No Laying Up - Golf Podcast - NLU Podcast, Episode 722: LPGA Evian Preview with Grant Boone

Episode Date: July 26, 2023

Ahead of the fourth LPGA major of the year, Randy catches up with Grant Boone to talk all things Evian Championship and LPGA. Grant is a long time play by play voice on Golf Channel and brings a great perspective on the up and down history of the Evian and the debate around what makes a major earn that distinction on tour. We also get into some general discussion on this season thus far and some of the names who we expect to contend this week in France. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I'm going to be the right club today. Yes! That is better than most. How about him? That is better than most. Better than most. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome into the No Lang Out podcast. My name is Randy. We are previewing the Evian Championship today with my special guest, Grant Boone. We're going to hear from him in just a minute before we get there.

I want to thank today's sponsor and that is Footjoy. I want to take a moment to talk about our friends at Footjoy. They're the official shoe for no laying up. Footjoy is the number one shoe at the Evian Championship and honestly, it's the number one shoe at just about every level of women's golf. It's the number one shoe on the LPGA tour, the Ladies European Tour. At the NCAA Women's Championships, at the Women's Amateur, the National High School Golf Championships, the list goes on and on, and a big part of it is that foot joy only makes golf shoes and has for nearly 100 years. And when they make them for women, they make them in more sizes, more styles, and more options

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This is another major week on the LPGA tour. They are just coming fast and furious. We've had two recently. We have our third in the stretch of four. Of course, the women's British open will be in a couple of weeks over outside of London. But this week is the Evian championship over in France and to help me preview all of the action this weekend. Good friend and commentator for NBC golf channel. Mr. Grant Boone. Grant, welcome back.

How are you, sir? Bonjour, Monsieur Randy. How's that? That's the extent of my france. Yeah. Well, you know, weirdly, I've been taking French lessons on duo lingo for about a year now. And how's that going? weirdly, I've been taking French lessons on duo lingo for about a year now and How's that go? Yeah, I just got well, it's I enjoy it

But I just got really nervous. I'm like, oh god. I really don't know much French if I have to speak it all of a sudden Bozure means hell good day. Yeah, we we Jumma Pelle Randy Grande Randy. Yes, so anyway, I we can the French off air. You can find Grant on Twitter. He's a great follow-at Grant Boone on Twitter. You are not in France this year, but this is a tournament you've been to many times in the past. I believe your first you were telling me was 2002. So I let's start here. Can you just kind of set the scene? Because everything I hear about this championship is it's the most gorgeous location.

It's rather difficult to get to and the course is funky. Are those things more or less accurate? I think we nailed it. I mean, that's the podcast, really, right there. And then a major champion will win. Usually someone who's won before or a major before will go ahead and win. It's on the shores of La Clemmer, as they say there,

Lake Geneva, as we would say in English, and you fly into Geneva, Switzerland, generally. And you actually go west to get underneath Lake Geneva there. And it is, it's a spectacular setting. If you can recall, if you've got kids or goodness, I guess people listening probably grew up watching Beauty and the Beast, that little opening montage as Bell is walking through the village.

You know, Mary, the baguette, sorry, I mean, you feel like you're, you know, in like a deleted scene from Beauty and the Beast. Some would describe, you know, in like a deleted scene from from Beauty and the Beast, some would describe, you know, heavy on Masters Golf Club in those kinds of terms depending on who you ask. Beautiful to some, beastly for others, and that's the nature of sometimes major championship players have preferences, but it is this cozy little village that's been around forever forever and It's on a hillside it overlooks Lake Geneva and not unlike Pebble Beach. There are a lot of similarities, but not unlike Pebble

You can just look over and get lost. It's that it's it's maybe the most beautiful place I've ever been on the planet and I haven't been everywhere, but I've been a lot of places and It is truly spectacular. And then the tournament has evolved over the years. The golf course has evolved some over the years. And now here we are for what will be the 10th playing of this event as a major championship. Didn't play in 2020 because of COVID,

so this will be the 10th playing as a major. When I, I appreciate you kind of touched on the history, because I do want to dive in there. Before we do, though, I should say Brook Henderson is our defending champion. She won her second major at the Evian last year. The TV windows for, and I will state these in Eastern daylight time for those in the United States Thursday and Friday five to seven a.m. on golf channel and then 930 to 1130 a.m. on golf channel and then you're gonna have

two hours on the NBC sports app 7 to 8 a.m. and then 1130 to 1230 p.m. and and then 1130 to 1230 PM. And then on Saturday and Sunday, it's just straight through on Golf Channel 530 to 11 AM Eastern. So, Grant being in Denver, this is a tournament. I'm gonna have to set the DVR for because I just can't wake up that early, much like, you know, the men's British open last week. But some good coverage there. So I hope folks will turn in. I mentioned the history and I feel like that's an interesting discussion. So let me just lay out

some facts for folks and then I have a couple questions to ask you. This tournament started in 1994. It was originally called the Evion Masters. It was a Ladies European Tour event. And then in 2000, it became a co-sanctioned event between the LPGA and the LET. Fast forward another decade or so. In 2011, Mike Wahn, then Commissioner of the LPGA, designated it to become a major championship starting in 2013. So as a major, it was first played in September,

over those first six years. I think weather and daylight made folks reconsider. They have moved it to the last weekend of July where it currently sits today. And then just the other note, there was no tournament in 2020 due to the pandemic. So this will be the 10th playing of this tournament as a major. And thus far, nobody has won it twice as a major. So Grant, from your knowledge, and you've obviously, you know, you were going to

this tournament as far back as 2002, can you help color in the context around the women's game and why this tournament was so important and perhaps why it became designated as a major championship back in 2011? Sure. As you said, it began as an LAT event. And then it really kind of became a bit of a reward for LPGA players who played well. It was a limited field event. The best players from the US would come over it. It almost felt like a silly season event, except it was shoehorned right into the middle of the season. I mean, literally, there were years

where you would play the old McDonald's LPGA championship, which became the KPMG. And then Wednesday, you'd start at heavy on. It would be a Wednesday through Saturday. It was insane how they would do it. And yet you'd get great feels because the purse was outrageous. This was the brainchild of Frank Ribou, who is the head of Dan On Company, Evian Water, on America, Dan and Yogurt.

You know, it's just a massive conglomerate over there. And Bronke is a massive golf fan. And he wanted to create for the women's game something akin to the masters in men's golf. In those early years, they would receive a sweater like a pinkish sweater that was beautiful and probably cost thousands of dollars. I'm sure they don't really skimp over there except when they get to the beach.

It's a tournament that really had designs on being something different, something special. And you look at the winners. I mean, I go one, Julie Inxter, it was a bit Natalie Golbus came over and one that's her only LPGA victory of all things. And there was so much money they were playing for that even if you didn't like the golf course and even if you didn't wanna play a major, then hop on a flight overnight and have a day and a half

to get ready, you know, you do it anyway because the money was so good. And that's the way it was for several years. They finally moved it to July sometime, you know, early 2000s so that at least it would be before the AIG. the way it was for several years, they finally moved it to July, some time, you know, early 2000s. So, so that at least it would be before the AIG. Players weren't having to go, you know, literally back and forth. I mean, there were some years, if you look back, it was that play in Wilmington, Delaware, then to go to Evie, I mean, they'd come back and

they'd play in Rochester. I mean, out just insane, but the money was great. Well, then all of a sudden you get to, as you mentioned, 2011, Mike Juan inherited, you know, quite literally a mess. And there were just a handful of tournaments left on the LPGA tour, a number of long time events on the LPGA tour, a venerable, you know, tournaments that players love coming to, went away, some sponsors left, and the LPGA that Mike Juan inherited had four major championships, and three of them were very seriously on the ropes. The only one that for sure was going to be around was the U.S. Women's Open, and that was because it was run by the U.S. GA. But, you know, the craft and abysco folks

were gonna be leaving mission hills. You didn't know what was gonna happen with the British open. They had wheat-a-bix, you know, as a sponsor in Rico. And no one was exactly sure who, you know, is it gonna be breakfast cereal this year. Who's going to Who's going to sponsor the event that was very much on shaky ground And and you know then you had the LPGA championship and you know that started bouncing around and so here comes Mike

He's got one sure-fi you knew the US women's open would be there, but the other three Either needed desperately needed sponsors. they needed major overhalls and here comes Fonk Raboo and Evian basically saying if we don't become a major and I'm paraphrasing but if we don't become a major then you know we're gonna you know maybe find something else to do with this money and no longer put this into women's golf. You can criticize Michael you want, and I get it. They, a fifth major, seems weird. It's why we have this odd situation now that the LPGA says you won the career slam if you win four of the five majors, which I think is

is also strange. It created just, you know, just some asymmetry, if you will. But in my defense, he didn't know, he really thought there was at least an outside chance. There might be two majors adding on in the US open if things didn't go great. So he signed off on it and they moved around September, now they're back to July. And I think it's easy for the casual fan to, and I know you guys, you know, love to poke fun. It's a bit of an easy target, but at the same time, you look at the landscape when Mike want to go over and it was dicey at best. Yeah, and it is an easy target, and I want to get into that. I think at least on this side of the Atlantic Ocean,

a lot of that probably has to do with some prominent American golfers that have said bad things about the course and have chosen not to play, which, you know, how can you just choose to not go over and play in a major. We'll get to that. I'm glad though you brought up Frank and the other guy Jacques. Jacques Banger. Yes. Jacques Banger. I mean, these names are right out of a, you know, Victor Hugo novel. Yes. I found in Ron Syrac in writing for, in writing in 2019, said, and I'm quoting Ron,

it speaking of the Evian championship, it makes a statement about how female golfers should be treated, a statement that for a quarter century now has grown in its vision, inspiring others to follow. And I do think it's worth reiterating, Evian giving out purses that, you know, we're among, if not the best in the women's game. As you said, they were providing a wonderful, on-site experience for the players, which I guess has not

always been the case at every tour stop. And it's in this beautiful setting, you know, you talked about maybe one of the most beautiful places on earth. And I think the other feather in its cap is it's the only major on the LPGA or the PGA tour that isn't held in the United States or the UK. And I think that's kind of cool, quite honestly. Having said that though, Grant, with five majors and with this kind of cumbersome environment that it creates for more so casual fans and you know, we're trying to and at my hands up as somebody that's somewhat new to the women's game, but as more people come to the women's game and they start learning about well why do they have five majors and I think Evian quickly becomes well why is that a major? In your opinion,

is it time for either Evian to kind of reimagine itself and to kind of push boundaries again, or if you could take over the LPGA leadership, would you want to bring the number of majors down to four? Talk to me about, you know, what, or is it fine at five? I mean, honestly, it might be as simple as that. I'm really curious, your opinion. You know, I have no problem with, you know, at this point with five majors. I do think that when you consider that as Ron wrote about, it came true. They did lead the way. And now they're not the most lucrative non-major. They're a major now, and they're not the most lucrative major. They're, I guess, what are they?

Fourth tied for fourth maybe, or maybe they, you know, I'd have to double check this year. And the purse has changed when you get to each week, which is, I think, a weird thing. Some of the crew and I were talking last week, or a couple of weeks go at pebble when we got there. The USGA in a conference called a previous week said, oh, we're not ready to comment on the purse yet.

Yeah, they had always announced it the week of, which I think is like they're passing the hat to see how much they can scrounge up. And we came up with 11 million this year, which was great. You know, it would be interesting to see what would happen if Molly Marcus, Simone were to say, Eddie, on you've had a great role on the LPGA tour now for a quarter century as first and Ellie first as an LPGA right-winger season event.

The last decade is a major. We're going to need, you know, we're asking, you know, these major championships, you know championships to keep going up. And I think they would have to get Chevron to do the same thing. Maybe if you said 10 million is going to be our baseline threshold, you've got that in KPMG, you've got that in the US Women's Open. If you were to set 10 million as a baseline, what would Evian say? I don't know. Maybe they would say great. You know, let's go 11. Maybe they would want to go 12. I don't know. But, you know, at this point, it's been a decade. There are, if you look at the number

of players who will be competing this week, they have the on-championship. I would say the majority of them began their LPGA tour careers since Evian became a major, which is a weird thing to say. But if you consider that you began your LPGA career in 2013, and this is your 11th year on the LPGA tour, that's certainly, far more than half of the LPGA tour have been on tour less than that amount of time, less than 10-11 years. So I think for a lot of them that's the only tour they know, the Avion Championship, and is it quirky?

Is it weird to, you know, some years they played the Avion and the AIG back-to-back, just like this year they played KPMG and US women's open a week off in between, but no tournaments in between. Okay, yeah, maybe, as you say, the only major outside of the UK and the US, and majors in general, Randy, let's face it, what is a major? I heard you guys talked about this on the Shablon podcast. What makes a major? Golf course, yeah, purse, I mean, I think, field, all those things, well, you know,

why isn't the players championship a major on the men's side? It's got all those things. You could say, some people think the course is quirky. Some people think I dust a national's quirky, but here's the thing that I've said before that I think is really interesting. When you control, when you have control over what is a major and what isn't,

it gives you some advantages and I think it has some disadvantages. When you don't control it like the PGA tour, it has some advantages and disadvantages. If you're the tour and there is no governing body and men's golf to say this is a major, it evolved. It was basically Arnold Palmer telling Bob Drum, the sports writer from Pittsburgh,

when they were discussing Bobby Jones' grand slam of 1930. He said, to me, the modern Grand Slam is, you know, it's the Masters, it's the US Open, it's the British Open, as he called it, and it's the PGA Championship. I mean, that was like 1960 that he said that. Well, nobody declared that to be, you know, in perpetuity, the Grand Slam,

but it almost became more official because there was no one doing it. It just became, well, aren't a Palmer set it, and therefore that's right. And then everyone since then has accepted it. Really you think about the players' championship. It is what the PGA championship used to be. It is the flagship event of the governing party of the tour. The diverges back then, the PGA ran the club bros and the touring bros, but it couldn't

change at that point. We've already decided that the PGA is a major. Well, in women's golf, you've got the LPGA deciding this is a major, this isn't. The advantage for men is that there is this history and this almost mystique about them and no one can change it. The problem is what if you need to change it, what if the players actually in some of those years was better than the PGA Championship or deserves to be the fifth major in men's golf. There's no one to say that you can do that, even if it deserves it.

In women's golf, there is the OPGA deciding these are the five majors. The problem when you can do that is, some say, well, just because you say it, doesn't make it true. And I think that's where people are with Evian, just because you, some players have said that, just because you say it's a major doesn't make it a major. So, you know,

there's good and bad on each side of it, but the reality is that the LPGA says it is a major, and let's keep in mind, the KLPGA has their majors, the Japan LPGA has its majors. These are not the only majors in women's golf, but they are the five majors on the LPGA and they're the ones that are largely considered the women's B5 women's majors. I say largely, you know, certainly if you're outside Korea and Japan, you'd say these are the five. And it does make a few, and even people in those countries would acknowledge when in

G. John or H.O.J. Kim were to win a major on the LPGA, their lives changed dramatically more so than if they win a major on the K.O.P.G.A. All that to say, whether you like it or not, it has been officially declared as a major championship. And I do think there is something to be said. I don't think this is the, this is the be all end all. But I do think when you declare something to be a major and everyone goes into it understanding that it has been declared that then there is a different kind of pressure that comes along with it. And I think that's where we are with Evian.

That's all really well stated. And I think apart from it being the most recent major addition to the LPGA tour. It seems like the big bone to pick or the area of frustration or consternation has been the golf course itself. And it's undergone some changes. It famously seemed to come to a head in 2019. You had Lexi Thompson,

who missed the cut and took to Instagram after that second round saying, quote, you're a beautiful place, Evie on, but that's just too many bad breaks with good shots for me. So buy Evie on championship hashtag just not for me, hashtag all good, hashtag onward. She would clarify, I guess she would take down that note and clarify a bit later, saying my words were only directed at my frustration. I'm not playing well in a major and at the unfortunate bounces, we all get while playing this crazy game of golf. I didn't mean it in a way, in a mean way at all. Obviously, just hasn't been

the course for me the last few years. Now, she hasn't been back since then. So, you have, you know, she's always been a top 10 player this year. She slipped a little bit. She is not playing again this year. Adding to that in 2019 with Stacy Lewis, the current Soulheim Cup captain, saying, quote, you can't just throw money on a tournament and call it a major. The golf course is nowhere up to the standards of what it needs to be. She hasn't been back since 2019. So I think that's where that just obviously adds a lot of fuel to the fire of this isn't really a major. You've seen the course. I grant personally my philosophy is I like randomness and golf. Hell, it's what makes

links golf so much fun, right? You don't know exactly where the ball is going to bounce or if you're going to get a good break or a bad break. Is that kind of what they're talking about or we're talking about in 2019 or does it go deeper than that in your opinion? Well, Lexi was pissed. I mean, she got a couple of, you know, bad bounces that week and you will get them there. It's on a hillside. I mean, it's, it's a, it is a quirky, funky course. Both of those players incidentally began their LPGA careers before Evian was a major. They remember when, so to speak. And those are two of the leaders. Those have been two of the deep faces of American golf over the last 10 to 15 years for sure. And their words carry weight. And I think Lexi was understandably upset,

but I think she was right to post the Mayoculpa after she said that, you get weird bounces in, as you say, in Lynx Golf, Pebble Beach. There were some weird bounces, some weird places. I don't know of any player, and there probably are. I haven't talked to everyone. I don't know of any player who thinks it's the best golf course they've ever played. It's a golf course that typically

doesn't really reward the biggest hitters. I mean, look at the winners, Pyo Jukim, Lydia Coe, Inji Chun, and Anordquist, Angela Stanford, Gen. Young co. There wasn't one in 2020. Min Ji Lee 2021. She can certainly move it out there. Last year broke plenty of link. But most of the winners are medium to shortage hitters. Almost all of them are really good punters. And as I said, for as fluky as the course may be, the winners are the opposite. I mean, was a teenage major champion. She had already, she was already a phenom on the KLPGA, NG Chun, one Evian the year after winning the US Open at Lancaster.

Angela Stanford, it was her first major, but Angela was in a way a little bit like a Sergio or a Marco Mera. She had knocked on the door at a bunch of major championships, Solheim, Kup, Stahlwurt, Proven winner, finally broke through. Jin Young, co-hosts her second major of the year. Minji, you knew she was gonna win. Then she did, then she won the US Open the next year. Brooke, you can say, should it not be a major, should it be?

I promise you, for Brooke Henderson, it was a major last year. She went into it, everyone goes into it, thinking it's a major. And so the golf course is quirky, but the winners are not. And that's the fascinating point. I'm so glad you brought that up because it is such an impressive list of winners and

it's short history. Suzanne Patterson won the first one. She's the European Soulheim Cup captain just by chance this year. And yeah, I'm glad you said that about Angela Stanford because on the surface, she's the one that's not like the others in that, you know, the other, what, eight champions of this major are world class. And honestly, I have continued to be world class, which I find really, really interesting for a course that people lament, oh, it's quirky, it's funky, you get bad bounces. Well, hey, it seems

to identify, you know, and produce world-class winners. And that's a credit to it, I think. I don't know how to explain that, but I like that it's at least producing name brand winners. Well, I mean, you can go to something as, to some maybe cliche as, I don't think it's cliche at all, but you can go to what Nicholas used to say about courses where guys were complaining. You know, he had, he knew he had half the field beat before they even teed off

because guys weren't such a negative mindset. I do think Evie on produces because of the funky bounces because of some of the vagaries of it. There are people who go into it with almost a negative subconscious attitude. rather than saying, hey, I'll figure it out. You know, not every bad shot I hit, it was a bad bounce. Sometimes it's because I hit a bad shot. And if I get a bad bounce, that's golf. And okay, I'll deal with it. And Hildjou is the only player.

So you have what, nine winners as a major. There have been nine winners since it became a major. Seven of them have won multiple major championships. And in the case of Yoju, she lost a playoff of the 2018 US Open. Had it won, it looked like before area came from behind in the playoff. Angela, 20 years ago, looked like she had the US women's open and Hillary Lonkey had one of the great weeks, shockers, long shots in the history of golf women or men. So Angela's contended at multiple major championships. Then the others of all one multiple major. So I think there is something about the test

that Evian provides that demands one just not get defeated by it. And you can say, well, it shouldn't happen. Again, I do think we've just seen it here at the open in the last few days. That's part of golf. And does that mean the course can't be improved? It did undergo a massive renovation a few years ago. Some still think it wasn't enough.

But I think it's better to do one of the other. If you're like Stacey and you say to me, it's not a really major caliber, so I'm not going. Then don't go. But if you're going, then go and prepare to get some weird bounces, prepare to get maybe a little bit of the rub of the green. But if you're going then go and be prepared to have the right kind of attitude about it. And if you do, then whether anybody likes it or not, you're gonna be called a major champion. I mean, last year's leaderboard, of course,

it was almost a Cinderella story with Sophia Schubert. She had a magnificent week, Brooke just clipped her on on Sunday to, like we say, capture the title. But besides Sophia, you had, I mean, just names in the top 10 last year, Lydia code, Jin Young code, Nelly Corta, Ling Grant, a tie at itikum, Yu-Ju Kim, Charlie Hall, say young Kim. I mean, that's what more, honestly, I look at these learboards. I'm like, what else can I ask for? That's the case.

It's right. And Sophia, a US amateur champion, it's not like no one had ever heard of her. I mean, she was legit. And it was a rookie season. Jennifer Cup-Chow came in second, her rookie season. Sophia played great. And to say that, for anyone to say that Sophia playing well that week somehow denigrated it, I think really didn't look at the rest of

leaderboard as you just did, because it was great. There's almost Lee Ann Pace who decided to come to the US on a whim and play shopwright and top 30 and got into KPMG was, you know, was in contention the first two and a half days. So that happens at almost every major championship, but, you know, including, you know, the ones we've seen in men's golf this year. So, you know, there's nothing fluky about the winners.

And I think it's, I think it's a testament to the fact that at the very least, whether you like the courts or not, there's been something about designating this a major and people going into it against a stacked field every year from around the world. I mean, you get, this was for many, the first time that we saw Iaka boot away a couple of years ago she top five did a tie a titikun was playing on the the L.E.T. a couple

of years ago and one rookie the year end player of the year and now she's been number one in the world you know on the LPGA tour as a second year player it's a chance to bring people from all over the world together and I think it's produced the kind of winners that you'd hope to see at a major championship. I hear you guys sometimes talk about, you know, in men's majors, you know, was that a was that a winner that got everybody fired up? I mean, the ones that have been on, get your fired up. The other stuff about it may not fire you up, but the winners do. Yeah, yeah. I think I got it. Grant, have I sold you? I think I'm sold.

Now I know I'm going to have to do a lot of work on my colleague, Tron Carter, but I'm sold. I'm all in. You know what? It would take you probably couldn't do strapped it, Evian, because I don't think either of the hotels there. You'd be done. You'd be over on the first night. But I was going to say it seems like the atithesis of Strap. Yeah, it's an amazing place. And again, I'm not, I'm not contending that the golf course is the best that they'll play or that it's universally beloved.

That tournament has done a lot for women's golf. And for that, I mean, I that, I mean, I'm appreciative. Yeah, I think that's well stated and probably the bottom line takeaway for myself and for folks listening. Grant, I want to get into some predictions, but before we get there, if you don't mind because I love talking LPGA with you, can I ask you some specific questions about some specific players? Let's go. All right.

Let's start at the top of the Rolex rankings. Jin Youngco, she broke Lorraine Choa's record earlier this year, most weeks, ranked number one. I guess my question is, as a former winner, actually, as you said, one of her two majors, both in 2019, is it fair to be a little bit disappointed by her major record since 2019? I know she's had a lot of top 10 finishes, a lot of good weeks, I'll say, at first blush, but is it fair to expect more given what she has done, you know, being ranked number one? Her greens and regulation streak.

I mean, we know, Jinyoungco is a fabulous world class player. Yeah, I don't know if it's fair to expect. I think it's understandable to expect. I think it's understandable to expect. I mean, I'm just reminded that it's just hard to win, and we are in, I think, an era of great parity in many ways on the LPGA tour. Maybe more than they've had in its history, I think it speaks to how deep in its history. I think it speaks to how deep the fields are weekend, week out on the LPG tour and in major championships. I believe that the stat is that 20 of the last 21 major winners were different. Minji is the only repeat winner. Others have won majors before them saying of the last 21 major championships played there were 20 different winners. I think that probably speaks to where Jin Young-Co is. My colleagues remind me all the time it's hard to win. You know

Morgan Presill was an absolute superstar. She won twice on the LPGA tour. Official wins. One of them was a major championship when she was 18 and, she won twice on the LPGA tour. Official wins. One of them was a major championship when she was 18, and then she won the next year in Hawaii, and then came close a hundred other times. Karen Stuples won a major championship in 2004. It was her second win of 04. Those were her two LPGA wins.

They were going up against the likes of Onyka and Lorrainea and Kari Webb, and just beating those players was hard enough, say we pocket and others. Now, you know, whereas you might have had to be 10 players, you know, back in those days, but all 10 were great. Now you've got, you know, maybe 25 or 30 or more players who absolutely can win. Allison Corpus was barely inside the top 30 when she won US Women's Open. Ronin Yen, age 20, you know, inside the top 30 on the LPGA in the Rolex rankings. You know, you go back and look at Lili Avou, who had broken through in one earlier this year.

Ronin Yen had also won earlier this year. Allison hadn't won, but she had put herself in the final group a couple of times, including in a major at Chevron. These are not fluke winners, but they're not number one in the world either. I mean, Lydia in 2016 at Mission Hills was the last number one woman to win a major,

entering the week as number one. And so for Jen Young, I would say it's surprising, just because you figure she wins so much elsewhere. But look at what, all of it's about Jen Young is this, and I'm a huge fan of hers. As you know, a huge fan of the whole LPGA. But in Jen Young's case, she wins two majors in 2019. You think, okay, here we go.

Well, then the whole world gets turned upside down with COVID the next year. She doesn't even play a tournament for months and months and months, starts playing in Korea kind of second half of 2020, is that tour reopens. She comes and plays four events on the LPGA tour to end the season and won the money title in four starts because she finished 30 through something at Pelican, six or something in Dallas, second at the US Women's Open to

Alam Kim, and then wins the CME Group Tour Championship. So she only played I think one major that year, then 2021 comes along and you know, everything gets, so she really lost a year, you could say. But yeah, I get a little surprising. I would say this about Jin Young. We saw her shoot scores that we just never saw her shoot before. It was shocking at the second half of this time last year when she was really under the weight of that, that wrist injury, trying to play through it. Finally took some time off, seven or eight weeks off.

Came back was not herself. Now we're seeing her win again. She's won twice in impressive fashion. She beat Nelly and Alison Corpus in the final group in Singapore. She came from behind beat Mingi at the founders cup. But we're not seeing that in same kind of consistency that we saw in 2019, when she went 114 straight holes without a bogey or even the end of 2021 when she was playing the year 63 straight greens in

regulation. She shot 79 at Pebble. One of the most shocking rounds I've seen all year opening round came back, Missed the Cut by one. You know, so I just think, and then last week played okay, but I think she was 26 or something. It she's still number one of the world, but she's she's just not that insane dominant number one. And I think the wrist injury had a lot to do with it. And some of the the mental stress that that put a hunter put on her at the time, but she still deserves to be number one. Yeah. It's funny because the other, you know, the number two in the world, Nelly Corda, disappointing,

but just one in London on the, the Ramco, the L.E.T. event. And Lydia Coe, I was going to say, you know, she hasn't played well outside of tournaments this year, sponsored by a Ramco. And I, I'm hopeful, I guess, with Nelly, you know, she was out injured. I don't know if she's fully healthy. I'm speculating there because I don't know. But hopefully she's, as she's come back and having to go right into two difficult major tests. Hopefully the LET, you know, she's starting to kind of play back

in the form knock off some rust. I could see her having a big week this week, but curious if you feel like she's primed or if we should be a little concerned given what we saw at KPMG in the US women's open. I think KPMG was not a great golf course for her. I mean, we thought it was going to favor the big hitters. It didn't really.

It took, you know, in some cases, um, and drive her out of their hands. The way the course was set up, I loved the way it was set up. I thought, if Ronin Yen is an absolute stud and I can't wait to see where she's going. I became infatuated with her last year just getting to know her a little bit as a rookie, just her journey. She is not the one you asked about. We can talk about her later, but Ronin absolutely deserved to win that week and it was a very fair test, but it didn't necessarily reward always the biggest hitters. And plus Nelly was coming off five, six weeks off. That one didn't concern me.

She shot 80 in the final round at Pebble, which I think you could maybe credit to the end of a long week, you know, still hadn't played a whole lot. I thought this last week was great for Nelly. Three rounds, low key. She beat four other top 30 in the world players or three others, I guess. Georgia Hall was up there and Charlie Hall and Leonna McGuire, three legit players. But it was a low key kind of week.

It's always good to win, I think, just to say you won. It's an L.E.T. event sure go she's gonna stay over there in Europe So you know now here she is at Evian She's she's had some good success there at Evian and again It doesn't reward necessarily the biggest hitters But Nelly is good enough to win anywhere on any kind of a golf course and she's proven she can win a major So yeah, I'd be surprised if Nelly played poorly this week and this is now three events, four events

if you count the LIT, getting some reps in. For Lydia, it's been an interesting seven, eight, nine months. You know, a sentence back to number one, but then gets married. She's, I think at a very happy place in her life. I know she is off the course. But you now have to decide how much am I going to play. She didn't play very much at the beginning of the year.

She hardly played at all. She'd play and then take three weeks off play, take a month off play. I think when she got to KPMG, it was the second time all year she'd played back-to-back weeks even, which, you know, and she, and, and I thought it was curious with Lydia, she's got the change in her, her personal life, which is great, but she switched from Sean Foley with whom she went from outside the top 50 in 2020 to number one of the world again, switched with him, back to Teto,

with whom she had worked a little bit before. And Derek Kistler, who had caddyed for her in the previous two years, she made her change there. And she's got Davey Jones, who's a great guy and a great caddy. So it's not that, Teto, really good coach, coach for a long time, good player back in his day.

It's not that who she changed too,'t, you know, good, but she went through changes. And I think when you go through changes often, of course. And then, you know, caddies, some people say that we talked too much about them. I don't know. I mean, I had a pretty good thing going. I don't know all the dynamics there at all, but she just made some changes. And I think she's still working into some of those changes. I'd be surprised that Lydia didn't play well in the second half of the scene. She's too good. I think she's pissed.

She had a tweet or an Instagram post after missing the cut admire that was very unlidia like. It was five birdies and two days is not enough. Time to go back to work. She's too good. We've seen it too many times. Is she the third best player in the world right now? Probably not, but with Lydia, Evian, funky bounces, gotta make some clutch putts. Why not? Well, somebody who seems like they would be the third one of the three best players in the world, if not the best player in the world, Alison Corpus, of course, one at Pebble,

her first LPJ win, her first major, but then I think Grant, even more impressive after a life-changing win, all the media, you know, your life is just upended for several days. She comes across three time zones and finishes runner up at Toledo, which I think speaks to, hey, she is locked in right now. My question for you, you've seen more of her and I'm going to make you play prognosticator. Is this more of a awesome, awesome heater that she's on or do you believe that

she kind of talent wise belongs in that top 10 player in the world conversation? Anyone who can hit 85% of their fairways to me is is Uber talented. You and I who love this game but are confounded by it and be deviled by it. You know, I think I've responded to your tweet about that or maybe Sali's by saying, I don't think I've hit 85% of any fairway in my life, which doesn't make sense, of course, but it's the point. There is a talent to hitting the ball straight,

and they hit it straighter on average on the LPGA tour than they do in Men's Golf, but she hits it dead straight. She doesn't, wow, she's not, you know, the longest hitter on tour. She's not short. She's got enough distance, certainly enough distance to win at Evion. And it's not a heater she's on, although she is playing at a high level. I would say this, she was unranked at the beginning of 2022, because she went to Q-Series

as an amateur, got through all three stages of Q series. She was a good player in college, but it wasn't like she was rose coming out. She was good, but she gets to all three stages of Q school, including Q series, unranked at the beginning of 2022. Now she's in the top five or six in the world. To me, the moment where I really became impressed with her was the low-take championship. This is so random, but it's the kind of thing you see when you're out there a week to week. The low-take 2022, it was maybe your third start, fourth start,

ever as an LPGA player. And she finished tied for 18, and you say, player and she finished tied for 18 and you say, oh, what, so, but that was a home game for her. She was playing in front of hundreds of friends and family from Hawaii and everyone expecting her to take the mantle from Michelle Wee and it wasn't a back door 63 on Sunday to come from out of the pack. She was up there toward the top the whole week. It wasn't it wasn't the kind it was the kind of thing I just wrote down in my notes like okay, T18 at home with all the expectations, all the pressure.

Okay, cool. Then she played well again, had a terrific rookie season, not the kind like a titan which you want twice to become number one, but put herself there in contention multiple times. She played in the final group at the ISPS in Northern Ireland, where Maya Stark shot, I think 63, 10 under, came back to win. You know, nobody was gonna beat Maya that day, but she just, like, it was, I think she was 30 to 35, they don't have that handy, like on the CME,

as a rookie, like rookies, get me inside the top hundreds so I can keep my card instead Allison very quietly 30 32 33 34 CME points list last year. Then beginning of this year she goes to Singapore she gets herself into the final group against the two best players in the world. Jin Youngko and Nelly Gorda. Jin Young wanted the other two didn't really lose it.

Allison stood tall, hung in there. She even referred to that, I think it pebble. That got my attention, but it was the middle of the night, the US, not a lot of people were watching, only the nerds, you know, were up that late in the US. And then she gets herself into the final parent, Chevron. And again, didn't play her great. I thought I was interesting to hear her say it fevelled it.

That week she felt like she was kind of scraping it around. And in a way she surprised herself to get into that position and all credit to Lillia and to Angel Yen for putting on a show that day. But this isn't like, whoa, where are those in corpus comes from? This is something for a year and a half that we've been watching and doesn't surprise me the least. She's not flashy.

I think she's not someone who seeks the spotlight. And I think she's got a good support system and I agree it was incredibly impressive to watch her on fumes basically come across the country to a place where she had missed the cut last year, Highland Meadows, and put up a score that would have won all but I think three of those tournaments through the years, 18 under wins that wins at Highland Meadows a lot and all credit to Lynn Grant for getting it done. For anybody who was disappointed that Alison won the US Women's Open or thought that, you know, it's a fluke

or an undeserving win. I am a big fan. Yeah, and I think if you have been paying attention, this has been building and it's wonderful to see her pay it off. You said Lynn Grant. That was the other one I wanted to ask you about not not to bury the lead with her actually winning in Toledo a couple of weeks ago. But that was the breakthrough performance. I think everybody was waiting for of course, Lynn didn't get to play stateside until I believe it was an April or May of this year when.

Bank of hope. Yeah. Match play. That's right. But came over much ballad because of her success on the L.E.T. The past couple of years. She's here. Grant, are you and I forget if we've really specifically talked about Lynn in the past. So forgive me. But are you a believer? Is she a, you know, top 10 player? Is she somebody that's going to be reckoned with for the next tower of many years? I think she's number one potential. And I think she's got the number one kind of mindset.

There is something happening in, I think in all of golf, and I think we see it in women's golf as well. And I'm glad to see it as a human being. I think people are getting control of their mental health. I think athletes in every sport are doing better. You know, as Marshawn Lynch used to say, handling their mentors. And of course, you know, in times of trouble,

we look to Marshawn Lynch for wisdom. He's the last man. I love him. And I think he's 100% right. And what you have a lot now is people saying, I just, I want to be happy. I want to, I don't want golf to define me. I want that as well.

I don't want any of these human beings, because I know so many of them personally, and so many have become, in some cases, good friends of mine. I don't want them for their own mental health sake to make golf something it isn't. And there is no player who could achieve what these players do without an internal kind of drive that we really can't quantify very well. You look at a tiger woods and you see someone who visibly wants it so desperately. Does that mean Scottie Schaeffler doesn't because he doesn't emote as much as Jordan's

speed or as much as tiger, or Rory, or whatever? That'd be offensive to Scottie Schaeffler to say that that's the case. And so different people show it in different ways. That's a build up to say that Lynn Grant in every way has the external and internal talking to Missy Kay or coach at Arizona State, which is when we really got to know Lynn in the US for the first time, there is a deep drive and desire to not just win, but to dominate, to be the best. And not everybody has that nor necessarily should they. I'm just saying she does.

She was second going into the weekend at the US open as an ameter. I think she might have been a freshman at Arizona State, you know. And here she is second place with Shibu no going into the weekend at champions at the 2020 US Open in that December. And like most amateurs, you know, struggle a little bit on the weekend, but still had a, I think, top 25 finish. That was when she really was like, okay, this, this players legit. Then she turns pro at, you know, at the in August of 2021, so we're coming up on two years as a pro. Darnner wins two L.E.T. events, comes to Q series, and here's what gets confusing. She comes to Q series in the US,

and she gets through Q series. Well, just as she does that, the vaccination rules change, and the Biden administration implements these rules that say, if you're unvaccinated, and you don't live in the US, you can't come in, or you can't leave and come back. Not that, you know, Lynn was unvaccinated, Lynn, you know, said that's not something I want to do. Wasn't asking for sympathy, by the way. Some people were saying, well, that's her choice. She was like, it is my choice. And I'm not asking you to feel sorry for me.

I'm just going to stay in Europe. But that created the odd scenario of a player having her LPGA tour card, but never playing a single shot in the United States. Well, what did she do? She played six events that weren't in the US, some in Asia, mostly in Europe. And she played so well, she finished 50 something on the CME points list, but didn't come and play the CME towards championship because she was unvaccinated. Well, that goal post kept being moved. It was going to be, it was going to end here, then it was going to end here, then it was going to end here. Finally, it was announced it was going to end May 11th. Well, that meant that she was going to miss the first chevron at Carlton Woods and she was going to miss the Hanwa Life Plus International Crown. She was going to play for Sweden. And then finally,

it did end. She comes to the US full member because she finished inside the top, you know, she finished 50, either whatever. And then finishes third in her first event. The Bank of Hope match play gets to the semi-finals, then plays two majors, and then all the sudden she gets in her first regular season, stroke play start, and she hits 21-hundred and wins by three. And it, you know, at times it was six, you know, it was a dominant performance. It took Alison Corp whopus playing out of her mind to get to stay within three. So when you look at it that way, here's a player who won in her first start in the US as a member

that was Stroke Play and not a major. I realize there was a lot of qualifiers, but point is, it was her fourth start total and her first in that situation. So she's exciting. And here she goes to Evie on this week, a place that she won earlier this year on the L.E.T. when they had the job her ladies open there. Why you wouldn't pick her, I don't know.

Well, and top 10 last year, I believe, type 8. That's how she, that's one of the reasons she kept her car, because she top date. That's right. Only thing to add the as part of the dominating performance in Toledo had a real look at becoming the second woman to ever shoot a 59 or better on the LPGA tour. We were doing it. Yeah. And and and you know, there are people who say even some of my colleagues looked at me like you don't say it. You know, I'm going to say it. I mean, if a player's eight under through 12 and nine under through 13, I'm saying it.

I'm not going to say if they're three under through four, but if you're nine under through 13, because that'd be me. I know I'm not on 50. I was going to say whenever I birdie the first, that's my go-to joke walking off. I hashtag 59 watch. Yeah, so to me, when you're 90 through 13, and you get to par 71, so you've got to get to 12, not 13 under par. And when you end with back to back par five, and you hit it as long as Lynn Grant does, I'm going with it.

And you know, hey, she admitted afterwards that she found herself uh, fully aware of where she was in the round and aware that she was leaving by a good margin and she, I mean, reading between, I'm paraphrasing, but it sounds like she basically said I took my foot off the gas because I was like, I'm in good shape here. And the first shot she hit after she kind of realized that she hits kind of an average. It was the worst shot she had hit about two hours. And, and then she goes on to make a bogey on one hole from the fairway, comes back with a birdie, you know, and shoots 62 and leads by six going

into the final round and wins it. So, um she absolutely, it was a legit look at 59. Five holes to play. She needed to play. I mean, she needed to play those five holes in three under and two of them are par five. So yeah. Yeah, yeah. Well, I love hearing you talk about her.

That gets me fired up because if there's one thing, I think I've been yearning for a little bit more on the women's side. It's just I want to know. And again, I know everyone's not built like this. And it's unfair to ask people to be something they're not. But it is fun when you get some some players that show you how much it means and have that competitive fire within the ropes. That's a good thing. So Kudos to her. Grant, let's make some predictions. I, God, I have so much more in our agenda, but that just means I'm going to have to bring you back some time to chat again. I sometimes give long answers. I don't know if you've noticed that.

Well, and we like, we like that. I'll go to my support group after this. It'll be about eight hours long. Believe me, you speaking is a lot better than me speaking. So I don't know about that. Evian, I mentioned, I think interestingly, I did not note this, especially this year. It's the only major with the Chevron moving to Carlton Woods, their new home. It's the only major with the Chevron moving to Carlton Woods, their new home.

It's the only major where anybody's ever really seen the course before, which I think is interesting. And it brings in, you know, as the saying goes, some horses for courses. And you really don't have to look much farther than a lot of the former champions. I was just kind of doing some stats last night. You know, Brooke Henderson in seven starts has six top 25s, three top 10s in a win. Lydia Coe in nine starts has seven top 10s for those top fives with a win. Say Young Kim is somebody,

I know she hasn't played particularly great, but man, strong track record here. And then even some of the younger players at Tietitikum has two top 10s and three starts. We mentioned Lingrant finish and tied for eighth last year in her loan start. So something to keep an eye on. I should say Alison Corpus, if you're wondering, she missed the cut here last year. Rose Zeng has played twice as an amateur, making the cut, but, uh, you know, not really, yeah, I'm not a factor.

Not really relevant. So let's start here, Grant. Uh, I have three things that I want to ask you. I want to ask you about a surprise top 10. We'll kind of think of somebody like Sophia Schubert or somebody kind of out of nowhere that you think might have a good week I want to ask you about a surprise miss cut and then we'll make an official pick to win So anybody that you like as a surprise to play well that you feel like has been maybe building to this moment

But very much under the radar Of course, we may have different definitions of that. How about Périndela Cours? She's from France. I think that absolutely qualifies. Yeah. Périndela Cours is a player who's gotten herself, she's got a handful of top 10s, a couple of three top 10s in her career, is not a name that people would immediately jump out and pick, but a very solid player, a player who kind of got her mentors together as she admitted, she competed in the Olympics, she's French. So I would not be surprised if Perine on Home Solo plays well. I'll add, her ball striking at Pebble,

you know, I love the, the Stroke's gain data that we got at Pebble for that one. That would be great. But her ball striking was, I believe maybe first or second in the field, at least going into Sunday, she was hitting the ball beautifully. I actually like that call home game for in France. Yeah, there's a lot going there.

How about a surprise Miss Cut from you? You know, it was a surprise that Rose missed the cut. I think especially after shooting 66 in round one at Toledo. I You know with for me, I think I Could see Rose missing the cut. I could see you're winning With for me, I think I could see Rose missing the cut. I could see her winning As you said, she's played it a couple of times a couple of years ago. She played the final 11 Jin Young co number one of the world and

So she's gotten a taste of it before I do think it'll be in I think that was I think the the 77 she's she shot on on Friday at Highland Meadows was more a function of just finally the tank being below empty and the car literally stops. You know you've been coasting for a while. Hasn't played a whole lot. But I do think now making the trip overseas. I'd be I'd be so if you had the guess I'd say she's gonna make it she'll make the cut but you asked for a surprise missed cut and You know Alfred Allison in there only because I think we're getting to something similar now with her It's not because she's not awesome

She's another one, you know if you, you know, she's gonna miss it, she could easily win it. But I do think she was on fumes and held it together. She's so darn good. You know, so she might win the darn thing. But that would qualify, right? If Allison missed the cut after going first and second last two weeks, I'm not rooting

for it, but I think a human being of bodies got so much in the tank. And you know, she's back home in L.A. and then now she makes the trip over this week, Forever on. I'm hoping she plays great because I'm a big fan of hers. I really think this is your fault. You asked me for surprise, Miss Scott. So, Alice, and this is on big-randing. And I'm realizing I didn't give my surprise top 10. And it's a good, it's a good chance to test my pronunciation skills. How about a poshery on a, on a, on a, on a, on a Audrey Anna Anna Naru Anna Naru Karn perfect qualified exactly how she says it. Okay. Yeah. She played really well here a couple of years ago. Yeah. The year Minji won. She's had

some good weeks. I feel like it's a name that a lot of people might not know right off the top of her head. But also she's like 26 this year and the race to the CME. So. If she wants, she won match play. And there again, match play is not straightforward. She won on eight, that was a brutally hardcore shadow Greek. And match play itself is vague. You don't know, you could shoot seven under and lose

or you could shoot three over and win. That match play is, you know, you could say there are some similarities, you know, to a quirky golf course, which, having uncertainly, is you just find a way, and she certainly did that. And she won in Europe, won in Northern Ireland a couple of years ago, and, uh, pottery, to me, she's not, she wouldn't even count as a surprise, but, yeah, she's that good. And that's for those in the know, not a surprise. No, I think I'm just thinking of not really a brand name. Yeah.

And then my surprise, Miss Cutt, would be a little bit thinking along the lines of just, I feel like she peaked probably KPMG week and has been sliding a little bit and that's Leona McGuire. I feel like she peaked probably KPMG week and has been sliding a little bit and that's Leonna McGuire. I feel like she seemed tired coming down the stretch at pebble. You know, if I have to make a surprise, Miss Cutt, she would be my guest for that. All right. But I do think we own a fits the mold of a winner there, not the longest hitter, not short, but not the longest, great putter, great will determination. She played that L.A.T. event London. She also shot 61, a couple of years ago on Sunday at Evian, so she's not somebody who thinks that she doesn't get psyched out by the course.

So any of these any time you say surprise missed cut, you're also talking to somebody who absolutely could win the darn thing. So yes, yes, we could. That's what's going on. You never know. We might look smart. It might look foolish. They have a casino in Evian.

Let's roll the dice. All right. Now I'll get you out of here. Who's your official pick to win? I'm going to go with one that is mainly based on how she's played there before and how well she's played all year. And just the style of winter that Evie on his head. I'm going to say I am going to go with one that is mainly based on how she's played there before and how well she's played all year. And just the style of winter that Evy on his head, I'm gonna say Ayaka Thudeway. Ayaka has basically been in contention every week since May, April or May.

Phenomenal putter, you know, hit it on a string, not super long. And, you know, she, she just as somebody who keeps giving herself chances and she, you know, she would be the third of 10 players who hadn't, you know, hasn't won a major of the Evian winners. But I think, I think I think I think is the kind who, you know, uh, is major caliber. I absolutely believe that. And she won this time of year

last year. Um, she won the Scottish Open with a 62 in the final round, you know, so she's, she's got some good memories playing in Europe last summer. I think she finished third or fourth, maybe fourth in 2021 there. So I got food away. Who you got? Well, let me just add some context because I got somebody that I was looking at. And she finished top 10 at both KPMG and US Women's

Open. Since the last week of April, so three months, her worst finish is 14th. She's gone tied for 4th, second, tied for 4th, 14th, tied for 13th, tied for 8th, and tied for 6th. And just real quickly, every single one of those weeks on the back 9th Sunday, she had a chance. Okay, so these aren't, you know, a 63 on Sunday to get a T13. I mean, she's playing a high leverage golf, often in the last group. She played Pajary and Anorook Karn in the finals of the match play. I just want to make sure some people hear and on a nice little run, T3, T9, and these are every, this is her every single week with at least, you know, an outside chance to win often right up there at the top. And I was going to go further. You know, she's

currently fifth in the player of the year race points based. And I think a win at Evian might just in the end lock up a player the year potentially for somebody like her. It wouldn't lock it up, but it, but it, you know, not lock it up right after the win. No, you would go a long way. Yeah. Yeah. You have a point for winning there. Sometimes we need to have a, a pod about the LPG ace points based Hall of Fame points based award system. Cause that thing that could be a fun debate. I, yeah, cause I think we'd be on different sides. I know. Iaka great pick.

I'm going to go and it's only solidified here and you talk about her. I give me Lynn Grant. I think Gray is going to be, she's going to be riding high, great form, coming from Toledo saw the course last year. As you said, one on the course on an L.E.T. The year with, yeah. I didn't even realize that. That's a couple of months ago.

Yeah. So I think Lynn Grant, I'm hopeful Rose plays well. I'm just so excited. You talked about Rooning in earlier in the episode. There is an influx, Alice in Corpus, Liliavu. I mean, there are some winners, major champions, big time talent coming into the women's game. And it's going to be a lot of fun over these next few years. I can't wait. It's been a phenomenal year when you consider that we've had three first

time major champions, all of whom to me have the look of someone who could win another one and as we know Sometimes that doesn't happen in men's and women's golf, but Rose Anguins or Pro Dave U. Lynn Grant wins her fourth start first stroke way not major, you know and made the cut in the others She's here You know if anything it's almost like we need Nelly and Lydia to get healthy and get and mainly just get healthy and kind of get settled in case of Lydia and her new life. If you get those players to cooperate, Jin Young, you know, is keeps putting yourself in these positions. It's really fun.

And then when we saw it, Charlie, Hall did on that 18th hole with Pebble. I mean, that was one of the great moments of the year. I mean, that was good. That was fun. That was cool, you know. It was so good. And I still think George, a hall would be a great pick to win, Evian.

She's been knocking on the door. I mean, there is so much great golfing, but then we go to Tom Abbott's home club, Walton Heath for the AIG, and then you get a month off, and then you, by the way, we got Canada at Shaunasi home club, Walt's and Heath for the AIG and then you get a month off and then you But by the way, we got Canada at Shaunasi in Vancouver, which is gonna be awesome And then you go to think of Cortezine for the Soulheim Cup

I mean it is it's it's been such a fun year and a chance to break through some of the traditional molds for Rose to be on the Today show and Lynn Grant have you, the odd start to her career. And now she's one. It's great. Good times. Amen. Amen. Well, Grant, you always get me so excited about LPGA,

Women's Golf. I love, love, love, when we can chat. So thank you very much for jumping on this week and enjoy the heavyion this weekend. I will. All-Wah. All-Wah. Give it a right club.

Be the right club today. Yes. That is better than most. How about in? That is better than most. Better than most. How about him? That is better than most. Better than most.