OverDrive - OverDrive - June 12, 2025 - Hour 3

Episode Date: June 12, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McLennan for Hour 3 on OverDrive! TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger joins to discuss Mitch Marner's next team outlook, his contract value and the movement in the league. Golf Channel Writer Rex Hoggard on the U.S. Open storylines, Rory McIlroy out of character and Scottie Scheffler's approach at Oakmont Country Club and Hayes gives his FanDuel Best Bets.

Squinting through bright days? That's a no. Struggling with glare? Also no. What about sunglasses over regular glasses? Big no. But prescription sunglasses from Pearl Vision? That's a huge yes. They're a must-have for enjoying the sun in style. Choose from designer frames like Ralph Lauren, Coach, Michael Kors, and more. Arrange an eye exam at pearlvision.ca and get 40% off lenses. Some restrictions and exclusions may apply. See participating stores for details. Are you age 16 to 30 and ready to make a real impact? The Youth Thrive program, funded by Canada Service Corps and delivered by the Career Foundation, is your chance to develop

leadership skills, connect with mentors, and gain real-world experience, all while giving back to your community. Best of all, it's a no-cost program available across Ontario, Nova Scotia, Alberta, and BC. Thoughts are limited, so register now at careerfoundation.com. That's careerfoundation.com. Join today and be part of something amazing. momentarily Rex Hoggard from the US Open later this hour our best bets on game four the cup final tonight Lots going on including the blue Jays being red hot. I'm noticing now. I'm gonna be networks doing different things on them ESPN's baseball coverage Everyone's paying attention to the red hot blue Jays, but has any of them said Hayes It's not just a hot stretch, they're for real and they should double down at the deadline and add to this group? What is the consensus?

Well, they don't deserve the are they really. They scare the hell out of me. They come across as a group that the wheels could fall off of this and big trouble. Possibly, but listen, you've got to keep digging. You've got to do more than this. All you've done is got, you found yourself back where you wanted to be to begin with. You're still barely in a playoff spot. You're chasing the Yankees. It's not as if they're the pace car of the American League now

all of a sudden. But all you can do is play the games and they've played them very well. They've played very well. They've won 12 of the last 14. Their bats are on fire. They've dealt with a lot of injuries. Scherzer's going to make his rehab start in Buffalo tomorrow. That's another list idea I've got. Like the kind of over-the-hill athletes who are still very compelling moving forward. I have that list down then that I might get to that tomorrow Aaron Rodgers would be on absolutely Noodles you there's two guys down at Pittsburgh that are on that list for me two guys

Sydney Crosby the other guy plays for the hockey team. Absolutely. Yeah, so I'll tell you more about that tomorrow I don't want to you know tip off my list too early, man I got another one cooking for tomorrow but Yeah, the US Open, you know day one of the US Open down at Oakmont This is what I want man. I we've got into these conversations before I love carnage I love seeing guys do wacky wacky things and there's a video circulating a chef or looking for his golf ball And it turns out it wasn't even his like he was in one of those ditches and he almost played it

I guess ditches man. They look like If he goes in there and plays the wrong ball does he get penalized for that? Oh, that's a massive penalty That's a two-shot penalty. I believe that's why guys that want to identify their ball first. Yes, you have to. It's mandatory clearly to do that. But yeah, those ditches, man, that is a totally different game. Like just a fescue ditch. Think of the worst player that you know with zero grip strength and arm strength getting in one of those ditches and hacking and whacking. I have one guy in mind. Dude, I do too. I just met him last Saturday. Oh yeah? John, with all due respect, Danny's friend that I met at the tournament, you'd be a mess

in that ditch. Yes. A mess. Yes. It would be mandatory pickups. You don't need to name names. I wasn't going to name names. I mean, I got one guy who I think we all possibly could have him in mind.

Just to see him do his funky things on that golf course would just be wild. I kind of want to see it. Justin Thomas said, he's like, all you people are yapping at, he goes, the USGA should just get a five handicap a scratch a plus four and a ten and get them out here and let's see what they shoot. I totally agree. Like I would love that challenge. I would be I would be infuriated like throughout it I would be bothered and I would I would

probably snap and say this is stupid you know even though I'm not playing for anything and I'm not a you know I'm a ten or whatever I represent that part of the handicapped system while you better get ready because i place the phone call today we're going down there later this summer me and you were playing that place for us there are a lot of people that we are that's there is a lot of here i don't care anything else you know stuff you know you want to talk about bringing you might be the guy in the ditch all take videos if you stay in that ditch and start slashing it around all plan to do it because it's red steak I think but I'm finding that golf ball man

I'll find it I'm hitting it I don't care if I break my wrist all day all day dude that's full-blown search party looking for golf balls is this what are you playing you'll I'll tell you what I'm playing my name's on it it'll be yeah it'll be down there that's what scares me about getting personalized golf balls and I've done that with my tailor-mains like the TP5s There are haze golf balls all over. I know this province I know and you're worried about the ones that get real funky Yes, like some guy found this and was like that haze is probably the biggest loser on earth This is like yeah, this thing's in Mars

I'm taking a leak in Mars and I found a Hayes ball like how is it possible That this guy found a golf like this guy's ball got here Like how is it possible? What was he possibly looking at and thinking that's my line of sight and how did this golf ball get here? That's my that's my fear and I know it's probably happening possibly while we speak. All right, Darren Dreger coming up and game four of the cup final tonight. Also you see that, I guess the reports came out yesterday that the city of Atlanta or whatever that prospective ownership group, they've been given the green light for full exploration.

Go down there and find a barn and make sure you get those fans and we're bringing the we're bringing it back to to atlanta for a third time and if the nhs gonna explore that then you know you're gonna find another one it feels like houston likely would be the other option because i don't think they want you know uneven numbers uh... and even do even uh... adam silver was talking about it pretty openly recently that this summer they're really gonna look at expansion

in the nba so that's coming in the nba as well uh... that probably thirty two teams in the nba and feels like this is going to be thirty four the nth l with the next three or four years watered down products i i get it there's a lot of money for expansion fees but i have no idea i can't even imagine the nth l entered it entertaining the idea of more teams. You know, bad the teams are... Oh, the 33rd and 34th teams are just going to be...

Well, you're going to be watching the AHL then. Sorry. That's what it is. It's effectively the American Hockey League. You're going to be watching the... you're going to have five guys that are NHL stars, like good players, and the rest of the guys, AHL players. So have fun with that. It's garbage. Bring in Darren Dreger. Here's Darren Dreger, our TSN hockey insider. I guess it's a, is it a foregone conclusion, Dre?

So look at this guy. Look at like a million bucks. I didn't expect to see that. Dynamite. Dynamite. He just straddled in there. I love it. I know.

So what are we making this? Atlanta, Houston by what? 27, 28, 30. What are we making this atlanta houston by what twenty seven twenty eight thirty what what are we talking about yeah i mean that that that's where it gets a little bit sketchy is the timeline of what we're talking about here but expansion in again is inevitable a it's it's going to happen in the fact that you know the group in atlanta has done things the right way according to whatever strategy or plan commissioner gary betman has

uh... they've by by that to this point it is about the money i heard you guys coming into the segment uh... you know you're talking about an expansion fee that's likely tracking down north of two billion dollars with a b that's a ton of money right now it's enormous amount of money but all the considerations in the concerns that you guys have shared are being discussed. They're being discussed by general managers, by NHL owners, because that talent pool and

the drain on it is real. And then you have to go through the process of your NHL club and the expansion draft, right? And the hard work that you put in from a scouting and development perspective. If you've spent money in recruiting and bringing in players as free agents and now you gotta protect this guy leave that guy loose and all of it it's it's an enormous challenge but it's not one that the owners or the commissioner

takes lightly so that's why they make sure that they've got the process thoroughly before they dive in. Well it also just makes it more and more difficult to actually win, you know, like eventually, right? If there's two more teams that are kicking the tires at winning a Stanley Cup. I mean I understand it's a business and the ownership groups are like, all right, if you're bringing in $4 billion collectively and you're getting a percentage of that, it's a lot of money. But I would like to believe there'd be some teams, most notably the one in this town that are you bringing in four billion dollars collectively and you get a percentage of that it's a lot of money

but i would like to believe there'd be some teams most notably the one in this town might say actually can we not do this that we want to come up with sixty years and you can bring in two more teams they're gonna try to get in our way i mean that's that's aggravating for fans well anything else and i can tell you look at me we we play this expansion game on a regular basis and and this one is real because the commissioners office has acknowledged that again the group in atlanta

has been doing their due diligence and now this moves a step up that ladder but there's constant speculation around what expansion could or should look like and their owners around the national hockey league i haven't done a full straw poll here but there are some owners who still believe that a second team the greater toronto area makes the most sense you know why do we continue to it does there is a need does it does like if you want to talk about people crawling off the like walls to get into a building to watch hockey s

toronto over any market cobebec city second team with is the most sense out of anything and and if it's about making money which it obviously is then why wouldn't you want sustainability in making that money right and that second game in toronto would could be a cash cow get over all the geographic issues with the maple leafs and with the buffalo sabers all of that and and actually invest sabers and all of that and actually invest some time and energy in making sure that it is possible. I don't think that they'll do it, not anytime soon, but I know there are owners out there

who would like to see it. Yeah, that'd be interesting, man. You know, buffalo is a key point in that. Like, we look at the maple leaves clearly but like buffalo i think benefits greatly from south southern ontario right a lot of people cross the border absolutely uh... i don't know if autttawa would necessarily care if there's a second team in toronto i don't know if they look at it that way i'm not sure

uh... but in in terms of the activity in the league like we saw a cryder was dealt today he's on his way to anaheim to get the impression that there's other deals that are by the waiting for the cup final to be complete or you know why would this one go down during the cup final I know Betman historically would probably prefer that doesn't happen yet for whatever reason it did this time yeah well look back to last year when the Ottawa Senators acquired Linus Allmark right and we're all sitting there going, geez, did that really just happen? I mean, you're

right. I mean, normally the league doesn't like the idea of a deal like this happening during the Static Cup final, but yeah, it's a game day, but the news got out of the way and it has been speculated on for the last couple of days anyway. And I mean, even dating back to early last season uh... the idea of chris krider being traded by the new york rangers is not shocking or surprising to to anyone and they had to go through a process because the anaheim ducks originally were on krider's no-fly zone he just he wasn't willing to wave until he decided luck this is a better opportunity uh... jacob true was there those two guys are tight so it makes a lot of sense as for action around the league yeah I think you're

going to see some I don't know that we're gonna see anymore between now and the conclusion of the Stanley Cup final but look I mean the Maple Leafs the Vegas Golden Knights the Dallas Stars like just look at all these cap top teams we know the salary cap is is going up but any team that isn't in this danica file and let's include florida and possibly edmonton are going to look for change after the stanley cup championship i think that the draft this year even though it's decentralized it will be

held in l a is going to be busy i think we're gonna see all kinds of stuff happen before july first darren can you comment on pierre lebron's remarks yesterday and help me understand it because he said there's there's and basically no sellers right now everyone is somewhat confident that they can add or be creative in make trades he's wrong i'd like you to call out on that please but just help me explain

that because i just don't get it like are these teams fooling themselves and what i guess the definition of the sellers traditionally what we look at going into the trade deadline and that's reality recognition of a club that knows are not playoff worthy so they're going to sell off some of their pieces maybe it's contract related and all of us on that sense i guess i can appreciate and agree with what he's saying but i I would look at the Buffalo Sabres. You know again we've been talking a lot about Bo Byrum and what is Kevin Adams,

what are the Sabres going to do with that talented young defenseman. Well I wouldn't call the Sabres a seller. You know they're trying to be a buyer. They're trying to right the ship so that they can at least be considered a playoff contending team next year and that's a pretty big ask. It is. Bo Byram looks up and he sees Dallin and he sees Power and he believes that he's a top pairing defenseman, wants to be a full-time power play guy, thinks that he could be a number one.

Well, if he's not, if the path isn't there in Buffalo, then why wouldn't he want to go somewhere else? He hasn't asked for a trade somewhere else he has asked for trade but he's got the hammer in the sense that he's two years away from unrestricted free agency so there's uh... an option of of of buffalo do they trade him now at maximum value or do they just retain his rights hold on and worry about it down the road so

i think byron is getting traded though i think that's an interesting development in the days ahead here. Any other teams that we would say is sneakily flying under the radar we should keep an eye on that isn't front and center? Not necessarily front and center. You know, we just talked about Crider going to Anaheim. It does feel like pat verbeek in the ducks are are willing to be a lot more aggressive uh... and what does that look like in the trevor zegris is name is always out there but you know does does verbeek allow joel quenville an experienced veteran coach to you know try and figure out whether or not he can

gonna rub some of the the tough defensive spots office egress is game so in saying that does he give him more time and what else is up the sleeve of of verbeek in the anaheim ducks because you know no different than buffalo in some of these other clubs that feel that they're not that far away from being a a playoff contending team or anaheim has that same type of feel uh... but beyond that then i think you just like it teams that are trying to

do be as aggressive as they can maybe move some money i mean you look at what brad trolling the trial may believe surfacing in this offseason and you know the the wants and the needs are the acquiring all these pieces where they getting these players from if if you swing in this miss in free agency because Sam Bennett decides to go somewhere else or stays in Florida, you know, and you extend John DeVarice and Mitch Marner walks, well now you're trying to acquire players via trade and that can be tricky business. So there's lots of teams that are

looking to upgrade but the challenges how to get that job done that's certainly the case with the least out you know matthew nines is the r f a n s so it's not necessarily uh... you know there isn't as much pressure or as much leverage clearly on the side of the player but i i would suggest he's as important if not more important i realize uh... where do we stand on that now is the maple leaf well there's ongoing discussion in negotiations

there uh... both sides of wisely decided they're not going to talk about it and that includes the representative for matthew nice so uh... i don't have a lot to show in terms of what that negotiation looks like we talk about a bridge deal here? Are we looking at something a little bit longer? I would think if I'm nice, I would want it to be shorter rather than longer because it seems like he's got plenty of upside and development ahead of him. And he was really good this past season.

So there's no reason for him to, to backwards but he is a priority there is no doubt about that for a couple of reasons a player that he is for the Toronto Maple Leafs but also the message that it sends to the group that you know we're not gonna mess around with an important piece like this so I expect Knives will be among the first transactions completed by the leaves and i guess that could technically happen any better because but they could have that with him with the bars now you know i think you know it's been well reported by yourself and others

martyrs that's not gonna happen clearly but you know the martyr discussion is going to be extensive over the next three weeks terms of you know his hit what he wants what he's looking for, what is reasonable. We talk about the dollar amount a lot and who knows what he wants, where he wants to go, whatever.

I guess he's got to get to July 1st to find out exactly what's out there. But what do you believe is a reasonable ceiling for the amount of money per year that this guy can even ask for that would allow the other teams to say yeah we're willing to have that discussion yeah like the highest paid player in the league does he does he have that in mind does he really think he can get the highest cap hit in the NHL I don't know that he has that in mind do I think he's capable of that sure I do I think that there are teams that would step up and pay Mitch Marner

north of 14 million 14 I do I do but I don't see like hey look you don't have to look too far down the road and and and Watch what I's been in the Detroit Red Wings are trying to get done this offseason. I have a hard time envisioning Mitch Marner playing for the Red Wings and being that close to the Toronto Maple Leafs, but the Detroit Red Wings, the entire organization, the building, the city, the fan base, is absolutely starving for something like that. Something really significant. Now I'm not connecting those two, I'm just saying

that I could see Detroit stepping up in in that fashion i had a team's tell me earlier today that they think that mariner would consider taking shorter term depending on the fit depending on the team that doesn't mean he's taking less money on an annual average salary and it depends which tax market we're talking about despite with the commissioner says uh... but if all of a sudden now there's wiggle room

in what that deal looks like from a term perspective i think that increases the level of interest from number of different you mean a big number on a salami korea type situation where you just go short term somewhere and yes the a cop is that what you're deals no i wouldn't say that i you know i i think you gotta be you gotta go in that three four five year range

uh... and i'm not saying is i'm not saying yeah i'm not saying that that's what minor wants but i think that there are teams out there that would prefer that and might spend a little more to to convince him to do that but you're never going to make up the money that you would you know get

in either that eight theory than the seventh year as a true unrestricted free yeah that's the crazy part is depending on what he wants is there any chance i mean again him going to free unrestricted free agency if he does want that eight year do you think he had you know they've got to have that conversation out of toronto maple leafs and say you know let's do a sign in trade if if it's not going to be in

toronto well in an honest i think that's part of what i was alluding to earlier noodles is how interesting it's going to be for br Turliff. I mean that has to be a consideration. Now you know does it make sense for the Maple Leafs to move Marner's rights? You know you get a fourth or a fifth round draft pick you know so the team can get to them earlier and no I that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I mean I could understand I guess doing that. But what if there's an actual trade here and and Miner is willing to negotiate you know an extension and he does get that eighth year if that's attractive to him with the team that he wants to play with and you're helping that team by maybe getting a player or a couple of players

that are actually gonna help the Toronto Maple Leafs in the process as well. I think that everything absolutely everything from toronto's perspective has to be considered yeah it makes a lot of sense for the leaves yeah and i would think for barter i mean there have been reports that the relationship is frosty or whatever different terms i don't see how that makes any sense if we're dealing with business right now like it what what could possibly be, I get that they asked them to waive at some point.

Well when a guy doesn't want to re-sign, that's what an organization does. But that's what I'm saying. It's not, they didn't treat Mitch poorly to my knowledge. Maybe he has a different impression of this. But what could possibly lead either party to say, we're not helping you? Like, and same thing from the Leafs. No, I agree. Like, why would you be like, I'm not helping you, Mitch.

Like, why? Why would you not do, why would you do that, why would you do a disservice to yourself because out of pettiness or whatever. That doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. No, I don't get that sense at all. And look, you know, I'm sure that Brad True Living tried to engage with the Miner camp a number of different ways and a number of times over the course of the season, certainly prior to the season, even though, you know, they kept saying

the focus has to be on hockey individually and as a group, and it was. And he had a terrific regular season. And I'm sure that there were at least discussions with with Ferris and Tree living that maybe weren't specific to the development of a trade but the possibility of a trade but I do know that one or more or less was blindsided by the Carolina scenario at the trade deadline but not to a point I don't think where there's hard feelings over there that would interfere with with anything I I kind of remain status quo on this front unless there's a deal that makes sense

to to manage everything we've just talked about here they ghosted july first and he looks at everything in front of him from you know the the the full great of uh... multi-year term seven years uh... to uh... a shorter term and then he listens to whatever the interest the Toronto Maple Leafs would have and he makes his decision as educated and informed as it would be at that point

well that that's where i wonder where the Leafs would you know if they feel like they're just wasting their own time you know like if you've been trying to engage with him on conversation why do it why wait why even talk to him on July 1st what's the point if you've been trying to talk to him for six months and he's not going to do it why wait why even talk to him on July 1st? What's the point if you've been trying to talk to him for six months, and he's not gonna do it Why would you even engage? Yeah, that's that's not the way Brad Tureliving works. I mean he's involved in everything But at what point would you think this guy's just yeah, is he is they using us to? Like that's what I'm saying I get it brian but look it's it's not like brad trullo being in darren ferris aren't having conversations this week or

next week i can be you know it's it's not broken phone those guys can i'm not saying there's negotiating and maybe it's one conversation that's all you need in you know that he's not signing in toronto regardless of what the deal looks like right right keep right here you keep in mind that darren ferris has other clients as well as he does that's the uh... is that what it was that's

that's the as a beauty and i thought i've talked to managers all the time and i always felt and even talk to my agent uh... you know they'll have a screaming match with the gm about a certain player and then an hour later they got to talk about a different player I'm gonna you know, I get it's crazy how you you almost have to be a sociopath to go Don't take it personally you and I are gonna scream at each other about a different player three hours from now Which is it's it is a weird business, you know being a manager and even being a player agent because it's not just one player like these agents have several players and and You know if you mess with an agent about one player the agents that goes, okay, guess what?

I've got another player coming down the pike that we can have a conversation about so it's a it's a very High-balancing act for manager and age all the time Yeah, well, we're getting closer to that But I guess we we gotta get through game for the cup final in our way here i get the free agency step aside or losing panthers come on now uh... should be a fun one tonight like we've all discussed it feels like a must-win for the evidence of the news i mean

they gotta have themselves a night tonight yeah i mean everybody forgets not you guys but just generally, you know, we think back to what happened last year and now the Oilers pulled themselves off the mat and they found a way to force game seven. Well, do we not think that the Panthers actually learned from that experience as well? And I just feel like that's what makes it pivotal tonight. If Florida gets into an elimination situation saturday in edmonton in game five as good as the orders can be in as great as that crowd is in edmonton i'm not so

sure i'm not so sure florida let's and passed by that's a tough one for sure to to see happen twice i'd rush enjoy the game tonight will do it again soon look forward to the hot zone guys yes dot so tonight up on youtube and post game on sports center everything is going to be read hot you at frankie was in here today saying he's going to be by the dinner this evening carol's break no no i already handed the plastic over it's my turn of a

regular radio for a giant steak dinner and you're going to eat every night uh... to bring you out for a giant steak dinner and you're gonna eat every bite. Alright, there he is. Thank you Drex. Darren Dreger at TSN Hockey Insider. Alright, Scheffler is three over now and it's day one. It's only day one, but the number one player in the world. This is what happens. Dude, he did the same thing at the PGAGA he wasn't that good in round one and he just kind of got near the leaderboard in day two and then everybody just started wilting around. And that's all he needs.

Tomorrow he shoots like a 68, 69. Get into the weekend around even so he's kind of in the mix in those final groups that are going off on the weekend and then just watch what happens. Absolutely. But you know number one player in the world, heavy favorite to win it. Chopping in around a bit to Shambo three or three over McElroy, four over Shane Lowry. I think was eight over today. Some ugly numbers, some ugly numbers for sure. There's a bunch of Canadians,

you know, that are still out there playing right now. Connors is one over on 16, Mac Hughes two over on 14. Love seeing that, man. A couple of Canadians really playing well right now. We'll head down there and catch up with Rex Hoggard. We'll get to our best bets later in the hour. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN 2.

Squinting through bright days? That's a no. Struggling with glare? Also, no. What about sunglasses over regular glasses? Big no, but prescription sunglasses from Pearl Vision? That's a huge yes. They're a must-have for enjoying the sun in style.

Choose from designer frames like Ralph Lauren, Coach, Michael Kors, and more. Arrange an eye exam at pearlvision.ca and get 40% off lenses some restrictions and exclusions may apply see participating stores for details All right, that's that's coming up later in the hour game for the cup final tonight Jay's off back in action tomorrow They wanted the US Open down at Oakmont the tenth time Oakmont has hosted the US Open JJ spawn I believe only the eighth player ever to go bogey freeing around that's how well he played that was this morning he's into the clubhouse at 400 so he had fun i'm, not sure anyone else is having fun maybe our next guest is you know him from the gulf channel nbc he's been on the show a bunch

here he is rex hoggard uh, do you sense the players are having fun today rex I don't think fun is the word I would use, absolutely not. I'm having lots of fun because I don't have to play that golf course. It is so demanding. And we saw some earlier today where players seemed like they were getting things moving in the right direction.

I think it was a little bit of a surprise. We know how hard Oakmont is, but Oakmont ended up Oakmoning to turn it into a verb, I guess, because it's such a difficult golf course. And even if you're a Rory McIlroy or Justin Thomas or some of the other players that we saw struggle today, it doesn't take much to get sideways, and that happened to quite a few guys. Rex, is the scoring better or worse than you thought? A little bit better, actually.

If you look at, we sort of broke this down earlier in the week. If you look at winning scores on this golf course, hosting the.s. open last time around with duchess johnson he finished it for under par but time for that it was hand to hand with cabrera he finished it five over par so i was thinking somewhere in between those two extremes somewhere maybe one or two under par so when you have someone like jj spawn who gets off to such an unbelievable start

pretty amazing uh... no bogeys on that golf course and for birdies that something rex what is that golf course is that the hardest course in the world is that the best course in america like is it the best course in the world is it just plain insane like what what is that place uh... toman on anomaly i talked about a little bit this week it is the hardest course in the world and i think that was the goal of the club, of the people who started the club 100 plus years ago. They wanted to create a very demanding test, and that's exactly what they've done.

Over the years, I think Bob Ford, which is a huge, the long-time pro there, one of the best club pros in the business, he sort of initiated the tree removal program, so now you end up with this sweeping Vista It is as John Bodenhammer from the USGA said earlier in the week. It's a cathedral With Rex Hoggard and generally speaking when that's the case and at any major in the US open in particular You know the the cream will rise to the top now. It's day one But you mentioned a few names that are struggling out there Scheffler McElroy shot four over Bryson was three over You know of those names Scheffler's the the most predominant one because he's such a heavy favorite and he's still on the course

So we'll see what he ends up on day one But do you expect the three of them Scheffler Bryson Rory? You know, let's say they're three over four over on day one Are they just simply in the mix or they still the pace cars even though they're so far back in terms of day one But because this course is gonna humble everybody. Do you think they can kind of reason with that still feel good about their chances? I think Scott he's gonna feel fine about his chances I'll probably be aggravated because everything didn't go his way like it normally does for Scotty Shuffler the last few years But certainly if he finishes this up at three over par he's going to feel fine

going into the final three rounds of this tournament knowing that it's only going to get more difficult. It's a little bit different answer to Rory and Bryson. I actually picked Rory to miss the cut which is pretty amazing since about a month ago. We were probably sit around talking the idea that after he wins the career of Grand Slam at the Masters just imagine how he can play unburdened and imagine the things he'll be able to accomplish in the major championships. But his last two starts he has played horribly. As a matter of fact, his last start at the Canadian Open, he posted his worst round ever in a non-major, 78, to miss the cut. Probably the bigger deal is he has struggled

with the driver. He's given up on more than five shots to the field in his last two starts. That's not Rory McRory. So I had the idea that he probably was going to struggle and I don't know how much confidence he has. And Bryson is a little bit different when it comes to this. Simply because Bryson is going to be the type of player that we all know what he did in 2020 to win the U.S. Open at Wingfoot. This isn't that tournament.

I don't think he'll be able to stand on every tee and hit drivers. So it's a little bit different animal. I watched Rory start today and he gutted one down the 10th fairway, hit a nice approach and it was going swimmingly and then he kind of just imploded. But you mentioned his struggles at the Canadian Open in here, but what I'm wondering is like why is he so pissy? Like why after a guy that just won the career Grand Slam why is he storming off the golf course not addressing the media again like what is up with this guy I good question good way putting it I like that work if he I'll go along with you

on now and I think it's a combination of things and he voiced it earlier this week and I've always said that when Roy McRory is being interviewed and he's in a good mood, he's one of the best interviews in the world. But when he's in a bad mood, this is what you're going to end up. And he has been strangely in a bad mood, to your point. This would be the happiest time in his life. He had a quote earlier in the week that I was stuck by, and I wrote an entire column around the idea.

He said, you envision yourself standing on that green and talking about the Masters. And you envision how special that moment is and putting the jacket over your shoulders You never envisioned what comes next and for Roy what has come next has not been great He hasn't played his best golf. We never go back to the PGA Championship when his driver was deemed non-conforming I think that aggravated him. I don't think he liked the way that story came out I don't think he liked the way the narrative track and I don't think he likes the way his life has seemed to change So much he's sort of coming to grips with I'm now one of the six greatest players who's ever played the game. That would be tough for anybody to wrestle with. I'm

not here to apologize for Rory but I could certainly sympathize. With Rex Hoggart of the Gull Channel. So we've got you know a number of names at the top of the leaderboard right now. Again it's day one. JJ Spawn's been great. Sung JM sung jams up there see who Kim but then there's a number in the clubhouse at two under that really piques my interest and that would be Brooks wonder who has him oh you picked him yesterday and I naturally looked at you said I don't know man that guy's been in a weird place but he's won five majors he's won the US Open twice we won the U.S. Open twice. We all remember at Bethpage Black, which is not quite Oakmont, but it's not far behind.

He absolutely torched that place. This guy, everyone, I don't know, he didn't even seem like he was part of the conversation this week, Rex. Part of that's lived, part of it's how he's played the major tournaments in the last year or so. But this guy shows up and when it's tough he's played the major tournaments in the last year or so But this guy shows up and when it's tough like Capca can do it man Like did you see enough from him day one that would make you believe this guy could legitimately win the golf tournament I Did and I don't want to get too far out of my skis I don't have a betting slip on him like someone else apparently does so good for that person

I will say I'll take a bit of a humble brag on this one, that earlier in the week I picked him as, the way we sort of identify our dark horses, I think this week were anybody 55 to one or below, and he was right at 55 to one, and I picked him for the reasons that you just pointed out, that it wasn't that long ago, when we were talking about Major Championship Brooks,

and that was the guy who maybe didn't play his best golf anywhere else at normal tour events or normal live events But when he showed up at major something clicked inside of him There was something about being at the biggest events playing against the best players on the toughest golf courses that brought out the best And that was my argument I saw his dad Bob the very next day and I mentioned that to him and he got a big smile on his face He said that's where they feel like they are right now that his game is trending in the right direction again 54 holes to play on this particular golf course anything can go wrong and it's one swing

I have a single player just not Brooks a hundred and fifty six guys are one swing away from just absolute disaster and their week Being ended that quickly so I'm still going to take a wait-and-see approach, but I do like that pick Talk about a wait- see approach, Rexie. I want you to talk me into Jordano Spieth keeping it on the rails and holding it together for three more rounds. Tell me how that can happen, Rex. Not the course that I would ever pick Jordan to play well on. No kidding.

I mean, honestly, we know what he does well and it doesn't seem like that's the case. The funny thing is this version of Jordan, and I was noticing this the last few weeks as you look at it stats, he's driving the ball better than he probably ever had. Even when he was playing his best golf in 2015 and 2016, what's holding him back is his putting in a strange way. This golf course mitigates the good putters. Talking with a lot of players this week and broad faction,

who was Roy MacRoroy's putting coach. He said that Rory sort of embraced the idea that you would at Augusta, where everything is a two putt. It doesn't matter how close you are or how far you are, and it requires a lot of creativity, it requires a lot of things like putting when it comes to just trying to get the ball and that we see it all the time,

that two or three foot circle, just to give yourself a chance and to keep it stress free. That's probably helping Jordan, because you don't have guys making a lot of putts so he doesn't have to depend on it like he used to. I don't know if I would be very bullish on Jordan again, not his kind of golf course, but it's cool that he's up there. Well that's the amazing thing about this place and these greens and I noticed that with Scheffler today he had a couple of putts early in his round that were like 50 60 foot lag putts

That he didn't do a very good job on and I'm guessing he just he never has to do You know like everywhere else on tour the guys inside 15 feet 20 feet in this course like put him in spots where he's you know in a 60 foot lag putt is difficult for anybody clearly But a guy like Scheffler he's in some funky spots at a place like this because generally he's just right in the middle of the fairway, right in the middle of the green,

and two pots and leaves. And I guess that's the beauty of the US Open. And these greens are running 14 and a half, 15 on a step meter, which is a ridiculous speed. Like you would never see that anywhere else, not at Augusta, nowhere else in the world of golf would you ever see that, to your point. I talked to Randy Smith, Scotty's swim coach earlier in the week, about that idea. Randy's argument actually was it kind of brings out the artist in Scotty that he equates it

to Augusta National as well. We all know he's got two green jackets. He seems to like that place just fine. It requires a lot of creativity. It's not a point A to point B situation. A lot of times with those 60 footers that you just mentioned, you're just trying to give yourself a 5 to 10 footer from somewhere that's below the hole, and that's probably a best case scenario. It takes a lot for a player like Scottie Scheffler, to your point, to play

that kind of shot, but he's really good at it most times. Well, see, does JJ Spahn ever, like does that type of player, is it just a fantasy world kind of like the players where the superstar roars up and catches them and gets it done? Do you ever see a guy like JJ Spahn or somebody of that ilk kind of closing the deal here or is that just a good first round? It's a really good first round. It's a phenomenal first round. I think I saw a stat today that only Dustin Johnson in the first round in 2016 had a bogey free round at Oakmont. So

gives you an idea of how difficult that is. I would come to the defense of JJ Spahn only on this count where we were kind of having this conversation earlier in the week about who would qualify as a surprise winner. And I think the conversation was Tommy Fleetwood, Cameron Young, a player who hasn't won in the PGA Tour, but a player that's clearly talented. JJ would be a surprise. He would be a surprise winner. But I think what happened to him at the players, twofold. One, were coming down the stretch with what Rory was able to do just to force the Monday playoff, which was pretty impressive. Two, a three-hole Monday playoff in those conditions on that golf course was always going to go against JJ Spahn and anyone else who was

standing on that tee against Rory. Rory could not have came up with a better scenario of, oh I can win the players playing these three holes the way I got them able to do them with my driver no one else can match that. So I don't know if it's a Cinderella story and I think JJ has proven to be a really good player. I don't know that I would count on him to do it through the weekend not because of who's around him or another Superstar stepping up because Oakmont is gonna do what it does Well, I guess we'll get you out of here on that prediction How much more difficult can they even make this course and what do you think it'll look like the next three days?

I know you like hazy and guys struggle, but I don't want to see it any harder than this. I'm cool with a little bit tougher than this. Just a little bit more. Yeah, I see you two at the polar opposites. I get that. I enjoy that. I do enjoy the best players being tested. Sometimes you worry that the best players are being embarrassed. It is the lies that the USJ uses all the time. I don't know if we're at that point. I think there was a moment this morning when JJ Spahn was close to four under and you had, I don't know, probably a half, a dozen guys under par that there was some eyebrows

being raised, like, oh, did they set it up too easy? I don't think that's ever going to be the case. I think the USGA, the modern USGA, has not pushed it over the limit in a very long time. So I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, but I think this is probably the best going day that we'll see the rest of the week. All right, Rex, we're just getting started. I know it's a busy time. We know it's a busy time. We can't thank you enough for finding some for us. Enjoy the rest of the US Open. We'll do it again

soon. Appreciate it. See you guys. There's Rex Hoggart of NBC, the Golf Channel. He's got a great podcast out as well with Ryan Lavner. I give the players credit Hayes like no matter how tough they set that that someone's going to go out there and shoot for under I don't care how hard it is like they're just that good so good these guys are nuts like they'll find different angles different ways to approach holes like they'll figure it out somehow not all of them and it'll be really tough but they'll be one guy that they'll just say I'm doing this. Well you also see the modern mentality at play where these guys are just yeah, they're going for it, man Yeah, like they do a flyover of a hole and McGinley will be like you can't put it there

You're dead You can't and then you'll just see a guy grab a driver and roast it 360 in the air and he's in the greenside bunker and then McGinley was like well I guess there's no defense to that which there isn't no exactly And that's the thing like if you're gonna do it and then it's you got a decent lie Splash it out like these guys are so good man that they're just aggressive like they're all like yes There's there's conservatism Conservatism at times and times where you got to take your medicine and all that kind of stuff, but I was chewed up

I did not say that. That's not even a word man. Conservatism? Conservatism. I'm not sure that's a word my man. It's a word. You can be conservative. That's what I should have said.

And oh you admitted you had a little choke before you had your question. I had my hand up in the group chat that I was gonna go next and I went full Darren Drager and I was like I just shut my mic off. I came back to life at the last second Wow, there was some dead air there and I was like, I know what's happening right now I know I know and I was like I can't bring this Drager attack onto the air and I just need Hayes to wait For one more second. We got it. We made it. It's all good Alright best buds coming up on game for Cup final tonight. We'll do that next Squinting through bright days. That's a no struggling with glare also. No, what about sunglasses over regular glasses?

Big no, but prescription sunglasses from Pearlvision? That's a huge yes. They're a must have for enjoying the sun in style. Choose from designer frames like Ralph Lauren, Coach Michael Kors, and more. Arrange an eye exam at pearlvision.ca and get 40% off lenses. Some restrictions and exclusions may apply. See participating stores for details. All right, Best Bets powered by FanDuel duo make your picks and assemble a same-game parlay in seconds on the fan duo sports book Yeah, I'm going legacy parlay big game hunting here Legacy night big game hunting or there's money line McDavid two plus points dry settle two plus points Bouchard four plus shots on goal

Paying plus 700 Wow back into the hut right back in the hut while Bouchard met every shots on goal, paying plus 700. Wow, back into the hut. Right back into it. Well, Bouchard, man, he had five shots on goal in the first period the other night. Like this guy is literally Ray Bork back there. Like he just, everything's on net, he's right in a slot. He walks the line so well, like he just, he's an offensive dynamo,

and I think that'll continue tonight. Maybe we do the hut next week, and there's a lot of talk about trades and We could do a hut of the trades you want to see the most this summer trade hut a trade Trade hut a trade hut. I want to see these trades made and it could be anything Okay. Well, let's get crazy man. I'll get crazy man. Okay, we can do that. I like that. Best Bet's powered by FanDuel from puck drop to the final horn. Every Stanley Cup playoff game is available on the FanDuel Sportsbook app. Please play responsibly. 19 plus physically located in Ontario. All right, well one way or the other they're going back to Edmonton after tonight.

Yep. Do they go back tied 2-2 and it's the best two out of three will the cup be in the building? Saturday night, I guess we'll find out I'll tell you what what I like what you talk about it I think you described it as a swing game Hayes or a momentum game Like if they could win this one Edmonton and go back to Alberta like with more massive Then you've got a dangerous situation on your hands. You split in Florida, that's all you needed. It doesn't matter how you did it, you just got to, you have to do it.

You got to get the split. Wow. Yeah. It's got to be a response game. Like they stunk last game so bad. Yes. I just, I want the refs to get out of the way and let them play. No kidding.

Just get out of the way. Nobody wants to see you. Nobody cares about you tonight. Unless it's egregious, unless somebody's stupid, like let them play. I think, you know, I don't think you'll get, what were the power plays? 11-6 last game or like it was still ridiculous. Yeah, and a little bit deceptive because of the third period they were throwing guys out and all that.

Yeah, yeah. But it was four penalties, four power plays for each side on the in the first period yesterday It's eight or yeah three days ago eight penalties man. There's no flow to that stop it exactly No one wants to see the ref tonight. Just get out of the way put the whistles away five on five and let them rock and let the better team win and Yeah, you know if Florida does that tonight and they take both games at home then they deserve it they deserve it Absolutely, you know, so we'll see what comes of it We'll have a full breakdown tomorrow as we always do Jays will be back in action tomorrow

You got game for the NBA Finals tomorrow day two of the US Open. It's gonna be a fun one tomorrow Thanks to everyone behind the scenes for helping out We appreciate it everyone for tuning in today. TV, radio, podcast, web, and of course up on YouTube live on the TSN YouTube channel. We're out of here. Enjoy your evenings. Enjoy the games tonight. We're back tomorrow at...

JP Googled it. Conservatism, not a word. 4 PM. We'll chat then. Hey, this is Ruby Carr, the host of the podcast Encore. You know how some artists grow to kind of hate their big hit? This is one of those stories, but I promise is still a likable one. Tune in this week to Encore, the stories behind the songs you love

or the incredible story of Vanessa Carlton's 2002 hit A Thousand Miles. I recorded the episode while riding a piano around New York City. Not really, that would be cool though. Listen to Encore on the iHeart app or wherever you get your podcasts for stories behind all the songs you love.