No Laying Up - Golf Podcast - 852 - US Open Preview

Episode Date: June 11, 2024

We officially kick off US Open week with our preview pod as we look at all the storylines, contenders, our favorite holes at Pinehurst #2, the betting odds, ranking the last decade of US Open venues and some of our favorite US Open memories, plus listener questions. 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: Titleist - start your fitting process today Foresight Sports Blade and Bow Whiskey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Be the right club. Be the right club today. That's better than most. That is better than most. Better than most. Expect anything different? better than most. Expect anything different. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the No Lying Up podcast. Solly here, United States Open Championship week, Pinehurst number two. So much to talk about. So many storylines. My guy, Icarito Neal Schuster is here.

Hello, Neal. Hello, Solly. I'm down the shore. I'm in the Jersey shore right now. This, this United States open, as Max said in an Instagram post, they brought you by the revolutionary war. I thought that was a great shout out to the original Patriots. Happy to be here. So there were shirts going around at the London baseball game this past week that said the, uh, the British blew a 13 colony lead. Uh, which, yeah, I don't know. I don't know. I was starting this fight this week, but I

kind of like that, you know, the Warriors blew a three to one lead. The British had 13 colonies over here and they blew the lead. They couldn't keep it. Anyways, TC is here. He's not the one getting us off track for somehow, some way. Hello TC. Innocent. I quit it on all charges. Good to be here guys. Neil, hope you're enjoying your new beach house.

Oh, it's not mine. You know, it's not mine. Knock it off. You'd probably hear my child crying downstairs, a new environment. I'm playing from the road again. You never know, Neil, a few more of these and maybe we can get there one day. And what is this? That's an ad read.

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Choose the superior performance, quality and consistency of the number one ball in golf. So go to Titleist.com, start the fitting process, find out which Titleist golf ball is right for your game. We're going to talk some Pinehurst. We're going to talk a few of the past Pinehurst, uh, you know, past us open venues, as we, you know, kind of talk about why we're excited about this week in particular, what kind of skills are going to be on display this past week, uh, you know, we're going to go through some odds, rundowns.

We're going to talk about some favorite us open memories, things like that. Talk about some of the coverage, maybe a little bit of hamster jam. We got some listener questions on the back half, but we've started doing this on preview podcasts the last several times, and we're going to keep it going. I'm going to go to Neil first of just drafting, going in order. You can take them off the board however you want it. Your favorite storylines, your favorite, well, what are you most excited about? What are you curious about as this week kicks off?

I won't go down a leaderboard TC style like I did for the PGA preview. But if I got the first pick, I'm taking Scottie. I mean, it is the story right now for golf. Can he get two out of three or two out of four, you know, two of the last three majors? He's coming off of one at Memorial. I mean, he's the story in golf right now. I don't know what else there is to say.

I mean, we talked a lot about it last night. He's just better than everybody else and he's doing it in a very casual way. I got a lot of feedback about my analogy that he is like water. It's not intimidating, but it's just nonstop. He's hitting the ball close every time you see him on an approach shot. And I think this like the course fit, you were joking around last week, saw that the data golf course fit

had a perfect memorial. I would guess that he's right up there at the top here at Pinehurst. Drives it straight, knows how to get his golf ball to stop. So yeah, Scottie is the story for me. Just to color in there as I knew that was gonna, that one was gonna come off the board,

but is Scottie the most interesting golfer ever? I would I would not say yes to that yet. But it is for this to get more interesting, like beyond just the golf world, he's got to win this one. And I don't care if it is like in boring fashion and not the most exciting. Like I don't think his Masters when was the most exciting thing ever. But all of a sudden, this thing gets really, really freaking interesting if he wins this one, we can run through some of the numbers.

I can do that right now if you guys want. Yeah, we'll, we'll wait on that as guys that have won multiple majors in the same year and kind of how many wins they've, they've, they've tallied up in there. It gets a lot more interesting if he does win this one, but gosh, this is a huge, huge spot on him. I feel like one of the, for one of the first times this year, there was a fair amount of pressure on him. He has not won one of these us opens. He's not won any major except for the masters. It's a different kind of test. I think they're,

he's going to be feeling a little bit of heat this week. Yeah. I think the grand slam is still alive because it's the triple crown this year. And you know, when, when all three of the majors that were contested in this calendar year, we can even throw in the Memorial. He's already halfway there if you count the Memorial. Or the players. Throw the players in. Yeah. This is the second proper major of the year. We're just going to ignore what happened in wonderful there. No, I think it's can we have a proper setup and a great finish? Can we have, you know, by all accounts, the weather's great this week. It's been a really good spring there, you know, or good early summer. They've switched the greens out to Bermuda from bent. I think it was bent in 2014. So can we have, you know, it's one

of the best golf courses in the world. Can we have a great setup? Can we have a great finish? Can all of those things coalesce or? And I don't think it's necessarily an indictment if it's not a great finish, but I'd like to see, you know, there's, there's, I'd like to just put it to bed that, hey, we can get all these things at the same place. Right. That's a great one. I think that the US Open, they do a great job with this for the most part of, are we trying to create the most entertaining product?

Are we trying to have the best tournament? And I think they're trying to have the best tournament, like the best competition. I really do. And we can talk some of their, you know, lack of teeth in some of the setups that they've had, but at the same time, like, you know, maybe it was more entertaining when it was total carnage

and they would lose the golf course. But at the same time, I feel like they aren't trying to package it. PGA championship felt like made in a lab for like, we just want a ton of birdies and we want to pack leaderboard and chaos on the back nine. Right? Which I think is a different

than having a really interesting tournament from Thursday to Sunday. Does that gonna resonate with a hundred percent of people? I do not think it will. Like I think that's pretty clear on some of the feedback we've received on how we talk about golf courses, but we're always going to share what we find interesting.

And I think exactly how you laid that out there. Yeah. TC I love that. I really do. Can we have both? Can we have nice things? Can we have a proper setup and you know, a true test and can we get a photo finish? I mean, that's, that's, I hope those two things can exist. I wish they existed more often. I don't know if they are, you know, at odds with each other, but it's felt a little bit like fleeting recently. And even if we don't get a great finish, can we get a great tournament? Like you said,

Sally, can it be a great Saturday? Can it be something, you know, let's say it's not neck and neck down the stretch on Sunday, That still doesn't mean it was a great tournament or a great finish. So, you know, I think to like going back to, to Kymer, I think people have a certain, like I was pleasantly surprised when I went back and watched that tournament because it was a lot more interesting than I thought it was going to be. It wasn't a complete runaway all day, Saturday and Sunday. It was kind of back and forth or not back and forth, but it was guys catching up, catching up, catching up. And then Kymer just hitting legitimately great shots to kind of close the door and putted well and all of that. So I think some of that took the luster off of the previous

US Open here in 2014 on the renovated or restored Pinehurst. It was a fun week. I mean, aside from the very top of the leaderboard, it was just, I don't know, felt like a reliving some of the memories of that week. It's not, and like you said, there's certain, if somebody has a huge lead throughout the course of the week, there's a lot of drama. I'm like, dude, is he going to choke it? Is he going to choke it? Just because he didn't doesn't mean it was an interesting tournament. So yeah, we'll talk a little bit more on that. I am going to choke it just because he didn't doesn't mean it, you know, was an interesting tournament. So I, yeah, we'll talk a little bit more on that. I am going to take Xander off the board early here, which I don't know, it might be going around a few too early here. I don't think that was going to be a threat coming from TC side as well. But just want to lay out a little

scenario here. Obviously, this is my Michael Penex pick right here. We already got, we already got, I think he wasn't a reach. He wasn't a reach. He was just a shocking pick by the team that picked him. Bad strategy by the Falcons. Sure. He just won a major championship. He's got a great track record at this event. And I said this on last night's show, like Scottie needs like a rival, right? And if they're the best threat to that right now, the guy who's been the best at golf so far this year, not named Scotty Scheffler has been Xander by a pretty, fairly wide margin. Like he has been the best golfer. And if he wins that this, this week, he's got a great record at the U S up. If he wins this week, he's got the same amount of majors as Scotty.

That's kind of fucking nuts. Like that's really, you know, all of a sudden it becomes all of a sudden Scotty's major record looks a little light. Like if somebody like Xander wins a second one this week. So I'm super curious to see if he, if that getting over the hump at the PGA, easier major asking a different question that I think a lot of the best majors do ask. I would argue it wasn't really asking any questions.

It's yeah, it's how low can you go as the limbo major championship. But does getting that one like technicality off the board and having one bag, does that help them in some of these better, bigger, better tests? I'm very curious to find that out this week because I could see a scenario like that playing out. I like that one, Sally. I kind of had a similar theme because I would put Xander in this category,

but it's more of a question, a call out. Are there any bullies? Are there, is there anybody that wants to, you know, the schoolyard and try to punch Scotty in the mouth? And I will go to Bryson Brooks, anybody from the live tour, you guys want to show up and play? I'm excited to see Bryson take on Pinehurst. He's definitely, so I'll take that as my next storyline. Is Bryson a bully? Is he going to come back and win a second one? Because that's another guy that, you know, Bryson and Scotty have the same amount of majors. Maybe that's like a true guy from a different tour now that's going to push

Scotty every time they show up at majors as a, as a contemporary. So I'm definitely keen to see if Bryson can follow up good play at the masters and good play in Kentucky this week in North Carolina. Can I better watch out Neil, people, people are going to get all over you for saying the word keen. They get all over me all the time. Keen. Let's kind of trying to keen for. Yeah. I overuse it. I am very keen. Can I can I drop a little nugget that shocked me just a little? This is maybe the place to drop it is if you were to get throw it. It should be hard to guess after what you just threw out if you were to guess the number one data golf course fit boost for this week. Who do you

think who do you think it gets the number one bump at Piner's number two? I'm guessing it's Bryson. It's Bryson. If you're watching this on our YouTube channel right now that again, this is based on 2014. Correct? It is it's also just like yeah, if you hit it far, you're going to probably be pretty good anyway. So the bumps here, yeah, like Gordon Sargent.

Some of it is a true rubber, the green, right? It's very different than when he won at wing foot, but I think there's a lot of holes. I was playing out at Pinehurst a month ago at the media day and you know, you hit it into the, the waste area, the wire grass, like you can get boned. It's my favorite kind of, you know, kind of rough penalty area because it is kind of, you don't want to be in there because it's like 50 50 if you're going to you're up against a clump of wire grass or you could just have a really nice sandy lie that you can ground your club in. And so I, there might be an argument that these guys just want to push it as far up the fairway as they want. And I think that favored Bryson

in a big way. And it's funny, like if you'd asked me two years ago or like peak the big golfer, like where does somebody that Bryson is gonna get wrecked, like his playing style is gonna get absolutely toasted. I would have said Pinehurst, but this version that we've seen of Bryson, I don't feel that way.

Like I feel like he's getting the most out of his distance while not like dedicating his entire game to just hitting it as far as possible. Like his iron play at the at the PGA Championship was fantastic ever since he's got these. I mean pretty much what he admitted himself like cheating irons that just hit the ball straight for him and and and and he'll correct his misses. Yeah. He's been a really good iron player. He his precision has reached a

different level as well. Like I, again, two years ago, I might've written this guy off. I, I'm very, also very keen to see what he does this week. One thing though, I will, sorry, TC, just on Bryson though, the, they are going to be growing out the rough around the greens and the short grass areas around the greens. So, you know, there's probably not going to be as much putting from everywhere. Like we saw from Kymer.

Just to clarify, not rough. Not rough. not rough. No, no, no, just like a little shag here. So it's like it and, and, and playing on it last month, it was even for an amateur where I should be putting no matter if it does bounce or gets, it's a little stickier. It's almost like a quarter of an inch, but I think Bryson's chipping is the one thing that feels a little suspect. He's thought a little bit of Augusta. He was putting a ton from off the green at Augusta. I wonder if that's, I would say that's a factor in me being like, oh my God, he's a horse for the course.

So the data golf range does surprise me. And I guess TC to your point, maybe based off of 2014. Yeah, I think Bryson, I mean, same thing. I go back to like the par threes of if he's hitting two or three clubs less into par threes, like that's a massive advantage in these greens. We're coming in higher, coming in with more spin. It's gonna be a big deal.

And just worth noting, and again, we don't, until we see how all this stuff plays out exactly, I think specific to like strokes gained around the green or short game skill, whatever it is, I feel like Augusta is a decent comp for Pinehurst in terms of at both places, you're just gonna have more shots from short grass, like from good lies around the green,

but difficult shots, right? Like that's, you know, some of the work that Data Golf did ahead of the Masters this year was like, who gets the bump around the green when the you're gonna have more shots in this profile, right? And Bryson was actually not a big bump, but one of the guys that does better around the greens when there's more short grass, right? Whereas funny enough, like guys like Phil go backwards, like Phil's

got these amazing flop shots, he's got this incredible skill out of the rough. Obviously, Hovland has had his issues around the greens and things like that. But just found that a little interesting to say, Bryson's chipping. Because that doesn't pass my eye test from what I saw at at Augusta. It felt like he was not confident chipping the ball. But I also think like overall for Pinehurst, we can trick ourselves into thinking this is an up and down contest. When

like, like my one of my favorite trivia questions, like what's the best way to improve your chipping? Hit more greens. Yes, it's a proximity to the whole contest. And like you said last night, which I thought summed it up, I think you said, I'm excited to see guys control the ball. Make the ball stop, I think is what you said. Bryson seems like a guy that knows how to make the ball stop.

He can hit it high, from long range and specific. This golf course is gonna ask, similar to a lot of major championship venues, it's gonna ask for about one and a half to two more shots per round from over 200 yards out, right? Which you're trading in some of the wedges that you typically see on the PGA Tour for longer range shots.

That helps a guy like Xander, like we said, a head of Valhalla of guys that are really good from over 200 yards helps guys like Scotty, of course, Bryson. So European Ryder Cup team. So like, just for an example, like, and then not throw, you know, not saying he can't contend here and not just this, you know, dismissing him based off poor play last week. But I

feel like people's minds go towards like, Cam Smith, oh, his short game around Pinehurst is going to be amazing. Like your short game can can help save you can help keep around going but it's still ball striking contest on this golf course, if not here more than other places just because the the misses that Xander like got away with at Valhalla, not the same margin of error here. It's not like some of these spots are three, four, five yards, you got to land it

in to be able to get the ball to stop and hold. And it's going to start rolling away from you otherwise. So it's asking a very different question. When you do get in a bunker, there's actual penalty. Totally. You can't short side yourself. This is a real golf course. Very, very, very real golf course. So who's up?

I lost track of where we were going. DC. DC's up. I think Colin's really interesting. There we go. Colin Warikawa. We're talking about iron play. Colin could get to three majors before Scotty and have three legs of the career Grand Slam

as well. So with the Masters being the lone, if he doesn't win this week. So I think that's a big thing. It feels, you know, I was thinking about going Brooks or Rom's foot. I think I go weight on those. There's some health as a skill stuff. There's some dog stuff. I want to see if Colin's a dog.

I want to see if Colin sticks his nose in there this week and punches above his weight. Specifically, Murakawa, a similar path to Rory. I know Rory got to four, but Rory got a bunch early without a ton of major heartbreak a ton of out a ton of close calls whistling straights was a very close call for him. But other than that, he just kind of made winning them look pretty easy. And then when it started getting just a little harder, a couple close calls, a couple misses here and there, it just went a little bit differently and hasn't gone the

same for 10 years now more cow is now kind of working backwards has had some good close calls good strong finishes, but hasn't been able to bag them nearly as easily as had some questionable Sunday performances and in front of regulation size fans like normal fan amount which his first two majors were not the same level of fan engagement and excitement just just some struggles and wind just mentioning worth mentioning. So I've kind of

just I'm not gonna lie, this feels obligatory, but we can't go too far without the Brooks mentioned same gut as always of like, I don't see any particular reason why he would play well this week, but that has been proven wrong very many times over the course of the years. It's been a pretty disappointing start to him for major championships so far this year. I don't know, I don't know what the signs to look for in Brooks ahead of majors. I don't know. I don't know what the signs to look for in Brooks ahead of majors. I don't know what, you know, what the indicators are, whatever they are, for me, they're not going off, but just feels like we

will regret not mentioning them in the first 20 minutes if we don't mention them. So I'm still curious to see if he if he summons it this week or not. There's not a lot of in between weeks for Brooks and majors. It's kind of like I've got no interest in this one or like, no, I'm gonna I'm gonna top three this one. Brooks actually played I mean, I know it's like golf club at Houston's, not an easy golf course, former PGA tour venue.

And Brooks shot 65 yesterday, uh, down there. Like he's, and he's a guy that, you know, again, really good distance control, good long iron player knows how to, knows how to stop the ball, right? Knows how to control his ball on the ground. So yeah, and he'll be patient. I mean, and he played well here in 2014. I, when he, when he qualified in, I think Walton Heath. Well guys, you know, I'm going to declare it now.

I will not be hosting the block party. Take over. I just, it feels wrong. Uh, is there a block party or is it totally canceled? I can't speak for if there is one. I will not be running it. I will not be, you know, I'm not in charge this week. I'm going to, you know, so I think the storyline is, is Roy going to become the forgotten man? It's kind of a storyline. I mean, we're, we're 20 minutes in and I wanted to see how long we could go. I literally had, I know, I know, but I gotta take them.

I mean, listen, we can't let them fall any farther because he's a storyline. He's a storyline every major, right? Cause it's, if he gets to five, then all the stuff you're saying about Scotty or Xander or Colin getting to three, it's like, I mean, well, yeah, we're sitting right there. Like, can he challenge Brooks to get back to five? And now we have a generational race kind of in the, I guess, category or generation above Scotty and, and Colin. So yeah, I just, it feels like Rory's been a little off the last couple of weeks, a lot going on off the course. Don't love the course fit, honestly. That just feels like he's good for a boneheaded approach shot, like once or twice around, which just, you know, you can play ping pong,

you miss in the wrong spot at, at Piner. So I don't know anything on the course fit for him, sorry. They're not necessarily, and I, you know, I would say what jumped to me was like, I don't think I had him pegged for a great course fit last year. And he almost won at LACC, you know, I mean, is that good? Yeah. Yeah. Like I don't think he's going to miss the cut. I just don't think that, you know, it would be, uh, it would be disrespectful to the block party if I said that like, Oh my God, this is the week. Like, I'm, you know, I just don't think, I don't really think this is the week for Rory. I don't, so play this back to me. If it is the week, I'll, I'm, you know, I, I would be rooting for him.

I I'm hopeful, but it doesn't, I'm not like jacked up about it. Like, like I was before the PGA where he'd won 10 years ago. If you're watching on the, on the YouTube feed, I'm flashing it up there as well. He's actually gets the fourth biggest boost on this golf course, but this is one week where I'm honestly not unsubscribing to that. I'm with you. Can we stop showing that data golf? That's bad data set. It's a bad, bad, bad. It's to say, it's to say the guys that hit it far though profile well here. Like it, you

know, it's not like their ability to hit it far is not getting throttled here. Now it doesn't. What it doesn't say is, can you hit the three yard wide gap that you need to hit to hold this green and not have a trickle off, right? Because I don't, that's not where my mind goes with Rory. I don't picture him as being in complete control of his golf ball and be able to do all that stuff. That sums up exactly how I feel about the,

like why I'm, I wouldn't, listen, I did 10 block, I just need someone else to run it for me. That's all this week, I don't, I just don't wanna be- You can't say, oh, you know what, there's a block party out there. I'm going to attend it. That's bullshit. I'm very inclusive on this stuff. I think people would let me come through. I think people would be happy to have me there as a guest of honor. Why would you want to come through?

Because if they're running a good party, it's fun. Why not, man? I have no pride of authorship over the block party. Somebody else wants to pick up. Somebody else feels great about him this week. More power to you, brother. I really do think it just comes down to, you know, there's gonna need some guys, you're gonna have to get out there, you're gonna have to collect your data,

you're gonna have to know your spin rates, you're gonna have to know like what kind of control you're in in your golf ball. And if you've been on our YouTube or social media over the last week, you've probably seen four site sports launch monitors showing up more and more. I did some on course testing. I love getting Neal's reactions to what I traded.

It's good stuff, man. It's really good stuff. I did a little on course testing this past couple of weeks. That's one of the things I was most excited about with the quad was getting out there and testing like, yeah, we all know the ball jumps out of the rough, but like, what does the actual data look like? What does the spin actually do? What's the carry distance actually do? Posted that up on our

Instagram, just practicing that with wedges. I'm going to go, I'm going to keep doing a few more of those going farther down the bag and seeing kind of what's an eight iron carry like out of short rough versus what it would be out of the fairway. Ben had the quad max out there for the the film room match at Pinehurst too. In addition to launch monitors being awesome teaching and diagnostic tools that the brain power behind golf simulators. If you're interested in a simulator foresight to sim in a box kits are an amazing option. They got everything you need to play simulator golf at your house garage backyard shed or office

or wherever you have room to swing a golf club inside the kit you get a launch monitor gaming computer projector screen and enclosure hitting Matt and this week foresight sports is offering great deals on sim in a box play and sim in a box albatross packages on their website what sets foresight sports simulators apart from the one stop shopping opportunity or the little details that add up to an amazing simulator experience like

for example, the tracer line it actually starts at the place where your ball impacted the screen like the ball flight and the ground physics match what you see in the real world. And with all the processing power and the launch monitor, the action, it happens instantly. So they got over 300 courses in the simulator library, they just added Muirfield Village and Pioneers number two to the library. It is constantly expanding and nest subscribers, they saw GC three launch monitor deals in the newsletter last

week. And everyone can see the specials all month long at Forsitesports.com slash no laying up. Again, that's Forsitesports.com slash no laying up to check out the deals on a sim in a box kit this week. Any other storylines drafting or you guys want to talk a little bit more about about Pinehurst? I'd like to see who's going to make a leap. Who of these guys who hasn't won a major,

Zala Torres isn't coming in great form right now, a Sahith, a Victor Hovland. I want to see if Zander got his alleged major. I want to see who's up next to kind of cross one off the list. What about Tommy, TC? Listen, I didn't say it. You said it. All right. I want to remind you, I had to remind you. He handed his boy a long time ago. He abandoned his child. You want to talk about iron play? Accurate. Well, I want to talk about we're 26 minutes in. I thought you'd want to talk about that. I don don't think I need to Tommy Tommy's record speaks for itself in the US Open

Big big Bob. How does a little 63? Yeah, big Bob Foxy. I got Foxy Neil I talked about Foxy in our vandal preview. So I said five least favorite player on tour. I think right? Yeah It's like it's like hates that guy Moving on I want to talk a little bit of Pioneer stuff. We already answered a lot of questions I had about PI. The best is just not to acknowledge you guys when you do this stuff. Well, I mean, hold on before we talk about Pinehurst, are you like, are we going to see anything from the blow pig defending champ?

We haven't even talked to odds. We'll go do, we'll do. I will say he doesn't have a ton of experience here. He played the course for the first time like the day before the media day in May, but he seemed to like the course. I mean, he like solid said, it's not going to throttle distance. So you can kind of wail on it. It's just not playing very good golf. He's, he's, and you can't miss it, you know, a hundred yards right off. Actually, some people are saying you could miss the wider the miss is,

the better potentially out there. Like the wiregrass does get a little bit Baldor the farther way you get off the center of the fairway, but we answered a couple of these questions What has this excited about about watching pine hearse this week? You know, do you subscribe necessarily to the pine hearse being about your short game Brad? LC asked his strokes gained around the green as important since most shipping stats will be with rough around greens compared to pineapples with tightly mowed surrounds. We pointed that out to say like, yeah, you may want to look at the numbers that are on golf courses that have more short grass surrounds and all that. So

lack of rough this week. Gear me with Victor. Like that's what Yeah. Yeah, sure. Sure. It just man, every image I see of this golf course, it just like, it just like scratches. I've again, most of our job is trying to put things into words. But it's like, you just have to look at an image of like, just the seventh hole, not the sexiest, not the best hole out there. You know, just how much when I say how much angles matter, I do not mean chasing

angles. I don't mean that there's a million levels of strategy of playing to the left side of the fairway or the right side of the fairway. It just means that playing the course in the proper way, you can't just blow it over dog legs and go find it and figure it out your way from there because the punishment that you get for going offline into some of these sandy areas is so good. And again, that working backwards element of you just get in so many of those spots where just like, dude, you're, you're, you have a good lie, you have a shot, but you're just fucked. Like you can't get it close to the hole.

You cannot do it from this spot. The way this golf course kind of like forces you into following the right procedures and protocol almost of getting around the ski moguls rather than just bullying it is what gets me really excited. I mean, there's just so many spots you could hit it, they's gonna be really entertaining golf shots after really bad shots this week, right? Because there's chances for recovery. It's not just thick rough. Yeah, I love saw hit. Nah, I don't love speed. But I mean, listen, I don't love speed. I'm just saying shots and that's what I'm saying. There's just going to be so much to cut. Again, a big reason why we've been hard on a lot of golf

courses that just have thick rough off the fairway is the variety we're going to see this week in the kind of style of golf from Thursday all the way through Sunday is a big difference in that. Well, so one thing, though, there, Solly, because I think all that is really well said, and I agree with it. And I think it's helped that I've been to Pinehurst

a few times. You've played the course. I love the course. I love the subtle challenge of it. But I would, I think that some criticism some people have is that like, oh, that holes run together. There's not like a, there's not really a postcard hole. It's like, yeah, the third hole, but honestly, it takes five minutes to explain why that's a good hole. Basically everything you just said is like, sometimes I think with these events, it's like thick, rough and waterfalls is like looks better on TV.

And it's hard to explain like why, you know, if you just turn the tournament on at Pine hurst, you could be like, man, that this course looks pretty boring. Like it's pretty, but it's like, oh, that he was, he had a perfect lie in the waste area. Like why is everybody freaking out about him hitting it to 20 feet? It's like, well, if you've been in that waist area, you know how hard it is to control the spin and catch the ball clean and, and just the scar tissue of like, if I don't catch it clean, I'm going to go into this awful bunker and I'm going to play ping pong for the next 10 minutes. It like that, that again, it just took me two minutes to explain that. So

I think if people are willing to dig in, it can just be really rewarding. And there's like a lot of depth to it that, that is, I think for me as a viewer will be, it can just be really rewarding and there's like a lot of depth to it that is I think for me as a viewer will be really fun. And the fact that it is a public course and people can play there and a lot of people take golf trips there. It's like, oh my God, I've been in that spot. Like I always have a great time watching majors

where it's like, I've played that course before. It just adds another element of enjoyment to the viewing. Speaks to the public nature of Piners Two versus like LACC as a venue last year. There's no ability to relate to that. And it didn't play the way, you know, I think we were hoping that it would play last year, but Jamie H. Stewart had a great question. Or even an ability to go see it because the members were fine.

Although I would put the Piners country club members right up there with the LACC members as far as being wary of the outside world. I think one other thing that gets lost with Pinehurst is there's more elevation change than you think out there, especially when you get out to four, five, nine, and then 13, some of that. But it truly is one of those places where I don't think I appreciate it all that much. Even in 14, I'd never, I think I'd been there once prior, but it was pre-restoration and all that. And so having been there a few times now in the

last five, six, seven years, gained such an appreciation for it because you realize, you know, there's context to where this stuff is on the property. It's extremely nuanced. And I hope that comes through on TV as well with, you know, I think it definitely helps to that the sun's going to be out. It's going to be sunny. Like having the sun out is just such an underrated massive deal at a golf tournament, I think for the course to show off. And there's going to be all these different layers and, you know, colors and all that stuff. So I couldn't be more excited to watch it on TV. I just hope NBC doesn't fuck it up.

We'll get to that. Jamie H Stewart had a great question as it relates to this. He said, I watch golf every weekend and don't seem to have the same level of appreciation as you lads do for the course layout, et cetera. Any tips for how to consume the product that will increase my appreciation? Take notes, absorb complimentary data

that helps understand the shot options. Jamie, I appreciate the effort you're willing to make here. We are not asking you to sit at home, take notes, absorb complimentary data that helps understand the shot options. Jamie, I appreciate the effort you're willing to make here. We are not asking you to sit at home and take notes. That is not not the request. I think I thought about this one a lot today. And it was like, man, do we just get ourselves in these rabbit holes that have all these things that just don't matter to people? And I kind of landed at like, again, the difference that we're gonna see this week is a lot of these recovery shots and just the element of these

approach shots and the mystery that's gonna come with it. Like you're not just you're just not gonna see that many shots where it's like, oh, that's an easy one from there. Or oh, this one's gonna be tight. Like, the question isn't is he gonna get this within 10 feet, it's gonna be like, is he gonna be able to hold the green? Is he gonna blah, blah, blah. And so many of the offline shots are gonna lead to a massive question of like, of what can happen from there. Whereas like if you miss a, I don't want to do,

It's kind of, it's kind of like, uh, some of the, you know, some of the links golf fans, like they know what a good shot is when somebody hits it to 25, 30 feet. And it's like, oh, that's like, that was a really, really great shot from there. That stuff doesn't come through on TV as much. Or it kind of reminds me more of a Lynx course than a lot of the other courses on the road. It does, but I think where I was kind of going with that is like some of these made like Oak Hill, for example,

had such thick rough. If you drove it in the rough, I just wasn't intrigued by the next shot. I wasn't excited to watch it because it's like, you can't really hit a miraculous shot here. Like you're just, you know, you're getting punished for it. You hit a bad tee shot. I get it. And I get the argument for that style of play. But this one is going to be like, you might hit and I do not know

what's going to happen next. You could hit a truly disastrous next shot and get yourself even in worse spot just because the contouring so good around these greens, or you can hit a great one. You get to five feet, you get a miraculous recovery shot. And that intrigue is like, where I get a ton of thrill out of watching golf and appreciating the level of good play. A lot of people when they tune it on,

they wanna see birdies, they wanna see made putts and all that, not telling you you're wrong on that. But again, I know we end up talking about this a lot. So I appreciated this question a lot. Yeah, I think- Well, it goes people into hitting heroic shots. Like you're saying, like try to hit a heroic recovery shot. And sometimes though, like these guys are so good that they end up pulling

off those shots more often than not. And it, I guess the deeper you get into it is like, because you played out there, because you just know how unpredictable that is. Because not only like, can you control like from the rough, it's like, can you, you're not gonna be able to hold the green. It's just going to, like we saw at Memorial, it's like a lot of things are just going to bound to the back rough and they're going to hit the same chip. We saw Scotty and Colin do on 18 at Nearfield, but here it's like, you might catch it so good out of that waste area stuff, you're going to spin it off the false front. There's a lot of different ways it can go wrong

at Pinehurst because you have the option to play and it's, it's really a chance thing out of the wire grass. And I, and I like, I like that. I mean, the other thing with Pinehurst is for amateurs is like, I got there and she like 85, I'll be thrilled with it. Won't lose a ball. You know, and you're like, like, yeah, I've got my ass kicked, but like, I didn't lose the golf ball. Like what a fun, what a fun challenge that is. You know, I know that's not what we're worried about here, but I do hope one day they set it up. I want to see some ping pong, man.

I want to see some guys like on what is it? Six the, I don't know if they'll play it as a, they'll probably play it as a par. Six apart, six is a three. Five is what you're thinking. Oh, sorry. Five. Will that be a part five? Yes. Yeah. Because four and five are almost like half par holes. So guys coming in and hitting it left there and then rolling over the back right. And like I played ping pong there like, God, I can't wait to see somebody make a mess there. So anyway, you're gonna see some of that is a great question, though. I don't know if you're gonna see balls get repelled. You're 100% gonna see that.

But you're going to see balls get repelled. You're 100% going to see that. One thing I would say to Jamie, who was like, hey, should I take notes? Whatever I would go watch the flyovers on the US Open website. I think that's a great, great tool because there's like you said, Neil, there's some dynamic shots out there. I think the drive on four or I think that like the second shot or the third shot into five par threes are exceptional. Our threes are super dynamic. Six, nine, I mean, 17 is a great penultimate hole there. And I think,

like you guys said, there's such a, like it's all relative, right? I think the hitting, hitting it close, making birdies or making 12 footers for birdie and par feels different. And I think there's like, I have such an appreciation for seeing these guys like, like number eight, par four, long par four, it's where John Daly walked off, you know, what he, yeah, he basically walked off and so I've never played in one of these things again. And like like just seeing the spots that these guys try to like, they're on a razor's edge trying to get up and down from that green side. And you're going to have a bunch of 12 and 15 footers. And it's kind of like, there's some scar

tissue that builds up. And at some point, like, all right, you may make the first five or six of those, but you keep putting that pressure on yourself. You're going to get frayed. You're going to get you know, you're going to get impatient. You're going to get undisciplined. You're going to get just tired. And it's going to add up. It's like taking these little body blows. It's not there's not a lot of knockout punches out there. It's just you're going to get that shit knocked out of your ribs. And we haven't seen how hard it's going play and it's not gonna be that windy.

Like it would be way harder if it did get windy. But I'm struggling to think of a course that's where they're off the top of my head where it's like 68 and 80 are like as close together as they are. Like you could be a little off and shoot 70 or 80 very quickly. Like there's just so much uncertainty even even from day to day, you know, anybody other than Scotty, if they have a five shot lead at the halfway point, like if you go back and watch the 2005 US Open,

holy shit, man. Like a bunch of those guys were just a little bit off and everybody shot in the eighties. And that uncertainty of the drama is what I find super exciting. Let's go get three more, Sal. Exactly. I hope that's some good features too on some of these greens. Like

15 is a great example of it's like an inverted spoon. There's false. It's not just a false front. There's a false entire half of the green and I hope they send smiley or somebody out there kind of like Ken Brown does, you know, or did on, with the beach ball or with, you know, just like a handful of golf balls and get some thrown them every which direction. Cause I think that's what's truly needed to, to show off. Like Johnson Wagner, give him whatever props and tools he wants and just go out and do it. Especially cause it seems like all this stuff is it's on USA. It's on the cock. It's on the end. You know, it's on it's on NBC. There's not a whole lot on the channel, right?

You know, live from kind of gets crushed because everybody's on all these other platforms or on all these other channels. So let's just send Johnson out with the coverage, with the broadcast, you know? And one final thing here, Jamie, to answer this question is the difference too in like maybe baddish architecture. Like, just again, take an example of the last three holes

of Memorial, the beef I had with those yesterday was like, the good shots aren't getting rewarded really. And Pinehurst, like if you, you can hit the 15th green at Pinehurst. Like you can hit a great shot, you will seek that reward. And if you miss, you will seek a punishment. That exchange of value at Pinehurst is one of can hit a great shot, you will seek that reward. And if you miss, you will seek a punishment that that exchange of value at Pinehurst is one of the most fair exchanges I've seen. I've shot 88 on this golf course, and

wanted to rush back out there and do it again. Whereas I've walked off like Pinehurst, I played I'm sorry, I played TPC sawgrass this year, two days after the players shot 85 and was very fine to get in my car and go home. Like I just did not want to do that again. Like that's the difference between this style and that other style. And that's that's again kind of why we tend to favor it. So another good question here. Eat and Sleep Golf said should the US Open become nasty again and par be sacred? If so, how is that best achieved? Just going to give a quick rundown here. I went back to 2010, grabbed the winners, the golf course, and the scores of each of

these to show how this has fluctuated over the last, I mean, that's 14 US opens. That's a lot. Pebble Beach, 2010, Graham McDowell won it even. Congressional, the next year Roy won it 16 under par. Olympic in 2012, Webb won over Marion in 2013. Rose won over. Pinehurst in 2014, Martin Kymor won at 9 under. Chambers Bay. There the rest of the field was 8 back.

Correct. He was the only one under. Yeah. Yeah. 2015 Chambers Bay, Spieth won at 5 under. Oakmont at 2016, DJ won at 4 under. Aaron Hills 2017, Koepke won at 16 under. Shinnecock the next year, Koepke won at plus under. Aaron Hills 2017, Keppka won it 16 under. Shinnecock the next year, Keppka won it plus one. 2019 Pebble, Woodland won it 13 under. Wingfoot Bryson won it six under in 2020, but he won by six, he was the only guy under par.

Torrey Pines, Rom won it six under. Brookline in 22, Fitz won it six under. And LACC Clark won at 10 under last year. So I know Randy's not here to say this case, he would say the winning score should definitely be over par, let him he root for the maximum possible carnage. I get that. Just found that there's not like a trend line here. It doesn't move directly. But after

they lost the course on that Saturday in 2018, after Zach Johnson made his famous speech, they watered it overnight. There were guys threatening 62. The next day that was like light bulb going off for me in terms of like how thin the line is of like literally like embarrassing the players and like losing a couple of the greens and the pins Phil running after putts all that to like shooting 60 almost shooting 62 the next day was like something's wrong here

with how technology and professional golf is trending that you can get those two extremes on back to back days. And since then, 1300, 600, 600, 600 and 10 under being the winning numbers was, they've softened their approach and setting that they're no longer willing to push it to the edge because of how many times they've looked silly in doing it. Right. And that is to the chagrin, I believe of Mr. TC and Mr. Randy. I just, and to me, I'd like to see him push the envelope a little bit and I don't need it to be Mickey mouse stuff, but I just, this week specifically though,

it doesn't look like the wind's going to blow a ton. So then you have to like amp up the golf course and dry out the greens and that can get a little dicey to keep it reasonable or so that it's not very different for different waves of players and it doesn't play differently throughout the day. You have to stop play a water or green or something. So I know there's like a lot of logistical stuff to go along with that. But syringing greens. Okay. Excuse me. But I, I, uh,

I would like to see them like, I'm not, I don't need to be over par, but I do like it when, when guys making like puff par putts is like, they're fired up about it. That so, so if you want to call it the protection of par, but they should come off the course and be like, my God, it's playing really hard. Like that's, I think that should be like, especially when they haven't had that in years. Yeah, some of the players should be upset. Like they almost like, you know, the way like a good,

like a Google, the way that central teams would set the sales quota. Like half the people should miss quota. That's what those people are getting boned on. You know, like half the people should be pissed off. This is unfair, I can't hit quota. You know, it's like, yeah man, because it's supposed to be hard.

You can't just hand it out here. And I guess my beef with that part of the conversation is I don't think a single person at the USGA or anyone running this tournament would disagree with any of that. I just don't think you can play God, right? I don't think. Yeah, and I'm making that argument for you solid.

They're not gonna need to play God, right? The wind doesn't think. Yeah. And I'm making that argument for you solid. They're not going to need to play God, right? But the wind doesn't blow. They're like, that- You know what the conditions are going to be. They're not going to have to trick it up. The sun's going to be out. It's going to be firm. It's going to be fast. And I still think scores will be relatively good, right?

I think you're going to have a really good setup this week and scores be relatively good. Right? I think like there's many, as skilled as these players are with this technology, if you don't have wind, I've not seen one single golf course that they haven't picked apart. I've not seen one single golf course that they haven't picked apart. I've not seen one single golf course that they haven't picked apart. I've not seen one single golf course that they haven't picked apart. I've not seen one single golf course that they haven't picked apart.

I've not seen one single golf course that they haven't picked apart. I've not seen one single golf course that they haven't picked apart. I've not seen one single golf course that they haven't picked apart. I've not seen one single golf course that they haven't picked apart. I've not seen one single golf course that they haven't picked apart. I've not seen one single golf course that they haven't picked apart. I've not seen one single golf course that they haven't picked apart. I've not seen one single golf course that they haven't picked apart. I've not seen one many as skilled as these players are with this technology. If you don't have wind, I've not seen one single golf course that they haven't picked apart when they don't have wind. I mean, they had wind at the fricking masters this year, a ton of wind and Scotty still shot double digits under par. Like I,

I double digits under par is going to win this week. I would like though for maybe, maybe the benchmark is when there is no wind like this, if they aren't stopping play at least once during the week to like, ah, we got to water this green. That should be like, hey, we pushed it right to the edge. And like everybody, everybody take a break for 10 minutes from a waterless green real quick and then we'll get back to it.

Like this is what we found the edge and we're going to step back slightly. We're not going to tuck our tails like they did in 2018, but like find find the edge. Let's let's do that That's what that kind of for me that that's what this event should be about Brando sent to you last week like let's scare the shit out of them Speaking of quotas like the USGS should have a quota at once every five years The winning score needs to be over par you have to lose and worse But if that's Then you guys need to do something about equipment.

Oh, 100%. Because otherwise, what are we doing? If that's not possible anymore, then cool. They're better athletes. Their agronomy is better. All this stuff. It's like, no, a lot of that stuff doesn't matter at Pinehurst. Gordon Sargent is out there.

He's going to be hitting the ball at 360., you know, like Gordon Sargent is out there. He's gonna be hitting the ball 360, but I don't think Gordon Sargent is a dog. That's where my lack of attention, I can't direct any angst towards setup stuff like at this level of technology, just because like that's 90 plus percent of the problem. Right, do they get every detail right in setups? No, it's setting up is harder than we probably give it credit

for getting all the greens to work right for 156 players to come through and blah, blah, blah. But in this, if, if you are pro this technology and get mad about the low scores, that's the worst kind of stay away, stay away from me. Like don't bring that taken here. You have to, if you don't like the low scores, you have to be willing to say this ball, the ball should not be going this far. The driver shouldn't be this forgiving.

So I do think they see, I'm with you though. I just want to double click on your, your point there every five, once every five years, like they should wear as a badge of honor, like, cause it's good. It's good for the entertainment value. It not every year, but man, the players are a bunch of bitches. They were, they were about to know. But like, like we've lost the course. Like that's all time content. That's, that's good for ratings, baby. Like, oh man, the ball's rolling off the green, guys throwing their hands up. Like we need a little bit of that every five years. Can I caution flag this though?

Because the answer to what you're saying is a trend that I don't wanna see, which is you can narrow the fairways and grow the rough up and scores will go up, right? Like that's a guarantee. And I think that's less exciting. That's where I'm like- No, I'm not calling-

That's not what I'm asking for. I'm just asking because, yes, that's less exciting. That's where I'm like, no, I'm not. That's not what I'm asking for. Because yes, that's where TC nailed it. I think because you can't do that here and I would like to see that these greens just be like outrageous, you know, and if you have to stop and water a few of them, I'll wait. I don't know. The defense of this course is the turtle back greens and I want to see those shine. I want to see casual golf

fans be like, Oh my God, look at that ball keep rolling. Like that's, that's good TV content. Yeah. And they should be more entertainment. They should be really, really comfortable with this golf course and setting it up. They've had us opens here. They had like, I was out there at the U S AM last time they had it here. It was awesome. They have their facility here, the USGA, like this is a home game for the USGA. And weather is not gonna be much more predictable in any location than it is there this week. So.

And I think they can have it awesome, diabolical, and the score still be low this week, right? That's unique to this golf course. I really do think so. So. There's only two par fives. There's not a, you know, there's not a whole lot of, I do want to see him move some shit around to like, but I move on earlier. The T on target. Go ahead. Yeah. Just, just,

I, I want to see him move T's around because I think some of these holes, you know, play, play four shorter one day, play five shorter one day. Like, you know, let's see a little bit of variability there. I was just going to say the fact that guys can hit heroic recovery shots. Like if someone's like hot, you know, and the fact that you can get back on schedule so easily from the, from the waste areas does like I'm with you. So I think the, I think the score is going to be minus eight to minus 10. That doesn't really bother me. But I just I guess more going back to kind of the eye

test. Like if it's not around par, that's fine. I just want to see some guys like throw their hands up and really be challenged with like, got your hands stuck in the cookie jar, you can't get it out. I want that's that's what I'm looking for. I look more at that like median score than I would the lowest score, right? They're the leaders, right? The median score of Valhalla was way too low. And I don't care that much about actual scoring, but like that median score, if everybody's under par, is anybody under par is kind of what I would say that, which we got a great question came in this past week. I forget who sent it in. I threw

it in the agenda as soon as he sent this over, but he said, rank the last 10 US Open venues from best to worst or from worst to best you can do whatever with the caveat of for how they played in that open right like so setups for the last 10 US opens, ranking your favorite to your least favorite, which goes back to Pinehurst in 2014. Neil, I'm gonna throw this one to you first if you want to rank your rank your top 10 favorites. Okay. Worst of first, go worst of first rank your, rank your top 10 favorites. Okay.

Worst of first, go first. Well, I'll see. It's tough. Cause basically, cause the second part of the question is important. It is of like how they played. It's not just, I really, it's about these. Yeah. Like I'd like to see them go back. Like I'd like to see them go back to Aaron Hills, but that course didn't play. It didn't really present the challenge. So like for a us open track, like, I don't know. I let's see the PGA go there, I guess is what I'm saying. Like, but maybe it didn't really work out. So I put put Aaron Hills up there, but then seeing it in person, I like, I think that golf course is incredible. And I would like to see pros play it again. So we'll go there first. I'm

going to put LACC in at nine. I didn't really like the way it played. Maybe that's because I haven't, you know, I don't have a lot of experience there, but you mentioned it earlier. Like it didn't feel like a US Open for me. I thought it was a good tournament, but it just didn't really do a whole lot for me. I think you can count the lack of fan vibe in that as well. I got spare.

So keep going. Yeah. I'm going to throw like, it's tough. I mean, I'm going throw Torrey Pines in Because like I think it is a US Open course But it's not my favorite type of US Open and the fact that we see it, you know every year already I would really like to see the US Open go to Courses you don't see I know we have anchor sites But it's like Pinehurst isn't hosting a PJ tour event, right? US Open should be a little more hollow

You know hollow ground, I guess, is what I'm getting at there. God, this is where it gets tough. I think Wingfoot accomplished the mission and I respect the golf course, but I didn't really like watching that one that much because it was such a- It's LeBron. Yeah. I respect its career, but the way Bryson overpowered it and he almost found the loophole like the, he found a way to get the secret tape like in Tony Hawk, that like a button combo on N64 that nobody knew about.

All right. Now it gets a little tougher. So I'm going to throw Shinnecock in here. Shinnecock's one of my favorite venues for the US Open, but I, the way they backed off on, on Sunday kind of frustrated me, but the way it played on Saturday is like, yes, and pass Shinnecox like sign me up. So maybe I should bump it up the list. Actually, you know what? I'll put Chambers and then Shinnecock. I'll put Chambers in in front of Shinnecock. Would love to see him go back to Chambers Bay. I thought it was awesome. I thought the complaining was great. I thought everybody getting mad about the greens being bumpy and like, that's great stuff. Sign me up for that. I like Pinehurst. So I'll put Pinehurst here and then I will

go with, well, no, that I'm broke. So sorry. I got out of order here because I had to change it because of how it plays. So let me go Pinehurst, Brookline, and then Oakmont. I thought Oakmont was awesome. And I'm fired up to see Oakmont next year. I thought as TC said, like, you know, Dustin Johnson just established himself as the best player of all time with that shot into 18 at, at Oakmont. But Oakmont's a true test and I think it, it's set up really well. So that's my number one for this exercise. God loves somebody listening to this pod for the first time ever being like, that's the best way of all. What are you guys talking about?

We'd have time to do that one. But TC what's your list? I'd worse. I got it. I know it's outside of the statute of limitations. I'm going to go congressional congressional. Oh, I forgot to put congressional. No, you did not forget. It was not one of the past 10 us open. congressional. Oh, I forgot to put congressional. You did not forget. It was not one of the past 10 US Open C. Okay. All right.

But it was just such a bad setup. It's a bad golf course. I wanted to shout it out because it was next. I'm putting Wingfoot. I thought Wingfoot was a complete disgrace. I thought it's still a disgrace that the superintendent hasn't resigned. The lack of doglegs there, like being serious, lack of doglegs there was kind of concerning. Next, I'm going to go Pebble.

I didn't love the way Pebble played. Just didn't, I don't know, Pebble just doesn't do it for me as a US Open venue. It's scenic, but just not my thing. Next, I'm going to LACC. Thought we left a lot of meat on the bone there. I thought they played it way too safe with some of the setup stuff on that front. Would have loved some interchangeability there, you know, six and seven things of that nature. What do we got after that? We got Torrey Pines after that. It's fine.

Aaron Hills, I thought it was chicken shit the way that they you know, back down to Kevin Na where he threw. I've been in that rough. I've been in that rough people. Some of the thickest rough on the golf course right there in that exact spot that he did his little charade. Next up, we're going Pinehurst, kind of middle of the pack. I thought last time they got a bunch of rain overnight Thursday into Friday. Last time they kind of neutered the golf course a little bit. Well, in Shinnecock after that, I think, Shinnecock, Sally, that was the widest Shinnecock that they've ever had. And I think it, you know, plus one, one with, with them backing off of it. So they were about 75% of the way there. Just, just don't back down,

go the extra mile. Next I'm going Chambers Bay. Chambers Bay was a great example of minus five, one, plenty of birdies out there, but some big numbers as well. Tough to get out of those bunkers and somewhere where I feel like this is what was lacking. I'm fine with birdies. Same thing at Aaron Hills. You just got to go earn the birdies. You got to hit good shots and you got to take on risks. And so I feel like Chambers is good for that. I'm going to Oakmont next. And then Brookline. I thought Brookline was the best setup, fans viewing TV presentation they've had in

the last seven to 10 years. I like that. We have a lot more differences than I would have thought. My 10th is Torrey Pines, not a US Open venue. Don't do it, take it away. That just did not work for me in any way. Nine was Wingfoot, similar vein of just thick rough, narrow, fairways, no intrigue. That was not good.

I put Chambers at eight. It has nothing to do with Chambers as the quality of the golf course. The setup was not good. The greens were terrible. Like the greens were bad enough to like affect the championship and the tinkering they did with 18th hole. And like it just, I wanted to see that place shine and work and it just didn't. Like everybody walked off to that course hating it. And that, that, they're pampered fucks at times, but like if everybody hated that bad, it's bad. No, nobody hit quota. They said the quota was too high.

It was a bad spectator experience. Yeah, exactly. Pebble, number seven, just too benign. It's just almost no intrigue in that one. LACC also played too benign. I have Aaron Hills at five. I think it was not as bad as people think, but I watched some of those highlights back. The fairways were just crazy soft also. Like it just a little bit of spiciness.

It's not because the low scoring it just it just did not have you know, the same like it was a little little Valhalla and some of the bite. Brookline and number four just a proper setup unspectacular I think but just a proper setup. Shinnecock at number three. It was a beautiful chaos. I think it's just such an amazing golf course. And it was wildly entertaining to watch them, uh, snip, snap, snip, snap, uh, back and forth on that one. Uh, I piner's to two. It was not a sexy tournament, but it just to, to have, uh,

the second place number be at one under par, uh, on that golf course, without thick rough is kind of a Testament to what I like to see in a challenge of golf. And Oakmont was number one for me. I thought it was just like the most healthy balance of like rough, fair, you know, undulation of the green speed of the greens, good challenge, but fair and like everybody, you know, that was just a great test of golf. So those have been my rankings, the top setups of the

last last 10 years. What about congressional? I forgot about pebble. I would throw in my bottom half too, as far as a US Open venue. Love the golf course, but not as much for this event. Congressional doesn't exist anymore, as we know at TC. It's a completely different golf course, so I can't rate that one.

Some odds run down. As of the time of me preparing this agenda this morning, Scotty was plus 320. I believe it was plus 280 at one point via FanDuel. Rory is second favorite at plus 1000. Xander plus 1200. Colin is plus 1400. Vic plus 1600.

Bryson plus 1800. Brooks and Ludwig sharing plus 2200. Rom is plus 2800. Tommy Fleetwood plus 4000. Cam, JT and Fitz are 4500. Hideki 5000. Max and No Hat Pat are plus 5,500, Sahith and Tyrell plus 6,000, Shane Lowry, Big Tone and Tom Kim plus 6,500, Min Woo Lee, Windham Clark,

Sam Burns and Jordan Spieth plus 7,500, Corey Connors, Keegan and Sepp Straka plus 8,000. Russell Henley, Sung J, Cam Young, DJ and Big Shot Bobber plus 9,000. That's got a weird one. Yeah, that's a weird one for Sung J and Will Zalatoris plus 10,000. Will Zalatoris 101 to win this US Open. Anything jump out at you guys amongst all those? Weirdly, Big Tone. This place kind of sets up nice for Big Anything jump out at you guys amongst all those? You're a big tone. This place kind of sets up nice for big tone.

Really? Yeah. I don't know. He seems like he's rounding back into form a little bit. I'm feeling I'm feeling a big tone top 10 top 20. Okay. That's that's different. That was that was cam cam Smith at 4500 with JT and fits. Okay. That's, that's different. That was, that was cam cam Smith at 4,500 with JT and Fitz.

Correct. I don't know what happened to cam yesterday. That doesn't, I don't know. Just like double, double bogey, double, triple double or something like that. Shutdown mode ahead of a major, but yeah, I mean Bryson at plus 1800 feels like a fun one. For sure. Optimistic, we all are on Bryson now because we only have to see him. Oh yeah.

Last year. For sure. It would be so different if you were, if you had to watch Bryson all week last week and his antics and everything. Well, here's the thing. It feels like all the other Lib guys were just kind of, you know, playing grab ass.

It feels like Bryson's over grinding on YouTube videos and just playing all playing like golf four times a day and he's in the lab man. I love the conversation. He loves content. Bryson's change man. He's a change man. His comments last week about how 3d printing your irons is going to change the game and how he no longer has to wait for you. You don't have to wait for prototypes anymore. It's just like, that that was such a game changer for me because that's what's been holding me back for so long. It's like, I have to wait six months for these prototypes.

And now I can just 3d print my irons like exactly to spec. And like, that's like just so spotty. I do miss hearing a price. It's ridiculousness, but it's all a question for you, JT selling any, any kind of spark there or anything stirred within you? Nope. Um, his approach play was fantastic last week. That's worth noting, but I cannot picture JT or speed lasting 72 holes with putter. That's a, that's been my block for, for quite some time here of like, yeah, there's, they

might have spurts here and there. I'm not really entertaining anything with speed either. He means plus 7,500 to win this tournament. And I'm not sniffing around that at all. There was a question that came in as well. The, the, the onslaught is the best way I can read that name is that how has Spieth become a great driver and a legit bomber and yet become a substantially worse player. It feels like he's hurt, right? Yeah. It might be hurt. Might be, but he's driving it outrageous. I don't know.

Hurt, distracted, I don't know. It just feels like he's got a lot going on. That's kind of where I'm at with that. Pete was once the best iron player in the game. He's negative stroke scan approach this year. Yet he's having his best driving year ever. If he matches this up, it could get really interesting. I think Spese's got some stuff left in his career.

I just think he's got to get that wrist fixed at some point. I'm curious, too, how how guys like this is Bermuda, right? This is grainy as Bermuda. How do guys or some guys that are diggers, some guys that are pickers out there and turf interactions, a big thing out of Pinehurst. I challenged you guys to come, I just wanted you to bring me one US Open memory. Just one, it could be literally anything.

It could be a great shot, could be an awful shot, could be a USGA fumbling of the bag, can be extremely important, extremely unimportant. Just bring me a memory, bring me something fun. TC, what did you come up with? I got the Birdman. Yeah, I had that on my list. I knew TC was going there.

Web getting in the field this week, getting through final qualifying, earning his way in through an exemption, not the other way around. I think just conjures up memories of Mike Davis and the Birdman. And that was like peak Mike Davis, right? That was when Mike Davis was really, really stunting on people. That was what Olympic club? It is the Jungle Bird TC, by the way. It's not the Birdman. It's the Jungle Bird. It's the Jungle Bird. Whatever. Yeah. It's a big Jungle Bird. And by all accounts, it seems like we've kind of stopped deforestation, like net deforestation around the world. Deforestation is kind of stabilized. I think we're counting

too many carbon credits. I think we're re, I think either, no, Neil, we covered this on the trap draw. I think last year or two years ago was the first year in decades where we were actually seeing reforestation. So again, credit credit to to web to Mike Davis and to the large jungle bird. Love it. I had that one on there too. That 2012. I remember watching that vividly even though it was a year I graduated from college. We're watching from Hawaii. We're visiting our aunt and uncle TC. That's where we, uh, John Peterson, Joe Hassler, well, has his mom, all sorts of things. I have Saturday, 2018, Shinnecock at the tournament and I was on site and just, it wasn't just that they lost the course, but I remember being out there and the players in person, they were so, I hadn't took like literally way too much time on the seventh tee, the

part three, I think that's the reverse with Dan. He couldn't pick a club. Just guys just like in their own heads, like they all look like they were, you know, like shell shocked out there. And then they ran out of beer on the back nine. And so all the like, you know, fans were getting furious at the concession tents, just, you know, lot, just a million New York fans, everybody mad, it's hot, you know, like just, it almost had like a bit of a fire fest feel. And then to come in off the course

and see like the Zach Johnson stuff and just like, oh my God, they did lose the course. Like I wasn't just imagining this. Like the people, the players are freaking out about how hard it was. Uh, that, that's, you know, kind of the onsite like feeling and then seeing it afterwards. It's like, oh man. So it came through on TV. Like this place was crazy today. Tanner Iskra Did you take the train out there? Like they built a train station onsite, right? Or across the street? Chris No, I was staying with a friend. Uh was staying in Montauk actually for a couple nights.

You stayed at the surf lodge? No, I was not. I think I did go to the surf lodge, but I was definitely not staying there. They built the train station, but the final train was leaving before play ended. So I thought you were going to take mine. It was a lot of people. Yeah. I thought you were going to take mine. It was a lot of people. Yeah. I thought you were going to take mine because that Saturday was truly one of the best moments in golf Twitter history, which is when Phil Mickelson, I was, I remember I was working out when this happened and Phil Mickelson hit a putt

past the pin. I believe it was on the 13th hole and ran after it and hit it while it was moving. And also after the round, tried to convince us that that was like the smart decision. Like, oh yeah, no, I, I calculate that's what, that's what it was better. I was better off doing that than letting it finish running. Uh, that was just an all time. I'll take the two strokes. It's no big deal. He could have taken an unplayable and just gone back to

the original spot and not had to take that penalty. Uh, but that was just such an all time. Oh, we might have to act. We might have to just do this at the end of every show this week. We've just added one obscure moment from US Opens because there's just so many epic woods along the way. It's funny to think about too, that I think we, in a weird way, we treat that US Open with a lot more respect and reverence because Zach Johnson came out and said they lost the golf course. I think otherwise, he

made it so unserious that he hurt the players' cause that much. And it's funny too, all of us ranked Oakmont among our top two or three when the USGA managed to fumble the bag with the whole Dustin Johnson thing. That was a fucking disaster. That was so stupid. Oh my God. The one thing they did, they got the greens just a hair too fast for that one. And who was it? We thought they found the trophy ceremony that there was like maybe intoxicated like during who? Diana Murphy? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Was that the same event, right? I think that was like three or four years in a row. That happened at, she said the wrong name at one of the US women's opens in that time period too. That was, that was unlucky. But we got a couple of questions

sent in this one, Brody Layton, you sent a great one to Neil strictly based on feel this doesn't seem like a block party major that's been answered as he as Neil is bailing. I will say back though, it is early in the week that could change. As of now, that's where we're at. It doesn't feel like a block party. That's that's that we can go on the record with that. Hey, speaking of block parties, do we need to drop some blades and bows on some folks? Oh, we do need to drop some blades and bows TC. That should have that should have hit this long time ago. and that's on me. As golf enthusiasts, we've come to appreciate the tradition of celebrating a round of golf with a round of cocktails at the 19th hole. So we're teaming up with Blade and Bow Kentucky Straight Bourbon because they elevate those celebrations,

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Evan Ferrara, in your opinion- Hell yeah, Monday, let's get it, TC. In your opinion, what is the hardest hole at Pinehurst in part two? What specific shot are you most excited to watch on TV? TC, I'll go to you first. Hardest hole? I guess this is personally speaking, six, like there's not a whole lot of tee boxes where I stand up on like on the tee and I'm like, I straight up just don't have this

shot. And six is six is kind of one of those holes. If the winds blow on it all, the pins in a tough spot. I still remember that from our tourist season, just standing on that tee box like, holy shit, man, this the pin's in a tough spot. I still remember that from our tourist season. Just standing on that tee box like, holy shit, man, this one. And it never gets easier. It only gets harder each passing time you play it. So six would be my vote there, especially because they can play it up to about 225, which is insane hitting anything longer than a mid iron into that green.

The hole I'm most excited to watch, I always love 13. There's options off the tee. You can kind of force the issue and push it up there. It's a dynamic wedge shot in that you have to control your spin and not rip it off the front of that green as well. I think there's trouble long and short. And I don't know, it's a dynamic hole. It's a little bit different from the rest of them there.

Neil? Number three. I think it's the hardest hole for me. I'll be interested to see how these guys handle it, but that, that green is so much fun to play. I feel like it's a fun hole to watch. There's a grandstand, I think I pointed out in our film room in the match against Ben, there's a grandstand like on the I pointed out in our film room, in the match against Ben, there's a grandstand on the left side of Three Green. It just feels like, I was like, man, I would be sitting there all day watching these guys try to navigate the... Basically, what do they hit off the tee?

Are guys laying back with iron? Are they trying to blow it up? It gets a little fatter up towards the green. And then a delicate wedge in there. Maybe I underestimate how good these guys are if they do have wedge in their hands, but it's, I think that hole is awesome. The other one I caught a 16. I think 16 is like, I'm very excited to watch it.

I feel like I'm almost bummed because three comes so early in the round where I feel like 16 is a fun one. They'll play it as a par four, I believe. Par five, you know, for resort guests and members. Um, but I love the way that green sits back in there. I think there's going to be some fireworks there coming down the stretch. You can hit a really good, you know, drive there. And, and, and I think it probably is a good birdie chance for these guys, but

I like the, uh, 16 and 17. Yeah. It's, it's a weird golf course in that I think the front nine is better than the back, like that stretch kind of from three through six that little little zigzag is just so good and sevens. I mean, it's just you know, again, we talked about doesn't really have a signature hole, but I'm excited to watch. I don't think three just clarify your point. I don't think three is going to score very highly. I don't think it's gonna be the hardest hole by any chance but it is a good opportunity. It's a it's a It's on the more entertaining side of that one, but four is just a freaking hard golf hole.

It's a long par four, fairway canting from left to right, balls are just wanna find the right side of that sandy area or that bunker that's right there into, long irons uphill into that green, a slopey green for coming in with that much of a long iron. I don't know if it's gonna rate the hardest, kind of depend on wind direction, but that stands out as one of my

favorite holes in all of golf, honestly, and my probably my favorite hole at Pinehurst three fours that just an awesome par four stretch of like short for long for that just kind of defines the whole experience for me. So I think five, I think the second shot into five to like you can get caught with your hand in the cookie jar a little bit there that green is so so so, so severe. I mean, eight, we've talked about that hole a little bit earlier in the thing, but just

like that green, when I think of Pinehurst, I think of three and I think of eight, like the way that green is turtle back there. And then nine, I think it's going to be a spectacular hole to watch. My guy, ZJ had the ace there back in 2014. And then after that, I feel like that's probably 10, 11, 12 is kind of the one spot on the course that maybe isn't quite as dynamic. That's kind of where it just gets really hard on 11 and 12. And then it kind of picks back up as far as excitement on 13. So I'm excited.

Be fun to see guys try to navigate going long on 10. I forgot how deadly it is back there. And like you don't even think about it because you come up eight, you're like, all right, cool. Like, let me catch my breath. And those holes, you can try to go on autopilot and get bit there because 11 and 12 are pretty flat. But so they kind of lull you to sleep a little bit. PC on 13, they did bring the wire grass in up the left. So much tighter fairway. That was like the one big change they made to the course from what the USGA was telling us last month. And I was saying it last night, like for me, it was like, Oh my God, it's why wouldn't I hit driver? I'm just as likely to miss the fairway with

iron because it's tight, like all the way back. It wasn't like fatter towards like the iron landing spot. So I know we were playing the tees like way up from where they were, but we were kind of like as a group looking at it of like, I could see, I'm curious to see what those guys do off the tee on 13. Because I don't, maybe my instinct is wrong, but I was kind of like, man, I bet better off just blowing it up closer to the green and having a wedge out of the wire grass. So, you know, we'll see. God, I'm so excited for this. Just that tease alone. Now that's your We mentioned 1414 is one of the best best souls on the entire course. We could do all those. Just a quick hamster dam segment or just kind of introducing what we're

going to experience this week. 630 a.m. to 5 p.m. on USA on Thursday, 5 to 8 p.m. We're getting Peacock blocked. I stole that from somebody on Twitter today, but you will be. It is pay for play only from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursday. Very cool. Well, Friday morning, 630 a.m. to 1 p.m. LeCocque. Then it moves over to NBC actually from 1 to 7 p.m. on Friday. And then the middle finger hour, taking that last hour on the cut line of everything. Make sure you flip over to the Coq,

back to the Coq for that one. Seven to eight p.m. on Friday. Just one hour. Just one hour, that's the most obnoxious thing they do. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on USA. 12 p.m. to eight p.m. on NBC. Sunday, nine a.m. to 12 p.m. on USA, 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. on NBC, Sunday 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on USA, and 12 to 8 on NBC. Again, some sources were saying 7 p.m. finish. The USGA site had 8 p.m. in there on Sunday. So Sam Flood has commented that the Thursday commercial time will be

reduced by two minutes per hour. So you can thank us for that by joining the nest, nolangup.com forward slash join. We have made it our life's work to get you these two minutes per hour back in your life. They did not say out loud what the commercial load was and what they're cutting it to, because I think those numbers would probably still be quite jarring.

All I really care about is if it feels like we're getting two minutes back, which two minutes does not sound like a lot. It can feel like a lot. I don't know. We'll see. But, uh, that didn't, that didn't leave me with a great, only for Thursday too. They didn't say, I don't think they said anything else about Friday, Saturday, Sunday, about what the commercial loads are going to be. So, um,

I would just say expect the worst and just plan for that. It's amazing that they're getting, uh, you know, they're getting a screaming deal on this, Their inflation adjusts, so they're paying pretty similar to what they were paying on the deal before they lost at the Fox. And then they're still crying poor and figure it's amazing, truly amazing. Yeah, we'll see. We'll be monitoring the situation. Important context, we did do remote work on behalf of Omaha and ESPN during the PGA Championship. That is, thank you TC. It's important we throw that in there. We got a question from really Dan Weiner. If Scotty wins, is this the second greatest

individual season of all time? I did a little research on this one, guys. I'm going to say no on this and I'll give you some examples of this is post-World War II, the guys that have won two majors in one season. OK? And I'm going to tell you how many times they won in that season. So if it's got to be like this one. Are you counting DP World Tour, European Tour?

I did count them. And some of these get a little noisy with Arnold Palmer and some of this as well. So and it's really not going in any order of any kind. But Brooks Kapka, he won two majors in 2018. He only had three wins that year. His other one was the CJ cup. Again, this would be two majors and six wins for Scotty is the comparison here, but Rory in 2014, he won the last two majors of the year, but only had three wins that year. That was all in a row.

One other question, are you doing reach around or no? I don't know. I think it's calendar. Yeah, I guess. Yeah. Calendar year. So CJ cup would be reach around. Yeah, I don't count it. I don't really. It was that following CJ cup. So I don't know if it would count in that season actually. But one thing I didn't check was Roy did win the BMW that year. So four wins because he won the on the on the DP World Tour. I miscounted that one TC, I apologize.

In 2015, Spieth won the first two majors and had five total wins. So Scotty would be technically bypassing that one. Tiger Woods won two majors in a year, at least two majors in a year, four times. He did it in 2000 where of course he won three. 2002, 2005, and 2006. He had nine wins in 2000, five in 02, six in 05, and eight in 06. So Tiger only had six or more wins plus two majors in two seasons. So, and Scotty would have won after winning this one. So I feel like Scotty, I mean, that's kind of, because it seems like he's like, he's just going to keep winning the regular PGA tour events. And the only thing that could really hurt him there is if they don't count, like, like how do you count Eastlake? Right. Do you count that?

Well, that's what we were talking about last night, TC. Somebody asked like over under, I think it was eight and a half, six and a half. Yeah. Six and a half. And I'm like, man, he's probably going to play eight more times. He's going to win the tour championship. I think if he starts with a head start, he's going to be so far up on everybody. So you got to think he's going to get to seven. They should definitely get to So I think, yeah, it looks like I see him winning two or three more like outside of these majors. Cause it's not like he's winning more is he's won. He's one like in my opinion, the best events of the year. Like the only one he hasn't won is like Riviera.

He won players, he won heritage, he won memorial. The last two that he hasn't won, he was like, was pending felony charges. Like that's the only, that's the, what has happened. In fatherhood. Yeah. Nick Faldo in 1991, two majors majors those were his only two wins tom watson in 1977 won two majors and won five wins gary player in 74 he won he had three total pj tour wins four on the south african tour that year so i don't really know how to count those palmer gets really weird he had eight wins in

1960 and eight in 62 but But that that tour was obviously a little weird back then. Hogan did it three times. I didn't go back and count off his non-wins. Lee Trevino, two majors, six wins in 1971. So that would be a great comp for that one. Padraig won two majors in 2008. Those were his only two wins that year. O'Meara in 98 won two times. Those were his only two wins. Snead in 49 did it. Nick Price in 1994, two majors, six wins. Six wins in 1994. Wow.

Nick Price, underrated. Yeah. He was really good. David McCarvey asked, on the Taurus Sauce episode of Piners 2, Sully claimed that it was his favorite course in the US. Is it still true today? I have to put the Augusta disclaimer out there.

I don't even think it's fair to bring Augusta into the conversation. If you exclude Augusta, I would still say that this reigns true today. It's like the most fun challenge. It's just, especially like the most fun course. If you have any semblance of your game, it's the most fun challenge to take on.

It's just the best kind of ask. It does feel really good to play well there, which I think is like a category of course. It's an important like pro, like check that box of, like I feel like I earned it, number one. And then it's the happy medium for me between a lot of things of like, there's it's a championship golf course.

You know, you don't lose a ball. It's the challenge is subtle. And also like the more you play it, the, the more the scar tissue builds up. And I think that's also fun. Um, and like you said earlier, TC, it's one of those places, and this is a gut feeling thing, but you know, you kind of know it either is, or it isn't. It's the kind of place where you can go shoot 90 and want to go right back out and play, uh, and there's, you know,

that's not a lot of courses do I feel that way about. So good segment idea for this week. I feel like if we do, maybe we do this on Thursday or Friday, the, your top five favorite public courses in America. Yeah. Well, I bet this is probably, you know, I think for me, like this is probably tie with like band and trails. Yeah. I think those are the two best miles ahead of pebble. We got to do this part quickly as my childcare clock is coming to an end very quickly.

Who will not win? I did not. I forgot to put this on the agenda. I'm being honest, but you got to come up with one who will not win. I'll go first. If you guys need a second, please stick your neck out. Victor will not win. Victor will not win this this US Open plus Open. Plus 1600, that's my, that's my pick.

I'll stick my neck out. Reverse psychology. I'm going Rory will not win. Oh God. Let's do it baby. I'm going Xander. Xander will not win. I'm getting back on the, getting back on the horse.

Doubling down on that one. So, all right, we'll have more preview content coming. Happy hour, Wednesday, 4pm Eastern Time. We will have live shows at the completion of every round of play on YouTube and on Twitter. Subscribe to us on YouTube subscribe to the knowing a podcast YouTube channel, which is different than where the live shows will be. We've got a lot of people have really enjoyed the video version of these pods.

We appreciate all the comments and people subscribing there. We'll be keeping up with the content all week long. We appreciate you being where you go during major championship weeks. These are very fun for us and we're gonna have a lot of fun this week. So thank you as always to Blade and Bo, to Foresight, to Titleist, to Neil, TC.

Everybody have a great evening. Enjoy US Open Week. We'll see you at happy hour and every night this week. Cheers. Thanks for what you're doing online, Sal. I appreciate you too. You're welcome. Be the right club. Be the right club today.