Subpar - Amanda Balionis Interview: Her dream broadcast team, favorite course on Tour

Episode Date: August 24, 2021

On this week's episode of GOLF's Subpar, CBS Sports reporter Amanda Balionis joins former PGA Tour pro Colt Knost and jicky jack legend Drew Stoltz for an exclusive interview. The face of CBS Sports talks her dream broadcast team, her journey to covering the PGA Tour, and her most regrettable moment on air.

Hello world. Welcome back to golf subpar with Colt Nost and Drew Stoltz. Sleys, another week, another W for golf subbar. Our man, Tony Fienow got the job done. Yes, after a long drought. All it took was a hurricane to end the drought. Very apropos, but yeah, five years, five months, 1900-something days. We've seen all the tweets.

We've seen all the memes, all that. I'm so happy for Tony that all this finally ends. No more questions from the media. No more. When are you going to get the second one? When are you going to get it done in a full field event or not an opposite field event? couldn't be happier for him coming down that final stretch man i mean john rom leading going on the back nine i was pretty damn sure that thing was going to be put to bed by john rom and he he shot even par on

the back night it's not like he did anything crazy but tony just went out and got it man 30 on the back nine five under including colt like you and i were talking about this earlier watch it on 18 when he dumped it into that front right bunker i was like oh god oh god don't do this because you can just already see the narrative exploding if he didn't get that up and down and miss the playoff but he knocks it out there a six feet and rolled that thing in. You know, that's what we've seen for so many years. He's had our time making the putts, and he made them yesterday, and it was fun to watch. I couldn't be happier for Tony, man.

Yeah, I was more concerned about the putt than anything else just because, you know, looking back over his career, he tends to struggle with the putter on Sunday or in the final round, even though it was Monday. But to hit that six-footer the way he did with so much pace and authority, I really, really liked it. It was great to see. But I just, I said afterwards, I think. That six-foot put, I know it was to get, ended up being to get into the playoff,

we'll go down as arguably one of the most important shots of his career. He misses that put right there if for some reason loses or if Cameron Smith ended up making bogey or something like that, no matter what, if he misses that putt and he doesn't end up winning that golf tournament, it's going to really weigh on him even more than all the other previous misses. He's had eight runner-up finishes since his last win, lost three playoffs. So that was such a big moment for him. You know, sometimes you got to get lucky in golf, and not saying he got lucky, but to have Cam Smith just blow it out of bounds and have to re-tee after Tony already striped it down the middle of the fairway.

It was over right there. Yeah, I mean, it's a night. It was a combination of being extremely clutch, 30 on the back. And like I said, that six-footer on 18, Mammoth. You could already see the narrative just exploding if he doesn't get in that playoff and end up winning. And then he guts one, just hits a BB down in the first playoff hole. And then Cam Smith, there's where the luck part comes in. He pumps at OB.

Like, there's really not many chances you're going to get to get in a playoff. And Bogie's going to win you the golf tournament. And he got in there. And he earned it. he earned every single bit of it and it dude it's a big shakeup not only just like for tony finau he's he's now number one on the fadix cup standings but rider cup implications too like you and i both talked within the last few weeks when we're going through speculating who's in who's out the guys that were on the bubble like tony finaw is one of the names that we mentioned like dude i think

if it happened tomorrow if the rider cup started tomorrow he'd probably a guy that we wouldn't expect to get a captain's fit and now with this boom he's the number six he's for sure on the rider Cup team. And on top of that, another guy who I think we felt like was extremely solid to be on the rider cup team, Patrick Reed comes down with double pneumonia. He's in the hospital right now. We don't know when he's going to play again. And first, he just needs to get healthy, clearly. But that's a, I mean, what if he missed, he's going to miss this week? What if he misses next week? How long do you go before you start to contemplate him not being on that team? But yeah, first and foremost, you know, he's got to get healthy. And that's, I mean, that's number

one concern. Forget about golf. I mean, this is serious stuff. He's been in the hospital. you know, Patrick B's a guy we thought would be on the Ryder Cup team. One thing we know for sure is we're going to be there at three sheep's brewery during the rider's getting amongst it. Yes, as a Spanish say. So look out for that. But it, man, it's going to be interesting. The points in this week with the top six solidified, we have five already guaranteed.

You know, it could probably change with Zander Shoffley and Tony Feeneau for that last automatic spot. But then after the tour championship, the rest of the picks come, all six of them. And it's going to be interesting. All I know is we're going to be there. We're going to be getting amongst it at three sheep and having a blast with all you that are up there at the rider cup I'm going face paint I'm going everything never been to a rider cup always wanted to it is like my favorite sporting event period I love it wait for it every single time I got pushed back from last year

I've been waiting for this thing and now to be on property I can't wait dude be chanting doing all the shit trying to bring this cup back for the first time in a long time because they've they've had our number but we'll go up there and change that mojo this year but it is interesting to say I mean Patrick greed gonna be on that team I was pretty sure of it now we don't know and now Tony who thought was a maybe is for sure on it. So there's some judgment. I think this gives an opportunity to maybe, you know, Scotty Sheffler get an extra look. Kevin, excuse me, Kevin Kisner get an extra look. It's, it's going to be a lot of fun to see how this thing plays out, no matter what, the USA is going to have a loaded squad. Oh, yeah, Webb Simpson's on the outside looking in for the

first time in a while. He's sitting at 13. I mean, Billy Horshull, who won the match play this year. He's right there too. I mean, there's two more weeks left. There are a big two weeks, but this thing's going to come down to the wire, and Strickers got his handsful right now. If it were to happen tomorrow. I'd be very, very interested to see where he went with those pets. We have a very interesting guest this week. As you like to call her, the face of CBS, which kind of hurts my feelings a little bit.

You're like, your voice is on all the time. We don't get to see the face a whole lot, but Amanda's face is on there. She's just the captain of the ship. She's the glue that keeps all the popsicle sticks together. You know what I mean? She is it. She is Miss Sunday, Fund day as well. Amanda Ballionis joins us on this week's golf subpar. We talk everything from her start, how she got into

broadcasting to whether or not she maybe keep pursuing it. And now she's got an incredible, as an incredible role, does an incredible job at CBS doing all the, you know, after the round interviews and makes guys cry every once in the minute. She's not opposed to making guys cry, letting guys cry. Yeah, we haven't done it yet. We might have after the show. Thought about it a couple times. And then now after golf season, then she just hops into football, throws her hat right in there, too. I mean, she's a busy, busy woman, that Amanda Ballion.

So props to her for sitting down with us and giving us the background on how she became who she is. Well, before we get to Amanda Ballionis, we got to talk a little about Travis Matthews, please. Of course. You want the perfect shirt for date night? Yep. Yep. Golf?

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a shirt is like the number one quality. I refuse to wear anything anymore that requires an iron, period. Well, it's versatile for work or for play. Travis Matthews's perfect polo delivers everything you need, no matter the occasion. Visit Travis Matthew.com today to order the perfect polo. and use the code SPP20 to get 20% off your first purchase. That's SPP20 at Travis Matthew.com to order the Zena. And as a little special thank you for all of our listeners out there, Colt, what do you see right here on my sleeve? Who's that guy? Our good friend that likes the birdie juice.

Who's that little fellow right there? That's the bat signal, basically. For all golfers out there, you see a dude wearing this, you know that fellow likes to get amongst it. All right, and there are 200 of these bad boys available. At the end of this week, go to golf.com pro shop. Pick yourself up one of these. stay tuned to our social media. We'll be announcing that as well.

But you got to have one of these. This is the uniform right here for getting amongst it, period. Bertie Juice Polo by Travis Matthew. Go get it. Golf.com pro shop. Here's Amanda Ballionis on Golf Subpar. All right. What a privilege it is to be joined by this person with us here today.

She's the face of CBS Sports, the brains, the talent, the captain of the ship. She basically does it all. Amanda Ballionis. Welcome. Move over Jim Nance. Sorry, buddy. I am now the face. We're very liberal with our resume introductions.

I like this. I don't like any of them. You just said. I need to see the roof right now. I've been here for 10 seconds. Face, the brains, all of it. Oh, well, this is going to be very, very interesting. You and I've known each other for quite a long time.

Yes. At any point, if you want to say cut, just let me know. Yep. No, I would never cross any lines. This is going to be a lot of fun. We want to get to know you a little more because obviously we know you as the face of CBS golf doing the interviews. God, I hate saying that's so much. Don't forget the brains.

I hate saying it so much. But you also do football as well, but let's go back to the beginning because you went to Hofstra, broadcast journalism. Yes. And I feel like... Did you have to do research on me, Cole? No, I know all this. I don't even have anything typed out in front of me.

Oh, it's just... Okay. I know all this. Yeah, all right. Don't worry. I talk to your fiancé. I know lots of stuff. Oh, God.

But broadcast journalism. So I feel like once you get a college degree, because I don't know what it's like, but I feel like that's when life really starts. Yeah. And you're like, okay, now I got to go out into the real world and get a job. Yeah. Where did you start? What was that process like?

I did it actually a little differently. I moved into the city. my senior year. I guess back it up. I played Division 2 volleyball at a state school in Pennsylvania. And they did not have a broadcast journalism program. I knew that's what I wanted to do. And I made a deal with my parents.

I was like, just let me get this out of my system. I really wanted to play college volleyball. And I said, let me get out of my system. And I'll transfer somewhere that will actually be beneficial for what I want to do. And they said, deal. So I transferred to Hofstra. my second semester of my sophomore year. And it kind of like was this switch in my head

where like, okay, I'm done playing sports. I still was friends with the Hofstra volleyball team. I tried to walk on, realize very quickly all 5'7 of me was not cut out for Division I volleyball. They were all from the West Coast, six feet to six feet three and just freak athletes. So I said, I'm going to see myself out, but will you still hang out with me?

I don't know how to make friends if it's not on a team, right? That's what I had done my whole life. And I knew I just had to channel everything now into figuring out what I didn't want to do and what I wanted to do. So I did every internship possible. The New York Jets at that time still shared the facility with Hofstra Athletics. So I interned for the New York Jets because I could just walk there. I was their summer intern. I did everything from organizing their fan mail system to operations and like zip tying things all over, you know, the practice facility.

I've been interned for the New York Islanders because the Coliseum was right across the street which I somehow learned nothing about hockey and I know. I know. That's a pretty sweet gig though coming out just in New York City working in those two stuff. Oh, it was awesome because it was like, yeah,

it was just right in that little area I didn't have to leave my campus really, right? It was super cool. And you get two of the most passionate fan bases. Yes, anything in New York, right? Like you're really going to learn how to handle yourself If you want to be in sports, I don't think there's a better breeding ground to learn about it than in the Northeast. New England's probably just like this.

You have to know what you're talking about, and you can't be fake. You have to be yourself because people see right through all of that immediately, which was really beneficial. And then I interned for Us Weekly Magazine and thought, well, maybe I could do entertainment. And then very quickly realized that was not for me. I was like Googling, it was the worst internship. They had you Googling, like, once last time Brad Pitt showed his butt in a movie. And then like Are there any jobs available at us?

Do you have any contacts? And then like you were literally running out to get coffees for people at 10 o'clock at night. No one acknowledged you. It was just like, it was just one of those things. And then I interned for ABC and then I interned for CBS2

which is the New York affiliate which is the same building we go into when I film network specials like today, which is insane. But that was when I really fell in love with broadcast I was the morning show intern. You know I'm not a morning person. Y'all have a lot in common.

Yeah. They don't talk to me. Eliminate it. Unless I've had a large coffee and it's after 10 p. They can start at noon and you can still get the same amount of shit done, in my opinion. Absolutely. It's just about being efficient. Yes.

Right? So not a morning person. I was the morning show intern. I had to get up at two, three in the morning. But I was happy to do it. And like I was passing up going to the bars with my friends on Thursday nights because I wanted to be in the office on Friday morning, which I still. you know, I mean, I guess I've grown out of that now, but it took me a while.

A little bit. A little bit. We'll get to that. We'll get to that. But yeah, so that's really where I fell in love of broadcasting. And that's when I got to really see the inner workings of like, what do I need to do to make this happen, right? Like, what are the sacrifices you need to make? What are these crazy hours going to be? Am I not? How much money can I sustain, right, on this? And the answer was no for kind of a long time. And I kind of bounced around up there. when I graduated in 2008. It was the height of the recession. I moved back home.

I worked for the Lancaster Sunday newspaper and did like obituaries and hard news. And in exchange, they let me do a weekly sports column that I also did a video for on the website that like no one but me and my mom looked at at the time. But, you know, it was kind of just one of those things like you just did what you had to do. And I just kept going and opportunities kept coming.

and I never really said no to anything. And then eventually, you know, things fell into place. I went back to New York, worked for the MSG network, worked for Verizon Fios Channel 1, and then a family friend said, hey, what do you think about moving down to Jacksonville, Florida, to work for pjutor.com. And because at the time I was doing, like, high school wrestling and football

and, you know, field hockey and lacrosse, I was doing everything you could think of, right, for high school and then small college. And I knew nothing about golf, really. I grew up on a golf course, but I didn't know anything about PJ tour golf, right? I knew Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, and Jim Fiorek, because Jim Fiorek and I went to the same high school. That's all there is. That was it, right?

That was it. You nailed them. Yeah, so I went down. I went down to Jacksonville, Florida. I was really poor, living in New York City in 300 square feet. I get, yeah, it's under three feet of snow. I go down like January. I get down to Jacksonville, Florida. It's 80 degrees sunny.

I call my parents. I'm like, yeah, no, this is it. I don't even know. I hadn't even, like, gone to the audition yet. I was just like, no, this is what the like transition. I'm a golf girl now. Officially. I'm going to figure it out. But take me through the audition because you're going to work for the PGA tour and you're like, I know nothing about golf. Yeah.

Well, and I was honest with them, right? Like, I do feel like that's an important thing. Never, people say, like, fake it until you make it and you can do that in certain things, but not in certain circumstances. And I do think my honesty with the PGA tour really helped me because they, they knew where I was at. They said, listen, we can teach you golf. Like we can teach you these guys and these storylines, but we know that you can write scripts, we know you can produce, we know you can edit,

we know you can do all these things that I have been really grinding out of necessity to do leading up to it. So I go in the audition, and you know what I think I was, so this girl Casey was right before me, but before that it was a Wimick-Murray who was like golf's golden child, right?

So it was kind of intimidating. And I go down, I do the audition, I write the script, you know, everything's fine, I get hired, and I will say for the first probably three months, I had random people coming up to me constantly on the golf course saying, oh my God, when can I get a picture? And I was like, nope, not, nope, not win. And then like Holly Saunders came into the scene on morning drive around the same time.

And she was a huge deal. And people would come out, hey, Holly, can I get a photo? No, still, nope, still not Holly. At least you're getting mistaken for those people. I don't want to tell you the people think I am. It was so funny. Like, it was just one of those moments where you're like, and that's where I realized how small the golf world is

and how passionate people are. And people just, they just, they love the people that, that give them their golf information daily, right? So I felt like, okay, I really need to put my head down and learn this game and be, you know, become a part of this golf world that, you know, Wynn and Holly and so many others kind of grew up, they already grew up in it.

And I kind of felt like I was crashing the party a little bit and figuring it out. The grind on the way up for you. It's kind of like the grind on for a lot of golfers trying to get to the PJ tour. You got to do a lot of stuff you really don't want to do many tours until you finally get there. Was there ever a point on your way up where you were like, maybe this isn't going to work out? Honestly, not until I figured when I got the job at the tour, I would be there for two years

and move right back into football. Like I just being from Pittsburgh, I grew up watching, you know, Bonnie Bernstein on the sidelines. Like that, I had such tunnel vision. That is all I wanted to do. I wanted to talk football on the NFL sidelines and that's it. And I saw the PGA Tour as a way to shift my career from high school and college to professional. And then I just thought I would be picked right back up somewhere in the Northeast and go right back to, you know, the path that I had made up in my head that I was meant to be on. Five years later, I am still at PGATor.com.

No real interest in me, right? Like other golf outlets are saying we're not, we don't really think you're good enough. and I have other stations I'd like to go to saying, we don't think you know any other sports now other than golf. So it became like this really weird pigeonholed area. And that is actually when Calloway Golf called me and said, we'd have no idea if you're interested in this, but we know you love San Diego.

Would you have any interest in coming out here and start helping us launch our media production department? And I was like, you know what, screw it. Yeah. Like I gave broadcasting everything I had, and it kind of told me where I was, right? It pretty much told me I wasn't good enough, but I felt like I left it all out there.

I hadn't had a weekend off since college, and I was just like, yeah, okay, yeah, I'll go work a 9 to 5, Monday to Friday, and a place I love and learn how to maybe not make work my life, learn how to make work for my life, right? I think that's like, you probably've had that too. Like when you play your whole life, it is your whole life, right? So, like, I kind of felt like I sacrificed a lot

to try to get to this goal, well, at some point you kind of just have to say maybe that just isn't going to happen for me. So I left, went to Callaway, was in their marketing department. I was a terrible employee, by the way, not built for the corporate world. You got to start at nine too. It was, yeah, first of all, way too early. And I'm pretty sure I was late often with a full, like, hot cup of coffee in my hand. So clearly I was in no rush to get into the eye. And then, like, my work would be done and I'd just leave for the day. And finally, like my boss, Harry Arnette, who isn't there. anymore. He called me in. He's like, you can't keep leaving at 3 o'clock. I'm like, but my work's done, Harry. And he's like, that's not how this works. I said, but what am I

supposed to do? He goes, you either find work or you just sit at your freaking desk until 5. And I was like, oh, I'm miscalculating. Yeah. This is not, this, yeah, so I wasn't really built for that corporate life, but thankfully the universe sensed it. TNT called me and I had done some digital work for them for the PGA Championship. And they were like, hey, we love to bring you back. And I said, okay, for PGA.com, and they said, no, we want to promote you. And it was kind of out of the blue to our TV coverage that was produced by CBS. And Lance Barrow was in my ear that entire week. And it kind of all came from there. But like, it was funny. The only the first time I really thought, like, I should be giving up on this. It just wasn't going to happen was when

everything ended up eventually happening. That's when T&T had the Thursday Friday coverage. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, for the PGA championship. So is that the first time when you were like on camera and like, okay, this is it. This is a big deal. Yeah. Like I need to go right now. Oh, yeah. And you know, it's funny.

I feel like all of those moments in my life have always been live situations, sink or swim. Either you figure it out or you don't, right? It's never really been like the slow roll, like. Wade into the pool. Yeah. Even like my first, when I got laid off from that newspaper. The Lancaster. The Lancaster.

The Lancaster. They're like, you know, we can't afford your $8. Not good enough obituaries. Yeah. You're $8 an hour that we're paying you to work 10 hours a week. I got laid off. And then the next day, literally the next day, I got a phone call from this guy, Ralph Bynarchek, who was a Hofstra alum, was working for Verizon 5th Channel 1,

and said, do you want to come basically have a live audition for Princeton football, sideline? And if you do great, we'll ask you to come back. And if you don't, then we won't ask you to come back. And it was just like, and it was the same thing with CBS. They called and they said, we have this smart cart that we knew. no can be used in a better way than we're currently using it, but we need someone dedicated to it to kind of show off what it can do

and can produce these segments with it and understands the stats and the players. And they said, you know, so we'll try you out the Genesis. And if it works, great. And if it doesn't, we'll just kind of act like this never happened. And, you know, and that was the same thing with TNT. If it works, great. And if it doesn't, we just won't ask you to come back. What year was?

Fair enough. Yeah. Yeah. What year was the Genesis? Oh, that was, this is my, what, this is my fourth year? Fourth? So four years now, CBS? Yeah, four, yeah. And you get to do golf and football.

So it's all, that tunnel vision, it's kind of going where you want. It literally all came back together the minute I, I chose to take a step back and kind of let go of the control, which is, I mean, yeah. It's pretty tough for you. Yeah, it's really hard for me. But it worked. But, yeah, I mean, that, I knew it. Like, I knew when TNT brought me in, that was, that was my chance. And I was like, you know what?

we're, I know these guys. I have been living and breathing it, right, for the last five years. I know I'm prepared for it. If they don't like me, then the choice I made is just reaffirmed, right? I go back to San Diego, but I can always still say I made it onto TV. And it was why I was just telling the start, I was just in New York City and we passed this restaurant, Bandal, because it was the biggest paycheck I'd ever made, right? And it wasn't that much, but it was the biggest paycheck I had ever made.

and that Sunday after I was done with the early coverage, I went into the city because I lived there not that long ago invited like 10 of my friends out and took them all out to this new fancy dinner place and spent my entire paycheck on paying for. That's how you do it. That's how you do it. Get some money, spend some money. Vandal has a downstairs, right?

It's like a downstairs like speak easy thing down there. I don't even know if we were cool enough to know that was there. And honestly, I couldn't have afforded it anyway. I could only afford the dinner and then everyone had to leave you and go figure out. When you got done with that week, like you said sink or swim, I got to do this. When you got done with it, were you like, oh, I nailed that. I'm going to get another chance. I was.

And I didn't know if I would have another chance, but I didn't leave anything out there. There wasn't one moment that I was like, I really could have done better. Like I felt like I really had prepared for the last five years for that moment. And, you know, to be fair, it's early coverage, right? It's early in the day. They're a little bit easier of interviews to do. So, yeah, I felt like, yeah, this is my moment. to do it. I did it. And yeah. Here we are. Yeah. Now you're here. Now you're the pro. Now you're the

captain. Now you're everything. Now you're everything. I mean, it's four years. You've interviewed a lot of players. Yeah. Is there an interview or a person that kind of sticks out and you're like, that's my favorite one? Or you always get excited when that person comes up. John Rom is always. Good. Always. I mean, and since the day, I mean, since our very first interview, you know, there are those guys that you're just like, you're built different. And It's so obvious that he thinks differently. He handles himself differently. He's so fellow-saw, like he studies philosophy in his downtime because he's interested in it.

Right? You're like, he's such a well-rounded person. I think it looks at golf and life in this really holistic way that, you know, really I had to do a lot of, you know, introspection at some point in my life. And I went through like my yoga teacher training and then, you know, my dad passing away and figuring out, like, how do you balance? life with work, right? When all of those things are kind of all consuming and intertwining, and like the things

that he talks about, journaling every day, meditation, like accepting where you are and who you are. Like, I thought he embraced the whole thing where people were under fire. He was under fire for having a bad temper on the course. I mean, a couple years ago, it was all people talked about. Every time. But then you talked to him off the course, be like, yeah, you know what? I had to let it out.

And now I'm good. It's not like he ever gave like angry interviews. never doing things that were offensive off the gall. He was literally just letting it out. And then he was good after kind of just like he just can't keep it in. And I loved his acknowledgement. He's a 20-something year old just saying, yeah, you know what? I'm pretty fire. I'm pretty passionate. But that's what makes me great. And it's what makes me who I am. And yeah, I'll try and work on it if everyone's upset about it. But just being it, he's like, he's like, he just comes from like this place of acceptance. You know what? He's like this unbelievable acceptance

of himself. and who he wants to be and the golfer he wants to be and he's always working at how to be a better player in person like in a very holistic way so I feel like every time I interview him you learn something really

insightful not just about him the player but him the person he doesn't just go through the motions like good or bad he'll tell you what he's thinking which is rare I would say over his obviously he's gotten more and more comfortable speaking English but I think he's gotten better I say him and Roy McElroy are probably the two best

and you throw Jordan in there as well yeah three best interviews. Oh, my gosh. Rory is, I mean. No offense, Dustin. He's 3B. No, but you, Dustin, though, Dustin, I will say, is one of my favorite players to do highlights

with because he is so brutally honest. And I remember there was a couple times we had to put, like, bad shots in there, right? And it's in a highlight rip. So there's a mix of good shots and bad shots. And you can say, Dustin, what happened here? And he's like, yeah, no, that was just a terrible shot. I've been working on this and this is what happened. And I'm like, everyone at home can relate to this.

You know what it means? I think he's great in his own way. But yeah, Rory and Rahm, to me, are the guys that you walk away and you're like, did he really just tell us that? Yeah, they're great. That's awesome. Both of them really good. Media Center before the tournament.

And you mentioned DJ in terms of like being honest and stuff. How about the interview? And you gave one of the most memorable golf ones that I can remember. And there wasn't a lot of words even said with DJ after the Masters. Could you sense that coming? Like, hey, this guy's, because we never seen that from DJ, period, or I haven't at least. No, I don't. Yeah, it was such a different week anyway.

I mean, it's in November. There's no patrons, and then all of a sudden we see this side of Dustin Johnson. Well, and we don't ever do an interview like that, right? It's the Green Jacket Ceremony and then we're off there, but obviously because of the different timing that wasn't what happened. And I honestly didn't know how that was going to go, right? First of all, you never want to go after Jim Nance for an interview. Or for anything.

He's Jim freaking Nance. I'd rather not have to compete with you, sir, because you are literally the face of CBS. Yes. Debatable. So I wasn't sure how that was going to go, but we were standing there for a couple seconds before we went live. And you could just see him taking it all in, you know? And like Paulina was right there and Austin was right there. And Austin obviously already cried walking up 18.

So we knew this one was really emotional for him and his whole team. And all I kept thinking about while I was watching him take this in, because there's, what are there? Maybe 50, 75 cameras. that you guys can't see, right? Our jib cameras coming down, and then behind that cameras, all of the media that has their credentials.

And so you can see him looking at this. Tiger is out there. And I was like, man, this is the moment that we've talked that his team has told me about, that when he was little, every single putt when he was practicing was to win the masters. And like he's having this moment right now with the green jacket on, realizing he just accomplished something.

He has literally been playing over in his head for decades, you know? And that to me, that to me was the question. I didn't know what else I could ask him that would actually mean anything in that moment. But I think the coolest thing you did is when he did, the emotions did hit him, you didn't try to ask another question or anything like that. You kind of let it go on. Was that you or was that Lance in the ear?

Yeah, no, that was, you know, that was me and I was really trusting Lance to be in my ear to tell me okay, we need to wrap it up or you need to move on. Because, you know, I mean, we talk like, listen, when you do the self-work on yourself, like, I'm like, I talk a lot about like learning how to be vulnerable, right? And I think that's a hard thing for a lot of people. But I was watching him. I'm like, you know what? He's letting himself be vulnerable in front of us for the first time.

Like, the last thing I want to do is almost talk over that moment and tell him that's not okay. You know what I mean? Like, I was, but I don't know if I would have done that. two years ago. You know what I mean? I don't know if I would have really understood where he was at two years ago without doing that work of learning about being vulnerable and giving the space to like, it's okay. It's okay to feel things. You know what I mean? So I let him letting down that curtain for the first time in front of everyone, I felt like there was zero I could say that would be more impactful than what he was doing. And I really did have to trust, you know, the truck

to be like, okay, now this is getting a little uncomfortable or whatever. And, like, like now you kind of got to move on. Because I didn't want him to feel like I was leaving him, you know, out to dry. That was never the intention. I think the intention was just like, let's all sit in this moment for just a little bit because this is incredible. Hadn't seen it from deep. I mean, these just flatlined out there most.

That's part of what made it so cool. I mean, that's one of the most memorable golf interviews that I can think of off the top of my head. That one was awesome. While we're on a gust, I got to ask because the Monday, the media afterwards, the media gets to play. Have you had the chance? Oh, no.

No, I've never even put my, I don't know. I've never even like put myself into the lottery. Yeah. Have you done that? That feels like, I've been there one time. How would you not? Are you the only member of the media ever to not put your name in the lottery to play? Well, I technically did and I'm over one.

Yeah. Can we learn how to do that? That's a Ross Molley question. Ross, I know Ross can make it happen. Okay, perfect. Ross, we're going to be calling you later. Yes. We need to learn some things.

Yeah, what's the point in covering it? If you ain't going to get out there and try to peg it the next day. Or at least enter the lottery, right? I honestly thought you had played it. I was about to say you're about to make every golf fan so jealous. You get to broadcast from there and then you played it. I've never, nope, I've never played it. Okay, we'll do that next time.

Yeah. Yeah, you're going to need that one. I want to go, all the way up. That was one of the highlights, I would say, at least for me watching that one, right? Yeah. Let's go the other side of the coin here. Give me the biggest, some point in your career, there had to be in a disastrous moment on air that stands out to you. Give me the worst Amanda Ballionis on camera.

Yeah, actually involves Dustin Johnson. and I'm actually really happy that this happened when I was at PJTor.com and it was live, so I'm sure there's a tape of it somewhere, but I hope it never resurfaces. It was at my very first tour championship that I was covering, and I used to really over-prepared. Like, if I'm really anxious about something, I'm going to just try to gather all of the information I possibly can

so nobody can catch me off guard. So I wrote 30 index cards. for one for every player in the field because I didn't know who I was going to have to interview. And these index cards were covered front and back. Like, you get two questions. What did I think was going to be happening here? It wasn't like a network special, right?

And I mean, really, I would love to go back and see those note cards and what I thought, well, maybe this will come up. Like, of course it was not going to come up. So I'm interviewing Dustin's coming up. And I think at that point I didn't expect him to say yes. Because, like, the way it used to work with PJ Tour Live was you were the very, you were the bottom of the barrel interviews, right? Like, guys went through the entire car wash, and if they wanted to do a seventh interview, they could come talk to me. So usually it was a no for higher profile players.

Dustin comes over and says, yes, without my index card, I'm like, I'm ready for this one. Here we go. Yeah. And I see on the index card, it says third presidents come. and I'm like okay so and this is what 2011 or 2012 nope so you do the math yep but I trusted that I trusted that handy handy index card and I said to Dustin I looked down at it and I said

you know I asked them something about you know the season and then my second question was well you know you're about to tee it up and your third president's cup what have you learned from those past you know events that are going to prepare you moving forward then true Dustin for me looks and he goes it's my first. Right, but assuming you have played in two other ones, what do you think you would have learned?

I was like, are you third in points? Now I'm just trying to figure out what I wrote. Like I'm like, there's something here, and he goes, I don't know. And I was like, I'm going to go out of Liv's A was his third tour championship. No, I had Brett in third. I think it was third in the rank.

Okay. Maybe he was ranked third in presidents. Cup. He was third in the standings. Yes, he was third in the standings. Yeah, I just put third presidents cup. That'll happen. He looks at me and it is just like, I don't know who you are or where this is going,

but I was like, okay, thanks for the time. He's like, yeah, and walks away. That's how it ended? And I was like, oh, dear God, well, it gets worse. So then they're in my ear and I am full pain. I am sweating. I'm like, I'm never going to recover. Justin Johnson's never going to.

He thinks I'm an idiot. Like this is, I can't get out of my own head. They say, I'm here, hey, Phil Nicholson is walking off the green. Why don't you go see if he'll talk to you? And I've never, ever talked to Phil. And I'm like, okay. And in my head, I really am thinking there's no way. He says yes.

So I'm like, hey, Phil, would you mind two questions? Yeah, absolutely. Shit. Damn it. I am not in the headspace to do this. So I look directly at the camera and he doesn't know me from anybody. And I look right at the camera and I'm like, thanks, Phil. Guys, you're Phil.

And just no laugh, know anything. Just like just stone cold stared me down. like this is never going to happen again. And then we did the interview, and then I proceeded to have a massive meltdown in my car, and that was the last time I did index cards. That's when you sign off with, all right, I'm Win McMurray. Thanks, guys. That's when it comes back to help you.

Yeah, it's not that bad. It was bad. It was two like back-to-back hot mess moments. And live. And live, right? With two really high-profile players. And, you know, we're such a traveling circus. Everyone kind of remembers everything.

Oh, yeah. Right? So, like, I knew that that was my first impression with those two guys. And that was going to take me a long time to dig myself out of that hole and gain some credibility back. Either of them ever brought it up since. Like, wow, you've gotten a lot better. I'll remind them. Yeah, make sure they all know, dude.

Yeah, right? You remind them. Phil did call me Holly, like, at the beginning of my career. But I think he was doing it. Hopefully he doesn't do it now. On purpose? No, it doesn't do it now. I think he might have been messing with me.

I actually don't know if he was. I just watched a video the other day where who was? It was a call Montgomery. So, Phil called him by the wrong name. He probably did that on purpose, though. Right. Well,

so I never thought it was on purpose. So I saw that video and I was like, was he just trolling me? Because that was, he's pretty good at it. Yeah. But now, no,

Phil is, I mean, now we have a great working relationship. And it's awesome. But the beginning was a little, uh, those are good ones. Those are good ones.

Back to back, just to pile on a little bit. All right, you spend, I believe, 22 weeks a year with the PGA tour in CBS. Yeah. Favorite stop of the season? Pebble. Oh, yeah, you are a pebble. I mean, pebble is just not even real life that whole week.

You get to spend the whole week there. That one's awesome. I love the Travelers Championship. That's like a little piece of home for me. So that one is always... You didn't love it Sunday this year. You know, I did, though. Like, that was so fun.

The sleeve sent us around a round a shot. Oh, yeah. How was that? Take that shot at thequila I sent from BG's. Oh, you know what? I almost just said I don't remember that, but I probably actually don't remember it. Yeah, that was actually true. Yeah.

Thank you so much for this. I did forget that your birthday did. That's why I was saying you didn't like Sunday too much. Yeah, but then we had that iconic playoff. Yes. Yeah. Stretched. Yeah.

Takes a back seat to that. Have you hit a shot at Nancy? Speaking of Pebble, have you hit the shot at Nancy's Part 3? Yes. How'd you do? I have come very close. but have never, have never, yeah. I really, I really want a whole in one there.

There's some good names on the whole and one board there. Yes, yes. It'd be a good one to have your name on. And I tell him all the time. I feel like he just needs to give me a bucket of balls, make sure a camera's out. I don't need anyone around. I don't do well under pressure.

Right. And just let me get it. That's never gonna go one after one and we'll edit it. It looks like the first time. That's it, yeah. Yeah. But seriously, I mean, what's it like working with Jim Nance? I mean, he is the golden voice.

He's the greatest dude on the planet. But like, do you ever pinch yourself and be like, Oh my God, Jim Nance is sending it down to me. All the time. I honestly, I giggled every time he said my name. Thanks, Jim. For the first whole season. Can I call you, Jim?

Oh, my God. I was such a, I was a child with him. I was the coolest thing that Jim Nance even knew my name, right? Let alone is now throwing it down to me. Like, to say, thanks, Jim, or back to you, Jim, still is a ridiculous reality for me. And I think, like, the biggest pinch me moment was I had a, another one of my, it wasn't as bad as the index card, but I had kind of a moment during an NFL game a few years ago. And I didn't know what to do.

Like, I was really being hard on myself. And Jim was my first phone call because I was like, he's just, he's, he's been here, he's done everything, he's seen everything. And I kind of needed someone to put it in perspective. And he called me back within 30 seconds, talked to me on the phone for 20 minutes, giving me so much unbelievable advice. And like, this is the busiest guy in sports. And, like, he has a million other things to worry about

than me talking about one of my first NFL games and, like, not executing perfectly. And he was, I mean, just the best sounding board. And to this day, like, if there's ever anything that I really need advice on or, like, Jim is the guy to call because he, as good as he is on air, he's even better. Has he ever messed up enough to know what to say? I mean, then be like...

He never, yeah. I mean, maybe he was just making me feel better that, like, that used to happen to him back in the day. Like, Tiger, I didn't close out. That's the 54 whole lead. What should I? Like, I don't know, dude, I've never not closed one. I don't, you just win it.

That's what I do. Him and Tariko are just the two smoothest guys. Like, they literally, they go through a show and him, like, he never once stumbled a word, never once messed up. It's unbelievable. He's unbelievable. Have you seen any blunder of any sort or Jim even getting, like, you know, flustered up there ever? No. Damn it.

Yeah. Have you? God, no. I've only worked with him once. Yeah. It's, you know what he's really good at? Because, like, he might in his head feel like, and this is what we all strive to right like in his head he might sound like oh that wasn't how i meant to say it but he figures out a way

to massage it to the to the point that like viewers at home don't realize that wasn't what he meant to say you know what i mean like he's just really good off the cuff he's good at pivoting he's he's unbelievable we've had him on our serious x-m show and like you introduce him and he's just like oh colt sleaze love listen to y'all listen to y'all every day while i'm in the car i'm like no you don't no you don't shut on jim no you don't but honestly take that clip and use it in our intro That should be the edge. Jim listens to us. He's awesome.

Well, I think a lot of people know you broke a lot of men's hearts when you put that thing on your finger over there. That beautiful ring you got there from your fiancé Brent. I got to ask because I've gotten to know him recently. He's fantastic. I think you're kind of jealous for our friendship a little bit. I am. I am. You guys actually talk more than you and I talk.

That's true. That's actually a great point. Former quarterback, college, NFL. How did y'all meet? Yeah, let's hear that. Yeah. I don't know this. I actually don't know either.

Yeah. So this is another one of those career moments. I was taken off an NFL game, put on a college game. And in the moment, I was really mad. And they kept saying, like, this is a great game. You know, they're turning Marlins Park, the baseball park, into a football field. It's FIU versus Miami. It's like, it's a huge, you know, rivalry.

This is going to be awesome. You know, Butch Davis is at the helm here. you know, the new guy at Miami's there, and it's just like the new versus the old, Manny Diaz, and you're like, I'm like, okay, I'm going to do it, but I don't really know a whole lot about college football. Growing up in Pennsylvania, that's not what it is, right? Like, you watch it casually on Saturdays, but you're just kind of resting for Steelers Eagles games on Sunday.

So I get down there, and luckily I was actually working with a good friend of mine, Aaron Murray, who was the quarterback at Georgia, and Rich Waltz, who actually used to be the play-by-play guy in Miami at Marlon. Lins Park until he left there a few years ago. So I was working with an incredible crew, and I'm like, all right, you know, this is actually going to be pretty fun, and it is what it is. So we get to game day, and it is awesome. Like, to see a baseball park turn into a football field is very cool.

The fans were, you know, awesome. And Aaron and I are sitting there having our, like, kind of crew meal before, and I'm drinking a coffee, and this really, like, big guy comes over across the field to say, to Aaron. And he walked away. We talked for a little bit, and I was like, who is that? He was like, oh, his name's Bryn. He played quarterback of Carolina when I was at Georgia. I've known him forever. I'm like, is he a good guy? He's like, yeah, he's a good guy. That was it. It's like all I really thought about it. He comes across the field with about three minutes left during warmups. And like, he comes to the Miami sideline. And he's like, hey, I just want to let you know, if any player

goes down around the 17 yard line on our sideline, there's a hole right there that, like, the grounds crew hasn't been able to quite fill. So like, it's just if you need that information. And I was like, oh, okay, thanks. And here's my phone number. Well, he did tell me that he said. He said, I actually came over to give you my phone number, but you gave me this like death look that you're at work. And I was like, no, I can't do that. She's not, she's not going to, like, give me her a phone number if I ask her while she's at work, which he was right. So gives me this whole story about this whole and 17-yard line, which by the way, it was not true. So thank God, nobody fell over there.

I would have given a false report. Like, what a weird line. Sabotaging your career. All the lines that go through your head. That's the one I'm going to go with. And so the game happens. He's up in the booth. And the FIU ends up having their biggest win in program history.

And they beat Miami. And it was like, it was a big deal. That night, I think, because I had to be up up the next morning. So I got the next morning. But that night, he sent me slid into the DMs on Twitter and was like, like, hey, it was really nice to meet you. And I was like, yeah, man, great meeting you too. Then I text Aaron again. I'm like, are we sure he's not a creed? Because now you He's already lied to me. The first thing he ever said to me was a lot. Right. So like, I have

some questions at this point. And Aaron was like, no, I swear he's a great dude. So yeah, we started talking from there. And then, yeah, no, I'm engaged. All great relationships start with a DM. How did people meet and get married before Twitter, social media, all that stuff? Why wouldn't he just get my number from Aaron? I guess he didn't want to go through Aaron. And now you have that direct, you know. I don't know, but I feel like his version of the story is much different. His person's way more romantic.

I don't know. He said if you really want to get her going, just ask her how we met. And I just thought it was going to be something. Because I had no idea. Oh, yeah. No, he tells it. He tells it like, it's like, you know, he's. Here we go.

He's the emotional one. I would say. No, in a good way. Not in a bad way at all. Not in a bad way at all. He's amazing. But, you know, he's, I would say he's definitely the more romantic one of the two of us. And he said, when I saw you sipping your coffee next to Aaron, something just hit me over the head and I just knew it.

I just knew it. I just knew it. Well, Brandon, you've been hitting the head a lot. I just hit your life. I was like, don't make concussions. How many concussions have you had? But he wasn't wrong. Next year is when it's all going down.

Next year, yes. Congratulations. Thank you. Very cool. Yeah. Yeah. That's all I got to say about that. San Diego?

Yes. Yes. Cole, if you're nice, you might get an invite. You can be the officiant. Yeah, you want to officiate our wedding. Oh, yeah. I'm trending. I might be in the wedding party.

Yeah. That's actually true. That's been not surprised me. I will say, Bryn is obsessed with the pod and all he says now. I hear it maybe at least three times a day. Let's get amongst it. Yes, Bryn.

Shout out. We got a big fella. We get it. I see. Let's get him on next. We'll get the real story. He'd be more entertaining. We'll find out who's lit into who's DMs at that point.

It was definitely him. Okay. I love it. Well, we got to talk a little bit about your nonprofit, puppies and golf, something I know you're very, very passionate about. I am. Tell us a little bit. How to start? Started when I was in Jacksonville and I was volunteering at Canines for Warriors.

And I, like, literally, you used to be able to go volunteer there and go, like, play with the dogs. You could just go wear them out so that they were prepared for training. And it was really good. And it was really therapeutic for me, too, right? So, like, I always started to see why this dog human connection was really important. It was the thing I look forward to the most every single week. And if I was having a rough week, I'd sign up for extra shifts to go volunteer because it was just a really happy place. And 90% of those dogs at Cannes for Warriors are shelter dogs.

They go into shelters. They save them. They train them to be service animals from military veterans battling PTSD post-9-11. And those veterans have – those dogs literally – saved their lives, right? They'll get off all their medications, because they don't need it anymore, because they feel safe with their, you know, with their guy by their side. Or a lot of them will say the first time they didn't think about suicide was the first time they woke up with their dog because they realized someone else needed them as much as, you know, it was a two-way street for the

first time in a long time. And that really stuck with me. So when I moved out to San Diego, I still wanted to be able to give back to Canines for Warriors. So Harry Arnett, who we talked about earlier, he said, you know what, I'll give you the seed money. There was a really funny, reverent company called Puppies Make Me Happy. And they said, okay, we'll do this, like Puppies in Golf collaboration with you. I said, okay, I have the money to kind of get the shirt started, but all the money has to go back to Can I's for Warriors. And they said, that's fine. And we raised like $20,000.

Like, we raised enough to sponsor a dog. And I was like, there's something here. Like, I think the golf community, we already know that they're really charitable, right? Like I just think the golf world, in and of itself, realizes how privileged most of us are. We want to be able to get back. But I also think, like, we all love to be outside. And what do you equate with being outside other than golf, right? It's usually there's a dog or two hanging out somewhere.

So there was, it hit, I think, this cord. And from there, we kind of grew up. I started visiting shelters when I started traveling for CBS, no kill shelters across the country. And I was like, okay, let's just make it a formal thing. so I'm not just randomly being able to donate things from Amazon wish lists and whatever. So yeah, we're an official 501C3 now. I visit a no-kill shelter once a month. We give grants to shelters and families who have like emergency medical bills for their dogs,

so they don't have to worry about it. Yeah, I mean, that's your thing on the road. I mean, Thursday, Friday, you always find a shelter, it seems like. Yeah, yeah. And go and play with them. I mean, that's your thing. I mean, you have never met a dog you don't like. That is actually really true.

Yeah, there are no bad dogs. bad people who may influence dogs. I do believe that. More dogs less people. Absolutely. But it, you know, it's not really just so much about the dog. I love dogs, right? But it is really about how much of an impact animals can make in our lives. And I feel like that's not talked about enough. I feel like so often, like medications and all of these other things are thrown at people to deal with certain stressors where really there are so many times that like you can bring a dog into the picture or any, maybe it's a cat, whatever, just a companion who isn't judging you and has unconditional love for you. And it is literally proven to alleviate stress and, you know,

anxiety and a plethora of, you know, of issues in just everyday life. And then going all the way to the extreme, obviously, of, you know, canines for warriors where these guys are literally saying these dogs are saving their lives. So, yeah, that dog human connection, I think, is, unbelievable to me. And so if I can bring that to people and save a bunch of dogs along the way, that's a great thing. And how can people? Yeah, how do they? How can they help? You get a Puppies and Golf org and you can donate and we do like limited edition drops like collaborations with other companies every once in a while and follow us on Instagram puppies and golf for all of that stuff too. Yeah, subpar puppies and golf collaboration one day maybe. You want to do that? Hello. Hello. Yeah,

I got a pretty good idea. I got a couple could be the mascot. Okay. I'm here for it. Okay, deal. How are you going to plan a wedding with it? You got golf football, charity, and then you got a wedding coming up. Yeah. No, I'm not doing a very good job. Is he the wedding planner? No, he is not.

No, no, neither one. Honestly, all of my friends, I have a couple friends who are in the midst of, you know, planning a wedding and they are so far ahead of me. And my wedding is so much sooner than theirs. You got a date. That's, I mean, you're good. I have a date and a dress. And a fiance. And you got a preacher.

Right. Reverend, Reverend Nost. Actually, I take it back. I am killing. Yeah, you're fine. I'm doing great. How many weeks a year are you traveling working? Oh, okay. You get 12 at home.

Yeah. Pretty good. Pretty good deal. Yeah. Easy. And you're working weekends. I mean, you got Monday to Thursday to for some Amanda time. It doesn't always work out that way.

Okay. You know that. I could say something for you. I work Monday to Sunday right now. Yeah. That's whatever. Did you know Colt works really hard? No.

Can you tell me a little bit about it? Have you met my child, Drew? No, tell me more. I'm very, very interested in. I'm actually never tired. I'm always ready to go. Should we get to the E9 now? Yeah, let's hit that.

This is where we're going to have some fun. I thought I was escaping. Not escaping. No, we'll get them out. First of all, we could go hours with you. It's so much fun to talk to you. All right, number one, you can trade lives with anyone for a day, dead or alive. Who's it going to be?

Ooh. Do I have to answer this quickly? Because this is hard. I mean, it is. All the time you need. I'm going to go. I can trade lives with anyone. Anyone.

Yeah. Entertainer. in their life. Whatever. Any year. Me and Sleys are available. Yeah, you could be us, not a bad gig. I think we could do better.

No offense, though. Stings a little. Fair. Tom Brady. But fair. Tom Brady, all right. Tom Brady. Oh, wow.

Yeah. You just want more diamonds on your hand. I know what you're thinking. Dude, do you see that Super Bowl ring? Which one? The most recent one? Yeah, it looks a lot like that thing you got. It does.

It's true. God, Brad, they love you. Yeah, he's doing it. Just give a time. He might change that here in a second. Oh, no. All right. Go ahead, Sleece.

All right. You're going to build the dream broadcast team, but it's got to consist of current PJ tour players. So you need a Nance. You need a Faldo. You need a Colt. You need an Amanda. Who you got?

Okay. That's good. That is really good. We definitely have Colt up there as our main. He said I can't be. No, he got to have current players. You can come in.

He's in the truck. He's guiding everybody. Oh, wow. Okay. You're guiding everybody. It's going to be shit. No, I'm kidding. Yeah.

All right. We're going to have. Who's the? The Nance. I know that's the one. I feel like you have to kind of start with the anchor, right? I know who I'd go with. You do?

Who would you go with? Speed. You think he would be the one? He's the golden child. He's very well. He'd be good at like directing traffic. And you've seen him out there on the golf course? He's directing everyone, talking to his ball.

Yeah, he wouldn't get a lot of mic time for anybody else. Yeah. You know? Okay. I feel like I would put Speed on a whole. I put him at like 17 Tower. Sorry, Speed. You just got demoted.

I would put. rom i'm going to put rom and rory in the booth in the booth yeah i'm going to have rory be uh jim nance i'm going to have rom be our analyst i'm going to have spief in 17 tower i'm going to have pat perrez walking there we go and everyone's fired and we're canceled well you got to have somebody who's going to shake it up a little bit right colts that guy right now where i'm like okay Maybe it's almost too far, but not quite. Okay, we're good. Okay, we're good.

Right on the edge. And then I guess I need a second walking person. A rover. Who is that going to be? That's going to be. I mean, come on. You worked with him. I worked with Phil?

No. Oh, how do I leave out Phil, by the way? Phil. Yeah, no, Phil has to be up there. He's already been, thinking of the same guy you're thinking of it. Yeah, he's already done it. He's already for a non-official event. Might have called a certain basketball player.

Fat-ass. Oh, dude. JT. Yeah, he'd be good. JT is definitely, yes, he is, and he's the Rover because he would be really good. He's already done it. Yeah, and he'd, oh my God, dude, he's slayed. When we were there and he would look at me, he's like, am I doing this right?

I'm like, are you doing this right? This is what you're supposed to do. You were a Hall of Famer already. It was insane. And then doing the interviews, who would do the interviews? Who would do the interviews? Who's really good at just. Tiro Hat and get him in there.

To your honesty. Peter Mollinger. Nottie? Peter Malnoddy would actually, he would be very curious. Great 80 today. Can you tell us a little movie? Super nice the whole time. Your clothes looked fantastic.

That was a great double on 12. Chess and Hadley would be really good at that. I would go, yeah, I'm going to go Chesson Hadley as my interviewer. I'm fine with that. Yeah. All right, we'll just stay on this kind of same topic. We're going to do a little word association. Okay.

First thing that comes to your head when I say, some people that you've worked with. Okay. Jim Nance. Perfect. I swear. The legend, Vern Lundquist. Oh my gosh. I want to say perfect icon

God he's incredible he's my favorite Peter Costas the best yeah I love Connica Manolta yeah All right here we go

Gary McCord right on the edge Perfect That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said about You love Gary him but that is what makes him so great right on the edge man

Yeah all right He's tough to beat All right next one talking a little football talking about your fiancee too former college and NFL he's gonna get way too much love he's getting a lot but I love that he will listen to this show so we'll shout him out a lot you work in the air for the NFL and college as well who breaks down the better game film you you ever get in there for him but I will say he'll sometimes like send me videos for kids like for scouting

he's like what do you think and I'll break it down he's like I just sent that to the staff and I think that was great perfect yeah that's fantastic tell you what this guy just can't go through his progression so I don't have you noticed that you might want to scheme He can only throw to his left. Are you seeing that? He can't roll. He can't roll. All right, we might as well just stay on, Bryn.

What is one thing you do that drives him crazy? Oh, I do a lot probably that drives him crazy. It's not what he said, actually. It was very disappointing. Oh, really? What do I do that drives him crazy? I feel like I have one and I guess this the other day and he was like, don't tell anybody that. And I said, okay.

I don't know what I do that drives him crazy. You just said you had one. I know, but that one he told me not to say out loud. again um i will say i was rooting for that one i'm very interested right now you have my now i'll be texting me hey so what's this one you told her not to say i'm guessing a few right now in my head um okay something i do that drives him crazy i really don't know what would you say you said you put your feet on his windshield and it bothers him oh i do i do when you're driving i was hoping you would say something different than i could be like well this also bothers you

Honestly, I couldn't stop thinking about the one he told me not to say out loud. If this hadn't just come up recently, we got the full scouting report. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's not that. I'm perfect. I mean, he kind of said that actually a lot.

I was like, I'm deleting this. All right. Well, never mind. This text is gone. Never. I thought you listened to the show, yeah. We're trying to get some dirt here. All right.

Next one, you're certified yoga instructor. I got to know this. There's a lot of weird names for different positions. Explain me why the downward dog, which is the only ones I know is called. the downward dog. Why is it called the down? You ever see dogs do it? Dogs do it very naturally when they push back. Oh like when they get up from sleeping? Yeah. Oh, that's it? Downward dog. Oh, I didn't know. You knew that? Oh, you knew that. Oh, do you yoga guru over here? Every dog, every dog does that. I mean, it's like, I've been actually giving cold yoga lessons on the

road. Oh, that's how you're well versed now in yoga. First of all, every dog when it stretches, it's a downward dog. Oh, I never, I mean, put that together. I didn't know your worst, question yoga guru over here all of a sudden all right take me to one of these classes you go to next time i must be doing some shit on the road i don't i got a lot of free time true a lot of happy baby happy baby is cold's favorite position oh that's a good one happy see there's i know what it is that one i just thought it went off the top google it and then picture colt in that position and you won't ever be able to unsee it yeah i got it maybe we get a little video with this yeah all right all right celebrity crush celebrity crush i would say for a i mean forever it was channing tatto

Um, but that was like, that's like a basic one about to cause a little drama here. Well, not even more. Yeah. Not anymore. Well, yeah, not anymore. I actually just have a celebrity crush. Like whatever happened to him. I don't know.

He's probably really really good shape and really rich. He's probably doing great. Yeah, probably just hanging out, doing downward dog. I was hoping it was happy baby. I was hoping it was something weird like our girl, Chantelle McCabe. What she said? Charles Barkley. That's her celebrity crush.

That's when you know. Talk about how it comes to life. I don't care about appearances. I could have listed 900,000 men. and I wouldn't have got to Charles. Yeah, right. That's, yeah, no, that's fair. More men have crushes on Charles Barkley than women for sure.

Yes. All right, next question. Okay, Channing. All right, this is, I like this one. You love dogs. We've talked about that. So if you're co-worker here, Colt Nost was a dog. What breed of dog would be?

English bulldog. Okay, what name? Buster. Please call him Buster on the air. Please, too. Well, we might as well just return the favor. What would sleeves be? Doberman, a mutt.

Bull of junkyard dog. What's the meanest dog? You're so terrible. I don't know. I think you're kind of bougie, though. What has the skinniest legs? You might be a standard poodle. A poodle?

A greyhound? Long legs. Skinny legs. Hair is always quaffed. I'm saying it. I think it's a stand you might be a standard poodle. Like a show poodle though. Like a Westminster Poodle, a prize poodle.

The elite of the poodle. I like this year. I like, okay, I'll take it. And I think your name would be Dexter. Dexter. Like the murderer. That's part of the mean, you know, that's my mean string. I love you trying to be so tough in your Travis Matthew Polo.

Plural. Plural Polo. You've seen me, dude. I'm an animal. All right. Dexter of the poodle and Buster the English bulldog. Yeah. Or, yeah.

All right, here we go. You're the queen of Sunday fun day. It's your favorite thing to do. So passionate about it. You're pretty good at pop a shot, kind of, but we're not going to get into that. kicked your butt. All right. The second time, the one you filmed, I can't handle the cameras.

I get nervous. Okay. Okay. Top three PGA tour players to Sunday Funday with. Ooh, top. Joel Damon. A bazillion percent. That's Monday through Sunday,

but Joel. Not even close. Yeah. Joel, I will say, hmm, who else would I want to? Sunday Fonday with. Pat, I've never Sunday Fonday with Pat Perez. It's fun.

But I feel like it would be, yeah. I think it would take some time to recover. And let's go. Brooks Kepka. I cannot believe you left out our guy, Max. He's going to be really hurt by this. There's a lot of options on the table. Max is like responsible now.

Maybe around you. Yeah. I don't know. I feel like Max is like, Max has dialed in right now. I don't think Max likes a Sunday Sunday anymore. Brooks, Pat and Joel. That could be interesting.

Wouldn't that be, that would be a great. That would be a solid. That's a squad. That's a squad. You go out there. Yeah. With their wives. do. That would, then it's going to be a little, it would be a solid party.

Okay. Well, bad, this has been awesome. And by the way, we've known each other a long time. You actually do this for a living. You interview people. I can't believe I actually interviewed you for the first time before you ever interviewed me. That's really sad on my part. It's really sad. How'd I do? Oh, incredible. Yeah, it's really tragic. Oh, incredible. How'd we do? You nailed it. Okay. You're great. You're way more professional than I thought you were going to be. Yeah, well, you know, I have to work with you. And then the standard poodle over here. That's right. The show poodle. Dexter over. I'll be a show poodle.

Amanda Balliotis, thank you so much. Yes, thank you, Amanda. This is fun. All right, well, that was the face of CBS. Slees likes to call her Amanda Ballionis. Slees had a lot of fun sitting down with her. I mean, it's hands down by my favorite part was when she figured out which kind of dogs we'd be. I knew what mine was going to be.

Yeah. But the poodle? Yeah. No, you don't just say regular. It's a show poodle award-winning, Westminster, trophy receiving poodle. like a special poodle. Yeah, she went out me a little bit with that there. Now I'll take it.

It's a show poodle. No, I specify Westminster poodle. Well, first off, it was a regular poodle. And your name was Dexter. Show poodle. Dexter, the serial killing show poodle. I love that, dude. It looks innocent and sweet.

But when he gets down to it, he'll slice your head off and chop you up into a million pieces. So I feel like that pretty much accurately describes me as a dog. Buster the poodle. God damn. That's a lineup, ain't it? But, man, it was so cool. talking about, you know, her favorite Sunday fun day and spots, her favorite people, who would she like to Sunday Sunday with on the PJ tour? A very interesting group.

Yes, yes. Not sure how it's all going to go, but good luck to you. And then it was the easiest question I could ever ask her. Her favorite spot on the PGA tour schedule is Pebble Beach. She's a big wine girl, loves the ocean. And first off, if you don't like Pebble Beach, I don't know who you are. Jim Nance has a little abode there. We can maybe try to make a hole in one, get your name up on the wall, which we've seen some people do.

Yeah. Pebble Beach is going to be 1A. for a lot of people up there. I liked, A, just her background story. Like, you just see her pop up on, you know, CBS. Like, where did this girl come from? Like, you hear the background, the hustle that had to come with it to get there. There were times where she thought, like, you know, maybe this isn't for me.

I mean, she was writing obituaries in local newspapers for a while. Like, that's a reality check at that point. But then she gets up. She is to where she is now. But not without a few hiccups along the way. Anyone that talks to a microphone is going to have some of those. And then she gets Dustin Johnson talking to the first time and has a little blunder. Hey, you're getting ready for your third Prezy Cup.

How does that feel? Well, I don't know because it's my first. Oh, yeah. Well, see you later. Oh, here's Phil Mickelson. Let me bounce back with a little Phil interview. But also, by the way, one of the best interviews ever with Dustin Johnson at the Masters when he won in 2020. But awesome ride.

She's been on it. It's not near over. She does an incredible job out there. It's so much fun to work with her. And it was a lot of fun to sit down with her. So special thanks for her for joining us. But Sleez, it's time to get into a little gambling. Got to do it.

Well, Fandle is America's number one sports book. There's no other place you should bet, in my opinion. But Sleaz, most of all, it's very sensitive. simple to use, which I know you're a big fan. Oh, dude, that's the number one thing. If you're not technologically advanced, much like the sleeves, it is helpful to have a book and an app that you can get in there and navigate quickly, especially when football season coming up, Colt, pop down on the couch, you got two minutes to kick off, like, oh, I want to get a bed in real quick. The worst thing you do is when you go sign in, try to get a bed in, it takes forever, and then the next thing you

see, game not available. Worst three words in betting right there with Fandle, you get in there quickly, get that bet, pop down on the couch, check it all out. And also, once the game gets in, easy to live in too, which I know we're big fans up. You've got a little trend. You see Uncle Mo shifting. Just live in. Get after it. Got live betting. You got odds boost all kinds of different things. Props, futures, all kinds of things. Go to fandle.com slash subpar and get amongst it with Fandle. Got all kinds of stuff going on. Sleys right now Fandle is letting you place your first bet risk-free up to $1,000. Just place your first bet on anything. And Fandle refund you up to $1,000 back in site credit if you don't win. Tough thing to say no to.

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See full terms at sportsbook. Fandle.com. Gambling problem? Call 1800 gambler. All right. Well done. Well, let's get to our picks for this week's Fan dual segment sleighs,

a loaded field, only 69 guys. The love number team ended up at the BMW championship, Caves Valley outside of Baltimore, beautiful golf course. And the only one not going to be there is Patrick Reed because of some health issues, but there will be 69 guys. By the way, how's fitting?

Our guy, Big Beautiful, Harry Higgs, ranked 69. Slides right in. If ever you didn't believe in the gods up above, there's a sign right there. But let's get to some of these odds and who we like the favorite, a big favorite, by the way, after a disappointing last four holes. John Rom going off at plus 650. Strange, yeah.

We're here to see John. He's lost to like four people in his last six events, so yeah, it seems to make sense. All right. Well, he's followed by Justin Thomas, Colin Morikawa, Zander Shafley, Jordan Speath, and Dustin Johnson round out some of the heavyweight favorites. As far as my favorite, I'm going to go, this guy's due. He cannot continue to not contend, in my opinion. I mean, he's number two in the world, number one in my heart this week. Dustin Johnson.

Yeah, one would think I had them in the one and done last week. Didn't go so well. I got a knack for picking top five players in the world on a bad week. But yeah, how about how about it shows up? He plays first round with no driver. A little crack in the driver face. Just go with two three woods off the deck there. So, yeah, DJ, I mean, you just wait for it to pop.

And I'll tell you a guy like going down a little bit further on that list right now who played part of the tournament this week with only 13 clubs cult. Our guy, Victor Hovland, had a little putter snafu. might have slammed it on the bag, tweaked it a little bit, put it with the wedge the rest of the way. But he's going off at 33 to 1. Tita Green is such a beast. He makes so many birdies. If he just avoids some of the bogeys, he's got so much offense.

I think Victor Oban's going to pop in one of these big ones here soon. And you're going to need a lot of offense around Caves Valley. From what I've heard, it's pretty soft. They expect the scores to be pretty low. And a guy that can roll his rock that I like a lot, too, 35 to 1, Webb Simpson. Yeah, like him basically everywhere. If there's a T-box and a hole at the end of it, I like Webb. And if you want to go a little further down the list, you want some value, you want to just take a little shot in the dark?

This pains me, but he made triple bogey on his last hole of the tournament last week in New York, and I know he's pissed off, and he's going to come out firing the Seagull. Charlie Hoffman, 100 to 1. 100 to 1 maybe a little bit. He is angry. He's going to be dropping loads all over the place out there. Look out. Cover your head if you're in the greater Baltimore area. The goal is pissed. It's going to be awesome to see who can get in that top 30 and make it to East Lake for the Tour Championship. but most importantly, go download the Fandul Sportsbook app or go to Fandul.com slash subpar. Enter that promo code. Make sure you tell them we sent you

and get amongst it. Win some money with us. Yes, get caked up. We're going to have more booster bets coming in the future as well, but this is your time. No better time to do it than now. Playoff season. And by the way, what else should they do?

Go to the golf.com pro shop. Get you a little bird. Get you the birdie juice polo from Travis Matthew. Cicah! I told you. It's a bat signal for fun right there. All right. Well, thanks to everyone for listening.

We'll talk to you on next week's golf subpar.