, like there is nothing out there that's like gearing us into this moment as much as and and you need to just you ultimately need to rely on your skill, your self belief and your experience. So you go based on you know, okay, what have I've done in the past in other majors other events you know like you need to just kind of like absolutely just abandon whatever you were doing you know I'm not saying abandon your swing your game or a plan or any of that but it's just like you need to pull from experiences that make sense to this moment you know uh playing an event where 30 25 under

wins is not going to help gonna help you win this week. You're really gonna need to hone in from the major I played whenever or that event that was difficult. Or we joke like, oh, this is a putt to win the US Open. Or if it's a super windy day, we always use a joke like, oh, preparing for the British. That's not a joke.

At the end of the day, you're trying a joke like preparing for the British. Like, that's not a joke. Like at the end of the day, like you're trying to like get something in the repertoire of like the memory bank of, okay, I've done this under stress. You know, that's going to replicate something in the future and that's going to help me. And I think that's truly what all these players are banking off of. Like I have some experience in this moment in similar conditions at some point or along the way, and that gives you comfort and solace in, in being able to trust yourself and compete. And I'm hoping that's what we're going to see over the

next two days, because I truly don't think any of these players have faced a test that they have that they see in Lancaster at all this year, like not a single course at all, like truly not one. Like this place is an absolute beast. Like if it's set up the way that it's set up right now and I'm happy for it. Like I want to see that. And I truly wish I was there. I wish Jane was there. I wish we were both there. But like at the end of the day, I don't wish I was there. I don't know. I want to just be sad about myself for the next two days. But ultimately, you're banking off of things

that you have experienced before, and you're utilizing that to propel you forward. And we're not often provided with that unless it's a major championship. So you really need to dig deep there. The future venues for the U S opens are so good. We talked about it. They're unbelievable. And I think this type of golf, at least we know we're going to get it once a year,

I think for the foreseeable future. And I think you'll get it at Sahale. Truly, I do. I think you'll get it. It is, I don't remember what Brooke won with, but it wasn't high. And that was a great venue. St. Andrew's potentially with weather, you'll get some, something like, I don't know. potentially with weather, you'll get some something like I don't know. It really burned out and firm and dry, right? Like that was an absolutely like weather dependent situation. It seems, you know, the British open is always like that. You know, it could be absolute carnage or it could not be carnage. And, and they're, they can't do anything other than what's

prevent presented in front of them. So you kind of just take it for what it's worth there. But I think Sahale will give you another test of this. But but often enough, you know, we play the week before in Grand Rapids is probably one of the lowest scoring weeks of the year, and then we step into a major championship. So it's like, you know, everyone's like, oh, my gosh, so and so, you know, hasn't capitalized.

Well, it's like, well, she just stepped off a course and she shot 27 under and now she's got to go ahead and like, actually reprogram her whole game plan to being like, Par is your friend. You know, we're not firing in every pan. We're not trying to make 30 birdies. And you know, it's not, it's not as simple as everyone realizes. You kind of just start getting into autopilot on things. And sometimes that autopilot isn't necessarily the autopilot you need for a major.

And that's no fault to their own. It's kind of unnatural. It's kind of like tennis. It would be like in tennis if you went from the French Open to Wimbledon to the US Open right in a row on different surfaces and all that. And it doesn't, yeah, there's a lot of not, not always equates. And I think those that are the most adaptable you see like excelling and, and that is a skill in itself. I was going to say just, I know we're not going to get to see her this weekend, but I think it

just puts a fine point on what Nellie's been able to do during this run of hers winning. Yeah. Winning at Palace Maridays, winning a major, winning a shootout at the Ford championship. I mean, it just seems like winning at the difficult Shadow Creek in match play just seems like every type of condition, every type of course, every type of event, it really underscores like how good of a run this has been. I mean, Jane's watching, like I can't even emphasize enough how unbelievably amazing Nellie Kordes is. I can't, like I will preach it from the mountain tops.

Like she is- Have you played with her recently, Marina? I played with her. OK, this is wild. So we were fortunate enough, we played the Seminole Pro member together before she went on this run of winning all these tournaments. And so I played with her.

I played with my partner. She played with her partner. We're out there. And I mean, Seminole's, it's a hard golf course. They set up the course absolutely nutso like we're playing in the afternoon, her and I both have these cute little 12 year old girl caddies for us like they're local like trying to you know, they're doing their high school scholarship thing like they're awesome. Like we're it's a great experience for them.

It's cool for us like and we have no idea what we're doing. We're just out there. I go to tee off. I see another, I see Matt Fitzpatrick and he's like, Oh yeah, have fun today. Like every core, every pin's like two from the left. And I'm like, okay, cool. Like you're going to probably, probably shoot an 80 like whatever. Nellie gets out there.

I mean, she played, they did not win, but I was like, wow, she is playing so good. Like I am terrible at golf. Like I got done with the day and I was like, I will never beat her. Like there's just zero chance. Like we're leaving to go to somewhere in like three days and I'm like, okay, I've got a lot to practice.

She won PV, she won the next week, she won the next week after that. And I was like, yeah, okay, that makes a lot more sense. Like, I kind of it put it puts the whole thing got put into context for me because I was like, my goodness, she is just on a whole nother world. And yeah, that I'm really happy though. I can't like I am so happy to watch her play so good. I really am. She's elevating the women's game. And she's doing it. She's doing it in such a dominant fashion. And, you know, it's it's Tiger ask man. I mean, yeah, it has its moments. It's yeah, and and she just looks like she's so much more comfortable in the spotlight. And you know, she she took, you know, what happened yesterday in such a classy way. And she's just a great role model. I think I played

with her like, you know, before her before I stopped playing. And I just remember thinking, I'm too old for this shit and she's just gonna lap me. And I'm like, I don't know. It's almost like David and Goliath, man. She's just, when a player has got it, you're just kind of, I could not focus on my golf game

because I was just watching her, like watching the way she practices or watching the way, you know, not only how she practices or how she swings, but trying to learn like how she manages her time and how she prepares for tournaments. Because, you know, she's not out there a million hours before Thursday because she's gearing up for it to be fresh on Thursday.

And it was cool to see that upfront for a few years. It's good to see someone like have their talents actually amount to like everything you expect it to be. You know, people don't always do that. You know, you see her you saw her from the from the beginning of her career to now and you're like, wow, she's got a absolute swing. She's got, you know, short game, she's got all of the skills, everything to be unbelievable. And then to, to do that week in and week out and then actually see her do it is cool. Do you remember hearing her name when she was on Smetra? Yeah. And like some of the

caddies were like, Oh, this Nellie girl is going to be really good at I'm like, who is this Nellie girl? Yeah. And now, like now who is this Nellie girl? She's number one in the world by double? You know my world best golfer on the planet in my opinion my mile You know someone said oh Nelly's the Nelly's the female version of Scottie Scheffler and I was like Scottie's the

Male version of Nelly Korda. I would agree Yeah Jane Yeah male version of Nellie Korda. I would agree. Yeah. Jane, real quick. Yeah. Sorry, real quick. No, no, go ahead. I didn't realize you were the low-am in 2006 at one of your 16 US Women's Open appearances. I didn't realize you'd played in 16 of these. Dude, I'm old as hell.

Yeah. Not because you're younger than me. Yeah, you're like the same age as me. You played in 16 of these things. That's insane. What was the toughest setup you ever saw? The toughest setup? Mmm, man.

I thought, um, not Subbonic, Socken Valley, not sabonic, Socken Valley, where NG won. You played in that one, right Marina? Socken Valley was, I played as an amateur. I was in college and I was like, wow, I may never play professional golf.

I just, I wanted, I wanted the week to be over. I shanked it in front of Lorena Ochoa and I was like, I think that I should maybe just never play golf again. And you know, Lorena is so nice. She's just like, oh, it's okay. It's okay. She's got like her arm around your shoulder. I was mortified. I was like, oh my god, it just is a hazel rocket over here. We've all we've all done it. We've all done it. Yeah, Falcon Valley was pretty brutal. We can go back there. That would be good.

But I played I played in my first US Open when I was 16. No wait, 1516. And it was at it was at pumpkin Ridge, when Hilary Lundke won. And Stanford made that amazing putt on the last hole to get into a playoff, I think. Yeah, that was my first taste of the US Open and I just, I had to have more of it. Not to put an age on it. That was 2003 at Pumpkin Ridge.

Nice. Hilary Lunkie playoff at Angel's Stanford. Kelly Robbins, one under to get in that playoff. And you guys were talking about Stockton Valley. That was even par that won. Unhee G? 2009. Yeah.

Unhee. Yeah. G Wagon, that's what we call her. Yeah, G Wagon. And that was the only time where her caddy was like shorter in height than him. Shout out to Zach. Sorry, Zach. Was that Zach? It was funny. Oh, it was Zach.

It was Zach. I haven't seen him in a while. US Open's man. They're just my favorite type of golf. That and British Open, they just test every part of your game and I just love it. Well, we got one more question for you guys before you get out of here, but I also want to give a shout out here. So Marina, you're dogging your game the entire time, but you are coming off of a top 10 finish

at the Mizzouho America's Open. What's the next event that you're playing in? Where's your game at? What do you think's gonna happen? So I'm playing next week, ShopRite, which is a long standing LP LPG event and to be honest I felt good about my game and then I played yesterday with Kari web Man will be making a start at shop, right?

And you know what? I feel like I just get asked to play golf and she does it because she knows she's going to absolutely murder me. So we go and we play. This is a cool invite and I appreciate it. MacArthur opened a second course in Jupe. It is unbelievable. I was like, wow, this place is unbelievable. Casual 63 for Kari eight under. And I was just like, yeah, OK, whatever. I just practice all the time and I was just going to shoot 74 and I'm just going to go away and never be. You by 11? Yeah, she crushed my ass.

I love who does that. Yeah, I can't say I've ever beaten her in a recreational round of golf in my life. She just sucks you in with a false sense of security and then she just freaking... She is unbelievable at golf. Beats your ass. I cannot, I cannot understateated enough. I like she could play full time with zero problems and she doesn't and that's her choice and she is better than 97% of the people that are still playing on tour. Well, she has some free time. We have some pretty good Australia content going on right now at the YouTube

that might be, she might be interested in. But the other thing to Mizuho is is near and dear to our heart. Yes, Mizuho is unbelievable. We love everything about them. We love every everybody that works at the tournament who supports that. And I want to give a quick shout out to them, too, because they honored grace, Jane. And there was a really cool activation at the Mizuho America's Open. They had a saving grace tent that they had merchandise at I know it's at the top of our hearts but how is grace doing what can we do to support is there anywhere that we can direct people to if they're interested or anything like that

Ah, we don't have to talk about that grace is doing great guys. Thanks for asking It was it was so cool. You know, it's been nearly three years since Grace got sick. And to see that, not only the LPGA, but my sponsor golf for her, who also sponsors Marina. You know, Marina and Christina Thompson have just, they have doubled down and like amped up the support in caring for Grace in more ways than one. And I'm forever grateful for you, Marina and Christina and just, gosh, like the support on the LPGA tours is, you know, it's, I think it's unmatched. And I'm very lucky to have this family. And also, you know, with this whole thing, I started bringing like the mood down, but like this whole thing that happened with Grayson, like, man, it just impacts, it impacts everybody. And

it just puts everything into perspective. And it we're just all a big family and I hate that you know tragedy like that has to happen for people to realize that but you know we're we're all just kind of walking each other home yeah yeah well well said very well said big you got any tough questions on the way out the door just one one, just one. It's Friday night. I know you guys have stuff you'd probably rather be doing. We really, really, really appreciate you hanging out with us. I just got to ask you what you're most excited to see this weekend and give us your winter

prediction. And Jane, can I put you on the spot to start? Wow. Why? What did I ever do? Um, I gosh, I really like I really like Minji. She's she's just like, she's coming into form. She has the world's greatest caddy Bradley Beecher on her bag, Brad.

I don't know if you're listening, but the world's greatest human on the bag. Self-proclaimed world's greatest human. Yes. But you know, with the help of Bradley Beecher, you know, his talents eclipse her talents. So I think she's got the best person on the bag and she's in great form. And yeah, that's my prediction, Minji. Love it. Marina, how about you? I actually, I'm going to take Yuka and I watched her play through and through on round one.

And I just saw so many echoes of 2021 at Olympic Club. And I just was like, you know what, I've seen this and I think this can be replicated. And I think that her putter is good right now. She's comfortable in it. And ultimately as good as she drove it in 21, I mean, the putter won her the championship and the putter is going to win you a championship anywhere you go, you know, as good as you are T degree and you need all elements of your game and I think she really feels comfortable right now and I love to see that for her and I love her. She's a great girl. I love Yuka. I love playing with her and she just brings a good energy and a light and I just like what I'm seeing out of her right now and I'm really rooting for her

and I feel good about her taking home another US Open Championship. Do you guys see though like her demeanor is kind of like, oh I'm embarrassed to like I can meet another. I know No, but that's Yuka like she would be like, oh, I'll give you a riddle right now And I'm just like no, I don't do riddles, but she loves riddles She'll come up to you and be like, I have a good riddle for you. And I'm like, uh-uh, my brain doesn't work that way. I absolutely love that. Yuka and Minji will be playing tomorrow together. They're the penultimate group.

And I love that. They are. They are the penultimate group. They are going off at 119 Eastern. Marina, I was going to ask, sorry, last thing about Yuka. It's surprising that Yuka hasn't won more week to week. Her only ever won another. I know she her she has like a little hints of A-lim Kim, who,

you know, won a U.S. Open and has never won another event before, but has all the talent in the world to do it. And I couldn't tell you why that is. I really couldn't. If like, do I think you will only win one event in her entire career? Absolutely not. That's a silly thing to say. She has way too much skill to be a single time champion of any, whether that's major or non major. So she will win again. And I think it might be this week. Will it not be this week? You know what, but it'll be another week. I mean, she's young and she's got

all of the skills behind her. So it's just a matter of time before she wins more than just the one event. Two wins, both being US Open's would be quite the flux. Well, ladies, thank you so much for hanging out with us. Real pleasure. I feel like God just having you two talk to each other. We didn't have to do a thing. So enjoy, enjoy this weekend of golf and it's just always great to catch up. And again, thank you. Thank you so much for having us guys. Thanks guys. Have a good one. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thanks for having us guys. Thanks guys.

Have a good one. See ya. All right. Guys, just a few things here before we wrap the show. I teased earlier the foot joy, moment of joy. Let's get to that right now. TC, do you have a moment of joy from these first two rounds? Randy, there's so many different ways I could go with this.

Literally, I mean, the entire week has been joyful thus far with just reports that we were getting a proper US open, kind of from the outset. Like Christmas Eve. Yeah, Wednesday. Yeah. And then Santa came and delivered lots of presents and lots of goods. So yeah, I've been over the moon all week Canada's been awesome to Hamilton's Hamilton looks great. We're very towards even like a proper setup this week I thought you were talking about Canada in general. I was like, yeah, it's pretty sweet country But but I opened up the Wall Street Journal this afternoon, WallStreetJournal.com, WSJ.com

this afternoon and what do I see guys? Cody flash it up on the screen. Blandy. They had a feature, a feature article on my guy Richard Bland, the leader of the cliques about how he's hitting his prime at 51 years old when 447 starts in nearly two decades before tasting glory on the European tour. And I just, I couldn't be happier for Blandy and this late career glow up that he's got going on.

And he's just a on and and he's just he's just a really good golfer and I like his brother or I think his brother's fighting lung cancer right now too and I know he's got that weighing on him so it's been cool to kind of see him open up about that as well and like legitimately has turned me into like it was a bit for a while and now like I'm like a legitimate Blandy like I have him like in my tabs of like, all right, like how's Blandi playing today?

How's Blandi playing today? So yeah. Amen. I mean, look at that trophy. I was gonna say, everybody, like the senior PGA trophy is the biggest damn trophy I've ever seen. Unbelievable stuff.

Cody, do you have a moment of joy? I do big. You know, I think we rag on these people all the time. I just want to give an extreme shout out to how good coverage has been. I think from, you know, I was worried when they published the broadcast window that we weren't going to see a lot. I was worried that we weren't going to get any of Nelly. And honestly, like I've watched it either on the website

or I have YouTube TV and they like, I don't even have to log into Peacock. It's just like whatever additional NBC Sports One. It's been truly incredible. Can watch anything I want. The feature group coverage has been awesome. Damon's been awesome calling that. The broadcast has been great. It's been like truly unbelievable. And I don't know if it's different cameras or different people or like just a different graphics package, but it feels

like a big time event. And I think this is kind of where we're always talking about like, hey, you know, this definitely isn't the package that they had at Chevron. And that was supposed to be the previous big time event. So kudos where kudos is due. Everybody on the ground. It's been awesome. They're they're calling like a really cool tournament. The views are incredible. And the last thing is, as we talked about it earlier, but but she her filling in on the live from desk has been so electric. This is Mel Reed, yeah, for anybody listening. Mel's been so good there, not just like doing the funny bits that I'm super happy that NBC and Golf Channel is leaning more into,

but it like truly shows the viewer why stuff matters. And it goes back to like when Brownie points were a thing on Fox and like, it's not gimmicky, like broadcast tricks. viewer why stuff matters. And it goes back to like when Brownie points were a thing on on Fox and like, it's not gimmicky, like broadcast tricks. It's truly, it's very valuable for the viewer. And I appreciate them. Just telling. Yes. Like, it's just she's perfect for that role. And I know that there's still a lot of golf for her to be played still. But she has such a future in this and it's not just puckin balls all over the place or anything like her knowledge of the swing and stats and everything else like it

She's such an addition here. It's just been phenomenal top to bottom like literally like no changes needed Amen, Cody. I think I would say the one change would just be improved the peacock app Because it's like well, I haven't looked at it yet. So unusable. But I would just say like, and it was the same thing last year, like Pebble, they did a great job as well. But I would say the big difference here is like crowds, crowds make a huge difference too. And I think it's, it sounds like it's going to be a blowout weekend. And I'm tired of people saying all like it's not a good leaderboard. Andrea Lee, Minji, Yuka Sasso, Astris Tali, like that's invigorating, right? There's some really good players in the top of this leaderboard and I think it's going to be awesome high level golf and props to the people of Lancaster and the surrounding area for coming out and what I'll say to to the PGA of America specifically is If stuff doesn't look like this at at Sahale, why is that?

What's going on? How is the USGA able to to twist the arm of a cause-conscious? NBC Comcast and get all these bells and whistles and all these cameras and all these resources out there, get them to get off their asses and do this. And why isn't that going to happen? Because looking at the TV schedules for KPMG, women's PGA, they don't, it doesn't look like this, right? It's sandwiched in between Olympic trials and a bunch of other shit that NBC's got going on and it's back to the same old crap.

So like this shouldn't be a once a year thing. And it can't be a once a year thing if you wanna grow this and make it an actual asset for like play offense, right? Like, all right, more people are watching. You can sell more commercials against that. That's revenue. Yeah, for sure.

Trying to grow your revenue instead of just minimizing your expenses. One last thing, having the commercial free hour, we got that a couple times last year on Sundays, specifically during final rounds, but getting it every single day for an hour and at times, it's felt like a lot longer than that is amazing.. So kudos to the USGA kudos to Rolex. I think they're the ones presenting it. It's it's been awesome. Big, what do you got? Yeah, I also saw Deloitte. I'm not sure if they're involved.

My moment of joy, guys. I got so tickled by a tweet on Thursday. We're going to flash it up on the screen here. But I just want to my moment of joy is just watching difficult golf. It's literally been two days of joy. I got a shout out. Here's the tweet from at B Deniso. I need Randy to hop on a plane to be there Sunday to cheer on the USGA. Of course, this is an homage to our guy TC jumping on the plane to be there for Fleetwood on Sunday as he was trying to win a British Open. I almost feel like hopping on a plane and getting to Lancaster. And just to like shake hands with the USGA for the people that

have have and the local superintendent at Lancaster, I apologize. I don't know your name, but them, the, the entire grounds crew, the whole club at Lancaster, again, it means you can just feel it permeating this whole tournament when a club, a membership, a community is behind the event and it has made for an awesome golf tournament. And it's just been, like I said, two days of joy for me and two more days of joy this weekend so kudos to everybody involved with this event this week. I absolutely love it. Josh Saunders is the superintendent's name. Josh Saunders there we go. And for the record I hopped on that plane on Saturday. Saturday night. That is true. Maybe I'll get a red eye from Denver Saturday

night into Philly. But if you get to Philly and you get to Lancaster, you might have people walking up and punching you for your pronunciation. That's true. That's true. Anyway, that was presented of course by Foodyoy. Thank you to Foodyoy, official shoe glove, rainwear partner of Nolang Up. Appreciate everything they do for the game and for us. Big, where are we going? Last thing before we get out of here, TC, I know we got the PGA, the Canadian Open going on.

Do you just want to fill us in quickly on what's going on up there? Yeah, we do. Really good leaderboard. Sally's furious. He's furious. We got Big Shot, Bob McIntyre and Ryan Fox. Foxy out front minus 10. The two of them are tied at the top Joel Damon chasing Mackenzie Hughes Canadian on the board he's he's minus seven he's three shots back T4 right now

Hamilton's been awesome all week proper cult design just went through I think a Martin Ebert refresh they brought in more more short grass around the greens. It's showed really, really well on TV. Crowds are great. So I'm suspending the provincial open, you know, insult that I normally do for the Canadian Open. It's a national open this year, regardless of if Tommy wins or not. Tommy is currently, let's see here.

Tommy's minus three. He's currently T21 right now. Our guy ZB is playing well. Yeah, so big day tomorrow. Like I said, there was a proper event going on in the Carolinas, UNC health championship down on the corn fairy tour. Like scores were crazy high.

I think the cut was at like plus three for that as well. And then one last thing for the US Women's Open too. I just want to shout out the Japanese ladies. Like they have been, they're out there on the leaderboard in force. I think we've got- They have 10, 10 in the top 16, I believe, unless that changed since we started recording.

It's incredible. Led by Hanaka, You know, obviously, Yuka is a Japanese national now, originally from the Philippines, but you've got Naka Shibuno at T5, Chisato Iwai, Aya Suzuki, Yui Kawamoto, Rio Takeda, and then Miyu Mamashita,ida aka mama Sita if I always get a kick out of last year NASA Hataoka Ayaka Furuway, how many more are you gonna try before you you truly walk yourself into your yeshita? That's it. That's it Those are all the ones in the top top 20 Who's just gonna light up our text with with with just how are you pronouncing this? How are you doing this? Well, we were we were texting with push earlier

and I said push this is this is absolutely remarkable. He said I know they're they're they're precision and discipline are to hallmarks of Japanese culture. And there might be something as well about qualification spots coming out of that Japan final qualifier that they have to. That's all to make this excellent field that we have here. I think guys we were so far off on our predictions here and I know outside of Nelly even like our our alternates. I'll say this right now. Who do you guys who's gonna win this tournament? I think I trust Minji the most. I'm going Minji.

I think I'm kind of torn. I think Minji is really like I was kind of hoping all right, this feels like a Minji week. I think that's the one person actually did mention on our preview pod and got somewhat right was Minji. All right, this feels like a Minji week. I think that's the one person I actually did mention on our preview pod and got somewhat right, was Minji. But I think Minji is primed, but I think a sleeper is Andrea Lee. I think Andrea Lee is just slow and steady and just, you know, she's not gonna overpower the place. She's disciplined.

She's exceptional wedge and iron player. You know, and I think over the last, she won, I think in 2022, her first LPGA event and hasn't done a ton since then as far as wins. But you know, I think it's one of those like she had an exceptional collegiate career, great amateur career. I think like it would not those like she had an exceptional collegiate career, great amateur career. I think like it would not surprise me one bit if she won. I think it's between those two. I don't know why with Yuka, you know, it's not that I don't believe in Yuka. I just, I think those two are a cut above. I'll say Yuka's putting was out of this world Thursday. Overall through two rounds, Yuka is just slightly negative in shots gained approach,

which we've talked about how much of a ball striking test this is. So I'm a little tepid on Yuka myself, but wouldn't shock me if she won. I'm right there with you TC. I think Andrea is a good pick. Cody, who are you taking? Yeah, like I said, I was right there with you,

TC. I think it's Andrea Lee. Just if you look at the numbers right now, 12th in strokes gained approach, she's second in total number of putts, 13th for strokes gained putting. For somebody, we talk about how difficult it is to get yourself onto these greens and then putt on these surfaces. Andrea Lee seems to have it figured out. And I know it's a big time moment coming up in a position that she hasn't really found herself in yet, but she's just like slow and steady and controls. She's not a bomber by any means, but she hits fairways, puts herself in really good positions.

And then if she continues to putt like this, like she's not making anything crazy. She just out there, two putting everything.'s going to be in a really good spot. I played with her a couple weeks ago at the Pro-Am and she, our other partner in the program was Aaron Foster. He has a micro dosing podcast. So we got super deep on mental health. I don't know exactly what tips he was giving her, but something seems to have clicked because she's just vibing out there, man. I love that.

God, Andrea Lee and Arian Foster, I can't think of like two more, just random people to stick together. It was a very weird conversations going on, but hey, you know, whatever. I think it would be awesome. Andrea, she's one of those people that was like, she's so good as an amateur and And like, she just kind of was was caught in between the waves of you know, the

lily vu coming up, and then you had Rose and everything taken over. And like, Andrea was a stud on that Stanford team, before it was like the Stanford team that we really know it to be now. And she's she's used to playing big time moments, whether it's team events or high level amateur events. Like we said, she won in Cincy. Like she just keep playing her game and, and she'll be just fine here. Amen. Uh, I'd be remiss.

I want to, I was disappointed in Alexandra for, uh, for sterling today, 70, 78. She was in the catbird seat going in around to That's that I'm proud of Quickly on her under second nine proud of Madeline for for for battling She made the cut on the number Gabby Ruffles played her last nine under par to make the cut on the number as well Anybody you're really disappointed with that missed the cut? I think Brooke. I think Brooke Henderson I was disappointed in just because she's had a really

good year. Obviously overshadowed by Nelly and Hannah Green. She hasn't won, but she's been super solid. I think she played well here in 2015. Yeah, going, I mean, Nellie, of course, disappointment, but listen, I get it, one hole kind of sunk her whole championship. Brooke was just kind of a slow bleed and didn't look like she had any type of game this week, which was disappointing to me.

Cody? Yeah, it's Maya. I had early early call on her. Of course, I just didn't expect to see the rounds that she ended up shooting a really, really bad putting week combined with like she didn't hit any greens. And at this course, it just kind of exposed the game. So I don't know. I was riding all this high from. From hats coming back on to work and all that stuff. Who knows? There is a long season TC, but yeah, it's not where I, not where I thought. So when you got Nellie, when you got Maya, Lynn also miss.

I don't think this was a great setup for Lynn. If it's more accuracy than power, I think. Somebody else says Rose. Right. We talked about it a little bit earlier. I've just, you know, this is a precision test. It's pars. It's iron play. It's just discipline and, you know, consistency. And that's Rose's game, right? So who knows? She may still be recovering from, I know she was sick, like really sick a couple of weeks ago up in New Jersey. So we'll see you there. And then I want to give a shout out to Angel Yin too for her comments of like, essentially just telling everybody to like, put your big girl pants on and go play it.

She said, perfect usga course I hope they don't pull back but keep making it harder if we want easy we can play mini tours This is the US open you shouldn't expect anything less Zephyr Melton tweeted that I think That's super true. And honestly, like I think the depressing part is if you want easy you can just play the regular LPG It's not like that's also coming from somebody like angels. I think she said that after her, it had to have been after her first round, right? She's 75, 75. She ended up missing cut too. But like, if she can have that attitude about it, I don't think there's going to be any, you know, any crazy things. The only other person that I am kind of shocked because I think we have such high

expectations with her, the number one amateur golfer in the world right now, and that's Ingrid, especially how she's played in previous US Women's Open, just not really expecting the 77-74. And this is coming up like a pretty poor performance I would say at national championship for. Seems like she's kind of lost. So I don't know what really is going to shape up to be the rest of the season or summer for her before she ultimately turns pro and then you know finds her way. Yeah all good stuff. Anything else guys? KVV had a drive by on Brooke yesterday on our slack. He said, Brooke Hendo hitting 10 of 14 fairways and shooting plus nine. It's impressively bad iron plant putting.

It sounds like me. I mean, it just goes to show you this place isn't easy from the middle of the fairway even you know, you gotta Gotta really control your spin. I heard from a lot of people on the ground that Like there were a lot of issues with wedges ripping off the front of greens to office some of these false fronts, too So it's not just hey firm greens balls bouncing over It's nice the there's some receptiveness too. And you got to control your spin, which is kind of testing all elements of your wedge play and your iron play. Of course, it's a USGA event. They have the best media team around. Shout out to everything

they got going over there. They hire the best freelancers, the best editors. It's truly like an awesome follow via Instagram or X or whatever, just seeing the guys. And I will say this. This is, this is Hafer, Christian Hafer. This is his home course. This is where he lives and he's out there shooting. I don't know if he's doing it for the USGA this week or if he's doing it for the ball. He is, I think he's just doing it on a, yeah. Maybe for the club or whatever, but like this, this image right here that I have up on screen right now will be the defining image. What I remember for the rest of this year and probably a lot of like, you know, the, the, whatever ends up with this Nellie run and where she ends up of this, this happening. And it's just a cool, like if you're a photography

geek like I am, there's no way in hell I'd ever be able to capture this image. But having it out there, you know, he hypes this course all the time and having it be like, you know, showcase the way that it is, I think it's really cool. So shout out to Hafer. Amen. Good shit, guys. Good episode. Thank you, everybody watching. Thank you listening. Check out coverage this weekend. It's going to be you got to chase it a little bit but between Peacock and NBC in a little bit at USA Sunday, you'll be able to find it. It's going to be absolutely pristine weather, the

conditions are unbelievable. So have a weekend on our way out. I want to shout out our concluding episode of Tura Sauce is going to be this coming Wednesday. That's going to be Wednesday night, 9 PM. If you want to be part of the premiere, it's been an amazing season. We've been augmenting what you see on YouTube. If you're a Ness member, we've been releasing,

you can kind of think of it as like director's cut, kind of some bonus content with us explaining some stuff, which has been a lot of fun. We'll have that for the final episode. On nolayingup.com, we had a good article this week from Connor Belcastro, who has just finished up his playing career at Princeton. He's gonna be writing a bit for us He has something called the eye test

Manifesto, which was a very fun read Of course check out the Pro Shop the trap draw. I want to give a shout out to we were talking baseball this week TC and I are doing a chop session next week the booth boys Cody and Neil were in last week it's it's a great place to go for all non golf talk and then the I'd say watch the US Women's Open and tell your friends too as well. It's basically a, to me this isn't like a women's golf tournament. This is just a golf tournament. Like there's no, like we don't have to differentiate. Better ones like any tour or anywhere all year. Yeah, like this is just going to be one of the better golf tournaments of the year.

So get your friends to watch it. I think they'll like what they see. Amen. Cody is not going to be here Sunday. He's going to be taking the kiddos down to Disney World. So we pray for Cody as he navigates the Magic Kingdom. We will miss you Sunday. But again, thank you everybody and we will be back Sunday night.