No Laying Up - Golf Podcast - 850 - Pinehurst US Open Deep Dive

Episode Date: June 6, 2024

Soly and KVV welcome TC for this Deep Dive pod as we look back to the 3 previous US Opens hosted at Pinehurst #2. We start with Payne Stewart's iconic triumph in 1999 and Phil Mickelson's close call. Then, it's on to the carnage of 2005 with Michael Campbell emerging victorious on a crazy Sunday afternoon. We close with Martin Kaymer's dominant win in 2014 after the course's restoration by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. 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 Support our partners: Rhoback - take 20 percent off your first order with code "NLU" Pinehurst Resort Harry's Razors - get a travel set for $3 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Be the right club. Be the right club today. That's better than most. How about him? That is better than most. Better than most. Expect anything different. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the no laying up podcast. This episode is a deep dive into the last three US opens at Pine Hearst. Of course, KVV and I've done this over, you know, kind

of spanning major championship years 1995 96, the likes of that, but we wanted to in advance of pioneers to get hyped for next week. Look back at 1999 2005 2014. We brought TCN as well to cover one of these years to kind of mix it up a little bit but bring back some pioneers memories get us reminded about the golf course get us excited for the US Open next week, which I could not be much more jacked up for. You guys all know row back best fit best feel it is

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championships, right going and we've kind of gone year by year with my guy Kevin van Valkenburg. I'll introduce here in a second. But for this one, we are looking at the three previous US Opens that have been held at Pinehurst ahead of next week's US Open, of course, at Pinehurst. We each divided up looking into each one.

My guy, KVV took 1999. I took 2005. And TC, welcoming into the deep dive dive version took 2014. I'll introduce him first. Hello, TC. Hello. Excited to come in from the bullpen and talk some post-core Crenshaw redesign or restoration. Pinehurst. We didn't have to convince him. He heard a clique one in 2014 and he said, I've got that one. I'm going to, I'm going to do that one. But Kevin Van Volkerberg here. Going to start us off here shortly. Hello, Kevin.

Sorry. It's great to be here. Thank you as always TC. I promise we'll be gentle in your first deep dive experience. Thank you. I'm very overwhelmed. And this is a tough one because, uh, we were covering golf at this point and 2014 golf Twitter's around. So a lot of different things to pull from. I was there TC. So I'm going to be fact checking you as much as I can. Pinehurst is, I'm really excited for the future of Pinehurst. You know, it's going to be a lot more prevalent in us opens than the kind of

the cadence that it has been over the last 30 ish years and it's watching some of the highlights back from 2005. I don't remember a lot from, from that time period. And I don't remember a lot from 99, but I remember 2014. It was a snooze fest, we're gonna get there, but it was interesting golf. Like it's the style of golf, watching all those chips and stuff,

watching the collapses from 05, which we're gonna get to, and watching that golf course evolve over the years. I mean, between the one I'm gonna cover and the one TC covers, that place changed a lot. And a lot of the images from 2005 are extremely foreign and unrecognizable, honestly. And it's just such a weird time period in golf.

That's the, that's the most fun part of doing all of these is just like the, the weird little time capsules of what's going on and all that. But, uh, if you want to, we don't need to delay any further and we can go right into 1999. If you, uh, if you feel ready, Kev, I never feel totally ready. So I always feel like I'm cramming for a test that, uh, this has arrived maybe a few days before I am, but folks, Pinehurst in 1999, uh, had not hosted a major championship since 1936. Uh,

they had made the decision to come there. This was special in some ways because it was, uh, one of the first U Opens that played away from the sort of typical super thick rough style. They originally set the rough at four inches and cut the rough down to three inches right before they wanted guys to have to choose what kind of shot they were going to hit out of the rough. They wanted to make them, tempt them into going for greens at times and not just pitch

directly out into the fairway. Reese Jones Jr. TC's guy said he was the charge of the sort of restoration to make Piners get it ready for this. He said before the tournament, all these guys are mechanical players like mechanical players. And Corey Pavin won this tournament in 1995 because he was a magician. It's really going to take a magician around here to rather than a mechanic because you have to manufacture shots. Reading this quote, maybe fear that I had perhaps plagiarized Reese Jones in my artists versus the mechanic debate.

That is not good. Do not feel happy about that. It's also Reese Jones, just Reese Jones. I don't think it's Reese Jones Jr. I think you're conflating Robert Trent Jones Jr. and Reese Jones. They hate each other. Also just, I'm going to nitpick the word restoration. I don't know if he was in charge of restore.

I think the restoration is what comes next. The renovation and recification of this golf course. What do mo lines look like? That was one of my takeaways from 2005, was the holes looked pretty comical in terms of how much rough there was and how narrow the fairways were. What's it look like at Pioneers at this time?

Even if it's short or rough, is it narrow as shit? It is narrow, it is very dark, it is very kind of, like it's very green. There is still some of the, what you will see, eventually as the good waste areas that make us feel, but like it's immediately off the rough, off of the fairways. It's, you know, a good dark, uh, there's a,

there's a definite like second and third cut. It's not aesthetically pleasing. You can, I will say though that it really shocked the players and you'll see in a lot of bitching about just this idea that your ball would not stop. If it, uh, if you missed the green by a few feet, that it would run far players and you'll see in a lot of bitching about just this idea that your ball would not stop if it if you missed the green by a few feet that it would run far away from you oh man did it piss off a lot of people did you guys know that pinehurst number two hosted the 1991 tour championship i did not know that at all which uh sort of stunned me i sort of i guess you know more widely known is that it hosted the the senior PGA at one point. But just imagine like going

up to, you know, in late August, when we talk about this, the butt sweats of Atlanta. I think back then they had it in October. It used to be like, it was like a late like fall silly season event, like end of October, I think, which would have been prime time there. I mean, gosh, Pinehurst in October's like as good as it gets. But imagine just imagining Pinehurst if the ball stopped like a foot off the green is kind of hilarious considering what we think of it now. At this time, David Duvall was the number one player in the world. Duvall had won four of the last 12 tournaments. And

back then, man, if you won four of 12, you were like, it was thought of like you were some kind of magician. He had recently surpassed Tiger as the number one player in the world. Tiger was of course going through a swing change, we will discuss in a little bit. But guess what? This week prior to the US Open,

Deval had burned his right thumb and index finger on a teapot and he couldn't play any practice rounds prior to Tuesday afternoon at Pinehurst. He had bandaged on he has a heavily bandaged on both of his fingers. He said they seemed fine. I played this morning and I didn't really have any problems. It's probably valid to ask me again tomorrow, although I might not want to answer it since that seems like it's all I've been talking about. That's all you know. I love the old timey sports writing back in the day, but this is a great like sort of things about with four victories in the last tournament,

all Duvall needs is a little confidence. Well, that and a pot holder. Sort of the LA times. Duvall was like leading the tour, basically in driving average. So like, can you guess what his driving average was that back then? He had a 294 driving average.

Oh, I'm sorry. It's 287, which said that the LA Times said because of that, Pinehurst should be right up his alley. Tiger was also getting hot. You know, he had famously called Butch during this sort of thing and said, the Butchy, I got it right prior to this year. He had then won in Germany and won the memorial.

Ernie Ells in a sort of like a horror movie kind of haunting thing that you could sort of echo throughout the time what is to come said, it's a little unsettling to see Tiger playing so well, which would sort of echo throughout the next year or so. Tiger said prior to the term, I keep telling everybody that I'm making some changes to my game and it's going to take some time. I didn't like the way I played in 1997 even though I won some tournaments. I didn't really like it because I wasn't consistent. Asked what the difference between Tiger since he came on tour and now Lee Jansen, who won the previous year's US Open said, I think he hits it about 20 to 30 yards shorter than he used to. He's

trying to learn how to tone it down to be a ball control player. Hmm. Yeah, it would last for too long. This 9-9 open is pretty great because lot has been written about this, uh, you know, because it's sort of like seen as one of the great us opens of the last, you know, 50 years, maybe even a hundred years. Sports illustrated said it might be the, the all time greatest us open. So Alan Shipnuck did a lengthy oral history about this and Paul Isinger said in 2014, he was talking to Shipnuck, everybody in the world could see Tiger and Phil's talent, but there were still some pretty big questions about both of them. If you look at Phil, it was still unrealized potential. There was a

real question about whether he had what it took. A lot of players were beginning to think that tiger was overrated, that the master's win was part of a hot streak that had ended. He had hardly won in the two years since. So they came, both came in with something to prove. Master's winner, Holary Jose, a Maria O'Fable said he didn't think that there would ever be another grand slam winner. I would like to be wrong, especially this year. Jose Maria was a hot pick coming into the, uh, this us open because of his short game. Everybody felt like you had to

have a great short game to play well this week. Which it, yeah, I guess we can, we can talk about some of that, you know, as was we previewed the us open next week. Like I don't know positive that's the case, right? I think it's, it's so hard around the greens that it really just puts more emphasis on who hits more greens and who has better accuracy with their irons, I think. I mean, we'll get into some of that when I get to 05 as well. There was a very unscientific model of percentages of what matters, just put in USA Today. Here's what matters at Piners percentages.

I was like, I don't know if that's accurate. This is all pre-strokes game era of trying to figure figure out still working in total putts and all that stuff. I'd say, baby. Yeah. Well, I'm not sure how well that was paying off. Guys, we have Jack Nicklaus is playing in a major again for the first time in a year because he's had his hip replaced. And you know, Jack has said this quote, I think a thousand times since, but I'm kind of wondering if this might be the origin of it. Listening to guys in the pre buildup to Pinehurst, I used to love listening to

them gripe. Somebody would say, the rough is too high, check them off. The greens are too fast, you can check them off. The course is too long, check them off. You could check guys off because they complain about them. They complain themselves right out of the championship. We have to be nearing a threat of this might be, you know, next year might be my last US Open. I'm sure there's one of those quotes in there, right? So next year, he says he's not going to play all four majors for the first time, essentially in his career, but he is not ready to retire. He says, I don't get a lot of enjoyment out of going out and grabbing three friends

and beating around the golf course for $5. I don't get a kick of that. The fun of the competition is being in the middle of it. A lot of writing about Jack in this era echoes what we are saying about Tiger these days. It's like, Oh, will he retire? What's he still getting out of that? Oh, he still thinks he can win. Still thinks he can put some things together. Just needs to start, get some more reps and stuff. Keep in mind that Jack at this point has a ceramic hip and is 59 years old. So also just to point out, you said he

said he wasn't going to play all four majors in the next year. He did play all four majors. Check also famously had a hard time kind of letting go. I believe he played all the way up to what 2005 was his last open championship. Sally, I think well he did the retirement tour at St Andrews in 2000 did the wave and then also came back in 2005 and played it one more time. So he played the Masters up until 2005 as well. Uh in one of my favorite things on earth in

this Earl Woods caused this little controversy leading up to the tournament giving an interview to icon a bi-monthly men's magazine when asked about Scotland, he said that's for white people. It has the sorry weather people better be happy that Scots live there instead of soul brothers. The game never would have been invented. We wouldn't have been stupid enough to go out in that weather and play a silly game and freeze to death. We would have been inside listening to jazz, laughing,

drinking, drinking rum. Now Africa, I went to Africa and I played golf there and I knew I was home. Are we allowed to laugh at that? I don't know if we can, I think we can laugh about it because it's Earl and I think I there, if there's one wish to tiger's career that I could make, it is that Earl would have been like healthy enough to have lived in their 20 years because Earl was like basically say anything. Earl was freaking hilarious. Just in the way he,

I think he said this stuff just to provoke people like half the time, like he constantly wanted to kind of like dig on people and sort of throw it in their faces and stuff. And a lot of times the sports writers of that era would be like, we had touched this Earl like tape recorders on, but we're not going to write about this stuff. Cause you hear stories about this every now and then it'd be like, Oh, we kind of had to protect her from himself. He was always kind of, you know, he had a couple of drinks here and there. You never knew what like was on the record or off the record. It was in the RV.

Yeah, exactly. Earl claimed that these quotes were totally farcical and fabricated, but then the author revealed that she had taped the interview. And he had nothing to say after that. Nobody would have believed Earl on that one. That it was, yeah, I did not say that. What was, what was this quote to about the tiger was going to have a bigger world impact than Gandhi or yes, bigger than Gandhi can believe that, that they sort of, that that, you know, penned all that. It's worth going back and reading if you can get into SI's somewhat shoddy archives. Yes, it was.

Like it was him, like what it was the painted thing. It was like a bluish cover. I feel like was it the one, I know the one you're exactly talking about. I'm trying to remember if it was like one of those ones where it's like a thousand images of tiger. It's like then made into a larger image and stuff. But I know it was not like a typical photograph. But yeah, the idea that people should better be happy that Scots live there instead of soul brothers. That's incredible. So Phil Mickelson, also a pre-tournament favorite doesn't arrive until Tuesday because he's been at home with his wife, Amy, who's had a difficult pregnancy with their daughter, Amanda. He says he's going to wear a beeper during the rounds and if it goes off and Amy's gone into labor, he is going to leave immediately, no matter what position he is in. Doesn't matter if he's leading by four on Sunday on the back nine, he is still going to walk off the course. Absolutely. Phil says when asked if that's really true, that beeper goes off.

I'm exactly five hours away. He and Amy have developed a special code that she can punch into the beeper if she goes into labor in case someone is trying to prank them. Like sort of thinking a lot of writers are making jokes that like maybe Earl Woods might try to put a call into the beeper and get Phil to be bouncing. He said, I'll be very disappointed if she were to go into labor and not call me. How will people get the beeper number? This is a great question. Tc. I don't know that people, you know, Earl Woods, special ops guy, green beret. You never know stuff like that could happen. What would the cutoff be like? All right. If you are in the middle of 18th, the 72nd fairway, like in the beeper goes, like you're finishing at that. What would the, what would the cutoff be of like, all right, I can spare like 30

minutes here to do this. Like, you know, we can agree if it's an eight foot, but yeah. In more County airports right there, you would have child. Uh, you know, I don't know. Is Hannah going to listen to this? Sally? I mean, what would you, how truthful do you think you can be? I'm the 14th hole. I'd walk. I'm out of there, right? 17. First child. I don't know. Well, as you'll see, Phil really didn't last a long time. It can last a long time. This is true. As you'll see, though, Amy kind of lies to Phil throughout all of this. She's basically in labor the entire time, which didn't really know until Alan wrote this story. Amy says, when Phil left,

it was the most emotional goodbye that we've ever had. He was so determined. He said, I am going to win the US Open. I'm gonna come home. We're gonna have a baby. And it's going to be the best week of our lives. Phil said, I had no doubt in my mind I was gonna win the tournament.

Alan got bones and bones. I'm gonna hit his parlay too. Bones actually going to win the tournament. Uh, they got, I got bones and bone bones. Bones actually had to carry the beeper out. I remember that. Uh, and bone said, Oh God, the beeper. I was stressed about it the whole time. If I would have lost that thing, I've been filing for unemployment. I heard people, plenty of people say after the fact, Oh, he wouldn't have left and this and that. But when Phil showed up in fine pinehurst, he got on my grill and said, I don't care where I am. I want to know 10 seconds

after that thing goes off. He was dead serious. Amy said on Wednesday, my mom took me to see Dr. Webb, who's there, ob GYN, he checks me out and he goes, wow, things have changed. If you would look like this yesterday, I wouldn't have told your husband to go. And my heart just sank. It had been a difficult pregnancy for Amy. This is kind of an amazing thing. In late March, Vijay Singh's wife Ardina threw a baby shower for Amy Mickelson. Always thought that they were going to like the Mickelsons and Singhs were mortal enemies. The following day Amy had to be taken to the hospital because she

started experiencing contractions. She was confined to bed rest from there and ever then, like chirping cell phones and pagers started to make Phil nervous because he always wanted to have the beeper on him around him. I didn't know if I was going to come home. He said on Friday, Amy started to have contractions. Phil and I were talking all the time on the phone, but I was not saying what was going on, which was really stressful because we share everything. Maybe not everything. So we have these contractions and as soon as he hung up, I burst into tears. Lot of comments in the lead up. If I met this was like maybe this is just me 25 years later. Remembering like this was like

the story of the world like not just golf. It was like everybody. I feel like I even remember people at church talking about like is the people going church talking about like, is the beeper going to go off? Like it's still even as of Sunday, like that was that captivated the sports audience was like, was Phil going to go, is those wives going to go into labor? Yeah. And Phil's still like this dashing young player and he's wearing the visor and Yonex visor TC. Yeah. Mr. Mr. Family man. I mean, this was peak Phil hamming up, you know, very, very true. And as we saw with the Sheffler stuff, like the remakes are never as good as the originals

because like that the whole Scotty will Scotty leave the tournament thing was not quite as dramatic. She ended up having the baby what three weeks later or something. So this was like actual like touch and go. She was trying very hard to not have the child not have Amanda while Phil was about to win the tournament. A lot of comments in the lead up about how hard the course was. This place makes Augusta look tame Tom Lehman said, I've been asked many times what the hardest course I've ever played is Lee Jansen said now I have the answer pine hurst number two. John Cook said this isn't like any golf

we've ever played. If anybody hits 10 greens today, this is, I think you said this on Saturday, it will be five more than anyone else. I played this as a par 88 today, which means I had 12 birdies. A birdie is out of the question today, unless you're off the green and you can chip it in from the bunker and make, or make a 30 foot putt, you're not going to get it close to anywhere in the, uh, in the fairway. What a bunch of pampered fucks, man. Yes, very much so. The whole point of the challenge is that, yeah, you might have to hit a wedge to 30 feet.

That's what the challenge is out here. It's not as if guys are shooting 78, 79. One guy ends up under par and Phil shoots even par, Tiger shoots one over, VJ shoots one over. It's like, yo, it wasn't that friggin' hard, but it was so indicative of how raging they would be against the actual change of things. Before one of the rounds, John Cook said he overheard Tiger and Payne on the putting green when Tiger said, when I start designing golf courses, I'm going to make them 9,000 yards,

and then you old guys won't stand a chance. Payne starts zinging back at green. When tiger said, when I start designing golf courses, I'm going to make them 9,000 yards. And then you old guys won't stand a chance and pain starts zinging back at him. Yeah. Well, if it's the U S open, you'll still have to drive it in the fairway. Tiger laughed, but he didn't have an answer for that one. I'm not as well. Also not consistent with our, our now found understanding of what it takes to win us open a hundred percent the way that golf like intelligence would change about this stuff is is quite funny. But this is a time when they're sort of driving it to 260 or whatever. So you know, it's a as we'll see play out. I'm not gonna waste too much

time on the early read up, lean up because the final round is so exciting. But David Deval is even with the burnt fingers is, you know, goes out and shoots 67 the first round tied with Paul Goede, Billy Mayfair and Phil Mickelson shot back is Tiger Woods, Payne Stewart, John Daly, uh, someone called David Berg, Bargurio Jr. No, or Gania or Gania. Yeah. It's TC's guy.

Yeah. No, what TC? I'm glad you're here to identify some of these guys that I I've never heard of. Uh, this is good. You know, I didn't get too deep into David Berg, Gania, but KVB Bergogna was getting all sorts of, uh, he was on a major medical for like 18 years. It was so sick. Like how do you extend your major medical that long? He was the guy that would make one start and then be like, no, I'm still on, I'm, I gotta go back on medical. Like that's,

it just ended. They had to rewrite like the entire major medical rules on account of this guy. It was incredible. So he's collecting like hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in compensation from the tour being on a major medical. What are the rules with the major medical? You get like the average of like the 120th or something person on tour. Like what I can't remember exactly what the deal is, but do you remember? You know what, KVV, I'm not in the major medical game anymore. I used to be tracking that kind of stuff. Now that they've cleaned it up, we kind of flew the banner. I forget all the details, but I mean, get some sort of, you know, stipend,

you know, full benefits and all that stuff. And yeah, just kept making, making one start a year. So it's finally over. Disgusting. Also lurking after a second round, seventies, VJ Singh having won the PGA, uh, you know, a year before this is starting to really emerge as one of the top players in the world. Third round scores here, you know, Payne Stewart takes the lead. Payne Stewart, uh, obviously lost the US Open the previous year to Jansen when he shot 74 on the final day, blew a four-stroke lead. Uh, was sort of devastated by that. Really felt, had a tremendous, tremendous pride in his national championship. Would, uh, always wear red, white and blue. And the final day pain was still kind of a divisive figure, but trending more towards being on this, on his softer side, even his own mother said that, uh,

he was, you know, he had improved in the sense that he was no longer rude to people, no longer cursed out, uh, autograph seekers and made them seem like they had the plague, uh, very much leaning into embracing his religion at this point. Also Paul's eight, Paul Aizinger's, uh, cancer diagnosis really made pain think like they had the plague very much leaning into embracing his religion at this point. Also Paul's a Paul Aizinger's cancer diagnosis really made pain think about his own mortality and the visited Aizinger all the time and really Aizinger said that, you know, all my friends kind of disappeared, but pain was the one guy who was sort of there day in day out.

So it's a nice comp here. Like is that describing this? I'm like, you know, the hat and then all that stuff. That's, that's interesting. And I never, I never thought that. I mean, it's remarkable how like kind of simplistic Spain's swing looks these days, like just no leg drive at all. Just kind of like very arms.

It's not a kind of swing that you could survive with on the tour today, but drives it super straight putts with like a center shafted putter, just a kind of fascinating window into that era of stuff. Obviously said that, you know, he wore the really kind of goofy clothes that he because he wanted to sort of, he was kind of a showman.

Maybe there is a Bryson Cup there. So he wanted to stand out, wanted to feel like an entertainer a little bit. We're going into the final round here. I think this is where the most of the drama ensues. I really feel like we could spend a little bit longer time on this. On this Sunday, John Daly records an 11. If you remember when he whacks his ball while it's still moving. I distinctly remember that. Rolling back to his feet. He said after the round, he said, I just decided to do

what Kurt Triplett did last year. Apparently, Kurt had hit his ball, moving ball. Said, I'm not going to sit here and waste my time. In the process, he shot an 83 finishing 29 over the championship DFL. Remember John Daly was like a shot off the lead after day one. I don't even know if I'll play the US Open next year. I don't know if it's worth my time.

I'm not going to Pebble and I'm not gonna watch them ruin that course too. I have had it with the USGA. I've never seen a course play so unfair as it was in the last two days. So after the third round, uh, painted had not played well. It's still kind of, uh, you know, ended up, uh, being in the final group, but his wife, Tracy had sort of told him, he'd pulled him aside after that night when he walked off the green and she said, I want you to know, honey, that you're moving

your head a little bit too much when you're putting a green, she said, I want you to know, honey, that you're moving your head a little bit too much when you're putting. It was a tip. God about this. Tip that she had gotten from his father, Payne's father, like when he was dying, at first he really did not like Payne's wife, Tracy, who he had met while he was playing the Malaysian tour.

They had gotten married, he had basically said, his father had said, you know, he's just gonna distract Payne from his goal of being a great golfer, you know, but she had slowly kind of warmed him over the years. And when pain's dad was dying, he wrote her this long list of, she's like, here's the things that I want you to tell pain like about his swing, you know, when I'm not around because he needs someone to sort of pull him back. And one of those things was make sure and keep your head still when you're putting.

So she brought this up, uh, after his third round and he was like, by God, you're right. And so like late in the evening that night, he went and practiced putting just keeping his head still doing the exact same routine every time. Sunday morning, pain wakes up and NBC is running a piece about his him and his dad who, you know, has passed away five years prior. And he just starts balling like he's he goes into tracing he says i'm just really emotional this is father's day and i i really want to win this one for my dad saturday night back home in scottsdale phil calls up amy you know he's a he's a shot off the lead or i think excuse me i think he's tied for the lead and she says to you know this is alan later my contractions had started coming really fast.

So we decided to go to the hospital and Phil happened to call right about then, but I didn't say anything. At the hospital, they put me on a monitor and gave me a turbutaline to slow down the contractions. Eventually Dr. Webb comes in and stays with me and I'm asking him every five minutes, should I call Phil?

Should I call Phil? He keeps saying, not yet, not yet. This went on for a few hours. Finally the contraction slowed enough to where he felt comfortable sending me home. So like truly like, like praying to God every moment that like the baby does not come and kind of actively like withholding information from Phil.

Who knows if Dr. Webb had money on the final of the open air. It? Hard to say. So the next morning it's kind of rainy. It's really kind of damp. It's kind of dark. It's there's like a mist that's hanging in the air. Payne Stewart shows up in a rain jacket and he's it's really bugging him during the hitting balls on the range. So he tells his caddy, you know what, go find me some scissors. Okay, so he runs like into the Pinehurst clubhouse and does the Belichick thing cuts off the sleeves. I can't check it. I can't image one of the first like sleeveless rain jackets ever ever made right there on

the range at Pinehurst chopped off. This of course allows pain to show off his shirt underneath which is red. So he's wearing the red, white and blue Bones until it's a ship knock later It's it was like the biggest crowds that I've ever seen in a tournament in the US You would left of 18 green you would go Like walk past the range to go to that first tee and you had to walk across 18 fairway pretty close to the green to this Day it's one of the coolest memories of my caddying life came when Phil and pain were walking to the tea.

The whole grandstand stood and cheered was like two gladiators going into the Coliseum. I'm so nostalgic about this era. Like again, this is like pre cell phone and everybody just filming people like you were just people were way more present in the moment. And like, I was so impressionable during this time like that, like, kind of gave me chills of like how, how, you know, how awesome that must've, must've felt.

So we have a barn burner of a fauna round. I mean, it is like, it, it, it, any one of four guys could have won this us open, like if any little different thing goes the other way pain birdies, the first hole. All right. So he comes out and he's like, whoo, like I am, I'm in control. I'm going to, you know, he's, he's, he's calm. That's, that's my best pain impression. Uh, but yeah, well, what will be kind of a theme for the day? He hits a terrible chip, uh, on number two, it has to roll in a

seven footer just to make a bogey. Uh, and he makes a seven footer, but it's just kind of like of like man like he doesn't really seem like he's super sharp phil comes out and i'm not kidding when i say this boys this might be the best final round of a us open that phil ever played like he was rock solid guess how many freaking fairways he missed on this day three one two two freaking fairways. You know, yes. Again, now he's, his drives are often topping out at two 67 to 68, but still like it's, this is some clutch shit. Like it's, uh, he is, he's absolutely, and he's, he's putting great. I, you know, it's hard to sort of, I think describe watching this final round, how much better Phil played than Payne, like Tee DeGriene, just way more in control of his golf

ball, like, you know, not making a ton of putts, but like lagging them to like stone dead to where it's, you know, it's a foot tap in, whatever. He opens with six straight pars and then birdies seven. Their pain leads by one with nine holes to play. This is where Vijay starts to emerge as a real contender. Like Vijay birdies, makes two birdies in the first 11 holes, particularly on, as David Duvall is like ejecting completely, Tim Heron is playing with the tiger at this point.

He's sort of a non-factor, but it's gonna come down to Vijay, Tiger, Payne, or Phil. At 13, Vijay has a birdie putt to take the lead outright. And, Oh my God, it does the most vicious like horseshoe lip out that I think I've seen in our recounting of this. I mean, like a full, like three 60, just, you cannot believe how the putt doesn't go down pain bogies 12 and Mickleson now leads by one tiger is really really he's lurking. He's three. He's three shots back this point But he's coming you can feel it. He keeps Tiger Icarito so many greens in this tournament

I mean he is just absolutely like Driving it great putting it great chipping it great but like launching nine irons like hundred and sixty yards over the green Johnny Miller says Tiger has every part of his game except for short irons. If he can get that, I think he will lap the field in the second part of his career. But right now that is still really holding him back. This was Tiger's last last US Open pre-solid core ball. That's right TC. Did he figure the short iron thing out like going forward? Is that a pretty nice call from Johnny? This episode on Pinehurst US Opens is brought to you by the Pinehurst Resort

with the playing of the 2024 US Open Pinehurst Resorts Embarks on its era of serving as an anchor site of the national championship. The US Open is going to return four times in the next couple of decades in 2029, along with another US Women's Open in 2035, in 2041, and again in 2047. For the first time in nearly three decades,

Pinehurst opened its first original golf course when unveiled Pinehurst number 10 in the spring of 2024 designed by Tom Doak. It's got dramatic elevation changes, natural sandy areas, remnants of an early 20th century sand mining operation. They just continue to invest in their present and their future. They had a three phase process to renovate the guest rooms

in the lobby of the flagship hotel to Carolina. They finished that up this past spring. They debuted the new restaurant, the Carolina Vista Lounge, which has an expanded cocktail bar, a contemporary menu, unlike any other at Pinehurst offering guests a stylish and satisfying respite, befitting the setting of the historic Carolina hotel. And in between its most recent US opens 2014 and 2024, it's been huge air of evolution for Pinehurst. And that time they opened the cradle, 2014 and 2024, it's been a huge era of evolution for Piners.

And that time they opened the cradle, the short course. It's been wildly popular in 2017 is when that opened. Gil Hans redesigned Piners 4. It's got consistent praise and Piners Brewing, housed in the original building that served as the village of Piners Steam Plant in 1895, remains as popular as ever among guests and locals alike. Piners is a fantastic visit.

I hope everyone gets a chance to check it out and enjoys the US Open next week. Let's get back to the pod. Honestly, it's so impressive to go back and watch these about how much Johnny was willing to stick his neck out and how often he was just dead on right about the stuff. I mean, there is- The original KVV, many people are saying.

That's right. That's right. There is no waiting for the ball to hit the ground and then being like, oh, tough shot. Like the ball's in the air and John is like, that's not good. That is that is Sarah. And you know, he's not like, you know, he's sitting in the tower, like on 18. Like, it's not like he's there seeing it. He is incredibly good at calling like, where the ball is sort of starting and where it's going to end up. His stuff ages so well. And all of these look backs like you go like his, his,

I remember just his, his voice is like the voice of drama. Like you just heard that voice. It just felt elevated. He said meaningful things and it just felt like he made everyone else around him that much better. Like he just teed people up so well. 2014 we'll get there. Oh really? Passes prime? A little bit. According to you in the tweets. Oh gosh. Which we were sharing the Twitter account at that point. That might've, that could have been any of you. Any of you. Basically, Johnny just kept saying he couldn't get over the fact that Kymer was putting from everywhere. That was me. Yeah. That was a tough call. I remember that from 24. So it was like, you know, Kymer with a four footer and Sally's like, Oh, Johnny Miller shocked. He's using a

putter for this one. Chymer had the chipping gifts. It was putting everything and Johnny kept kept doubting it. Kyra's winning by like 18 shots and he, we'll get there. So again, it's hard to emphasize like just how different this game was back then. I know that we kind of harpoon this a lot, but like a lot of pain's drives are going to 50. Like it's, it's, I know it's wet, but you know, Phil's, Phil's out driving it, but his drives are never going beyond really like 270.

Like that is the, the max sort of thing. Tiger's hitting it out, you know, maybe 280. It's a remarkable display at like how hard they seem like they're swinging at the ball, but the ball is, you know, going a reasonable amount. On 14, yeah, this is, this is real cool. This is a true long-hire test. This is the end of golf. This is the end of it. This is the end of it.

This is truly the end of it. I mean, the course was 7,100, it's almost 7,200 yards. And then like golf got broken from this point forward. Like this is the last time golf like made sense. So on 14, Tiger gets a really good shot in there and then makes a 30 footer, drops down to his knee and gives the like the epic fist pump. I mean, Tiger was like super expressive in this. He was, it was less kind of like the cold robot. He's just like really animated about all kinds of stuff. He's teased within to a Phil who leads, but pain

makes a birdie on 13 to tie to tie Mickelson. So it's, it's, you know, it's, it's really like boom, boom, boom. They could let it could be anybody at this point. Again, VJ is one shot out of the lead at this point and he makes a pretty bad drive on 16. The 16 at this point is the longest par four in history of the US Open. It's 483 yards playing into the wind that day. VJ gets over the ball, the ball's kind of sitting up and he decides, you know what, I'm going to take a rip at this with the fairway wood. And Gary Koch says like, this could be the tournament. This could win or lose the tournament right here for him. He hits this like horrendous mother hook that never gets 20 feet off of the ground. Somehow misses the crossbongers and ends up in a really bad spot. I'll have to the green cannot get up and down from there. Makes a bogey. That's VJ. That's the kind of the end of VJ's run.

Tiger misses the green on 15, but chips with a fairway wood He'd been kind of doing this all throughout the week This is the kind of the Randy special probably maybe where Randy sort of got the idea in the first place Tiger really doesn't do this ever anymore, but all throughout this week at Pinehurst He was doing the the three wood bump chip, which is really fun to kind of see in he makes par there still only a shot back Excuse me two shots back at this point pain misses the green on 14 all right hits another like indifferent chip like this is the story of like

all throughout the day just chipping was really kind of sloppy like you know Phil's chipping even when he missed screens way better but again from 12 footer makes it like pain is just like making everything he misses the green again on 15 with another poor iron shot. Phil hits a great shot in the middle of the green. Okay. We're, we're, I'm going to bounce around back and forth because the TV coverage is kind of crazy. This is right at the same time that tiger just absolutely roasts the drive on 17. Remember it's 483 and guess what he has left into the green? 16, 16, 16. He's got two 10 left into the green after just absolutely roasting a drive. Like it's just, you know, he's got a four iron and this green after just absolutely roasting a drive.

Like it's just, you know, he's got a four iron and this is like, it's so fun to watch him have to think his way through this. All right. Like Phil and Payne are going to come up and play this hole in a minute and have to hit two irons into this hole. Gary Koch says on the broadcast, players have been hitting this green less than 5% of the time today. Tiger hits a laser to about 12 feet.

Okay. So we cut back to 15. Phil hits an awesome putt from 25 feet with a foot to go. It looks like it's going in. For some reason, Johnny yells out, Amy, just as the lips out. I think, I think Johnny thought he was going to make like an iconic call and like it's never explained. He never goes back to it and was like, Oh, that was for you, Amy, but very strange. Johnny says that was one of the great pots I've ever seen. It deserved to go in. So I know you made this point once about the pinehurst cups. And I don't know like if that it's just a pinehurst thing or usga thing,

but so many lip outs in this, like just power, hard lip outs. I looked for what you once talked about where they don't set the cups like as down deep as they did. And so it's like a little harder. It looks like the the white part of the cup is like up a little higher than normal. But I don't know enough about that kind of stuff to sort of make that judgment call. But I just amazing how many pots get lipped out. This is open. I need to go. I'm going to go back and watch that. I watched it like five times to make sure that's what he says. There's nothing else that he could have could be saying there. It's clearly Amy.

Maybe he was waiting for like, Amy, don't call that beeper. Amy, hold on. So pain finally misses a par putt about an eight footer and Phil has the lead by one again. It's the first the only really important putt that Pain will miss all day. He's not playing great. He's just slopping it all over Tiger on 16, you know, we heat that the four iron in there he makes like makes the pot and makes one of the best like Fist pumps that I think you'll ever see I want to put it up on here This is the sort of preview of it as it's going in. He's pimped stepping and just an absolute like Muhammad Ali uppercut like just incredible theater in that moment.

Tim Heron tells Shipman Glader, it was football game loud. It would give you chills up and down your spine to hear it. But on 17, Tiger steps up and he hits it left into the bunker right now. He's a shot off the lead and he just makes it kind of a stinky swing. Miller says this is one of the easiest shots, bunker shots on the course that is holeable. All right, so we cut back now to both Phil and Payne are in the fairway on 16. Phil has 226 into this green. Johnny says, isn't this what Donald Ross wanted? This was the ultimate

test. You had to play your long irons well. No, I think Donald Ross wanted a 490 hold to be driver wedge. Like, that's probably a better test of skill just to be able to launch it 340 down the fairway. Well, you know, he just said better athletes, you know, better athletes will come along and just kind of, you know, who cares? Phil hits kind of an OK shot, but it ends up sort of short,

right, and some thick rough just short of the green. Payne hits a truly just a garbage shot that should have either ended up in the bunker well short or buried in thick rough. It hits the lip of the bunker front of the fairway and somehow, instead of going back into the bunker or kicking into the rough, kicks hard left into the fairway. No chance, if it doesn't do this, that he can get up down and make a par, but it ends up in the fairway 10 yards short of the green. Meanwhile, up ahead, Tiger hits a great bunker shot. He misses it maybe by like two or three inches from going in. The ball goes three feet by. We're cutting back now to Phil hits kind of a shitty chip. If he said

later, if he had a one shot back, it would be this chip on 1716. Excuse me. Pain hits maybe the worst chip I think like a professional could make in that moment. It's at 25 feet past the pin so that he has a downhill double breaker that he needs to make to make par. Essentially like Azinger says later like in a documentary about this US Open like you could easily putt this ball off the green. Phil tells Shipnuck in 2014, when he bladed that shot, I didn't really consider him the number one threat anymore. I thought Tiger was the number one threat. Somehow, pain rolls the ball in, like he's just it's maybe like one of the most iconic, I

think, US Open putts that you can imagine it all gets gets overshadowed a little by what happens on 18, but like he holds this center cut and then just like puts his finger up. Like he's a superhero walking away from an explosion. Just like, yep, got that. Phil says later, like if that ball doesn't goes in, it probably runs 15 to 20 feet by it had the potential to go off the green. Phil of course then misses his like seven footer, like pushes it hard. Every seven footer in this time period. He missed every single one that mattered. Yeah. It's truly like, Phil's a great, great putter. He later in his career, he'll be kind of go through a shitty string, but at this point,

he's a great putter except for like when it matters, like he's just like four footers that'll do or shoe. Yeah. You know, I saw you're talking about like just remembering this being like that era, like for the people on the ground too, it was like they knew something like special was happening. Rick Smith, who's Mikkelsen's swing coach said, the conditions were so unusual for us open, it was dark, it was misty, there was almost an eerie feeling. And you know, there's this church across the street in Pinehurst seconds after Payne made his putt on 16 the bells start ringing that was a beautiful sound that just

went out across the course it felt like some kind of sign so back to 17 Tiger has to sort of step away after this roar he hard power lips out of this four-foot. Like Azinger says later, it's probably the last time tiger missed an important putt for an entire decade. No. Total made ups. Like the, I'm ready to squash the tiger. Never missed these pots. We'll get there as well, but continue. So 17 T pain steps up. He has not really hit a great iron shot at all today. Like he is just squirted around.

It's you know, it's sloppy somehow like grit and guts and finding put the ball way to put the ball in the hole. He steps up and just absolutely stripes one. You know, it rolls out to six feet and the crowd is going fucking bonkers. Like it is crazy. Phil's like, hey, good shot. Good shot. Phil steps up and hits it like maybe a foot outside of pain, like just a ridiculously good thing.

Miller's like, truly two of the best iron shots that you will ever see in that with that pressure in that moment. Bones sells shipnuck later. When Phil's ball hit it that close to get it in the hole. That was a smell the roses moment for me that place went crazy. But we get up to the green and Phil is uncertain about the break of the pot. He says, you know, bones swelling later said that Phil said, Hey, come over and take a look at this. I thought it was pretty straight, but the pot

turned a little right and it missed. In hindsight, it was probably left edge in my 22 years as a caddy. If I could have one do over, it will be reading that putt by a million miles. So Johnny doesn't believe that Phil like misreads the break. He's like, Oh, he pulled it. Second straight hole. It's just sick pain pours in his pot. One stroke lead going into 18. So tiger up ahead, absolutely stripes of drive in the fairway. Uh, he's still got a chance to know he can, he makes a birdie here. He can, you know, get into potentially a playoff.

He hits it kind of in a different iron shot to about 30 feet. And you can hear his Tiger gets up there, both fill and pain drive. There's the fairway Tigers up in the green. You can hear the, the church bells that we're talking about, like on the broadcast and you hear Gary Koch say they're playing angels. We have heard on high and Johnny fires back. Well, he's going to need it right here. Cause that cop is I almost want to just like turn my headphones off and just go watch this. Like I almost feel like I was like, I don't spoil

this. I want to go back and watch this. This is peak us open shit. And I, it's on the top't spoil this. I want to go back and watch this. This is like, this is peak us open shit, man. I, on the top of my head, I'm struggling to think of a more iconic us open in my like, you know, lifetime. I remember watching this. Uh, I was an intern at the Phil, excuse me, at the great falls Tribune in great falls, Montana. And I was working the sports desk and we're watching up on the screen as, and I, I remember tiger's putt being really, really good,

but I didn't really remember like how fucking good it was until I watched this replay. I mean, he absolutely reads it like so, so, so good. It looks like on the broadcast, like it like grazes the edge. It doesn't quite when they show the replay, but Johnny Miller's like that putt is so pure. It defies description, but Tiger can't make it makes a par, you know, probably going to miss out here. Pain hits another shitty drive.

He keeps pushing drives to the right all day. He's had to lay up and like get up and down like probably four times throughout the day. So he hits a drive. Roger ball piece. Like, that's great. And John is like, nope, it's not, that's going to miss. That's going to be a miss by a one yard. That's gonna miss. That's gonna be a miss by a one yard. It's totally right. Roger goes over there. Yep. That's the worst lie I've seen all week. It's terrible. So pain has to hit it to about 75, 78 yards he has after his layup. Phil hits a really pretty good shot, but 18 feet, uh, just kind of right of the pin,

you know, he, so pain has got to hit like a, you know, a pretty good shot here. And it looks like I would say hits a pretty like kind of meh, like you know, from 78 yards to leave it, you know, 18 feet or so. I don't think it was particularly great. Like nobody thinks it's great, but they're like, well, he's got a pot. Everybody on the at this point is kind of expecting like, Hey, we're probably going to get a playoff here. And apparently pains caddy at the time was like, Oh shit, like we've got this really like expensive, like charitable member guest thing that we were supposed to play in on Monday. And I don't know, like me and pain and Aizinger and you know, some other, I think Jansen, he's

like, I don't know who I'm going to get. I'm going to know who we're going to get to fill in for us. Like I got all this like investment of the people are going to be so pissed. He's like, I swear to God, that's what I was thinking about on 18th. Phil hits a really, really good putt better than I remember. It just misses high and pain. Of course, like it's dead, quiet stands over this putt. It's, it's actually really straight. I thought it had more breaking it, but it is a straight in pot or is it right in the middle? Does the iconic like fist forward leg kickback, uh, that they eventually make the statue out of it goes over to, uh, to fill afterwards, uh, puts him puts his hands on his face and said, you know, good luck with the baby. Uh, you're, you know, there's nothing like being a father. Sorry. I pulled this up. You and I recreated this picture,

uh, when we knew that Hannah was pregnant. So at our first trip to Pinehurst, we did not know she was, this is before she was pregnant. We said we took it for, in case she got pregnant. In case we got there. You were like, we're going to, we're going to start to try to have kids. So let's redo this picture. Yes. I don't even need to rewatch to Dick. Enberg is on the call and he makes the putt pain. Stewart is the 1999 U S open champion. Oh my, it was just awesome, dude. It was just awesome. It's just iconic, man. Fancy's you're going to be a great father. There's nothing like being a father. I swear

to God, this is like very old time sports writer thing, but like all the old trick great falls, Tribune guys when pain like pointed like that, we're like, did he say like, take that motherfucker like that? That sounds like Payne Stewart. Not what he said. A's here says later, when you talk about the greatest showings of sportsmanship in golf history, you have to say that number one is Nicholas's concession to Tony Jacqueline in the Ryder Cup, but right there, Payne would be number

two. He could immediately emphasize with Phil Mickelson, Payne knows the agony of defeat. Who knew it more than him? Payne goes over to his wife and he pulls her in close and he says, I did it love. I held my head still all day, just like you said. What a shot at Steve Scott by, uh, by a zinger. Bad guy. A lot of people say that, you know, this in this sort of write up that, uh, I think it's a high media is does after and sports associate said that, you know, pains the first person to win a U S opens with two different personalities, uh, a Dick the first time when he won a Hazel team, but he's actually like a very generous, gregarious person. Even his mom says he's a different man, a better son.

I gave him an attitude adjustment. His mother said, you learned you can't go around and be rude to everyone. Right. So totally fucking winning the U S open this year, guys, the parallels. This is why we do these things. Sorry. Cause the echoes open this year guys. The parallels. This is why we do these things. Sorry. Cause the echoes throughout history. Mickelson flies home and gets there at midnight. Amy goes into labor immediately the next morning, right about the time that Phil would have been warming up for a playoff. And Amanda is born that evening. Phil says to ship. That is an underrated part of it is pain misses the pot. Phil's

got a wd anyways. Yep. Phil says, uh, you know, here we are 15 years later is talking to shipnuck in 2014. Back when, you know, he had a good relationship with shipnuck. Uh, here we are 15 years later and I can tell her with all certainty that her birth is talking about. Amanda is the most emotional moment of our lives. It's something I would never want to miss. And I'm so glad I was able to be there because it really is one of the greatest experiences in the world. I loved her even before I knew her. Azinger says, I believe it's one of those greatest influences that pain had was and how helped he helped change Phil as a man. Pain was a great example of a guy who had

found perfect balance in his life. Phil has always done the right thing. He's always been the good guy, but golf was everything to him. What happened in Pinehurst bonded them forever and it set the priorities straight for Phil. For eternity. Of course that lasted forever. That would never waver. Oh, that's iconic. Yes.

Open man. That's a really fun one to relive just through just I'm definitely going to go back and watch that one. There's not a lot of them. Amy! Just seeing the trajectory of the balls too, of like, it's that kind of dark, moody day, like you said, and there's moisture in the air, but there's flyers out of the rough.

There's low spinners that rise against the pine trees. It's really, it's a really aesthetically interesting broadcast to watch. Which I know there's studies on this stuff that when you're in a certain age period, those are the good old days for you always. But it really just seemed like they were so good at developing drama in this time period. And there was some stuff I found in 05 that was like, oh, so they're just skipping golf shots. We would, there was some stuff I found in Oh five. It was like, Oh, so they're just like skipping golf shots. Like we would have been in furious now as we, as we go to watch it. But like, it just

felt like Gary and Johnny and like the way they pass things off to each other was just, it was just, it's probably good since the voices of my childhood, but it just seemed like it was better back then. I don't know how that is it for 99. We are always looking for ways for you to save money on household products that you need to get through the day. I have never seen a product that is this affordable and will save you this much money as Harry's razors. They're starter kits.

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green golf course lot of grass out at Pinehurst just the second US open at Pinehurst courses about the same length as it was in 99 only 50 yards longer. Just worth noting in this time period, the fourth hole played as a par five and the fifth played as a par four, which those two are now inverted and the fourth is a long four and five has a silly tee box way back that is a par five. That's kind of the only real other than of course the renovation, the restoration that comes after this. Five is a par four would be so cruel. And the USGA is worried about that's the one green.

They're the most worried about coming into this week. So a stump to Schwab style. I'm going to go to KVB first and then TC and you can alternate going back and forth. Uh, as soon as you get one wrong, you are out of the game, but we're going to have you name the top 10 in the world going into the 2005 U S open KV. You get go first. Name anyone in the top 10 and then the game passes on to TC. Tiger Woods.

That is correct. He is number one in the world. Vijay Singh. He is number two in the world. That is well done. Phil Mickelson. Mickelson is four in the world. That is well done. Five. It's so easy when you're looking at this and so hard when you're doing what you guys are doing. Yes. Ernie L's number three. You've got the top four. Gets a little harder from here.

2005 and six. You should definitely get five and six. You said, okay, we have Vijay Tiger, Phil Ernie. Correct. God, why am I blanking on? God, why am I blanking on? I pass. He's panicked. I'm choking. It's done at this point. It's done at that point.

I mean, just think, Podrick is not, I say, think, think recent major winners or close calls. So Adam Scott. Adam Scott is seven. You guys both lost this game by the way. Sergio Garcia. Sergio is six. Okay.

Kenny Perry. Kenny Perry's 10. Wow, good job TC. There's three more. I think you can, you should get one of it. You should at least get one of them. Recent close calls. What happened in the 05 Masters?

Chris DiMarco. Chris DiMarco is eight in the world. Mike Weir. Mike Weir is not up there. Who has won two of these US Open's in the last four years? Ratif Goosen. Ratif Goosen is five. David Thoms is nine.

Did not think you guys would get to that one. But- I was thinking Thoms, but I couldn't place it. That was like, oh, too. It's hard. It's way harder to do than you think of like, if you did Oh nine right now, I would be, I would just be guessing. But the first person ever pass on the thing. That's it's really fun to ask that question. I would not want to participate. A eventual champion, which we'll get to is of course, Michael Campbell. He is not the low Campbell in the field. He's the

80th ranked player. He qualified for the event through sectional qualifying in England. The first time they held a sectional qualifier actually in England. The odds I could find on this one. He was not even given odds prior to it. He's listed as part of the field that was six to one. So it's basically a bunch of names up there. And then it's like, oh yeah, rest of the field was in there. And that's where Michael Campbell was in.

So he would have been more than 150 to one to win this US Open. When was his big run is like world number one or world number two or what? Like he was never no, he was really, really or best player, like best player in the rest of the world. Like he was, he was a savage. His highest rank was ever was in 2001. He was the 12th ranked player in the world. Also, maybe I'm making that up, but he was crushing it worldwide though. So this was a story that the KVV uncovered when we covered the 1995 majors, but he was the 54 hole leader at the Open Championship. And he tells this story on a Chronicles of the Open Podcast, video podcast episode that's on the Open Championship channel. It's not written anywhere. I was like, I remember the KVV telling

the story on here, Googled it, couldn't find it anywhere. He was staying in Dundee during the 1995 Open Championship. He's the leader at 54 holes. It's like an hour away, traffic is tough. And so IMG like comes to him and says, we can arrange for you to have a chopper over to St. Andrews. We can skip the traffic. Obviously he's getting there later in the day with all the traffic, all the fans getting there. He's the video of our leader, remember, that's correct.

Dundee is so far. I don't know why he's staying there, but he's like, they said, yeah, we'll get you a chopper. And the chopper shows up 45 minutes late. And he has to and he like takes the chopper and the chopper drops him off. And he's 10 minutes away still from St. Andrews. And he tells the driver something of like, whatever you have to do, get me there, like just get me there.

And he gets there and he hits like 10 range balls. And he's off to the first tee. And like he almost missed his 50 or 54 hole lead of the tournament almost didn't make his tee time. And it's like not written about anywhere. I literally couldn't find anything. Michael Campbell helicopter that was ever documented. So that's a story. And that's kind of a story that permeates through a lot of the broadcasts. It's like his close call in 2000 in 1995, nobody again talking about this flight, but uh, I think it was years. He went years before he was like willing to tell that story. Like, cause he didn't want to throw IMG under the bus and didn't want to sort of like, make it seem, but for whatever reason, I remember when we did that look back, like

they, for some reason they're talking about, oh, it's kind of an unusual rain session for Michael Campbell. Like they just didn't know like what was going on. Like no one for that broadcast had any clue, like what had occurred until he revealed it years later. It's crazy. So, uh, leading up into this USDA reputation, it's not, it's not great. Like at this point, I mean, we're coming off 2004 at Shinnecock. VJ said, if they do the same thing at Pinehurst, I'd rather not play the golf course that way than go out there and make a fool of myself. Of course, referring to the setup at Shinnecock, Tom Meeks is in charge of the setup. This is his last time doing it. Pretty iffy reputation among players. Of course, they're, you know, making the point of, you

know, we're trying to identify the best players, not embarrassed them, blah, blah, blah. It's in every article leading up to this. But Vijay also said to Tom Meeks, if you lose the golf course, you'd better hide. But there's, there's going to be no place to hide because we're going to find you. Hell yeah. Vijay getting all Tony Soprano on that ass. VJ rules. Very threatening. Phil, of course, would say without rain,

and it doesn't look like we're going to get any, we have potential for 18 holes that could be like number seven at Shinnecock. Very conceivable, which you remember they completely lost the seventh grade at Shinnecock had to water it in between groups. And Phil says they could do that on all 18 holes here if they don't handle it properly. So in 2005 to date, Vijay has won three times. He won the Sony, won the Houston open, won Wachovia.

Sergio blew a six shot lead at the Wachovia. Tigers won three times. And Solly, that's on the heels of Vijay winning like what? Seven or eight times in 0-4? I think 95 times in 0-4, yeah, something like that. Yeah, it was absurd. And he won the 0 oh four PGA just two majors prior to this. So tigers won three times won Buick

Doral and the Masters but his games kind of iffy coming up into this he missed the cut to Byron Nelson people are kind of like, what the hell's going on here with Tiger. Phil's won three times he won the FBR open in Arizona won pebble won the Bell South Sergio wins the week before at the Booz Allen, Fred Funk won the players this year, if you'll remember. But in a pre-tournament article, Ratif Goosin was asked about not being recognized.

He said, there's times I feel like, yeah, you've won a couple of US Opens and there's not a picture of you anywhere or nothing has been mentioned. I don't know what the guys want me to do. Do they want me to do handstands when I make a putt and all that kind of stuff? Tiger received a text from Annika on the Sunday night prior into the U S open that said nine to

nine was the text that she just won her ninth major to tie him, uh, at the LPGA championship, which is funny to go from 99 to 2005. Tiger was a one time major champion. Now he's nine time major champion, just teeing it up six years later. There's again, that graphic of the USA today that predicts the proper mix for the championship. 30% of your score is going to come from scrambling, 25% putting 20% greens and regulation, 10% driving accuracy and 15% driving distance. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, to that. Drive for show puffer dough solid. All right. I love to think about some sports riders sitting around like his eyeball and that shit like 15% driving accuracy. TC a fun name in the field. A college teammate of Tiger woods has got in as a first alternate through, through qualifying. Can you guess who, who that might've been? Not named? No, to be gay. Can you guess who, who that might've been? Not named? Not a baguette Jason Gore, Conrad Ray, the coach at Stanford Jason Gore didn't, didn't play at Stanford. I don't know where he was going to say a coach Ray qualified for the S open. And he played a practice run. I believe he played a practice run. There's a picture of them play in a practice round with tiger come out on Thursday, tiger, he's in some baggy stuff.

It's not great guys. It's kind of a, it's a tough Nike phase. It is great. Like looking back, it's like, that's sick. It's yeah. I mean, it, it, he doesn't look great this, this coming week. It's streetwear as golf where it's not, it's not the best look. There's a lot of articles or it's same again.

I saw the same articles, you know, kind of repeating in a lot of different newspapers. But one that kept repeating was like, a lot of stuff comes out this week of like, you remember the onion headline that was a couple years ago that was like, PGA Tour thinks black golfers that were supposed to follow Tiger should be here by now. Like, that article is out there like in 2005 of like, Hey, Tiger is still the only black player on the PGA tour, which again, I mean, we're all, you know, we're eight years after the masters went at this point.

I, I, I don't know if they're making the connection, but right of, you know, the, there hasn't still hasn't been that impact, but that was a, again, it's still a storyline reverberating through 2005, which that was, I definitely don't remember about that about 2005. But another look at Pinehurst at this time. I mean, it's just, it is unrecognizable to what we see today. And I remember, I don't know if this is in any of what you're covering TC, but Bill Core talking about like the, you know, the decision they had to renovate and to remove this stuff and how like, it felt like the riskiest thing ever just like by the truckload, taking away perfectly good turf,

perfectly good grass out of a golf course. Like that was the thing back then was like, you need a grass for your golf course. They just remove all this. Yeah, there was, I think they took out 31 or 32 acres of grass according to it. And just like, I think looking back, it's like, oh my God, this was the riskiest thing we could have done. And like, looking back, the riskiest thing they could have done is doing nothing. Well, it just set the trend, right? I mean, just look how goofy this, this golf course looks with this thick Bermuda and like the funky mo lines and

what, if you're listening to the pod, I'm sorry, but you can probably visualize it, but another reason to check out the no laying out podcast YouTube channel. So in round one, Olin Brown and Rocco immediate shoot 67. They lead at three under par Olin Brown played his way in by shooting a 59 in qualifying. That's something that is brought up frequently throughout. Retief goose and brand. Job Lee Westwood or two under KJ Choi, Luke Donald, Steve Jones and Phil Mickelson at one under tiger VJ Adam Scott in a group at even par and through graphics are sick. They are. And I love looking back at

old, old, like Thursday, Friday lead. I'm going to give you the top 10 of every single day because the names that cycle through are just what makes me so happy. But Brent Job up there on the leaderboard. I mean, of course it's, it's a funky us open. All right. Trivia question here. The next day for Friday, Dan Hicks refers to a group of people as the fab five. I don't ever remember there being a fab five in 2000s, but who, who are the fab five? I mean, we did the top five vaguely. Remember this. We did the top five in the world, which they are. Again, can you name back the fab five of golf? Is it VJ tiger Ernie, Ernie,

God, it wouldn't, it wouldn't be retief. It is retief. Is it retief really? Fab five, which yeah, that one didn't stick. I don't think past this one, but I just found that one is an interesting little time capsule. The Ray Jackson of fab five's retief. Goose pine. Her's that kind of makes that happen.

Pinehurst goes, man. It goes hard on this Friday. Phil goes out in 41. Again, what kind of define this era? This putt from four feet. It doesn't touch the whole guys. I mean, he shoots, uh, he missed five putts inside of eight feet. He shoots. He shoots.

Like, is this the Ford, the Ford sponsorship where he's got the big massive. And I'm like, Oh, I'm like, Oh, I'm like, Oh, I'm like, Oh, I'm like, Oh, I'm like, Oh, I'm like, Oh, I'm like, Oh, I'm like, Oh, I'm like, Oh, I'm like, Oh, I'm like, Oh, I'm like, Oh, I'm like, Oh, I'm like, Oh, I'm like, Oh, I'm like, Oh, I'm like, Oh, I'm like, Oh, I'm like, Oh, I'm like, Oh, I'm like, Oh, I'm like, Oh, I'm like, Oh, I'm like, Oh, I'm like, Oh, I'm like, Oh, I'm like, Oh, I'm like, Oh, I'm like, I do not remember this at all. This is the sickest find that I had. So Tiger is putting on the ninth green on Friday and he has this putt here lined up and he misses the putt and he takes his putter. I don't know if you guys can see this in the image,

drags it along the green and makes a two and a half, three and a half foot scuff mark on the green. He received a reprimand from the USGA. The footage of this also shows him going back and giving, I cannot describe this the most token effort you could at repairing this. Like he walks away and the green still looks like this, but he, he does like a little swipe to repair the scuff marks that he makes on this green, but because he technically made an effort to repair the damage, there was no penalty. Wow, like it was pretty gross. Like it was

pretty, it's bad, like a really, really bad scuff bar called the green. He didn't even properly even sending a message to the USGA. Kicking off the tour, Doug. It was bad. I just, but he got off on on that technicality. Otherwise he would have been penalized. And again, he just like goes and like makes up. I don't even know if he touches the ground, just this swipe at it. Get officer Gillis out there.

David Toms takes the lead on Friday. Then he drops five shots in two holes, which will be a theme for what unfolds shortly this coming weekend. Ratif Goosen is that dude again, he shoots 70 to Ty Olin Brown and Jason Gore at two under par Gore shot a 67 Goosen of course coming off winning the 2004 US Open at Shinnecock the 2001 US Open at Southern Hills, just chaotic US Opens both of them setups that got pretty wild and both of me just poured in those

four or five six footers the whole time. Gore, of course, the 118th ranked player in the world. Jason Gore with his wife, Megan, and eight month old son, Jackson. They were driving East on Interstate 40 on Sunday night. Fatigue got the best of them. They stopped at a hotel in Asheville. Megan went out to get some clothes out of her bag at 1.30 in the morning.

She discovered the door lock had been destroyed. Her clothing had been stolen along with the car stereo and a laptop computer. They got their car broken into. However, Gore's clubs went to Pinehurst with his caddy. His clubs and his shoes were were spared because they were not in the car and they made his way all the way there. They'd go shopping for clothes. Gore had the quote. Gore is like the folk hero of this US Open. It's blocky mania. I mean, that's the only description I can come up with. Yeah. Sali, like thinking back on that, I remember him being much lower than 117th in the world.

What did I say? 818th. Oh, 818th. Oh, I thought you said 128th. You said 107th. Yeah. I apologize. Take that back. He's a- Yeah. I was like, whoa. That's on me. That's on me. What kind of system did he have in his, it was, I think it was a Tahoe or a suburban. Did he have like a couple of subs back there and he's just, just bumping all over

the mini tours. Don't know exactly the answer to that one, but you know, he has a quote on there. It's like, I feel bad for the guy that broke it. All he got was my underwear, like just folk hero stuff. I mean, he is extremely, I think he said, who's got the last laugh now or whatever. They got my underwear, but I got the lead. KJ Choi and Mark Hensby are one back. Can you, one back of the lead through 36 holes. Can you guess how many fairways Mark Hensby hit through the first two rounds out of 28, 23. TC. I said five to start out with. I'll say 25. Six. You were very, you were very close to the video. Six fairways.

He's even gets two choices and gives us the difference. I was on the week. I said five and I thought Sally was like, he changed it. I'm going to let you retake that because it was so egregiously low. Six fairways that he's one back. Uh, Michael Campbell, Sergio, Vijay Lee Westwood are at even just two back tiger, Furek, Brandt, Joe, Rocco, immediate Adam Scott, Steven Allen, Caciro, Fuka Bori. I had not heard that name before. It's potential manipulator T 10-10, but just three shots back. So pretty bunch leaderboard going into what's going to be a chaotic weekend.

Somebody you're not going to guess this. Corey Pavin flew home on Thursday night to San Diego for his high school son's graduation in between round one and two took a PJ. It took a red eye back and made it back in time to play Friday. I don't know why this always keeps happening around the pine. Her stuff, but flew home for his son's graduation there at the 2005 U S open high school needs to get together and push their graduation either forward or back because it's, it's happening too much around the major golf tournaments. Exactly.

Right. Saturday we get, there are nine players under par after round one. There's only five after round two and after round three, we're going to end the day with only one guy under par at Piner's number two. Tiger hits 16 greens, but cannot buy a bucket. He finally makes one on 11 does a very dramatic, like finally things finally made a putt guys reach up to the sky. And then he does the, you know, the finger lick and the add one to the tally, uh, in there sarcastic as he pours it is his first birdie of the day. This is when tiger crazy yoked still young. He looks like he kind of has a bad attitude.

Yeah. Oh, very stinky. Oh yeah. 100%. You were very much in this era, like either totally turned off by tigers, like bitching and moaning, or you were all in on it because you were like, I don't give a shit. I don't give a shit. I don't give a shit. Oh, yeah, 100% on this very much in this era, like either totally turned off by Tigers, like bitching and moaning or you were all in on it because you were like, I don't give a shit. He's like the dominant dude. I love it. And I was more in the turned

off camp. I got to respect his career. Exactly. Back on defense, dude. Exactly. Retief Goose is gonna fire a one under par 69, a steely one, just very much just like the Ritee. All right. He's going to do this at every us open. Like you're the Brooks Koepke of this. Like you do this at majors now got a three shot lead at three under par birdie three of his last five holes, Olin Brown and Jason Gorat even in a tie for second, Michael Campbell and Mark Hensby are plus one four shots back. Michael Campbell dramatically hold a bunker shot for birdie on 17.

But again, he's four back going into the next day. David Tom's at two over KJ Choi, Peter Headblom, one of your Swedes, TC, Lee Westwood and Tiger all at plus three. So again, Tiger's six back. Eugene, our friends at the Eugene register guard, of course, uh, KVV said, the biggest surprise continues to be Gore, a sectional qualifier with a substantial midsection. Hell yeah.

If you're a husky boy, there's just, it's open season on your ass when it comes to sports drivers. Midsectional qualifier. Gore enjoys telling the story that this is, he held the lead at one point on this day, but he wants, he's not his first time holding the lead at the U S open. He wants how to lead the 1998 U S open only because he was in the first group and he hold a wedge. But he loved telling that story of, you know, that's how my, the Thursday started the 98 U S open. He held the outright lead briefly when Goosen made double on 13, it lasted for six minutes as he would then flip over and double the 14th

hole. And on the last green, Jason Gore closed with a birdie and walked it in and did the tiger point. Go on to say, I said to my kid, did I just point that ball in the hole? Gosh, I'm a cheese ball. And all the headlines go into Sunday. It was like cheese ball steals the show at US Open and things like that. So, go for sustainability models might have been able to identify what was coming because Gore hit five fairways on this day. Olin Brown walk off the course saying this course is like facing Mike Tyson

when he was 20 years old. The pin on three was dicey on this day. Like there's a lot of shots that come into three in the back kind of center of it. They were like, everyone was making a mess of that, of that third hole. David Thompson hits it. It's a, it's a bird. There's a bird like parked on the green. It has a ball roll up and hit a bird on 18 and stop. Bird was backstopping. Rageous. And there's another ball right next to the hole as well. So he was clearly backstopping.

Of course. Anyway. Of course. So we go into Sunday, Goosen is leading and it's all about the goose. He's got a three shot lead. He's won two of the last four U.S. Opens. If you would have said right then that morning

that Retief Goosen is not even ever gonna finish in the top five again at a U S open. That would have been laughed at. That would have been the craziest possible thing you could have said, including that week. He's not going to finish in the top five, you know, honestly, a truly underrated collapse, uh, or like final round, like bedshitting by a somewhat like great player. A hundred percent. And his third U S open. Yeah. And you know, again,

the gore thing gore is just, you know, laughing it up with the crowd. Like he's extremely popular. Dan Hicks hits us with hit in the, in the highlight film of a quote that just says it's how you play the game that matters most just based on all of his fans interactions. So that was a little bit misplaced, but so Tiger's opening putt on the first green. And again, Tiger's six off off the pace at this point. He's putting from just off the green on one, trying to lag it up. It does not reach the green. It gets rejected and comes all the way back at him.

He makes bogey on the first. He also bogey the second hole. He's eight back walking up the third fairway. Tiger Woods would be one back walking off the 11th green. This is classic US open of like, if you are one underpar on the day you are catapulting up the leaderboard like there's so much shit happening. There's so much volatility possibilities. There's leaderboard gravity like it's a it's a very real US open. Michael Campbell comes out birdies the opening hole to get

back to even he's still three back of Goose and Olin Brown ejection number one of the day he bur he bogeys five of the first six holes on his way to shooting a plus 10 80 Goosen pars the opener but then he skulls a chip and doubles the second misses a shorty and makes bogey on the 30s back to even and now it's a wide open tournament Gore makes bogey on two doubles the third hole. And Neil Neil, we actually covered this tournament on the greatest collapses pod Neil deep dove into this one. I couldn't find the actual quote on this. But it's honestly one of my favorite like laughing moments ever on the NLU pod was Gore started said he panicked a little bit. I'm paraphrasing because I

couldn't find the quote. I'm quoting Neil on this one. But after the three over start, he said, you know, now I got to go get it, which we followed up with the music from the Ghana Paul bearers, the dancing beam of, yeah, you're going to go get it at the, at the 2005 U S open at pioneers. It's not going to go very well. So yeah, he's plus three. He's playing with Goosen right there, but he, he birdies five and, you know, but he's still like, he's in second, walking off the seventh green, he's in second place and he's one shot back with 11 holes to play. What place do you think Jason Gore finished? 11 holes to play, he's one back in second place. Like 35th or 40th. No, not that bad. I would say 18th or something. G49. Holy shit.

It was one of the worst back nines like in history. He bogeys eight and doubles nine. He went out in 40, bogey 10, tripled 12, bogeyed 14, 15, 16, and doubled 18. He shot 84. I remember he and, I don't know if you have this in Zagliotto, sorry, but that he and Goosen make like a wager over like the final four holes. So I won't. They do make this in Zagito sorry, but that he and Goosen make like a wager like the final four holes.

So I want to make a $5 bet on that. Goosen got something. Yeah, Goosen bogeys five Campbell's now in the lead. Goosen also bogeys six. There's still any NBC starts missing shots at this point on eight. Roger tells us Goosen's hit a flyer over the green, which I could, I would have liked to have seen that. Like we're witnessing one of the all time collapses plus five through six.

He shoots 40 on the front and proceeds to bogey 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and shoots 80. His best ever finished again in the US Open would be a T10 years later, but would never seriously contend for US Open again when it looked like he was gonna win three out of five. Meanwhile, Tiger birdies the fourth and the seventh to pull within three. He's got his charge going. There's this wild image as he's hitting a shot into 11.

There's a weather warning and all the fans are removed from the bleachers. So he's hitting this shot into 11. There's still a crowd around there, but it's just a weird image with no fans and the bleachers right behind the green. And he steps up and he absolutely stuffs it in there to five feet right of the pin, makes the birdie, walks off the green and he's he's one back.

Those bleachers are sweet. Like how steep they are, how on top of the action you are. 100 percent. Campbell birdies the 10th always got a two shot lead now. Then he makes a bomb birdie on 12 to open up a three shot lead. When it gets to 14, there's a huge roar as he's getting ready to hit a shot and it's Tiger who had stuffed one to five feet on 15.

Campbell backs off, steps up and fires a laser right at the stick. Tiger makes birdie, Campbell misses, the lead is still two. Tiger's got an eight foot par putt on the 16th hole, missed it. Again, we have to kill the narrative that Tiger never missed putts that mattered.

He has a chance here again at Pinehurst and the putter betrays him. He three putts the 17th as well, missing a six foot par saver. So Campbell makes a great up and down on 15. Up ahead, there's a massive cheer. Tiger makes birdie on the 18th green, cut the lead back to two. But again, the two missed putts on, on 16 and 17 are the difference as of right now, Campbell steps up on 17 and hits a great shot to 20 feet and pours in the putt, just dead center, three shot lead heading to the last hole. He bogeys 18, but he wins by two. He actually missed a really short putt on 18. Tiger was standing back behind 18 green. I don't really, I'm not really sure why I try

to intimidate him, I guess, into making a point of Vandeve really, I'm not really sure why I try and intimidate him, I guess, into making a point of Vanderbilt. I'm not really sure, but his speech is awesome. Like it's just genuine, just like he'd been through years of injuries and just, you know, unfulfilled potential and kind of the heartbreak from 1995 open championship. He shouts out his family in England and New Zealand hits his dad with the happy father's day, you know, back in New Zealand. And it's just like, it's really good, really good, genuine moment. And again, it's like just the, the emotions that come from a, from a big golf tournament like that were a big reason why I'm a golf fan today. And it's just really good. So Gil Morgan was the last 54 hole leader

to shoot in the eighties. He shot 81 at the 1992 U open at Pebble. Dr. Gilmore Campbell would say afterwards, I kept telling myself 20 times, I'll keep my focus, keep my focus, keep my focus. Again, Goosen and Gore were so bad, they ended up having a $5 bet in the round between the two of them, which Goosen won. Goosen had 36 putts. They were put on the clock on the 11th hole, not because they were playing slow. But Goosen said quote, because we just had to hit so many shots. Basically the last seven holes, I was just trying to finish the round.

There was nothing to play for. This was the first time I think about him having 36 pots when the at Shinnecock, he had like 20 pots or something that found around. Like it was one of the most ridiculous putting performances ever. And yeah, he, I mean, it just, the pioneers chewed him up and spit him out on that day. He only finished in a tie for 11th. But this was the first time nobody broke par at the US Open since Olympic in 98. Steve Williams would call it the greatest sports moment

in New Zealand history. And he stuck around and gave Campbell a big hug when he came off the 18th green as well. This is from Alan Shipnick's write-up in Sports Illustrated. It's in the bathroom shortly after Campbell went in to gather himself and ran into Tiger. Tiger said, congrats, man. That was some great golf today. You deserve to win. At this, Campbell finally let his guard down. He said, I have one question for you. How do you do this so often? And Tiger said, luck, and smiled

as he breezed and walked out the door. And Prime Minister Helen Clark phoned Michael Campbell to offer his congratulations. And then again, from Sports Illustrated, the most heart wrenching moment of Campbell's Father's Day victory came when he called Julie from the quiet in the locker room upon hearing her voice. He was so overcome he couldn't speak, gasping for air.

The pending father getting ready for his first Father's Day, feeling a little emotional this way. He's like, he finally asked, are the boys watching about his sons about his two sons? It was after midnight in England, which just like the first place he went was like, you wanted to you want to do this for his for his son. And we just just published an interview with Stephen Yeager. Stephen said something very

similar about like, I want to win like when my kid can remember what this happening. I just found that perspective to be really interesting, especially on Father's Day. This is what's gonna happen for you at the Gasparilla someday, Sal. He's like when all your kids are there to see you. So soon.

Told that they were, Campbell buried his head in his hands and let the tears pour for 10 seconds or more. He wept into the phone. Finally, he choked out six words. I can't believe I've done it. Hell yeah. It's great.

Other 2005 stuff on this day, only six cars TC started the F1 race at the US Grand Prix after safety concerns, 14 cars ducked off the track in protest. Also Eric Gagne is getting ready to hit the IL, the DL back then, probably for something steroid related. One thing that wasn't mentioned was just, just Campbell's shirt. It kind of the Maori

pattern going on the shirt. I just remember being extremely, you know, kind of avant-garde and different from anything we'd seen. And then lastly, here is that graphic of, of that, of that random numbers of what they came up with the scrambling and driving accuracy, driving distance. I love how this is like not attributed to anything. It's just USA today research explains scrambling. That is it. That is it for Oh five. It's a, you know, one thing I just asserted generally comment is like it, it, this sort of kind of set that trend for like the only guys who really stood up to tiger and majors were kind of guys who were nobodies in a lot of ways.

Like none of the, the great people of tiger's generation, uh, stood up and, and beat him. Maybe it was like, they felt like they had a free role, right? Maybe with nothing to lose. Yeah. I guess it depends on what you consider on hell. Uh, cause he beat him at Oakmont kind of going head to head. Now is another like episode of tiger, the, the, the myth

that tiger never missed important pots. Uh, if you ever want to watch one that like deflates at Oakmont is a good one too. He's still like the great, I think he's still, we're not denying any of his achievements, right? It's just that like literally nobody didn't miss pots. Nicholas missed pots. Like it happened a lot. So, all right. You guys ready for, for 2014? Ready? Gosh, Am I ever TC? I'm very excited to welcome you into the deep dives. Yeah.

Not scheduled outright that you got to sit out your first deep dive and wait an hour and a half to get into it. Oh, good. No. So 2014, let me take you guys there a little bit with other stuff that's going on in the golf world. Yeah. So I'm going to, I'm going to add this. Oh gosh. We got NLU content.

We've got no laying up.com. Hell yeah. There we got Sally getting off, getting off some Chris Berman jokes and how ESPN shows a lot of golf shots and golf channel NBC and CBS all love to show pre-shot routines, post-shot reactions, attempt to tell a story with every shot.

ESPN's strategy seems to be to cram as many golf shots as possible into their time. So also I love that random nugget from you too, Saliv from 1999 when Payne Stewart wins. If you look at the scorecard, Phil Mickelson, like there's, there's like a, you know, it looks like he's angry or frustrated, right? Like it's in brights to on 17 in like bolt. It's like really, really dark. Yeah, I totally forgot about that. No laying up.com. We've got a pre order for T shirts. Who is in this picture here? I want to know who the models

behind this. I no idea. I think it know who the models behind this. I, no idea. I think it's Neil and an ex-girlfriend. I'm pretty sure. Yeah. So that's, uh, you know, that's percolating here. We've got, so we're 15 years on from pain, Stewart's death and Ricky Fowler comes out and does a tribute to him wearing, wearing the plus fours and everything, you know, obviously he's Puma head to toe. He's got the massive Puma cap on and all of that. But that was very fitting there.

I thought it was a good tribute. So big Ricky era, big, big. Massive, massive. So 2014, what else is going on? We've got Patrick Reed has declared himself a top five player in the world after his win at the WGC Cadillac Championship at Doral. We'll get to Doral in a bit here. Big techs Jimmy Walker is just cleaning up.

He won the fries.com opener as the season opener. He won in Hawaii, Zach Johnson won the tournament of champions. We've got just, it kind of, it's kind of a similar crew to what we have going on now. Adam Scott is the number one player in the world at this moment. It was a little dark in this, in this time period. I mean, I thought like Sun, you'll know was always like up around, you'll know, uh, he had won it. These are a classic of new Orleans a few weeks prior. Bubba have won his second masters. Uh, Steven Bowditch won the Texas open, Matt, everyone, the Arnold Palmer invitational Jason

days playing well, Kevin Stadler won the West. Yeah. Waste management will get to him in a bit as well. Players championship. So players was back in May at this point, Martin K bit as well. Players championship. So players was back in may at this point, Martin Kymar wins the players championship. So some, some foreshadowing there. Martin Kymar wins the players championship and we were making picks in all of our weekly

preview columns and he had a three good rounds and a bad Sunday round at the weekend before I almost those Wells Fargo, whatever it was. And he was 80 to one to win the players. And I was like, guys, we should put Martin Kimer in our picks. We I remember fighting about this fighting tooth and nail. TC would not let me include Kimer in our picks for the week. And I was bovada betting, I think back then, I put $10 on Kimer to win at the players that 80 to one. And he won. And I w I went ape shit. I was, I was rubbing it in everybody's face. I told him, he was your fucking put

them in the picks and I won 800 bucks off of it. Yeah. I remember that distinctly. So leading in we've got Adam Scott, one colonial Hideki wins his first career PGA tour victory at the Sally's beloved Muirfield village. And then Ben Crane wins the week prior at the FedEx St. Jude classic. So we're going to Pinehurst. Also big Ben Crane era, right? That was his fifth career, fifth career win, which is astonishing. So we're going into Pinehurst.

It's they're stretching it out. It's 7, 7562 yards. It's about 350 yards longer than in 2004. They took out dozens of acres of turf, much different test of golf than it was prior. Like, Sully, you were saying 16, how long is 16? It was four 80, four 85, 16 is playing five 20, five 25. And, you know, and again, it's not even quite as challenging. So like shorter, right? Exactly. Right. Yeah. Exactly. So, you know, we're getting there. There's all sorts of conjecture about the golf course, about, Hey, what, you know, this trend in architecture, what have Corrin Crenshaw done here? So, let me. Oh God. I totally forgot. It's brown. That's right. It's brown. And there are some haters out there. Don't like it so much.

There are some haters out there. Here we go. We've got DT chiming in. He said, I bet the horrible look of Pinehurst translates into poor TV ratings. This is not what golf is about. Exclamation point. Johnny Miller, correctly, very critical of greens at Pinehurst, said they should be redone in a reply to Matt Janela. He said, it's true, Matt.

The new blue monster is better than Pinehurst. So is Bedminster Turnberry and Trump Aberdeen. Blow it away. So, uh, and then he said turnberry in Scotland is a far superior golf course to pine. And it is even close. Likewise, the blue monster at the row. So, uh, you know, DT was kind of fun in this era on Twitter. Oh, he's just mixing it up. I would love it if DT had just stayed part of golf Twitter. It's so sweet. I remember, right? There's also one where you took a photo of a TV like we all do and like of how brown it was and tweeted about how bad everything looked on TV. Like it's just the best. Yeah. So this is, if you'll remember, this is the last year that NBC has the U S open the following

year, it goes to chambers Bay and Fox takes over and everything. And so it's kind of Johnny's send off and ESPN is still doing it. And Chris Berman is in the booth and Sally and Randy and I are just lighting Chris Berman up. I mean, every day just Twitter. So we'll get there. We'll get there. But going in, there's no special exemptions into this one. NLU friend of the program, Will Grimmer is in the field through the Springfield sectional. He ends up making like five birdies in one of his rounds. Brian Stewart, of course, got through the Springfield sectional as he always does. Scott Langley earned entry as an alternate.

It would be his last entry into the US Open and now he's a USGA stalwart and he never emceed there either. I think he played in four or five of them, never emceed. 2005 champ Michael Campbell does not enter, citing a tendon in his left ankle and current form. Sadly, he's also getting divorced at this time from Julie's wife as well. So going through some personal stuff. Brooks Koepka qualifies through the sectional at Walton Heath. That'll be a theme of the tweets that we'll throw up on the screen where Rinsale is shouting at the top of his lungs.

This guy is going to be really good. This guy is going to be really good. Kat pinched a nerve in his back. He had surgery after an uneven spring. He emceed at Torrey. I think he played well at Honda. Node is giving all sorts of updates at this point on what Tiger's got going on. May 30th, 2014, the Wall Street Journal reports that the FBI and the SEC are investigating

one Phil Mickelson for insider trading. So he's got a lot going on, you know, similar to a lot going on in 99. Got a lot going on just in a different way. 15 years later, he's wearing a beeper in 99. He's wearing an ankle bracelet in 2014. Yeah. Yeah. Let me know if the cops are calling in the second you hear it. I want an early head start. I'm going to a place with a non-extradition treaty, right? You'd be there in five hours. Dustin Johnson had withdrawn from the Houston Open to go play in, I believe, the Natsters at

Cusco Willow tournament put on by Nat Hardwick, who I think is still in federal prison. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.

Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.

Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. honest, I am also annoyed about something. I don't mind saying it, but I think it is a bit cheeky of the USGA in making the draw the way they did. I'm with Brendan DeJong and Kevin Stadler for the first two rounds. Someone's bright idea.

Put the three big guys together. I think it's unfair to the three of us. It is definitely not drawn out of the hat. That's for sure. And I just hope we don't get stick from the galleries. What they did is making a mockery of the three of us. I spoke to GMAC and he thinks I should say something to the USGA about it. Is this Shane Lowry? Shane Lowry. Yeah. Yeah. So Brendan Neong actually gets off to a really, really good start. You know, ends up in a shit ton of birdies, man. That dude could fill up the cup. Yeah, he's, you know, from Zimbabwe originally, but

lives lives in North Carolina. So he's kind of got local support and everything as well. He's also wearing all sorts of white pants, which, you know, very tough for a big guy, tough for a big guy to wear white pants as summer in June. There should be some sort of NLU punishment someday where I got to play around in white pants because it is not a good look for me. I mean, as I put them on in the golf galaxy once it was like, Oh no, not it. I'm not it. So tournaments often going in. Sally is already just chirping,

chirping, chirping. Chris Berman, what's going to take a mammoth effort out on the course to best Berman short sleeve dress shirt tie combo is the best thing I see today. Hey, Finchi, the American leading the United States open had to play on the European tour this year because of the new qualifying system. Loved those. I love the look back of like, like that first, the top tweet there does not sound like me. Like that could be you. That could be you.

Maybe that was me or Randy, right? Yeah. Haven't finished breakfast and Berman is already screwing things up. Referred to the shape of the greens as inverted mushrooms. Buckle up. Sounds like UTC. Next up, we've got Jimmy Walker has three wins on this young season. Berman, as he announces the 31st tournament of the year.

That was me. That sounds like me. Sally is this dates it, right? Must've been a mistake in my channel guide is it says that the US Open has been on for an hour, but I've seen about five shots. This is a couple of days later, but this is TiVo. TiVo, yeah.

You're showing your TiVo guide and everything here, which I thought was great. I love TiVo. I wish TiVo had stuck around. TiVo was sick. And then here's one. You've got the dream team right here. Yet we get hours of Berman and it's a picture of a zinger and van Pelt. They were

a great duo together. This was before a zinger was maybe not the best announcer. He was a great announcer back then. They were so, um, yeah. So getting into round one, Kymor goes out shoots, shoots 65. It's really dry out there. It's a much different presentation, dusty, just all sorts of brown, tan, kind of looked like the Tanimal out there. You got Kymor 65 after round one. He's putting from everywhere, putting from way off the greens. Leads by three over Brennan DeYoung, GMAC, Kevin Na. Do you guys remember who kind of the Cinderella story was this week. Cinderella story, 20 older guy, team, older Kelly. He, so you guys aren't going to get Fran Quinn.

Okay. Literally that's the first time here. Get this person here. Here's Fran Quinn and his son on Sunday. They did a whole father's day montage. It actually showed the whole father's day. And first time I'm hearing of this person. Here's Frank Quinn and his son on Sunday. They did a whole father's day montage. It actually showed Jimmy and Zach Blair, you know, a few others, but Frank Quinn is kind of the darling of this tournament. Exactly. It kind of looks like speed, right? His first US Open since 1996, 49 years old. Of course, Quinn won the 1989 Mass Am and he won a smattering of nationwide tour events

plus the Thailand Open, which I really, really give a lot of credence to. So Kymer birdied four of his first nine and just didn't really look back. And then there's a stalwart group at minus one, Keegan, Harris English, Dustin, Kuchar, Decky, Francesco Molinari, Sneds, Spieth, Stenson, and Brendan Todd. The scoring average was 73.23. So three shots over par, basically. Mickelson shot even, but so that kind of throws Kymers 65 into pretty stark contrast of like,

it's a good round. Which it gets remembered for being a snoozer of a tournament, but it's like just a fucking iconic performance. It was incredible performance. And it, you know, unfortunately, like people like drama. We all like drama and you can almost like convince yourself Pinehurst is not a good venue for that because it didn't provide any drama,

but like you can't do anything if one guy goes and has a great tournament. That was my thing. Just looking back at this is like, I didn't have any drama, but like you can't do anything if one guy goes and has a great tournament. That was my thing. Just looking back at this is like, I didn't have great memories of it. It makes me more excited for this year's tournament because the presentation is awesome. The course looks awesome.

The, you know, I think they're, it sounds like they're trying to keep the greens a little bit shaggier in certain spots. So you can't necessarily putt it from everywhere. You have to chip it, but they got an inch of rain overnight between Thursday and Friday, which it sounds like the next few weeks here this year are going to be similar. Like it's going to be pretty, pretty wet there, unfortunately. But Kymer just basically just goes right back out and keeps up, keeps doing what he's doing.

Shoots another 65. He birdies, I think he started on 10 that day, Birdie's 10 and 12. And then he drives the third green, which, you know, I've played the third hole a lot. I don't see that. He sets the US open record at 130. So 65, 65. And if you combine his back nine on Thursday and Friday, he shot 63 on the back nine with, you know, holes like 16 out there that are freaking hard. So more guys under par, there's 21 guys under par in round two, 13 under par for the tournament at the halfway point. Only one

amateur makes the cut. Matt, Matt Fitzpatrick scoring average slightly better on, on Friday. It bumped the tee up at three. So that was why he drove it. But still that's like, that's something I hope they do this year, bump the tee up on three or even on 13, right? Rory shoots a 68. He's, he's minus one at the, at, at the midway point. Kevin Nah has this to say,

I heard that Martin Kimer played the number three course. Is that true? Nah said after a solid 69, put him seven shots behind. It's unbelievable what he's done. Is four or five under out there? Yes. 10 under out there? No, I don't think so. I guess it was out there for him.

I watched some of the shots he hit, some of the putts he's made and he looks flawless. That was from Bob Herig on ESPN. KVV, what were you doing this week? So this was, I was just starting to get back into golf. I had been covering football for ESPN for several years and no one at the magazine was really into writing about golf.

And so I was kind of like, hey, I think we should write like a Phil Mickelson, like big deep dive feature. And ESPN was like, okay, like, you know, if you can get him to participate in it, you know, the last era of Phil Mickelson, right, the he'll definitely not going to win another major, you know, he's 40, whatever at this point. And so they were like, go to the US Open, like, you can, you know, if you just follow him around, try to, you know, get

him to talk. And so basically, I went there, I was I basically tailed Phil, I did what I did with Victor this year was like tailed Phil for four rounds. And I ended up getting all kinds of really good stuff that I did use eventually in like a column about Phil the following year. But I, he wouldn't like Steve Loi was like, yeah, no, he's not going to do anything. He's just not interested in, in looking back. I remember Steve was like, he's like a shark, Kevin. He just always moves forward. He doesn't, he can't go backward and look back. I remember Steve was like, he's like a shark, Kevin. He just always moves

forward. He doesn't, he can't go backward and look backwards. My other funny story is I was having dinner in Pinehurst, you know, it's that little village and everybody's kind of eating at the same restaurants and it's all, you know, you can kind of bump into people. And I was sitting at like a sushi restaurant and having like a kind of a spirited debate with some of my colleagues about Rory at this point. And I was like, you know, who had won congressional, but you know, he hadn't won the British open yet or the PGA. Right. And so I was kind of, sort of, we were talking about, is he the next tiger?

And Rory had won the BMW PGA like leading into it. And I was like, you know, I don't know, I don't see it. I don't think he's like wants it much as tiger did. Like he's probably wants some more of a normal life. He's too normal. The kid like he's never going to like push himself to that extent to sort of, you know, tiger lived, breathed, sleep, ate golf. It's just, I just don't see it. I don't think he wants that for his life. And at the end of the meal, my colleague Scott at the time was close to Rory fucking macro was sitting right behind you, like at the end of the meal, my colleague Scott, at the time was goes to Rory fucking McElroy was sitting right behind you, like at the table. You're just like going off about Rory not wanting it this whole time.

I don't want to say anything with like, where is it right there? I was like, Oh, thanks for the heads up, dude. That was pretty cool. They kind of set you up for that too. What do you think about Rory McElroy? So I asked Cody because Cody was living in Pinehurst at this time and in Southern Pines at the time. And I was like, Hey, like, what do you remember about that week? He's like, Oh, I got home. I got home on Monday. We were renting our house to Golf Channel Productions.

And I got home on Monday from Afghanistan. And then ISIS was like taking over Iraq at that time. I flew to Kurdistan on that Saturday unexpectedly. I was like, Jesus. So yeah, I don't remember much about what Ricky was wearing. Okay. But speaking of golf channel, like they were, they kind of went all out. They had, you know, they had an NBC from three to five

on Thursday and Friday. They had, you know, obviously ESPN coverage leading in there. And then they had noon to 7.30 Saturday and Sunday. They had Rich Burr, Lerner, Kelly Tillman on live from kind of leading that with all the other analysts. The golf fix with Michael Breed was live from the driving range. They had their own like, they had like three studio shows on site, they had a state of the game thing that they did. They had eight features. They like all sort of just pouring money into this thing.

Wow. Different era. Yeah, oh yeah, yeah. Some other recollections just kind of at the halfway point. I remember thinking that the Wiregrass was a little bit like two, like not enough of a penalty, right? Like it was like 0.1,

0.2 shots. And it should have been like 0.4. I just remember being a little bit frustrated there. And I think some of that stemmed from wanting to see more drama, right? Wanting to see spots where Kymer could get into trouble. And even when he had a wayward drive, he was getting a good lie, you know, out of the, out of the native, right? I remember, right. It was like one out of four or five would be really bad. And the rest were like, you could, you could scramble your way out of the native. I remember it was like one out of four or five would be really bad and the rest were like you could scramble your way out of. Yeah. And it's crazy looking back to like this is 10 years ago now, but I mean, it's kind of crazy that that was the last time that the US Open was at Pinehurst.

The US Women's Open that following week where Michelle Wee is one as well. So that was big time. I think. That was awesome. By the way, the back to back, like that was, I just remember we were not following women's golf at that time. And I remember being glued to watching the US women's

open the next week. Like it was the best way to, I think they had the best ratings they've ever had for that. Like that was easily the best way to amplify that event. Good take here. Pinehurst looks awesome. It's playing fair, but tough. A great leaderboard. Mike Davis may be pouring a celebratory drink over lunch. That was from the NoLayingUp account. This is kind of apropos of nothing other than to say, like, say what you want about golf. We're

about the only sport that Pitbull hasn't invaded. And I just, this could have been a foreshadowing DJ Khaled. It's part of his summoning of spirits. Oh no. I thought this was a really good one. So on Thursday, it was at 4pm on Thursday, there are 75 players within three shots of the lead. 24 hours later, he tweeted 24 hours ago, there were 75 players within three of the lead. Now there's nobody within six. And that kind of summed up where, you know, where Kymer was and everything. So I, I tab this, this, this outfit from DJ with those blue, that looks like something you would have been wearing. No, that's not, does not look like something I'd be wearing. I had literally probably bought this exact same outfit. Like I, I was obsessed with the DJ blue in this time period.

Here's a, here's like poofs of like, that's like, that makes me, I saw it. Like I was, I was rewatching some of the rounds. I'm like, and Kymar's wearing these like, so for those listening, there's just massive poof of dust and dirt on an iron shot of just makes me want to go play golf. Makes me want to go hit iron shots.

Makes me want to go to Pinehurst, right? Kymar's wearing white pants. I think he wore white pants the first day. I think this is like the third day. He's wearing those kind of streetwear Adidas shoes that didn't look like golf shoes that were kind of all the rage at the time. A lot of white belts in this event too. So here's a few more tweets here. Just getting off Nicholson jokes. The FBI is going to have to reopen their insider trading investigation if Phil tries to cash a 40 to one ticket on Kymer golf coverage being legit excruciating.

Lefty looks dialed in, eager to see how he progresses. He didn't progress. And then I'm glad to see Brooks Koepke on the leaderboard and hope he shows out this weekend for America to see future US star. Speaking of outfits. I'm gonna go ahead and get to the next one. I'm gonna go ahead and get to the next one. I'm gonna go ahead and get to the next one. I'm gonna go ahead and get to the next one. I'm gonna go ahead and get to the next one. I'm gonna go ahead and get to the next one.

I'm gonna go ahead and get to the next one. I'm gonna go ahead and get to the next one. I'm gonna go ahead and get to the next one. I'm gonna go ahead and get to the next one. I'm gonna go ahead and get to the next one. I'm gonna go ahead and get to the next one. I'm gonna go ahead and get to the next one. I'm gonna go ahead and get to the next one. wearing high top, like bright red Jordans, white pants, white belt, red shirt, bright red hat.

It's a lot. 2014 was a big match, like matching color theme. Like there was a lot of this like solid coloring going on more on the Nike side than anything. But this is looking at this too. You see three towers back behind. This is, this is the ninth green. You see three towers back behind, this is the ninth green, you see three towers back there. You see, like having been to Pinehurst a bunch in the last six, seven, eight years, I appreciate the hell out

of this hole a lot more. And some other holes too, just like knowing where this sits on the property and how the elevation changes work and all that. Whereas I think, watching this tournament live, I just remember thinking, oh, this is kind you know, this is kind of a, this is kind of a flat golf course. And you don't really have any context for where stuff is. Is this where your boys Zach makes a hole in one on that? I feel I know almost certain Zach made a hole. Zach made a hole in one. Oh, yeah. Okay. I didn't. Yeah. I didn't have that. Yeah. Here's just a vintage Noah. You know, this is like early no, no, no. Who is Phil Mickelson? There's a jeopardy thing. This guy is

probably going to get up and down from jail. Jail jokes were coming in hot this week. Yeah. I'm a little bit concerned. There's all sorts of Drake jokes. And looking back, I didn't really get these. How you know it's over Drake out there after Kymar's last birdie. This was Drake like, he was all over anybody that like, he was like the, any team that was doing well, any player that was doing well, he was a huge fan of them. Like that was the huge thing going on in 2014. That does not mean these are good jokes.

I'm just explaining the joke. I was just wondering how you were falling out on the whole Kendrick Lamar, Drake beef. And if we have to worry about you at all. I'm making fun of Drake in these or attempting to. So, okay. I gotcha. Going to round three, going to Saturday, Kymor shoots plus two, shoots 72, finishes the day with a five shot lead over Eric Compton and medium Dick Rick.

It got a little dicey on that Saturday afternoon, if I remember right. He was shaking. So both of them, Rick and Compton, both shot rounds of 67. They were the only under par rounds for the day. So they were kind of heads and shoulders above everybody else that day. Only six guys under par for the event at this point.

73.82 scoring average that day. So you got Dustin and Henrik at T4 at minus two, Snad's minus one, Brooks, Naa at even, Spieth at plus one. Stenson felt like a legit contender at times and he just couldn't stop kind of like he would go over a green here or there. It was just kind of, it was a little bit, I don't know, it was just kind of one step forward, two steps back. But yeah, I mean, Kymer, like the lead gets to three or four, but then he just always, he'll make a birdie or a bogey and then he just makes two birdies in a row or it was just relentless. And you know, round three felt like his bad round, but he's just, you know, he's just right there. So fourth round.

He's just, you know, he's just right there. So fourth round, uh, Tc, once you, you missed the squirrel thing. Do you remember the squirrel anecdote? I don't. So this is how boring the US open kind of felt to the media on site. If that was, is like a squirrel, like ran over and like fussed around Kymers ball in the third round of the Saturday. And it's kind of a nothing burger, but like one of those things on

TV that like they joked about a bunch. And so in the presser afterwards, like a local TV reporter was like, Oh, did you think the squirrel was going to see your ball? And camera was like, I'm sorry. What? And she was like, no, the squirrel. And he's like, squirrel, you want me to talk about the school? That's right. Cause Germans can't say squirrel. Yeah, that's a square. Is it a thing? I didn't know that. That's a thing. Germans really struggle with the word squirrel. And so they kept grilling about the squirrel and he gave such a sweet German quote. He was like, no, like, I mean, this is their home. Like this is where they play.

Um, keep going. Oh, good. So Kymer, like it's kind of just, it's just relentless. That's the story of the whole tournament. He shoots 69, he wins by eight. Oh my God. He won by eight? Yeah. He's nine under over Compton and Rick. Both of them shot 72 final round. They're the only guys under par. Nobody else in the whole fucking tournament is even under par. Nobody had even, Keegan, Jason Bay, Dustin, Brooks, and Henrik all finished plus one. Adam Scott, Branson Hicker, Big Tex, Jimmy Walker at plus

two. Kymer had it to like minus 10 through 14 holes, and then he bogeyed 16. He had an eight shot lead up through four holes that day. Ricky doubled four and then he birdied five. Compton kind of started charging. He had closed it to four after eight holes. Like he had birdied eight and 10 and then he dropped back on 11 and 12. He had a bad three putt on seven, which I'm so stoked to watch seven this year. But like Kymor, like perfect example, bogey's 10. Like he went over the green and then putts it from over the green to short of the green, like puts it off the green. And then like basically like

bogey's easiest hole in the course. And then Rick and Compton both bogey 11. And you know, Kymor birdies 13, basically ices it. Johnny says, turn out the lights. The party is over after he birdies it on 13. So Compton finishes at 279, runner up in his second major. Kymer jars it on 18, puts an exclamation point on it. But yeah, fourth largest margin of victory in US Open history, eight shot victory, first ever to win players in US Open in the same year. Other takeaways I had were just impressive stuff from Ricky. He's 25 at the time. And this was the year that he finished what had were just impressive stuff from Ricky. He's 25 at the time. And this was the year that he finished what? Top five and all the majors.

Yeah. Look, Kimer's second major too, which like we don't, it doesn't roll off the tongue as a two time major winner, but two majors in five year span. Brooks finishes T4. That's a glimpse of things to come. Rick Riley tweets Martin Kimer versus 2014 US Open equals Germany versus 1939 Poland. And we tweet, please stay retired. I think Rick Riley was like hanging out in Italy at this point or something. He was, uh, he just learned about World War II. I think at this point, uh, I think the, I think the world cup was going on at the same time as this too, cause there's a lot of soccer tweets in the timeline and a lot of like,

who was the, who was the guy that was the coach's son? Bradley, Bradley, Gus Bradley. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, or Michael Bradley or something like that. Yeah. Gus was the coach. Michael was, yeah. Gus Bradley was the old Jags coach. Team Rose made a putt on 18 and does like a tribute to Payne Stewart. And, you know, it was interesting watching Team Rose because he's the defending champ too. He won at 2013 at Marion. And so he's wearing the Ashworth stuff kind of previous iteration of Team Rose.

He does the preplanned, you know, kind of pain tribute there. We've got Sally's really, really concerned about is the Ryder Cup going to be handicapped this year? At this point, the only chance the U S is going to have is if they start sandbagging because it's a good tweet. That's a good question. I mean, yeah, I get hyped up in 2014. That's proof. That's evidence. I did it was Dan Jenkins from the top rope on the shark here. Chimer with a six stroke lead in the final round. The only guy who could blow this is going to announce it next year. Oh, ox. Hashtag shark.

Here's Ricky with his dad, Rod. I wish Dan Jenkins had lived through the live era. I would have been like Dan Jenkins, patriotism, plus his like loathing of Greg Norman would have been truly enjoyable. In this kind of just, just, you know, bottom lines it couple tweets here. It may not have been the most exciting weekend, but watching true dominance in sports is special and in and of itself amazing performance. So not kind of, you know, shouting out a Kymor, not really finding fault with it as from no laying up. And then Johnny Miller picking apart Martin Kymor as he strolls

down the 72nd hole with an eight shot lead is the most Johnny Miller way to go out ever. I remember that screen. Yeah. Kymor was just like putting from everywhere. They just kept questioning it. Is he going to put this one too, Johnny? Okay. Yeah. He's going to fucking put it. He can't ship and he's putting it amazing the entire week. Like why would he not be putting this? I was, I remember that from, from that entire week, there's kind of a, you know, Brooks finishes T four and that's kind of a glimpse of things to come. And really in hindsight, it feels like kind of a Brooks layout, like knowing what we know now about Brooks with only three guys under par, like the fact that he played well there, kind of a good preview

of what's to come. And then lastly, we had a recap, a summary on our website. Points five and six here, I'd like to say. Happy trails, NBC and Chris Berman on Thursday, Friday. Johnny was more insufferable than ever and the chemistry with the rest of the team seemed off all week. Judging by what I've seen on the Twittersphere, I'm not alone. Bring on Fox's coverage, whatever that ends up looking like.

Just please no Cletus. And I think, Sali, you're byline here, but I think we're all just tossing them in from every direction. That sounds like you. But this does, this sounds like you. Six, I was keeping the OWGR this weekend and I came across a guy at number 62 that I've literally never heard of.

Kume Oda. This day and age with the global nature of the game and the big money events based on OWGR. I'm just not sure how that's even possible. Looks like he's played in four majors as well, but how someone can get to the top 70 in the world, being completely anonymous in the world stage is curious and somewhat impressive. It's not like he was even stacking Japan tour wins.

He's got two in the last two years. He just keeps banking top tens. So that's an early, early warning of, we're watching out for the manipulators here. How do I get you guys to contribute writing like that to major coverage now? That's what I would love to have a little notebook of people dumping their thoughts in.

The whole point is way harder to find 10 years later. That's why we put everything in audio form now these days. What's the yardage for this year's U S open? Any idea? I think it's pretty similar. Similar. Um, yeah, I don't think there's a whole lot, um, that's been lengthened. I remember one thing I do remember TC when we were in Abu Dhabi in 2018, we did

like a, in the chalet, we went and met Martin Kimer cause I had a 40 to one ticket on Kimer to win the U S open as well. I, I remember I was like, I told him, I was and met Martin Kimer. Cause I had a 40 to one ticket on Kimer to win the U S open as well. I, I remember I was like, I told him, I was like, yeah, I'm sure you get this all the time, but I bet on you when the players end the U S open that year. So I do owe you a beer. He had kind of thought about it for a little while.

And he's like, yeah, you, you do owe me a beer. Yeah. That's, that's really, that's really good. Yeah. I think one thing just to like looking at the, the setup, I just don't remember them pushing up the third hole, you know, the third tee there. I think that's like, I'm kind of stoked about them stuff that they can do with the course here, whether it's, you know, playing five, you know, play that up a little bit farther one day or mixing up some like moving nine tee up a little bit or, you know, kind of

having, cause I think like part three wise, if you play all those part threes from the tips, they're, you know, two 19, one 90, two Oh two and two Oh five, like having, you know, having a shorty in there would be awesome. It's, it's on the Wikipedia page. It's listed at 75 43 for, uh, for 2024. Yes. Okay. So that's actually, so as the scorecard, that's actually 19 yards shorter this year than in 2014. Interesting. So you see, I looked it up so that I wasn't making sure

I wasn't making it up. Zach did make a hole in one and then did like a lap around the green, basically the ninth hole, you would have absolutely hated the celebration that I'm looking at now around SB Nation GIF. That was the thing I was trying to find. It's 10 years ago, so it's not like stuff's changed so much, but also, it was like Emily K at, at like SB nation or there's, you know, there's still Herrick writing or there's still, you've still got your ship, Nuck stuff and the Bamberger stuff and all that, but just never really seen like this one. There was,

there was some seminal thing and Kymer was super classy afterwards. Like, you know, just kind of very German, like, Hey, I, you know, I hope Bernhard's proud of me. And, you know, just kind of very German, like, Hey, I, you know, I hope Bernhard's proud of me. And, you know, I hope the Germans are proud of me, but just very kind of direct and somewhat emotionless, you know? And so I think there, there wasn't really some singular moment that the week kind of, you know, honed in on. And it was just more of like, man, eight shots, like that's crazy. That's wild, man. That was wild. Swing was, was filthy back then the way he like created lag. It was just really kind of cool. Which this was also like after he, cause what he won.

He was world number one in 2011 and then he wanted to work at both ways. That's right. I forgot about that. He wanted to get away from his, from his from his fate. Yeah. So, yeah, I forget what it was. I think he wanted to go to a draw. Yeah. So he could contend in Augusta. And then like, so at that point going into players, like he hadn't won since 2011, he had MC'd at Augusta. Um, and really since, since this U S open, he hasn't finished in the top 25 of the us open. And you know, obviously now he's the captain of my cliques and, uh, you know, kind of under fire for, for some of his play.

Is his exemption done? Is it this year or the last year of it? 14 to 24 is a, that's a good question. Yeah. Yeah. I'd be serious if he's, uh, he has exempt, uh, recent winners 2014. Yeah. This is last year of his winter's exemption. So sweet. There we go. There you have it. Point Hearst. Pinehurst is it's really, really good. I'm going to go rewatch 1999 tonight. Uh, that was, I'm not going to rewatch 2014.

Not a reflection of any of the work that you put in here, TC. It just 99 really was that epic. And I'm very much looking forward to what I consider to be a very proper test. We'll have a lot more US Open preview content coming out over the coming weeks. We'll of course have live shows during the US Open. Full Core Press will be here but KV will be on site, we'll be writing, we'll be pumping it out. So thanks a bunch for tuning in for another deep dive, pod, TC, KV, thank you for the hours of work

that go into researching this stuff. And thank you everyone for tuning in and listening. We'll see you back here soon, cheers. Be the right club today. Johnny, that's better than most. How about in? That is better than most. Better than most!