No Laying Up - Golf Podcast - 993: LPGA Chevron Preview with Grant Boone

Episode Date: April 22, 2025

Randy and Cody catch up with the TV voice of LPGA Golf, Grant Boone, to preview this week's Chevron Championship - the first major on the 2025 LPGA calendar. Support our sponsors: Titleist Rhoback 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 Subscribe to the No Laying Up Newsletter here: https://newsletter.nolayingup.com/ Subscribe to the No Laying Up Podcast channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@NoLayingUpPodcast 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 in? That is better than most. Better than most. Expect anything different. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome into the No Laying Out podcast. My name is Randy, and this is your Chevron Championship preview. We have arrived at the first major's week of the season on the LPGA. It kicks off Thursday from the Woodlands in Texas. And to help us break down and get ready for the season's first major, I have Cody McBride joining. Cody, how are you today? I'm great buddy. Excited for the first major on the calendar year and I'm really excited for the guest we got. Yeah, we

have a great guest. We haven't caught up with him in a minute. Before we bring him on though, let's thank our first sponsor. And that is our good friends at Titleist. That's right, Big. Before you get things going, I just want to take a quick moment to talk about Vokey wedges, specifically, I want to touch on one important thing. Fresh grooves. Do yourself a favor.

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And you know the great thing about Vokey wedges, the faces of all Vokey SM10 wedges are heat treated. That maximizes the spin and effectively doubles the life of those grooves so you'll get plenty of mileage out of them. I just did this. When we got back from Argentina, I hit some weird shots out of bunkers and from very, very tight lies and big, let me tell you,

I got new fresh or fresh wedges in about three weeks ago, instant game changer. So happy I put in the request. You should all do it too. Check out the entire Vokey wedge line at titleist.com and get yourself set up for this golf season. All right. Very good. Well, we mentioned our, uh, he's one of our favorite guests and we actually haven't caught up with him in a while. So this is a perfect time to do so. He's a Texan, so I feel like he'll bring some local knowledge perhaps. He is lead play-by-play guy for the LPGA Tour on golf and he is going to be on the call

this week. Grant Boone, welcome back to the show. How are you doing? Randy, Cody, it's Major Sizzon and let's go. Sizzon, I like that Grant, you're getting hip. I'm so hip. How was Masters week? Have you decompressed? I know that's always a big week, you get to call the Amen Corner kind of

feature channel. How was that for you this year? It was long and it was awesome. You know, it started with my son Nick, who's a huge No-Ling-Up fan, joining me for a couple of days. We got to walk around the golf course and hang out with some folks and go see the golf channel set and go into Butler Cabin and ransack the place. No, we were on our best, best comportment and it was just, you know, after Monday got washed out partially, he squeezed in two or three hours there but then we had the whole day Tuesday and then everything

just built, you know, Christendode toward this, this, this wild finish, you know, which kind of gave me some Lydia Ko vibes, I think with, think, with Rory doing what he did. You know, the Wonder Kind, who won so much early, had, you know, he had three majors by the time he was 20, you know, not even 25 years old, or right at the year he turned 25, and there were four majors, I guess, and then just couldn't do it again and was so close so many times it was hanging on the edge for Lydia it was she needs that one more you know that one more point she had gone through the

peaks and the valleys as well and and then she finally gets it in that just heroic fashion by winning you know at the Olympics down to the wire and so you know Rory Lydia there was a lot of that, that I was feeling and to watch that roller coaster on Sunday and calling him in corner to watch him hit probably the worst shot of his career, you know, two holes before he hit maybe the best shot, you know, that he's ever hit or as good as he's ever hit. And with all due respect to Gene Serres and that shot that Rory hit to 15,

I think we'll look back on. Had he probably needed to make the putt for us to call it the- An all time. Yeah, the shot heard around the world. But I don't know, I thought it was great for golf. I really did, I feel like the LPGA is in such a good place where every week just about the best players are here. I mean, there are a couple like this, you know, in the, in the tournament preceding this Chevron, you know, we were out in LA and, you know, Lydia wasn't there, but everybody else was there.

Ronnie Yen wasn't there, but just about everybody's there. For the men's game, and you all are, you know, right there on top of it all, I just feel like there's never been a time in which, that I can remember in which men's golf, professional golf was so fractured that there was so little buzz going into a master's. The master's has its own buzz, and Rory was, I would say, the story.

But there there wasn't the same level of that I often feel when I get to Augusta National. And it seemed to me that. That men's professional golf needed this Rory win, you know, like to unify itify to get people fired up, so to speak, and, you know, to just maybe get people happy to watch golf again. We haven't been we always like watching the Masters, but we really haven't. It's been hard to enjoy at times because all the peripherals. Well, God, we can

spend you. We can spend a couple hours if we just want to unpack all of that. Grant, I mean, you tell me. I just think the irony is that men's golf has so much baked in over the last several decades that give it advantages. The women's game to me is far more cohesive. There are legit things going on behind the scenes that could be, you know, seismic, in terms of what is going to happen in the future. But just week to week, you know, maybe I'm biased, because I'm out here so much. But every week, it's Nellie, it's Lydia,

it's genotidic. And then here come the new, you know, this incredibly talented, you know, rookie class and already has a win. I just feel like the women's game doesn't have some of those advantages. But I think they're in a way better spot. I just think men's game needed something like that. And for it to be Bryson, you get the live angle of okay, great. And then you get then you get Rosie and and all of to be Bryson, you get the live angle of, okay, great. And then you get Rosie and all of that storyline and just a great finish. No, you're right.

I think the one thing that you rightfully called out there was like, leading up to the masters, it's always about the masters, but we really know where competitively people are at. And you see, you know who the leaders are gonna be in the fractured world that we have right now. We just don't know really how the live guys are gonna perform.

And that comment that has nothing to do with live tour or anything else like that, it's just about sheer amount of events. And I'll lead that, use that as a lead in here to say, Grant, we're leading into the first major on the LPGA tour. And I kind of feel that way. I understand that what you're saying about the best women who usually are always playing together, but I'm really having a hard time with this schedule because it feels like, yeah, they're all playing together.

Yeah. But I don't feel like we have momentum leading into a major championship. Well, again, you we lost the tournament at Palos Verdes for a very unfortunate reason, really the the underwriter over in Korea, not for hills, the sponsor, but but the one that really isn't responsible for putting up the cash to put this the big chunk of the cash to put this, the big chunk of the cash to put this event on. They went away and to the LPGA's credit, they stood their ground after a couple of years of that entity not ponying up what they owed.

It's terrible because you miss an event in LA, you would have loved to have had LA, Phoenix, Vegas, you understand they're going to take the week off for the Masters. There was something cool though, I think, you know, among the many reasons why I love Mission Hills, it always preceded Masters. And so you could get really excited about, you know, they would always play the Kia Classic the week before in Carlsbad. And then you'd go over and you'd play at Mission Hills, then you'd go to the Masters. Then if you took a week off, it's okay because you weren't going to play another women's

major until the US Open usually. Now you've taken a week off. You do have the LA event that gets us ramped back up, the JM Eagle, but this is one of those disadvantages. The LPGA Tour is working with so many different partners around the world and they're trying to put a schedule together, no commissioner at the time, by the way. Hopefully that will be rectified here in short order with some tremendous candidates as your friend Nichols reported last week on in golf week. yes the schedule ideally you know would lead you

towards the Masters now I would argue I sorry would lead you toward the Chevron you know but but with Masters you know you had Houston and San Antonio not two of the the bigger events but it's still you're still playing every week and so Brian Harmon wins Houston and you can say okay Brian Harmon's on the up you know little uptick for him and when Lee Houston. And you can say, okay, Brian Harmon's on the up, you know, a little uptick for him. And Min Woo Lee wins in Houston. You can say, okay, let's watch, see if Min Woo can cook here.

So, you know, you, because you're going to Asia for three events, you know, in March, at least we had the two events before we went to Asia. You know, some years we'll play the tournament of champions, then you go to Asia a month later, and then you take two or three weeks off. It's been a great year of winners, but in terms of what's the,

I think the longest streak of consecutive weeks played is three, and those were in Asia, which are finishing overnight in the U.S. To your point, Cody, you know, we had, because we lost Palace Verdes, we had Phoenix, you know, we had, because we lost Palace Verdes, we had Phoenix, Ford Championship, Vegas, then you took the week off of the Masters, then JM Eagle, and now Chevron.

So I'm agreeing with you, and as usual, because I'm a broadcaster, I'm taking away. Obviously, Chevron Championship, we were very, very excited about it. Is there, was there a reason given to why this it's switched its event space? Last year Chevron was immediately the week following the Masters. Right this year, we're going two weeks back. Of course, we have JM Eagle in there, which took that week up.

Is there a reason why? No, if there is, I haven't heard it. I think some of it depends on what's best for each club. You know, El Caballero hosted J.M. Eagle this year and with Wilshire Country Club under renovation. You've got to, I think club at Carlton Woods is fine, whatever. I mean, they really genuinely, I think as you guys know, they love having the Chevron. They love being the new home of it.

But you've got to work in El Caballero into that mix as well. And I think they also, you know, more events before the Chevron to give people a chance. So, because you think Vegas is not really a way to work your way in because it's only 64 players this year. And so remember last year was 96 players they had there because they did three days of stroke play before the weekend of match play. 64 players you can't really, that's not really an event and it was based on priority list. So no matter how well you had done

early in the year, unless you had won like Rio de Queda, you couldn't work your way in to the match play in Vegas, which doesn't give you a chance to really work your way into Chevron. So this, by playing JM Eagle the week before, that's how they filled out the field. I think that's ultimately the reason. Big field this week. It is a big field. I, you know, I think we can look, you know, to the Masters and say, there's something about, you know, we, US Open gives you 156. PG Championship gives you 156. British Open feels like it's 356 when, you know, they start in the morning

and don't stop till night. But remember last week, you know, a couple of weeks ago at the Masters, you know, people were saying, oh, big field at the Masters, 95. Wow. Where are we going to put them all? You know, Chevron used to be in that, you know, when it was at Mission Hills, it was 110, you know, and I kind of like that. It's a major, you know, not everybody gets in and not everybody gets a trophy. And I kind of like it.

I kind of like a smaller field. They didn't ask me clearly. I think that's a good chance to talk venue a little bit. And only in the sense of this is going to be the third year playing the Chevron championship from the club at Carlton Woods, of course, the Jack Nicholas signature course. And I just wondering if it's been enough time, Grant and Cody, I think this is a discussion for all of us.

Has it been a good move? Do you like that this championship has moved from Palm Springs to Texas? And I'll just say kind of as a feather in the cap of Carlton Woods, let's say, it's produced two fabulous winners in the two plangs Lily of ooh, and of course last year Nellie Korda, but but I'm just curious grant. I guess I would start with you What do you make now this being our third year in Texas? If I'm giving it a grade, I'm giving it an incomplete. You know, I just don't think we have enough yet.

Look, I'm the guy who cries at the long distance telephone commercials back in the day. I'm a softie, a sentimentalist. I don't like losing tradition. And especially in the women's game, there are so few places that are instantly recognizable. And let's face it, even Mission Hills few places that are instantly recognizable. And let's face it, even Mission Hills isn't instantly recognizable

to every single golf fan, but there are few places on the LPGA tour that they can call their own. You know, I mean, I even look at a place like Pine Needles and say, hey, that's a place that the LPGA can say, we've been there a few times. That's kind of our place. The men go to Pinehurst and sometimes the women do as well. But Mission Hills, 50 years. And I know there are a lot of reasons why not the least of which is Chevron

wants to be near home for its event. The reality is Mission Hills itself, the membership had grown a bit weary of the event. The date had become really untenable because of ANWA. Grant, on that, it's very hard with who to side and try to cut this discussion right down the middle. But it feels like the LPGA really was given a hard blow by that. And I know that there's a lot of things that were potentially going to change about the Chevron as it is, but that really being like an organization as strong and powerful as Augusta National doing something really good for the women's game. But ultimately, having one of the five premier women's events

being the one that suffers the most from it. And I don't know if we, you know, we've done ANWOC quite a few times now. I don't know if you have any thoughts on that, because again, it's hard to say that one is bad outside of, you know, it appears that the LPGA definitely was hurt the most. I think multiple things can be true. I think you can have an event like Anwar very quickly become a coveted amateur title. Morgan Pressell, my colleague, always says venues matter and she knows.

There were a lot of years in which the women's game would not go to elite venues and that has changed some over the years and I think changed quite a bit over the years. We've seen some phenomenal improvements in where they're staging their biggest events. And so Augusta National is one of those primo spots. So that part I think can be true. It is great to have women playing, you know, young women, the best amateurs playing at Augusta National. I think at the same time, for it to have happened the way it happened, and for the announcement really to be made

before the LPGA really had it, you know, was even aware of it, I think, you know, was a shame. And the reality is, as you say, Cody, the ANA inspiration was going away with that name, ANA was was ending its its sponsorship, its title sponsorship. And so things were going to change. The club, as we were saying, had lost a bit of its zeal for the event. It still means so much to so many on that tour,

myself included, my dear friend and colleague Judy Rankin, she won there. And so both things can be true. Once they decided to change the venue, well, then you could change the date a little more easily. It would have been more awkward if they were going to stay out there. So if someone staged a massive men's amateur event, let's say at Pine Valley, and they put it the week of the Masters, you know, I think a lot of people at Augusta National would be on, you know, would be would be displeased with that. Because if you're a rising men's player, you're thinking you're going to get to Augusta National

one day to play the Masters. I'm going to earn my way in. You don't always know for sure you're going to ever get to play Pine Valley. So it would be interesting if that were to happen. That's the best comp I can come up with. And so I think both things can be true. So they had a phenomenal finish at Anwar. I love watching it every year to see what Rose did, you know, to really have, I think

Morgan called it, you know, the modern amateur grand slam, you know, when she did everything she did. The junior, the amateur, the NCAA and the Anwain. It's cool. But so much was going to change anyway that I think it doesn't feel any... I know a lot of folks who, a lot of the older guard with the LPGA still feels a bit of a frustration with how

everything happened. But at the end of the day, you know, here's Judy, who is this legend of the game, great player, great announcer. And she just says, Hey, things change. And did I love Mission Hills? Loved it with a passion. How's Carlton Woods? Let's make it great. You know, That's Judy's mindset. As usual, I'm going with Judy. Speaking of Carlton Woods, have you seen that course evolve over these first couple of years? Just talk to me about the venue, I guess, because one thing that's hard, and I'll be very open and honest about this, we just did the master's preview, right?

The podcast and it's very easy. We rely on one of those sexing is just talking about the golf course, right? It's a golf course. Everybody knows at this point, we all know that the holes and the shots and where trouble can come in and where players can really make a move. Can we ever get there at

Carlton Woods, Grant? Is it the type of venue? Like, how can we make this venue? It's never going to be Augusta National, I realize that, but can it be major worthy? Can it be good enough for what it needs to be? I think if you keep getting winners like you referenced earlier, it can be. And I think if you get five years, 10 years into it, you can, I mean, the reality is,

I don't think really anywhere you would be playing this event, maybe there could be a place where you say, oh, I know every hole after two years, but most of the time, you're gonna need a little time to get used to it. People didn't know all the holes at Augusta National good night until about 20 years ago when they started showing the first nine. So Augusta's got 89 years of a competitive advantage. And my big hope, and this is what so many people said when they left Mission Hills, let's not bounce around.

Can we stay? And the club at Carlson Woods is a beautiful facility. The course itself, I think it has the potential to be exciting. I think we've, again, you've seen the drama there over the last couple of years. Let's give it a chance. I'm not trying to oversell it,

but to me, when you have a club that eagerly desires to be the host, you know, like the club at Carlton Woods does, I mean, I'm talking from general manager down to members. I mean, they really, really want this. I'm inclined to say, let's go and let's give it a few years. Right now, we kind of know the 18th a little bit. We know Angie Chung, an ace at 17, you know, a couple of years ago for a million bucks. And Nellie will remember the 15th because

she got, you know, after an eternal wait to hit her tee shot there. She yanked at the water. So, you know, we're getting to know some of these holes and some of this, this is the thing. You can't instantly, you know, there is no microwave for history. You know, you've got to do the slow boil. It's a crock pot. That is one of the disadvantages,

but let's turn it into an advantage. Let's keep having great chevrons and I think that'll change. Yeah, Randy, I think my side of it would be that it's very hard in women's professional golf right now to find a sponsor who is investing more than Chevron is in this single event. I think they're doing an incredible job, not only with the purse, but as Grant said, guaranteeing it a home for a long time, the club, Club of Carlton Wood, put 10 million bucks into the course between year one and year two. Last year, the Greens, brand new Greens were super firm, super fast, brand new bunkers.

They lowered them and I'm very excited to see it this year to see how that grow in is actually continued. Are they still gonna be as firm? They'll definitely be as fast, but are they still gonna be as firm as they were last year? So I think there's a lot of things going for it. Now you have a very supportive sponsor, as I said. You have a supportive home club in the club in Carlton Wood. But I also, you know, we talked about this last year is that I think

it's going to continue to take some time for the greater community. And I'm not just talking about the Woodlands, but really Houston as a whole to continue to embrace it. And I think that's what is going to elevate this tournament. Once you see pictures on TV with full galleries, you know, and there's excitement and everything else that builds and that takes time. So hopefully that's a, you know, year after year, it's just going to continue to improve. You know, on that point, one of the reasons I think the Premier League has grown in prominence over here in the U.S. in interest is number one, it's on TV now more than it used to be. But you see full stadiums of people and you think to yourself, I don't even know what this is.

But if that means exciting, maybe it's worth at least my watching a little bit. I mean, the Ryder Cup was was was on USA Network as recently as 30 years ago. But then when you see fans there, when you see people who genuinely care about something like the Ryder Cup, we saw there the war by the shore. I just I do think it changes. It increases the likelihood that the stray viewer there, the war by the shore. I do think it changes, it increases the likelihood that the stray viewer might stick around for a little bit. Yeah.

And you guys, it can't be overstated. First and foremost, having a club that wants this championship. I mean, that's not something to take for granted. And I want to commend the folks at Carleton Woods. That's got to be where it starts because we've seen tournaments have to leave venues because there isn't an appetite from the membership. So point taken there. Last year, you know, the storyline was obvious. We had Nellie Korda coming in. She was on what would be a historic streak. I think she had won four straight starts heading into Chevron

and would go on to win, making it five in a row from her. Grant, I'm curious this year. We don't quite have as obvious of a marquee story. What do you think are one, two of the biggest potential storylines as we come into Chevron Championship in the first major of the year? Yeah, to me there is a comp between Nelly this year and Scotty last year. Both were red hot going into the first major of the year. Both won it. Nelly even hotter than Scotty, you know, as you noted, making it five in a row and not just five in a row but three straight LPGA events on the calendar, you know, she'd taken

seven weeks off between the first and the second of those five straight wins but she won, you know, you win every event on the calendar that takes an already amazing streak into a, I think to an even different level for this year. To me, I look at the winners and I think we're seeing once again, the depth of the LPGA tour and what happens when you do get the best players of the world in the world together a lot. You're seeing what happens. You've you've had, you know, first time win from Yelimino. You've had major champions like A-Lam Kim and Hyoju Kim win.

I think your big hitter, Madeline winning in Vegas, was enormous. And I really, you know, winning is so hard to do, to say that, okay, that's gonna, you know, winning is so hard to do to say that, okay, that's gonna, you know, open the floodgates. That opening the floodgates might mean what some would call a trickle, you know, I mean, it might mean she wins one more time this year. What if she doubled her win total in 2025, you know, from from one to, you know, if she wins twice as many this year as she won all in her first seven, eight years on tour, I think Madeline from one to, you know, if she wins twice as many this year as she won all, you know, her first seven, eight years on tour, I think Madeline is one to watch.

Now that that relief, that monkey is off her back, you know, after not having won for five years. But you haven't seen Nellie win. You've seen Lydia win. Gino has won on the L.E.T. in a big event in the Middle East, but she's come close on the LPGA Tour, but not won. Ronna Yen is playing well, not as well as she often does. Jean Young-Ko is a little bit lost at the moment.

Brooke Henderson is still trying to find it. So, it's been, I think, a great start to the season. I think Hannah Green is going to be heard from at Chevron this week. To me, to me, the storyline going in is Gino. She be she would be my, you know, you can't picking winners, as we know, is insane. It's funded to try. Gino would be my pick. Spoiler alert.

Come on, save that to the end, Grant. We need them listening all the way through. Edit that out. Do you think she feels, I mean, she is far and away the best player without a major championship. Yes. Do you think she feels that? Is that pressure? Because it feels, to me, she never, I don't ever really see pressure affecting her.

No, you know, I mean, Gino won an L.E.T. event when she was 14, you know, the youngest ever winner on that tour. I mean, you know, you can't even, it was 14 years since Rory, you know, had a chance to win the Masters for the first time, just to give you an idea. You know, it's like 14 years old. Yeah. Those first three, first, let's say she was a rookie in 2022. She won twice got to number one in the world, really

had to mind not a lot of scar tissue, you know, she wasn't she didn't really have any losses that you say, oh, boy, she she had great chance there. Until she got to Chevron 2023. She got a wedge in her hand for tried for the lead, and she hit it in the water. And then she, you know, she had, she certainly by her standards, her play dipped a bit, still good enough to, you know, rack up a bunch of top tens, but didn't really put herself into contention as much

until the end of that year, when she got into a marathon playoff with Celine Boudier in Malaysia, I believe. And then, then last year, she basically spots the tour three months because of a thumb injury, and still had the lead when they woke up Sunday morning to resume round three, and wound up tied for 12th in her first start back, you know, with a new grip, you know, she had had to learn how to grip the club differently because of that thumb injury. So then, you know, she has the huge finish to the year with the victory at the CME, but also the team win with Lada Yen at the DOW. And that was

a tournament, by the way, that was tied late. Allie Ewing and Jen Cupcho were tied with them, and Gino makes that 18th hole birdie to put them ahead, and they wound up winning by one. So a clutch shot when she needed it, you know, and now I just think, I mean, to me, CME obviously is not a major championship, but they'd never played for, no one's ever played $4 million first prize. That had a major feel to it with Angel Yen,

who I think is gonna break through and win a major here sooner than later. She's had good success, obviously. She lost the playoff to Lilie Vu there in 2023. But to the question of does she feel pressure, Gino's pretty happy-go-lucky. As long as Ronnie Yen's around to yuck it up with, I think she's having more fun than she's feeling pressure. There's no golf course that doesn't set up well when you can hit it long and straight and make a bunch of clutch putts.

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your first order through the end of this week. Roeback is spelled R-H-O-B-A-C-K, roeback.com, and get 20% off all polo shorts and more with code N-L-U. Thank them very much. Now let's get back to our discussion. Cody, anything to add there? I'm just thinking, you know, personally, some potential.

It does feel open coming into this year. Like certainly more so than last year when it was just like, oh yeah, why would I pick anybody except for Nellie? I don't know if that means, you know, maybe we get like a total dark horse winner or maybe we see Grant to your point, an Angel Yen or a Lauren Coughlin. Can she take, you know, the next step? I am excited because it does feel open and like a lot of different women could potentially win this week. Well, there's nobody that's played, you know, the club at Carlton Woods really better than Nellie Court.

And being in this position right now and not picking her is very weird. It's very weird. It's very weird. And especially how she played the course last year. I mean, directly on her heels is Gino and she's had two years of really good performances, but you know, some sketchy last rounds, as Grant had mentioned there. And I remember last year doing the live show after it. And we had Nellie call into the live show and it was incredible. And you're living in the moment and everything. And I remember sitting there

because at the start of that final round, I think Geno was only two or three back and really sitting there thinking like, wow, we thought she was gonna be super rusty coming back off this long break and injury and new grips and she put herself right there. And she shot 76 in the final round. And I remember at the time being like, oh, that's just that's a rust. We're going to throw that out. And that ended up being true. But right there with Nellie and Gino last year were Lauren Coughlin, who's very, very familiar with this golf course.

Her parents live two minutes away. Yeah. Plays it often when she's visiting them in Houston and my Stark and, you know, realistically, Maya absolutely battled and kind of, you know, had a couple of false steps there on her final nine coming in, but herself in great spot. It's, I think we're at the point now, especially the year that LC had last year, putting herself in contention and honestly, probably should have won Evian. She is a favorite at this course, which is awesome to say it's very scary. But you know, not just form last year, form this year, her, you know, battled her way at match play. It was young hitter versus young

hitter. We were all confused. We didn't know what to do. We didn't know what to tweet grant. It was it was an existential crisis for knowing. It was we didn't know. Honestly, we did not know what to do. You have no it can't go badly. Whoever wins. Right. What you're saying. You know, Matt, yes, no matter who wins, but fully knowing one of them is gonna lose. Yeah. Well, I'll say

this Cody to your point about, you know, who could do it, because I love to party. I keep up with I keep up with Rolex rankings of major winners entering the major, you know, what they are, and we're on a heater. 10 straight majors with every winner ranked 30th or better going in. Nellie of course was number one when she won last year. I mean 30th is, I mean that's, let me just give you a few names. Does that go back, Grant, does that go back to Ash Buhi?

It does. It goes back to Ash. In 2022? Yeah. And I would even argue, you know, and that was at Muirfield. And I would argue Ash, you know, was not a fluke. She's proven that wasn't a fluke. Sometimes the rankings don't cooperate with your narrative, but in this case, 84th,

I don't think that speaks to who Ash Buhai was. She had been a proven winner around the world, and it was a magical day for her at that first time visit to Muirfield. Before that, you do go back to Patti Tavatanakit being outside the top 100. A'Lem Kim was, you know, in the mid-90s, 94th, I think, when she won at Champions in Houston. And then, of course, pop off outside the top 300 when she won at Troon. So you go back before that, and you can find some outliers, some of whom have gone on to prove that, you know, absolutely are legit. A'Lem Kim's won a couple of times here in the last few months. And we know that Hannah Green, who was outside the top 90, you know, she's proven

herself to be a legit, you know, top 10 player. Well, let me just read off a few names here, 25 to 30 ish. And you tell me if you could get excited and you've already named a couple of them. Allie Ewing, don't like her chances pregnant. So I'm going to go ahead and just cross her off. Akie Iwai, she's 26th in the world. Akie Iwai, it took her all of two starts to set an LPGA record. No one had ever shot two rounds of 62 or better in the same event. And she did that and didn't win. Angel Yin beat her by one. So Akiye, legit, still hasn't played but a handful of LPGA majors, but that's going to

change. Lynn Grant at 27, kind of under the radar. But at any moment, if Lynn Grant wins, are you going to say, where'd that come from? No, you're going to say, yeah, now. Now we go, your young hitter, Madeline, now 28th. I mean, she fits in that statistical profile of major winner. There have been a handful, four or five in the last two years since 2023 that have been in that 25 to 30 range.

A-Lim Kim, 29th. I mean- Which I will say A-Lim Kim, besides Nelly, the only player to finish inside the top 10 both times at Carlton Woods. Yeah, yeah. Shanked one in 2023 or else she might have won. Maya Stark, as you mentioned, 30th, second last year.

If Maya Stark wins a major, you're not going to say, what? You're going to say here she comes, that now it's Maya Stark arriving fully, a one win. But even Brooke at 32nd, Alison Corpuz 33rd, Jen Hiem played great last year at Chevron. She's 33rd, 34th. So I'm telling you, that range right there is, to your point, because we don't have a clear favorite like Nellie like last year,

I still think Gino would be my favorite. But that 25 to 30-ish range is interesting to watch. Absolutely. Yeah, you know, it's funny. We've mentioned a lot of names already. There is a champion that we haven't really mentioned based off of performance only, the fact that she's won. Yeah.

We started this season kind of, I don't know if, more confused than anything on what Lily A'Voo's year is gonna look like. Right. Lily J, by the way. Very much. And then next thing you know, we make it to Arizona

and she puts herself in a position. She didn't lose the playoff, she got beaten the playoff. I would agree. But an incredible week for her at the Ford Championship. And it's just one of those people where like, wow, if you're looking at momentum and if Lillia starts running downhill, you know, there's no better course match for her than the club of Carlton Woods. Lillia Vu is cold-blooded.

I mean, she's the sweetest person you could ever talk to, you know, off the course. But I mean, she's the sweetest person you could ever talk to, you know, off the course, but I mean, she... Is there any... There aren't many that I would trust with an important putt, you know, more than Lilia Vu. I mean, the putt she made to get into the playoff after Hyoju Kim shot 64 on Sunday in Phoenix, you know, that's a putt that you miss probably more than you make.

I mean, it's a solid 10 feet. It's not an easy puttt and everything's on the line. That was clutch and Hioju beat her with, Hioju made 10 birdies that day, including that one in the playoffs. I mean, she shoots 68 with a two shot lead and you lose to a 64, I think to your point, Cody, it was Hioju who won it.

You know, but Lillia, if the back cooperates, remember she warmed up last year on Thursday for round one. She was trying to give it a go and she couldn't go and she wound up not playing again until coming out of hibernation there in June and winning at the Meyer with her own 64 to win in a playoff. But anytime you get to a major championship, if you're not considering Lillia Wu strongly, as long as she's healthy, I think you're overlooking it because for her to do what she did to come from, she's got a great history of coming from behind.

She came from six back to win in Thailand and came from way back to win at Meyer as well. I think eight back maybe when she won at Meyer or 64, at least to win on Sunday. So she's, but she's also been a good front runner, you know, and she was tied with Charlie, everybody pulling for Charlie at Walton Heath at AIG

a couple of years ago and she won by six. So Lillie is always a good pick, good value pick for sure. God, first time we're mentioning the 10th ranked woman in the world in this podcast too, a major championship preview. Charlie Hall, a lot going on, seems to be very settled in life right now, has a grasp over her game, over her swing. Now the beginning of the year is always hard for Charlie, notoriously doesn't like traveling

a ton, isn't going to be out on the road for weeks on at a time. And this is where I think scheduling wise comes in again, where unless Charlie kind of changes or just has one of those freak Charlie Hall weeks, I don't know if the Chevron is ever really going to work out for her, but very bullish when you talk about the rest of the season for her. I don't know if you have any thoughts on her leading into Chevron. When we did the Founders Cup in Bradenton, I said on the air that I expected Charlie to have a big year and what does big mean? Again, you know, you win on the LPGA Tour these days, you've

had a good year and you can have good years without winning. And she's put herself in contention a couple of times, had a really, you know, had a good year and you can have good years without winning. And she's put herself in contingent a couple of times, had a really, you know, had a legit chance to win the Founders Cup in Braedon, had a good chance to win on the Asian swing, you know, there with, you know, and I believe it was in Singapore. Yeah, HSBC. Yeah, when Lydia was wound up winning. And then she was right there in Phoenix, Great chance to win to Phoenix. The thing with Charlie is closing, like it is with just about everybody.

Can you close? Can you get it done? She's done it before. And now with Charlie, as many top 10s as she has, top 5s, runners up, and runner-up finishes, and majors, to me, I would always expect Charlie to play well. It's a big ballpark that favors big hitters and Charlie can move it with the best of them. She's one of those not quite like Rory in the sense that she's beloved everywhere she goes. She is, but I mean, Rory makes his home in

the US. So he's practically, everyone wants to claim Rory. Charlie is instantly likable, like wherever, like Tom Abbott, my colleague at Golf Channel, just says the London press loves her. They're obsessed with her because she kind of, she gives them stuff, you know, Instagram alone, you know, is worth it. And, and just all the stuff with smoking and, you know, taking, you know, betting that she can lay out the 5k goal, right? She wants to run a sub 20 minute 5k. And she'll post her workout, you know, before, you know, like, like she went out and shot her career low in Phoenix on that

Thursday. She said she'd gotten up at 230 to call home to 30am Phoenix time to call home and then she'd gotten up at 2 30 to call home 2 30 a.m. Phoenix time to call home and then she you know she ran a 7k and it's like you know except for calling home in the 7k is exactly how I got ready for the for the day. I think it'd be fun I think it'd be great for golf if Charlie won like our colleague Karen Stupples I think I've crossed off all my, let's see if I can get K Cockrell into this. You know, Karen won, Karen won the AIG in 2004 at Sunningdale with that unbelievable start, Eagle Albatross start. And then there wasn't another English winner

of a major championship until Georgia Hall in 2018. We're still looking for that next one, you know? And I think Charlie would be, I think it'd be great, be great for golf in 2018, we're still looking for that next one, you know, and I think Charlie would be I think be great, be great for golf in general, because Charlie's just, Charlie's just one of those people who I think has the potential, she already does, but even more, I think the upside is huge with Charlie and a chance to transcend just the women's game and, you know, get people talking about the LPGA.

Yeah, and Randy, I'm sorry, I think we blew your agenda to bits here. But it's been a good show. It's been a fascinating conversation already. Grant, one question got me scratching our head because I was going down the, you know, the former champions of the Chevron championship and comparing it to the field for this week. And somebody... Lexi's told us that she retired. I understand that maybe there's a difference between retired and full schedule or however she wanted to phrase it, but she's played an awful lot of golf already this year. Obviously, you can take out the the Asian swing, which she never played in really as it was.

Recently, yeah. So every event that she has been qualified or exempt into, she's played. Yeah, she's never been so busy since retiring. I mean, the reality is, you know, to overuse that term that she she said it was stepping away full time. Was that a false start? You know, everyone I've talked to, including, you know, people close to Lexi, her fam, it's almost like let's let's look forward to the next chapter. And and she finished top 60 last year.

Right. To any point. So I tell everybody, she's earned whatever she wants to do. And I still think in her mind, she is stepping away full time. But as you note, because the way, in her mind, she's going to say, well, I played Bradenton, and I didn't play again until Ford. And, you know, that I didn't play again until Jamie Eagle. You know, she's like, it's only, you know, but three times in four months. She's like, I mean, I'm stepping away. It's just because of the schedule, because American fans don't pay quite as much attention to those Asian events because they finish in the middle of the night.

And she didn't play those. We don't notice that she's not there. If she didn't play, we'll notice if it's a huge event that she doesn't play, although she always skips Evian. She skipped Evian the last few years. So it is a little bizarre. I mean, I joked, who's going to be at more LPGA events this year, Lexi or me. But to me, my thought is Lexi's been an enormous ambassador for the LPGA.

She's earned the right, literally with her golf clubs, the way she plays, she's earned the right to play as much as she wants. She could play full schedule. And if she decides to change, good, whatever she wants to do. But it I hear you, it is the the retirement tour, you know, continues for Lexi. I am right there with you. If Lexi wants to play more tournaments than she expected, or maybe that people expected her to play in, that's great for women's golf, from top to bottom, from the highest level of professional golf all the way down to my little girls who are going to go to their, you know, PGA

junior league tonight. You know, everybody loves Lexi. I think I bring it up just strictly based off of the confusion of it all. And maybe if there's a little bit of clarity applied to it and saying, you know, yes, I'm not going to play the full schedule that maybe I am used to, you know, doing in the past, but I'm still going to meet the tour minimum for events played. I'll play in events that I am, you know, qualified or exempt into. And that's what my schedule will be because I called it the false start because it kind of feels now like that was a headline that got out there for what reason? Yeah and as someone who talks for a living you're always looking to, no one would believe me listening to this podcast, but I am always trying to find the most concise way to say things

to this podcast, but I am always trying to find the most concise way to say things, to at least have that option. I may not choose to be concise, but I want to be as I want to. So you say, it's easier to say she's retiring. That's a headline rather than stepping away from the tour full time. That takes an entire sentence to say. And so I think people ran with retirement when in fact it's not what she said. She said, I'm gonna be stepping away from the tour full time. And let's see where she is at the end of the year. It may be in, or it may be,

she may decide to play more. Let me tell you this, we're recording this on the weekend of the JM Eagle, LA Championship. By the time we get to Chevron, she may have a win. Exactly. I'm not predicting it, but if you told me Lexi Thompson's going to win this year, I'd say, wouldn't surprise me. Nothing she does surprises me. I mean, remember at Meyer last year when Lillia won that playoff, there's a chip shot that Lexi hit that hung on the edge enough to where she wanted to

see if it would drip in. And she wound up tapping it in, going to the playoff and Lillia won it. I mean, Lexi played some of her best golf after announcing that she was going to step away full time. And I don't think that's a coincidence. I think she needed that for her own mental health. Like the living in Morgan has been through the same thing. You live in that fishbowl from age 12 on, whether she's your favorite player or not,

you can at least appreciate that she's carried the water for the LPGA through a very difficult time. Uh, you know, as they've been through commissioner changes, as they've been through kind of a reboot under Mike Wan and, and, you know, that massive influx of players from not just Korea, but also China and Thailand. And the tour has just changed so dramatically and Lexi's been out in front, you know, as the face of the LPGA for all that time.

That wears on a person. She's been very open about wanting to make sure she, you know, takes care of her mental health. She's engaged, she's happy, literally. Yeah, love it, love it. Got engaged on New Year's Day. And so I think she's in a good place and I would not be shocked if Lexi plays well this year

and even wins. Let's lock in Grant, we have your genotiticum winner prediction. Cody, will you give us a winner prediction please? I mentioned earlier. Lauren Coughlin. Boom. You are right.

Okay. This was the event you talked about it, but this was the event that she talked about as being the springboard like, because it's one thing. Remember a couple of, remember the first round ever at Carlton woods. Pay you in chin was the leader. She was the outright leader by one. I promise, look it up. Money, Lee Chen.

You are, 567. Yeah, and it's one thing, and Lauren had the lead last year, it's one thing to lead, and I think there are little thresholds that most players go through, but to hang in, she talked about to hang in there the entire weekend with the pressure and playing with it. It also got her exempt from sectional qualifying for the US Women's Open. And she

had never played in a USGA event. And I remember her, but I like to put out the Rolex rankings again, because that's how I roll. And she messaged me and said, do you think with the projections, do you think this gets me in? I said, I don't want you to hang on my projection, but it looks like you're a lock at this point to finish inside that top 75 at the cutoff point. So this is a meaningful place, as you mentioned, her parents lived not far away.

That was an enormous event, Randy, I know you know for her last year. And then not a, doesn't always follow that script, but then she contended in another major, as you said at Evian and all credit to Ayaka, who I still think, I said this on the air, I've said it in posts, I think Ayaka Futaway's finish is the greatest finish of any major champion, men's or women's, of all time. To go five under for your

last five holes, walk off eagle. Spieth went five under for his last five, I think at Burgdale when he beat Kuchar, but by the time they got to 17-18, he had stretched out a little bit. He didn't have to birdie a eagle the last hole. So that's what Lauren lost to. Steph Kariaku was up there as well. There are different ways you don't win. Sometimes it's something you do. I think that was Boudoui who won it. And then Coughlin wins, you know, her next couple of starts.

So I love Elsie. You know, I think she thinks of herself, if you talk to her, I may ask her now just thinking about this, how do you think of yourself now going into this week at Chevron versus going into last year? She was confident, now she knows she. Karen Supples always says, it's one thing to get to the first tee on Sunday and think you can do it. It's another thing to know you can do it. I think that's where LC is. Yeah, absolutely. It is wild to just take a step back and look at her transformation

and it is 100% tied to her belief in herself. You mentioned Evian last year. I think that when I close my eyes and like recall back to Evian, what an incredible stretch of holes for our champion. But the image that sticks in my head is on that 18th green, Lauren and John looking at each other and just being like, there's nothing we could have done. Yeah, exactly. And they tip their game.

Remember, Ayaka herself had been through those mental challenges. She even said, sometimes I question if I have what it takes. And so she did it. And then Elsie, the way she followed it up, so awesome. I think Lauren Coughlin is everything that's good about the game. And not just a good story, a legitimately great player and an absolute threat every time she tees it up. Absolutely. Big. Who are you going with? Let's go.

I'm joining Grant. Games, Gino. And this would be obviously a big step towards making that a reality. She's played great at Carlton Woods. I think six rounds of her eight under par, 172. And then, you know, just the Sunday clunker last year, unfortunately. But I'll join you there. Do you have any, the only other prediction was, you know,

taking our winners out of it. Is there anybody amateur wise? We have a group of eight amateur women, including Lottie Wode, Carla Burnett-Escudar, who has just won Anwa a few weeks back. Gianna Clemente, Jasmine Koo, who was, I believe, top 15 here at Chevron last year as an amateur. Are there any amateurs- Jasmine Koo has the distinction of being the only player to

doink one off the Chevron platform. That was her, yes. That was two years ago. That's right. Any amateurs you think will be, I guess the question maybe is who do you think will be low amateur this week? I didn't even mention Astrik Talley. Astrik Talley, yeah, who played the JM Eagle you know the week before. So an Astrik who seconded Anwar and you hold your first, you hold your approach at one at Anwar, at Augusta National and now you're just showing off.

And the shot she hit at 17 made Bennett even better. That was so good. Outrageous. Lottie Wode is someone, I mean, she finished, I think 10th at St. Andrews or she was, I mean, she finished, I think 10th at St. Andrews or she was, I mean, she played very, very well. I think she was top 10. Yeah.

And was, and kind of has that look like piss that she wasn't ninth or eighth or seventh or sixth or fifth or fourth, you know, like, and then for her to have done what she did on that Sunday or that Saturday at Augusta National, let's not forget everybody's favorite Rose Zhang had an ennui by the throat and lost it. And then really had one, had basically both hands on the trophy and had to go to a playoff to win.

So that stuff can happen. I mean, ask Rory what can happen in a final round at Augusta National. So I would say that's the outlier for Lottie. And if Lottie Wode is somewhere near the lead on Sunday at Chevron, I won't be surprised. I mean, I just think she's cut from a different cloth. And the great players use the failure as a teacher and as fuel. And I think she's legitimately great. Now, it also, as we saw with Rory, you know, there can be some losses that are so devastating

that, you know, it does take a while. I'd bet on Lottie sooner than later. She's going to play well. Asterisk is, I mean, you know how when Lexi came out on tour, when she first started playing, she always looked older than she did. And then Asterisk to me looks very much like a 16 year old girl. And then she starts playing golf. And you're like, wait a minute, there's a poise there that it's, I think, unusual.

And I look at Asterisk and I think here's a player who's runner up at the U.S. girls, runner up at the US am runner up at Anwah. That's a lot of high leverage golf that she's played, you know, over the last several months. And is she going to feel more pressure at Chevron than she will have on Saturday at Augusta National? I said this, Morgan and I and Tom, and we talked about this on the broadcast in 2023

when Rose won her pro debut. The pressure she was feeling coming down the stretch at Mizuho, compared to what she had literally just been through in two months. Like it couldn't compare. I mean, she was trying hard to win and she won to her credit. But think of where she had been the week before she had won the NCAAs. A few weeks before that she wins Anwha.

So I think Asterisk is an interest, you know, it's like she's going to be, all of the players are going to be fired up and somewhat nervous, but asterisk is kind of used to it by now at age 16. She's got some, I don't know why, but just watching that Saturday round at Augusta, Spieth was the one that, you know, for making a comparison, like a young Spieth, I don't know, just the ability to kind of pull off shots and get the ball in the hole. It was really impressive. I can't wait to watch more of Asterix. Yeah, for sure. I mean, as Austin Power said, he had a certain what the French call I don't know what she's got. She does have that she's I was talking to Judy Rankin last night, and we were talking

about greatest players of all time and Judy still contends Mickey Wright in any era would be the greatest, would go down as the greatest player. She said she could hit it like Nellie hits it now, but with equipment from the 1950s and 60s. But what she said about Kathy Whitworth, I think is interesting and I think the great players, the truly greats have this. She said, Kathy was the best I ever saw at making a score

out of a day when you didn't have it. Finding a way to turn in a good score when it may not have been there. She said, now to Mickey's defense, Mickey never had those days where she didn't have it, which was a great line. But I think there is something to the ability to find a way.

And I think Asterix seems to have that. And I was talking to her dad, Jim, at the JM Eagle in LA. And his head is just spinning. Like he said, we were not prepared for this. And I said, yeah, where's the section of the bookstore, how to raise a prodigy? I always say this about Bo and BJ and Bo Wee.

You can say, well, they could have done this with Michelle, could have done that. Where's the playbook when you're raising someone who's better naturally good at some activity, you know, so Astra seems to have that certain, I don't know what. Yeah. Grant, just a couple of questions here and we'll get you out of here. Maybe we've even covered it, but I made a point to ask you,

what's been your favorite moment of the 2025 season thus far? Hmm, a lot of fun ones. To me, Madeline winning Vegas. To watch the joy on her face. Her mom, Lena, was there cheering her on. And there were some tears, but there was so much joy. I mean, Madeline, as you all know, is a high quality human being. She's just a, you know, the vulnerability

and I'm very careful how to say this on the broadcast. We almost never talk about it. We did it at Founders Cup last year when she and Rose effectively had a match play situation there. But the vulnerability Madeline had in sharing her story of being a survivor of sexual abuse as a young girl, I can't even fathom what it is like to have experienced that, but also to share it and to put yourself out there. And she said, I did it because I thought, what if one little girl, I mean,

I'm getting choked up. It's like, what if one little girl has the courage now to come forward? Or what if it stops it from happening for one, one other person? So I don't root, I root for good stories. I root for great golf. I love wherever they come from, you know, they truly come from all over on the LPGA tour and I love getting to know them no matter where they're from. And Madeline, so I'm not rooting for anybody. I root for them all. And so when Madeline won to watch

the joy on her face five years, I think we can all agree can't we? She is a supreme talent. And if I would have told you after she won Boca Rio in 2020 that she would only have, she'd have no wins up through the end of March of 2025, you'd say, not only will she have a lot of wins, she'll probably have a couple of majors in there. Almost did win at Carnustie, of course. Madeline is up there for me. I love watching Yalini know at Founders for Yalini to out duel the great Jin Young Co. On the back nine of that golf course, Jin Young had not made a bogey the entire week until the back nine and Yalini wouldn't blink. And I think Yalini is nothing but good ahead for her. So a player to watch this week

that I'm gonna be interested to see is Rio Takeda. Like Rio, who won last year. I mean, this time last year, I think Rio was outside the top 100 plus in the world rankings. She won eight times on the JLPGA. She won the total Japan to get her card for the LPGA. She's already won this year in China. A lot of power. And when you get used to winning that much, I

think you're just like, I mean, why not? Yeah, yeah. Got the Japanese women there are a lot of them arriving. Yeah, it is awesome. I love it. And that country, as you all know, loves the game, loves the game. And to have had Subhashika Chaitani win the Anwah the same weekend, the weekend before Hideki wins the Masters. And then last year to have two major winners from Japan to have Rio earn a card with a victory. And now to already have Rio with a win. And the EY twins are here. And I'm telling you, it's a good time.

Good time all the way. Here's the good thing. Last year, Angel Yin didn't play until Vegas because of a foot injury. Gino didn't play because of a thumb injury. Lillia couldn't go at all at Chevron. At the very least, the cool thing about this year is people are generally healthy.

I mean, there might be a minor nick here and there, but people are going into this first major healthy. And I think that makes it exciting. I mean, it could be, you know, it could be an absolute barn burner down there. Yeah, for sure. I think, you know, Grant, we got a couple more questions on you, not necessarily Chevron specific, but people that are interested in hearing the beautiful tones of Grant Boone, of course, television coverage starting on the 24th, dual shifting it, it looks like Thursday and Friday, both live on golf, but 11 to three and then six to eight. And then once we get to the weekend, we got two o'clock to six o'clock available on Peacock and three o'clock to six o'clock will be live on Golf Channel.

So very excited. Yeah. And the network coverage massive, you know, you got to keep getting that. Last year, the only thing was how long it took, you know. I'll be curious to see. Now, this is, you know. We got a policy for that now. We got a couple of minutes to ask.

Hopefully. And I really think a lot of the players in caddies told me in Phoenix a couple of weeks ago, they said just having the policy, they think sped things up a little bit. The fact that it's out there now, and now you could get a one stroke penalty instead of the automatic two might speed things up. That's the only thing. Again, I root

for great golf and great finishes and you'd love for there to be good pace of play, great golf coming down to the wire. I will say this, that 18th does create potential for drama. And I love that. And so let's hope we get it. Soterios Johnson You referenced just quickly here, Bethann, good friend of yours as well as ours. She had a report two weeks ago, maybe that the LPGA commissioner search might be down to two finalists, Craig Kessler from the PGA of America and Alex Baldwin, the current corn fairy commissioner. Not the other Baldwin brother, no. That's right. I'm not going to make you make a prediction, Grant, but do you have any idea perhaps on timing? Have you heard any whispers on when they would want a final decision made? Everything I've heard is that like they, even back talking to a couple of people heavily involved in the process,

they thought it would be May at the earliest that we would see an announcement. But I do think we are on pace for May. And I, you know, I, I think whoever was going to have to follow Nick Saban in Alabama was always going to have a tough time. And we'll see what happens. Whoever followed Bear Bryant did Alabama and whoever follows Bill Belichick, it's never going to be easy. So whoever followed Mike is Mike Wan was always going to have a tough job. I do think some things are in place that really are attractive for this, for whoever takes this position. And I think you're seeing it reflected in the caliber of people with heavy investment, lots of relationships,

lots of experience in the golf world. And there's no reason why whoever takes this job can't really, you know, spearhead a real boom, a golden age of the LPGA tour. I think we could see that. Yeah, absolutely. Both incredible talents, by the way. I mean, Alex, everything that she's done

over at the Corn Fairy Tour, it's not only growth. It's very weird. It's similar. I think there's a lot of things that she has been able to be a part of and transition the corn ferry tour when it comes to venues, they matter. Purses, let's get them up. Sponsors, we got to keep them in the boat and we got to find new ones. She has been able to execute to success underneath the PGA tour umbrella, where Craig is currently at the PGA of America, but has a completely kind of different pathway. He's a finance guy, a Harvard grad.

I think he got his master's or MBA at Georgetown. Came up in consulting, was at McKenzie for a bit before eventually coming in through Topgolf and then working his way up into the PGA of America. But two incredible candidates. Can't wait to see who the pick is because if that's what the final two are, I think we're in a really good spot for the tour. Well, and I think just to put a bow on that, let's get it done. Let's get the right person and let's go. It's been six months now of kind of drifting and Liz Moore

has been phenomenal as the interim commissioner. She would be an unbelievable commissioner. She's got a day job and every single person, player, observer, administration, they've sung Liz's praises and she came by and visited with us in Bradenton and enormously respected. And, you know, John V. Meyer running this search. This is a super important, it's an incredibly important decision, you know, and there's no reason,

as I said, to think that this couldn't be a great time coming up, but let's get it done. Let's go, you know. Yeah, absolutely. Looking for that good news. We also are gifted some good news as well from the International Olympic Committee. They have approved Olympic golf mixed team event. It'll debut as part of the Olympic Games in LA in 2028. So we're going to get more golf at Riviera. And I am so pumped for this. So I don't know, thoughts on it. I remember when it first was floated and kind of how the way that the women's and men's competitions are currently at them. Like, oh, there's no way that that that these committees are going to see their way through

and actually put common sense to something. But they did. Yeah. Yeah, I'm glad. I mean, just seeing the potential of Min Wu and Minji playing together. I mean, would that would that not just be awesome? I mean, Min Wu came to the booth in Vegas and visited with us. And he said, he said, yeah, Min Ji's the straight

line, I'm the squiggly one. And I thought, how great would it be? He would bring things out of her that we don't usually see from Min Ji because she's pleasant but always is very laser focused. And can you imagine Leona and Rory playing together? I talked to Leona in LA and I said, well, that would be fun, wouldn't it? She said, yeah.

And at that point, all he would need would be the gold medal, you know, to complete his career arc. And she said, no pressure there, Leona, for five feet to win Rory a gold medal, you know? I mean, the possibilities are endless and for it to be at Riviera, come on. It's awesome. It's a perfect idea.

We've got little glimpses of it, haven't we, at the Grant Thornton couple of years. And remember, Lydia's incredible 2024, in which she won the opener at Lake Nona and then won the Olympics, then won at AIG. That really kind of began the December before, December 2023. She hadn't won all year the LPGA Tour, but she and Jason Day team up. They win. He's constantly saying publicly and to her, you are amazing. You're incredible.

And it was almost like she needed that from Jason just to remind herself that I'm Lydia Coe, you know, and so we've seen little glimpses of what team golf can be, the mixed team, and I'm here for it. Well, Grant, I we've we've covered a lot of ground here. Very excited to watch golf this week. It should be, like we said, an open, I think a good championship. A lot of different women can win.

So awesome to catch up with you. I feel like we've already gotten a highlight this week and that's getting to chat with you. Enjoy the week and thank you very much. Thanks guys.