Subpar - Jason Gore Interview: Working as the USGA's Senior Director of Player Relations, playing with Wilco Nienaber at the U.S. Open

Episode Date: July 13, 2021

On this week's episode of GOLF's Subpar, PGA Tour winner Jason Gore joins former PGA Tour pro Colt Knost and jicky jack legend Drew Stoltz for an exclusive interview. The Senior Director of Player Relations for the USGA talks playing with Wilco Nienaber at the U.S. Open, signing an endorsement deal with Bugle Boy while playing on Tour, and the possibility of making a return to competitive golf on the Champions Tour.

Hello world. Welcome to another week of golf subpar, Colt Nost and Drew Stoltz. What a week in the game of golf. Lucas Glover breaks a decade-long winless streak and wins at the John Deer. You got to spend some time up with all the celebs in Tahoe. How was it? Well, it's official. Rob Regal and I are best friends. You know it happened, and now it's official.

We went to dinner the night before the interview. Chemistry was electric, needless to say. So we are officially best buddies now. And yeah, dude, I mean, I had a ball up there. That place is so fun. That is the exact right amount of seriousness for a golf tournament. There's a handful of guys that want to take it serious and grind and do all the stuff.

The rest of the guys are out there having a good time, drinking, mixing it up. The casino at night, good spot to hang out there. There was some action to be had, but had a ball out there, man. Mark almost died. I don't know if you saw that. That was, for those that didn't see it, he went over to watch his boy in between interviews. Justin Tuck, diehard New York Giants fan, one of his favorite players goes over there for the celebrity. long drive. Tuck gets up there and Mark's got a video. I mean, he tow shanks this driver.

It was still coming off hot, probably 150 miles an hour. If Mark, who was kneeling down on the ground, if he'd been standing up or someone had been standing directly next to him, they'd be done. It'd be gonzo. So when he came back and was telling us all about it, I was like, okay, it probably wasn't that close. Then I saw the down the line view that someone else took, and this thing was a missile right over his head, dude. So it's official. The giant suck at golf and football. Yeah. Side note, if you're going to go out and watch celebs, Maybe don't stand on the shank side of any of them. They are more nervous than anyone.

In his defense, he was literally like two to maybe three yards in front of the teapot. I mean, he was almost directly sideways. Like it would take a serious shank. And with an iron could happen, driver, you don't really expect it. But thank God Mark's alive. We almost lost the man. Well, Vinnie Del Negro, Whist Barack member, got the job done there in Tahoe. But I was very curious.

I was keeping my eye on our man, Sir Charles Barkley, who bet on himself to finish 70th or better. he had a chance, but at the end of the day, finished tied for 76, lost 100 grand, bet not himself. But, I mean, that's just such a cool week. I hope I can go up there at some point, but got to give a tip of the Captain Lucas Glover. That was so cool. I had his group on Sunday, the last five holes, they moved me over to him. And, I mean, the guy is just a machine. He just absolutely flushes the golf ball.

And when he can make those short putts, he plays well. And on Sunday, he did it. That was what was cool coming down the stretch watching him. Like, we all know what a good ball striker is. he's been that way for forever. The putter's been the bugaboo. He had real issues with that. Still does sometimes from very short distance, but to close it out the way he did, ends up winning by two, makes the putt on 17, which was a great put. And then he's got that little testy, you know, six, seven foot or whatever it was on 18 that you've got to think if you're in his

shoes, like somebody's going to birdie coming in the par five. So this one is the one I probably need. And he rolled that thing in, man. And I mean, testament to him, 10 years plus outside the winner's circle to get back in it, former major champion. Like, perseverance. And his interview afterwards was pretty cool like you never questioned myself he had to go back to corn fairy troer finals twice so i mean a lot of guys especially they had the success he i could just say you know what i don't need it anymore i'm done i had a good run but not him and now now he's back and he's have i mean shit he's way up on the fedx couple of us too he's a stud was so happy his caddy coops one of the best dudes out there i was very very happy for those guys looked like good uh

good uh good uh broadcasting weather for you oh my god i don't even want to talk about your voice sounds good i just went from 65 and rain to 110 i mean it's good you got to shock the sister But anyways, we got another big week coming up. The Open Championship is this week. We're going to get to that. But first, we sit down with our man Jason Gore from the USA, obviously former PJ Tour player, stud. Maybe my long-lost father.

I'm not really sure. But always fun sitting down with him. But before we get to that, Slease, we got to talk about our guys at Rockford. The best speaker on the planet, strongest magnet. You can run over a small village of people, animals, whatever you want.

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now you can even store 5 000 songs on this thing so if you lose service you still got your music go to rockform.com and enter code subpar for 25% off your rockform speaker. That's R-O-K-F-O-R-M dot com code subpar for 25% off. Here's Jason Gore on golf subpar. All right, what a dude we have with us here today. He's got probably the most impossible job on the planet, making sure pamper tour pros have nothing to complain about during USGA events. He is the senior director of player relations for the USGA.

Oh, also, he's just an NCAA champion. Seven-time Corn Ferry Tour winner and PJ Tour winner, Jay Gore, welcome to the show, my man. It's all, fellas. How are you? Thanks for having you. You know, I never thought I'd get to interview my long-lost father. This is just incredible. It's so much fun for me. Have you guys thought about getting in that father-son tournament? That'd be a hell of a team, and no one would question it. No.

Oh, Tiger and Charlie, look out. We're coming. Lance lied. Oh, well, speaking to Tiger, let's go back to the beginning because you grew up in Southern California and you met Tiger at a rather young age. When exactly did you meet him? 12 years old. Wow. Give us a little insight to what Tiger was like at 12 years old. He was really, really good. He was actually pulled this picture up earlier. Can you guys see that? Oh, yeah. Wow. Fantastic. That's nice.

I, 14 years old, but I just pulled back to show somebody this morning, but no, he was really, really good. He, like, you never really realized how good he was going to be because you just figured he was going to burn out. You know, there were so many other players at that time that just were pushed by their parents, but you never realized that he was self-motivated. And he was just better. I mean, he still was just better. So, no, you just kind of knew it. You knew that if you competed with him and you somehow could maybe just beat him even on a hole, you had something. But no, you just great.

At what age, though, did you know that you were something special? 47. Still getting there? Next year. You're prime. Next year, maybe? Yeah, just maybe three years I'll be something special. but I don't know.

I just kind of figured out that maybe like when I first started in sixth grade, I just kind of knew that that's what I wanted to do. And I just wasn't going to give myself any options to do something different. It's just that was my love. That's where I wanted to be constantly. And I just knew that I wasn't smart enough to get a job and knew how to do it. Well, you were smart enough to recognize that Tiger was good, age 12 because we just recently had no to be gay on and it said i think cold asked the question like

when did you know tiger was something special and he's like you know i think it was disney after he turned pro and i have to read one every single thing in the world i'm like oh wow it's a pretty you're you're a lot in front of uh no to be gay on there that's for sure you're smart enough to do that the three juniors and the three u.s amateurs didn't didn't didn't no no take it off for him oh it's a fluke flash in the pan type of stuff another guy whose name always gets thrown around in the Southern California junior golf discussion is Carson Daily. All right, I need it from a true golfer like yourself. Give us the lowdown.

What kind of a talent was a young Carson back on the junior circuit? He was actually pretty good. I don't remember too much playing with him. I knew like the full honest truth was I remember playing golf of the guy named Carson. And I remember him being a nice player. and I didn't realize that was Carson Daly. He's like, yeah, we played junior golf. I'm like, oh my gosh, you're Carson.

Like I never really kind of put two and two together. It was one of those things I never, you know, just, I didn't know he was Carson Daly until Carson Daly became Carson Daly. At what age was that? 20, probably 30. I remember him. I remember seeing him. I just never really put it together.

I guess I'm Noda. Maybe Noda would have known. better. No, I just kind of, he's like, yeah, man, we played junior golf together. I'm like, holy crap, you're right. Like, then I all of a sudden remember, I'm like, yeah, that, that's him. Just never really, I don't know. That's incredible.

Yeah, y'all played AT&T, Pebble Beach quite a few times together. He's missed every cut with me. In the two years, we didn't play, he makes the cut, and then he wins with Ken Do. I told him, I don't know, we're never playing together. I love you. We're never playing together again. I'm the black cat. I'm just lucky.

Ken Duke is a horse, though. He can pull anyone around that place and take him to a trophy. When you think of horse, you think it can do. You think of Kenny. Because actually, when I was getting ready for this, I never realized you started out at University of Arizona. So obviously you were a very highly recruited player. What made you go to Arizona?

Then what ultimately made you leave? I was just a 19-year-old homesick here to be. honest with you. I got recruited. I was actually roommates with Ted Purdy. Ted Purdy and Gary Matthews. Oh, the animal. The animal. I tell you, I've got some stories, but I don't really remember them at that point in my life. But yeah, no, we were roommates with Ted in my freshman year and Gary my sophomore year. So, yeah, I don't know why I left. It was just a 19-year-old homesick kid that just wanted to want to be home. And, you know, looking back on it, it was probably the biggest mistake of my life that I just got super lucky to fall into Pepperdine and, and turned out to be the best decision I ever made.

So it was, I got lucky to leave the program in the nation. You didn't get just lucky. You were, you were pretty damn good. You're a part of winning NCAA team in 1997. But, I mean, how about going to school at Pepperdine? I've been on that campus once before. I mean, that's not normal. You get the ocean-ocean-view dorm room. It's incredible.

You know, I just, I was a psych major, and, you know, there was like 30 people in every class. And so I literally sat in the back of this one. I had like four classes in one room. And I sat in the back right, and I just kind of like hung out and looked out the window to the ocean every day. And it was pretty awesome. Wow. It looks more like a four seasons than it does. does a college camp. I can see, I don't know how every kid that steps foot on there doesn't say,

like, oh, yeah, okay, where do I sign? But like you mentioned, you went on to win the NCAA championship in 1997. Although I got a little tidbit from a potentially of a former teammate of yours that that team, that 97 team were not the biggest into the fitness, into the working out. And your coach, Guy Berger made it mandatory, and you guys would go out into the canyons and do these like step aerobics, and you weren't into it. And you went to a pretty great links to get yourself and the team out of doing that. Yeah, I faked a sprained ankle until it, until it, uh, I faked a slipping off the step aerobics. I mean, you may as well have done mouser size at that point, you know, like, I guess they were all out of the Suzanne

summer, you know, the five minister things. But, yeah, no, I faked it and said, well, you can't qualify now and I was going to the Hawaii trip and I'm like, damn, foiled again. But, I would you're 100% my father this is we need a DNA test we need Mori Povich on this show next week

and just to confirm this for us but Gore I was told that you actually faked a head injury and like set it up so that you fell down and you hit your head and then you know all the players went to the coach like we can't lose Gore we got to stop working out this is too dangerous. It was an ankle injury.

I thanked it. Okay. All right. Then when I left there, I went and hit balls. Yeah, perfect. They have a serious injury. I know this plane.

Seriously. Yeah. Just, you know, we're probably, you know, not feeling well from being over served the night before, and it was like 6 a.m. I'm like, I don't want to be here, so I just kind of like slipped off the, off the steperobics, and like, ow, ow, ow, and I went down and that was it.

That's it. They just didn't want to do it. Then you want a title. No, well, yeah. No Oscar was given, but. But yeah, I wasn't allowed to qualify that afternoon and didn't go to Hawaii. Oh, it's all right. You're still in Malibu.

Yeah. But it all worked out just fine, obviously. And then you end up going to turn out term pro after college. What was that transition like? Because here you just told us you got homesick in college. And now you're going out by yourself playing professional golf, traveling the world. Well, it was really hard for me because the day I was split to turn pro, I found my dad dead on the floor in our house. So that was just one of those things. My mom was supposed to go

to San Antonio for like this conference and he was supposed to take her to the airport. I was I was leaving on Tuesday night, Boise, I got a sponsor's invite to Boise. And Boise was supposed to be my first event. I read up to you as him. I'm like, all right, cool. And I don't know why I was leaving Tuesday night, but I was. I was just going to play the pro-am. I guess my Ralph Cross at that time was my manager, he said, just go there. You don't want to get too involved. Just go there, play the pro-am, go play. So she went out. She had like a 6.30 flight. They walked out to the car, and he said, did you turn the lights off? And she goes, no. And my last words to my mom was, that's a shocker.

And he walked back in, he walked back in and never walked back out. And the next thing I know I hear my mom screaming, I'm sound asleep. And in between when I went to Arizona and Pepperdine, I went to COC, and I kind of went to the College of the Canyons, the junior college right on my house and was helping out with the high school golf team. So I had to learn CPR. So there I am the day I'm supposed to turn pro giving my father. CPR didn't make it. So I think I kind of used that as like a crutch for a long, long time when I didn't start out in my, you know, start out really well in my career. I mean, I had won, I was on the Walker Cup. I had won Pacific Coast Am. I won Cal Am, Cal Open. Like, I was, I was,

I was playing great. And then I just used my excuse for, you know, my dad just died for probably way too long and instead of just saying this is what he'd want you to do and so that yeah at that point it was, I was just I was mentally toast and so

you know it was just one of those things I miss them every day but you know it's like I was lucky to have them for 23 years but learning how to travel and that's the difference between playing amateur golf and professional golf is your game traveling your game traveling to different golf courses and doing playing different grasses

you know you're I remember my first year with Kirk Triplett when I got my tour card he said well congratulations on getting your tour card and welcome to playing against the greatest players on their home golf courses and I go home no right that's not that's that's that's not like uplifting message that I was looking for that look at rookie orientation but um No, it was just a lot of learning. You know, it's not always about the golf. It's about where I'm going to stay. What am I going to eat?

Where am I going to go? How am I going to hang out with? So there's a lot of parts to playing professional golf. One thing you probably could have done a little better. One thing you could probably have done a little better is not hang out with Pat Perez quite as much he did. Because I heard you actually drove him around one year on the corn fairy tour. That's true. Like we were just a couple guys.

we adopted a dog in Fort Smith. It was strange. I remember he was going to fly around. I had a buddy, a little car dealership who gave me a forerunner. And I'm like, well, once you're ride with me, and the next thing I know, he's just occupying my front seat. That was it.

And we traveled around all summer together. And I mean, you could not imagine how much crap we got in that. car. It was shocking. Or how much crap you heard in that car. Yeah. That too. We talked. Yeah, it was incredible. Gore, who? Like, we forged a friendship that, you know, you just can't do anymore because everybody's flying private and hanging out. And so who were the other guys you ran around with Pat Perez being one of them when you were playing the Corn Ferry Tour at the time? Who were like, who was your run of mates?

James O kind of did the same thing with me one year. Gosh, who else? There was a bunch of them, but Benny Bates. Oh, legend. Lance VZ. Who else? There was a few. I'm drawing a blank on them, but I'm sorry for watching it, I don't remember.

But there was a few that we ran around with that work. Was that time? Mike Perez. Yeah. Mike Perez, too. Oh, Mikey, Pratt. Jeez, dude, that should have been a reality show, dude. Mike and Perez, Pat, those guys.

When you look back on it, I know you weren't on the PJ tour yet, but is that some of the most fun you had playing golf? Because a lot of these tour players we talked to say, like actually the most fun I had was before, you know, if you were talking about golf and hanging with the fellas and all that stuff, that's the most fun. But the money and obviously the lifestyle of the PJ tour is clearly pretty sweet. We didn't know any different.

Like we were, I mean, I signed the contract with Bugle Boy. that. The bugle. The bugle boy. You were the bugle boy. So I had to, this was the greatest contract. I had to wear a new shirt,

new pants, and new hat every day. I never did laundry except for, except for, you know, undergarments. But literally there'd be a box in my locker. And that's,

it was like granite stuff. Like, all right, here's khaki pants with blue shirt. Here's blue pants with white shirt. Like it was the greatest thing ever. Yeah, it was just, you know, I signed a contract and made 75 grand with him, and I thought I was just the king. Like, there was not a worry in the world.

Like, I was playing golf. I was hanging out. You know, I mean, there was one time, like, what year was my first time? I think it was 2000 in my first win. I won on my 17th week in a row. Oh, my God. What was I doing? What else did I have to do?

Oh, my God. Yeah. A lot of things. Yeah. I mean, it wasn't good enough to, like, take a couple weeks off. But, yeah, I played 17 straight weeks. Just had my car and was just gris and I won my 17. What did you do with all the leftover clothes?

You wear them one day and get rid of them. Where do they go? Just leave them. Yeah, just leave them. I mean, at that point, you wash them. They fall apart. You're like, yeah. Yeah, 100% cotton, not breathable, walking around in Arkansas.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I love it. Well, we got to get to 2005. You mentioned you were the king then, but you became the prince of Pinehurst in 2005.

That's where everybody really got to know Jason Gore. That's where I fell in love and thought I found my father was 2005 around Pinehurst number two at the U.S. Open where you just put on a show for three days. Looking back, like, what's the first thing that kind of comes to your memory about that week at Pinehurst? I think it's just how much I learned. you know like it was it was it was one of those things it's like i can look back and say oh dang it i completely screwed up the last round to lose the u.s. well first off i never should have been there where i was at and like it was just one of those things it was it happens every year with the u.s. open and you know that's why the u.s.

open so great you're going to get people like that that are going to come out of nowhere and play great you know so um like you got guido mealy ose that who was like yeah guido we don't know yeah like that like that's what it's all about um but no i just was kind of just playing and i had like i didn't have a pot or a window you know what i mean so i had nothing no money i didn't have enough money to pay for my hotel room that week um and it was just kind of like all right let's just see what happens let's go let's see so we see a lot We see a lot of guys that have like one fluke around that week. But I mean, you're right there.

You're tied for the lead after 36. And then you're in the final group on Sunday. Yeah. What did I have to lose? It was kind of the same thing. Like, listen, it was, we had an eight-month-old with two ear infections. I had a broken foam and I couldn't see, you know, I remember the Sony trios? Remember the phone?

You probably don't even remember. But it was like broke the screen on it. I couldn't accept calls or not. And it was like right when text messages came out, didn't, couldn't get text. Anyway, but yeah, it was great. It was just my, me, my wife, Jackson and I, and that was it. We were just sitting in the hotel room and just going, well, let's just ride this thing. And I mean, for a while, kind of Saturday night, I'm going, wow, this could happen.

I was brimming with confidence. And I wish I didn't. I wish I would have said. I wish I had almost been a little leering. of the whole thing because Saturday when I, I mean, Sunday when it kind of got out to a bad start, I started pressing like, you have to aim for this flag, you have to do this, you have to do that, and just don't do that at Pioneer's. Let me, Pioneer's the U.S. Open. But, you know, so I learned a lot. It came out the next, my next, what, after a couple weeks,

I won my next three on the contrary tour or nationwide tour at that time. I just knew that no matter what I'd ever see again, I'd seen the worst. Like, what's going to happen next time? I mean, the final group will make a championship, well, check, been there. So when I was on a final group of a nationwide event or a cornfairy tour event, like, who cares? This is nothing. This is fun.

Like, they know, I want them to be scared. So that's what I learned. That was kind of what it was. And it was great. Like if I didn't shoot 84 in the last round, who knows what the rest of the summer would have been. If I had finished 25th, you know, just shot 76 or something like that, which would have been totally acceptable. Who knows what would happen? You know, so it was, went down swinging.

That's for sure. That's right. And it worked out. Yeah, it worked out. But if 2021 Jason Gore could go back in time and have a conversation with 2005 Jason Gore before that, final round, what would you say to yourself? Don't eat pizza. That's not going to work. He's not going to listen to that. That's right. I would say just be patient. Like just fairways and greens at that point and just see what happens. You know, it's like you can only control what you think

and how your body reacts and if you had a bad shot, so what? You know, I just don't think I fought very well. I think I got so far into the future. I would have given them the old adage of page and just one of the time. Just enjoy the little battles. Enjoy the little thing. Like, hey, I hit this, I had a great shot. Right in the middle of the green, that's an awesome shot. Good for you.

And just not like constantly keep looking at outcomes. Dang, I need to make Bernie here. And I hit it right in the middle of green and I made part. Dang. When you look back, though, it's like, I mean, can you compare the nerves you had anything else? Because the whole place was rooting for Jason Gore. I mean, the whole country was rooting for Jason Gore because it was such an incredible story.

And you embraced them so well. Like, what were those nerves like Sunday morning? And then when you get to the first T, knowing, I mean, here's Reteef Gousin. And they don't give a damn about him. They're pulling for Jason Gore. Defending champ, too. Defending champ, the worst part was I didn't start until 3.30. Yeah.

I think it got there at 10. You know, I got there at 10, hit a couple of balls, and then went in and had lunch. and went to kick a couple of pots and went in and had a second launch or whatnot. And then, you know, just, I was well fed, put it that way. And then went out and warmed up. And then, you know, you just kind of got the motor run and the motor ran probably for too long. And, you know, I didn't know what to do. The last thing I wanted to do was sit there in a hotel room and think.

I wanted to get out and be involved and do something. But, yeah, there was a lot. There was a lot to that. I think it kind of scared the hell out of me. And to the point of I liked being a good player, but I didn't like what went along with it. So, like, I'm pretty reserved and I'm pretty quiet guy. Being social, like, I'm a social person, but it takes a lot out of it.

Does that make sense? Like, I go out to a PGA tour event now and talk and talking, talking. and, you know, even at work and the first time I ever actually had a real job. And I come home and I'm exhausted. Like, it's just, it's a lot for me to kind of do that. I'm just, I'm totally fine sitting here, you know, playing one of these things and being quiet and doing that. So I think that kind of scared me off a little bit because, I mean, it was, everything was thrown, especially after, after winning on tour and, you know, and I click on the computer and I'm on the top line of

PGATor.com and stuff like that and it was, hey, we need you for this, we need you for that. And finally, I'm just like, dude, I'm out. And I think I probably use that a little bit to my detriment to, because I was kind of scared of success. I made sure of us. Does that give you more of an appreciation for these top guys nowadays, like your Rory's, DJs, Brooks is where every round, every shot, anytime they have a bad round, it's like, what's wrong with this guy and what they go through weekend, week out with the media and stuff like that. Now that you experienced it and you've seen it firsthand and talked about how you didn't like it, do you have kind of a better appreciation for what these top guys have to do and how under a microscope they are

every week? No question. Who's the tennis player that just withdrew from the French was it? Osama. Osaka. Yeah. Like, I get it. I get where she's coming from. And like that's why I'm so protective with players. You know, like, it was with Ron last week, and he just kind of like gave me the look like, all right, I'm done. And I'm like, all right, he's done. We're out of here. We're getting them out of here. Like, this is, we're going to go let him take a trophy and go enjoy this.

So that's why I'm super protective of players when it comes to, to all of this stuff. And like, I get it. It's tough. It's like not everybody can be filled. You know, Phil's sprinkled with it. He loves him. He feeds off and energizes him. A lot of us, a lot of it just wears people down. And, you know, Naomi Osaka, like, I get it. I get where she's coming from. And I think, you know, Bryson kind of likes it. Brooks kind of like, like, they feed off that. And that's what kind of makes them special, I guess.

Yeah, it's no doubt about it. It's not for everyone. But you mentioned, like, you went on that run after the U.S. Open. You won the three corn, very tour events. And then, I mean, it could be the greatest coincidence in PJ tour history. You go on and win a tournament called the 84 lumber. I mean, what are the odds of that? It's incredible. I mean, you can't make that up. No, it's unbelievable. It's the best. It's unbelievable, honestly. It's so weird. Yeah, it's, I don't even know what to say. It was just kind of like ironic. And here's the best part. So I made a commitment to go back to Boise.

Jeff Sanders asked me, hey, well, you come back to Bois? This was before I won. So I went on tour the week before and somehow get the tour to approve me going because basically I'm not a nationwide tour member anymore. And I get, I fly in there and get on the freeway and I get on freeway I-184. It's everywhere. Yeah, it was right there. like so it is just crazy so that just that number pops up a lot it's probably my IQ too but

but yeah it's just it's just weird the random 59s and the random 84s maybe it's just going to that explains the 84 tramp stamp you have yeah that's right I didn't know we were going to talk about that I was going to keep that quiet Jason it's all right sorry dad Well, let's stay on the theme of U.S. Open weekends here because you just got done out at Torrey Pines. There was an odd number of guys to make the cut, and you get to go out there and play 36 holes on the weekend at Tori Pines. Knowing that that's a possibility going in that you could be the marker, had you been practicing at all or doing anything or hitting balls leading up to that, or do you just show up and say, give me the hardest test in golf? I panicked and went and hit balls on Friday night at the golf court at Tori Pines under the lights. And it was so much less traumatic than when Bryce did it.

But I think I played Tuesday the week before with Kay's and my buddy Casey. And we played at like six o'clock and ran around 18 holes at the bridges. And that was it for five weeks. So I had nothing. I'm just, that's not a, Tori Pines on a Saturday in the U.S. Open. It's not a place you want to go into when prepared. No, Cory Pines anytime. Or just ever, yeah.

Yeah. Let's talk about, let's talk about a couple of the guys you played with, because you play with the young kid, Okshay Batia, and then you get the Wilcoe, Neenobber, which, first off, tell us about Saturday, because I read an article you shot, you thought around six over. That's right. And then Sunday, you're playing with the future

of golf and this Wilcoe Nina. Tell everybody about this kid. So we teed off at 6.30 in the morning on Saturday. And if anybody's want, like, there's the Marine layer and stuff like that. And Casey's catting for me. I fired Mike Davis after Saturday. So Casey's chatting for me. And he gets up there.

And of course, he's got the honor. He's actually playing in the event, right? so I'm just placeholder. He takes it up and over the right-hand bunkers on purpose, and it's like three, I'm making a number of, 320 to carry it at 6.30 in the morning and boom gloom. And I looked at Casey and I go, I'm not taking that line, dude. First shot of the day hits at 368.9 for 367.

He had 370, basically, right out of the box. And I'm like, oh, God. And then a couple times, he had one on seven that I just kind of like put my head down and just started laughing. Like it was asthma in how far he hit. And it wasn't like, like, Bryson looks like he's given to the hell of the mess. Yeah. This guy just kind of like, pshu.

Like it's just all of a sudden he took it back and everything got blurry. and it was gone. But it was just, he was, he's got great hands too. Like I was super shocked at how well, like, I've got his honeystroke loaf. He chipped at nice. He got, he had a few, you know, waywards, which is probably why he's going off at 6.30 on a Sunday. But he was super impressive, good kid too.

But you work for the USDA, who we've had this distance debate for a while now. And here comes this 21-year-old kid that's really not. that big. Like you said, it doesn't look like he's trying to kill it or fall over or anything. He's sitting at 370 at Torrey Pines at sea level. Do you come back and tell the rest of the Ushay, guys, we might have a problem here for a few years. I mean, I went to Thomas Beagle and, you're facing, I'm an open book with it comes to this. I'm like, how do you stop it? Do you know, stop it? Like, this guy's just, he's a freak and I think it's going to come, you know, full circle of here. And so that's my question.

is like, all right, how do you stop it? So you're going to stop him from hitting a 370 and roll it back X amount? And now he's going to hit 350? Like, there's people out there that are just better train, more, you know, stronger, faster, bigger and better fit. And it's just, hey, you know, we don't do this to roll that car window down anymore, you know? So times move on. And like, you're just going to start seeing these kids come out.

And they're just, they know more than we do when we came out. So how are you going to stop that? Yeah, so what was the conclusion? Did you guys have any kind of discussion? Like, do you want a change or do you just keep it the same? Like, look, he is seeing off at 630 on Sunday. So clearly this is still a challenge for him. But there's just more and more of these guys coming up.

It's not going to be the handful of guys that do it. And then it's going to be, there's 20 of these guys. And there's going to be more and more. Is there an answer for it? I don't know. I don't either. I'm sure there's going to be more conversations about it. I mean, I'm dead almost really.

We don't know. We don't know how to stop it. I mean, we know there's issues, right? There's resources issues. There's land issues. There's all of these things. And we know, like, if this starts to keep going in that direction, then, you know, it's going to be too expensive to maintain a golf course.

We're going to run out of land. It's going to be X and this over here and this over here. We know there's a problem, but we don't know exactly what, how to solve that. That's why we're still going through the, you know, trying to get advice from manufacturers and so many other outside agencies. And that's the issue. Yeah, it's alien, alien golf. Well, it was phenomenal.

Like, just the sound of me was just, just sounded. Canada was going on this. Well, another issue has been, obviously, the pace of play. And your good friend and caddy, Casey Kirkman, said, you might be the only marker in history

to hold up the group behind it. Oh, Jay Gore. He's like, he was the only guy that was putting out while the other group was waiting. I picked up like eight times. That's your boy,

throwing you under the fun. You know, if he could keep up, we don't want to be all right. No, we, I think on Saturday, Akshay was grinding, and we had some guys standing on their hips. And I just, I literally cleaned the ball like four times. It was just kind of like, I got on the green and got out of his way. I just stood there to make sure that Jimmy Walker and Sewo Kim saw me standing on the side to make sure. I don't think like, dude, what are you doing?

I'm like, hey, I got nothing. Ache's grinding. He's working. And I'm just over here. I'm just a male model over here. A male model. That's it. Just some eye candy.

Just some high candy out there for everybody. Jason, did those 36 holes at Tori make you miss playing and competing more? Or to make you glad that you aren't out there each week trying to beat these guys? Yes. Both? Yes to both. It was cool to be inside the ropes. And then I start thinking like, okay, I played with two guys and they still don't add up to my age.

then actually he still will add up to my age plus eight so and then I play with Lachshay and he's out hitting me and I'm like dude I not almost I completely double

outweigh you yes I had another joke I was gonna go to there I'm like completely double he's like 1-27 and I'm like well I'm 250

and I yeah it's unbelievable I just and I'm like what is Is that my ball and your ball's way up there? Okay, I'm just going to hang out here for three years and see what happens. Yeah, I was going to say.

Yeah, there you go. Because we want to know the answer to that. So do I. Here you are. I mean, are you going to give it a go when you turn 50 or 47? I want to be prepared because, I mean, I still won't play. I'm super happy where I'm at right now and just being so involved with the game. but I still love it.

I'm still loving, like, you know, kind of going out there and competing and not knowing that, knowing I can't compete at that level. That's a joke, but I'm just kind of like in no man's land right now with my age. And like I said, I love doing what I'm doing, but I kind of want to be able to make it a scene. So I'm going to start, I'm going to keep practicing, trying to, you know, get health, the year. I just had back surgery December 1st and feel awesome. So I want to, I want to think, I want to be able to think about it. I just don't want to just give up and just not having any deal. Well, with what you're doing now, I mean, I'll be totally honest. Every player

is so happy you're in the role you are because they can't rave about how much better it's gotten since you've come on board at the USDA and how well you're helping set up these golf courses. Like last week, I don't think there was one person that said a bad word about the setup. which is very, very unusual for a U.S. Open. Yeah, I mean, it was, you had to be very careful with Tori, and we got a great team with John Bowdo, Neh, and Jeff Hall, and many others that are involved. But the scary part is that they know that place so well.

So you can't throw a trick at them because they've seen everything that Tori's got to offer. So you just have to give it the conditions, stay pretty similar to what farmers does, and give them the rough, given the speed, given the firmness. But I wanted to make sure, and I said this to John earlier in the week, John Bromeneer earlier in the week,

and he loved it. I said, I want to make sure that they know they're not at the farmers. Yeah. Yeah. And you know that this is the U.S. open. And like Colts said, like you're getting some really high praise

from the players out there since you took this job. I think Phil Mickelson said last week, Jason Gore is the best asset the USGA has. I really like him and he does such a great job. job. How do you feel when you hear comments like that from someone like Phil and also how much did you have to pay him to say that? A lot. It makes me feel really good. I don't know why you said that. I was very honored. But, you know, it's a team thing. Like I'm just, I'm just adding an element to an already great team. And I just, listen, they know what they're doing. They

completely know what they're doing. I just see it differently. Now, I just, they do. I truly believe they do. I just think sometimes they try to push it a little bit too much when it really doesn't need it. We're not we don't care about part anymore. We want we want the best player to win and if it's 13 under like it was at pebble beach with Gary then so be it like you know like that place and we'd have gotten wind and we'd have gotten you know some funky weather like that can happen if the golf course would have been fine that's what happened at Chinatococ was The golf course was fine. It was on the edge and then the wind blew and now it's not fine.

And then you get in trouble, right? So you've got to be prepared. Like if, if Torrey Pines, you know, the overcast blows out, you get a win that switches the other way. Is the golf course going to be okay? Well, yeah, it's been okay the last three years, no matter what happens. But I think that's the difference. You can't stop these guys from these players from,

getting a great shot, unless you do something necessary. Why would you want to? I want them, if they're going to try to hit a great shot and they execute, then they're going to have a punch of dirty. If they don't, they're going to be busy. Like, I want them to, I want them to, like, have to pay the consequences, which I think Tori Pines was so good, especially when I played Saturday. I'm like, God, I want to go for that whole location.

I know I can't. You know, like, tempt me to do something dumb that I don't need to. Well, just please never set it up again so Gary Woodland could win. That'd be great. You've done a great job except for that year. We've been getting some great champions. And one year, that's the throwaway year. But you can't win them all. Yeah. Well, it's live, but never again. I was still learning. Yeah, exactly. Should we get to some E9 sleeves?

Yes, Jason. Let's do a little E9. These are just nine fun questions here. We ask everybody. Some are about golf. Some are. We just have a little fun here. So you want to start off, BG? Sure. All right. Yes this to everybody. If you could switch lives with anyone for a day, dead or alive, who would it be? Who would you want to be for a day? Eddie Van Heelan. I figured with the background and all this, I thought there'd be something along the line.

Or someone on a rocker that's just maybe like Mickey Six or something like that. Something that's just really great. You would shred, get you some makeup and a wig and let you get out there, maybe like a vast shirtless underneath. I mean, you would, that would be it. Chaps. Yeah. Chaps for sure. Chaps for sure.

All right. All right. Eddie Van Halen, that's a good one. I figured it might be a musician. Okay, number two. Your PGA profile says you are a mixed martial arts enthusiast. All right. If you got into the octagon,

which PGA tour player do you think would give you the toughest fight? This is interesting because I was racking my brain. I don't know if I mess with coke rack. That's a popular. He was in the discussion. Yes. Yeah, I don't know if I mess with Coke rack and I don't know if I mess with Brooks.

I don't know. I think you just, Matt, you get it on the ground. I don't think Brooks could, I think he'd be helpless down there. You get that thing on the ground. Start grappling, you know? You're a ground-a-pound guy. Coke rack would. I don't know.

Like, you just shake his hand. He's like, well, phenout, too. Like, you shake their hand or a hand just like it gulfs your whole, like, this. It's, yeah, Coke, he'd make me nervous. Country strong. Country strong.

He just looked at him and you kind of walk up to me. Dang, dude, you're a lot bigger than you look. Yeah, yeah. He didn't need the gym. All right. Staying on the line. Most of these fighters have fantastic big names. You know, I've got John Bones Jones,

the notorious Connor McGregor, Dustin the Diamond, Porrier. What would Jason Gores? Ooh. Big name be. A ton of fun. What is it, ton of fun? Jason, ton of fun, gore.

That's actually, actually really fitting. We define that loosely, but yeah, a ton of fun. Now fighting out of the blue corner, Jason, ton of fun, gore. It's not really intimidating. T.O.F.

I like it. That's great. A ton of fun. Shit, that's good. Yeah, you thought about that. All right. I got business cards made. Yeah, you already have that.

I know. you got a shirt or a robe back there somewhere with it. Great Mark. Yeah. All right. Stay on the next question. All right. Who has more khaki pants in their closet? Jim Harbaugh or Mike Davis?

What material. It doesn't matter. Cotton or? 100% cotton. You little boy. Because we know you USDA guys like the khakis and the white button down. Yeah, we like dark gray too. I'm going to have to go with Harbaugh.

I think I'm going to have to go with Harbaugh. Okay. If you went with pleated pants, that would be a tough one. I think we might have to investigate this one day and really figure it out. Yeah, I think Mike Davis might have taken over that bugle boy endorsement once they let you go. Don't get me wrong. He loves the cackeys, but it's, they got a lot of dark gray too, a lot of Navy, too. Yeah, you got to hide the sweat.

You got to hide that sweat. Amen. Yeah. You ain't no rookie. All right, Jay Gore. As a fellow PGA Tour caddy myself, I respect the job that Mike Davis did on your bag this past weekend at Tori. But if you had to give some constructive criticism to your boss on what he could work on as a caddy, what would it be? Raking.

That's a tricky one, dude. It's a tricky one. I heard there was some complaints from Jordan Speeth and Michael Greller. Yeah, I heard that. Did they really? Was there some complaints? I heard that. Well, I was just playing.

It was just all over the place. and get to the fourth hole and I hit in the right bunker. I just kind of wedge it out, get it up there, and there was a missing putter cover. We found it. And I saw him rake it,

and then I go up there and I wedge it and just move on with the day, right? So the guy in the scoring, Rob Occupus and scoring from the USDA, he goes, Jordan wants to talk to you. Yeah. Something about a book.

bunker rake. And I'm like, yeah, whatever. I watched every one of them. Mike did fun. He goes, no, no, I thought he was kidding. And then he goes, no, no, I think he's serious. So I call Greller and I go, talk to me. And he goes, dude, did you guys have the bunker on four? And I'm like, well, and of course I'm trying to, you know, see why CMA, right? And I go, well, yeah, but I mean, which part did you hit it in? And he goes, well, we were in the front right corner. I'm like, wow, that's right we're always. And then he goes, yeah, Mike Davis didn't rate the spot in the bunker.

And I go, the divot. No, he didn't rate the, like the ball rolling down. And I said, were you guys in the divot? He goes, no. And I'm like, then what are you worried about? Yeah, relax. That is fantastic. And then, of course, the marshal there, you know, bless his heart, goes,

Mike Grella goes, what is this? They goes, oh, Jason Gorkin did hear. Mike Davis didn't rake it. Ha, ha, ha. And I'm like, oh, no. But luckily, Michael saved us. And Greller saved us and raped it. No harm, no foul.

that it was just that could have been bad see colt that's why i took so much time at cloning i was terrified that was the one thing i was like i if i do if i mess up every single other thing i'm going to overraked the shit out of these things i don't want to be the guy that blew somebody's no you looked up and saw the tv camera on you and you're like hmm how wonder how long i can stay on here i didn't think dub was playing well enough to be on tv honestly all right You're ranking well enough. Yeah.

Yeah. All right. Next one. You're the player relations director for the USGA. What is the most ridiculous complaint or request you have heard from a player since your time being at the USDA? Tuesday practice room. Bad whole locations. Wow.

You never have to think about it. That's nice. No, because I set the flag. I set the whole locations on purpose this year to get a couple that's come in and yell. Okay, you're still afraid of name drop. Yeah. I called them gambling pigs. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, I agree. I hate when they're on the side of a hill because, obviously, I'm gambling. They weren't on the side of the hill, but there was a poor lot. They were just kind of right on the flat of. Do you want to let us know who complained? Maybe some initials or like a nickname, we could guess. I'm going to do it.

Age. You know. Maybe college, what college they went to. That's why you're the best. That's why you're a true pro. I don't kiss it, especially when the Seagull does it. Oh, well, here we go.

Funny you should say that. Any truth to the rumor that the streaker that jumped onto the 13th fairway to work on his short game on Sunday was actually Charlie Hoffman? Some things going around. His golf swing is way too long and way too good. Good point. Yeah.

Good point. What did happen to that guy? Because if we saw him, someone formed tackled him, Nice. Whoever did that out of the cart was nice. But what happened that, dude? Yeah, it was the sergeant. I talked to him.

And I'm like, why didn't you just hit him with the card? He goes, too much paperwork. Like, oh, there you go. Hard thinking. California. He's just, he goes, I gave him a forearm shiver and down he went. Yeah. I don't know.

I don't understand that. That was a nice, nice tackle. It was. I hope it was a nice check he got from whoever bet of me wouldn't do that. I guess he was a social media influencer, something like that. This is, yeah. Social media ruining the world. Shocking, shocking.

Yeah, okay. All right. Next question. You're 47 years old. You've been beat up, been battered. I've had some tough injuries on the golf course. What's been the worst? On the back.

We're back? Interesting. God, I wouldn't have guessed that. What do you think? What do you think? There was a time at Sherwood Country Club, maybe. Oh, when you ran over my foot, broke my toe. Oh, God.

Oh, see, now the Truus started to come out sleaze. He told me for years that I broke his foot. Now it's a toe. It's a toe. It's a toe. It's got a blister. My big toe still goes like sideways. God, you would have thought I amputated his leg.

I mean, good. He did run his foot over with a car. For the record, he was in the past. passenger seat, he got out, and when you go to get a club out, do you ever put your foot underneath the tire? I typically don't. You're standing there? Well, I can honestly say, that's the only time I ever think I've legitimately hurt somebody

on the golf course. What year was that? Oh, guys, 10 years ago, probably. At least. Yeah, right. Gore was playing his greatest golf, and then he broke his foot. and just freaking go on the IR for a while. Jesus, unbelievable.

That's what happens when you get drunk behind that golf cart. It's still dangerous. I think we were drinking. That's the same thing. That's what happens when you're not drunk, dude. Then you don't drive as good. All right, good to see you bounce back from that, though, Jay Gore. All right, here we go.

Next one, best performance of your life. You're 59 at the Cox Classic in Omaha or your bar room karaoke performance in Fort Smith, Arkansas. I heard this from numerous people, by the way. Fort Smith. Yeah. Do you want to tell us what you did? I didn't know. I had some pretty good performances at the piano board.

I used to. You're a performer. That's what you do. What's your... What happened in Fort Smith, though? You remember the song? Well, I mean, I only had, like, two that I sang. What were they?

Don't let the sun go down on me. What else? Well, confirm or deny. I was told it was sweet Caroline. No, I didn't I. Oh, well, my sources are shit. They honestly, they don't have many brain cells left. It could have been, gosh,

well, don't you just grab a guitar behind you and give us all the time. What are you got? The thing is, is I hate singing. Hate it. He hates singing. He hates playing good golf because he's got to talk to. It's going to be hard for you to be a performer. It's not like being a fun, I guess.

I don't know why that. Hates a war. They're a terrible rock star. Yeah, you're the opposite. of a rock star. I know. One day you could do it. But no,

shooting for the night was pretty fun. Going out and having, I missed those days of like hanging with the fellas. You know, I wouldn't, I don't want to go back at all,

but those are good days. And they're like, you know, those would like this, I always say like, how long are we known each other? Like, oh, 20 years.

I'm like, man, we had it all figured out back then. Just getting blasted at karaoke bars. Yeah. letting it all hang out. For the record, John Mallinger told me it was Sweet Caroline, so now you can understand why there's some facts that are listening. Why we don't listen to John Mallon.

Yeah, well, he's like a 50% guy. Like a 50% guy. Well, Jay Gore, I loved every minute of this. You're doing an incredible job at the USDA, and thank you so much for joining us. Oh, thank you for having me. I love your show. So it's an honor. We appreciate to Jay Gore.

Love it. Thanks, my man. You're going to tell us. All right. that was Jason Gore joining us on golf subpar. I mean, he's one of my favorites, a guy that I've always looked up to, basically because one day I think someone said we kind of look alike. Dad-da. Yeah, da-da.

But, I mean, listen, he figured out a way to get out of his workouts at Pepper Time. Did that at SMU. Props. I mean, we have so much in common. I love the way he swings the golf club. You know, I don't know if you know this, but when I qualified for the buyer Nelson in college, I got to meet him. And he was super nice, gave me his phone number, sent me one of his Gorilla head covers.

And I actually used it the entire. summer in 2007 when I won the AM and the Publinks and everything. The year. That was my, I used another man's head cover. And then once I turned pro, I was like, God, I got to take this thing off. You can't be having it if you're playing against the dude. It's okay when you're still an AM. But looking up. He did send me one last year, a little hybrid. I know it. Oh, it's, I know it. And his name might be Gary. Yeah. But he is still on the bag, but Jason Gore, one of my favorites. He's the nicest dude out there. Like, I mean, we talked to him. We really found out about him in 2005 with the US Open at Pinehurst when he made

that unbelievable run. And dude, he had a hell of a career. Yeah, he had a big time career. And people forget about it. Now he's the USDA guy. Like huge props coming his way from all the players in terms of what he's done for the USGA. I mean, Phil Mickelson even came out.

We talked to him about it, like said, Jason Gore is the best asset the USAGA has. And that's from a guy who has had his issues with the USDA setups in the past, but I think it was perfect for them to bring on Jay Gore. He's the perfect liaison for all that. But I fully expect him to make another run at the Champions Tour when he gets out there in terms of he's too good not to. Like if the body can hold up and the injuries and all that, like, why wouldn't he? So I think he's kind of in that flux period right now that a lot of guys have, you know, leading up to 50.

And when he gets back, I would love to see him out there because he's still good. Yeah, I mean, he swings it incredible, but he's done it all. I mean, he's one on the Corn Ferry Tour. He's one on the PGA Tour. He's been a male model for Bugle Boy. Right. 100% cotton. The last dude, he played in that 2005 U.S. Open in, like, cotton, 100% cotton.

Put these dudes out there now at these tournaments and give him 100% cotton. Let's see how they do. That shit is like anti-breatheable. It just soaks up more. shirt. The clothing technology doesn't get enough credit. Oh. I mean, it's come so far. It is unbelievable. I remember we wore a company at SMU. It was called Fiedra. And it was basically a short-sleeved sweatshirt. It was the most disgusting thing. Ours were like beach towels. I was like, I could dry off with this shirt. And it was the worst. We had the pleaded shorts and I was

halfway up my knees. And I was like, I look like an asshole. How am I supposed to play golf out here? No visors. It was the worst. Shit, when Tiger won the 2000 US Open, he had sleeves halfway down a shirt. I was like, make, I mean, he was still hitting bombs. So I love it. I don't know. It's come a long way. Shout out Jay Gore for getting it done in Bucle Boy. Awesome. I love sitting down with Jay Gore. He was awesome. All right, Slease. We did not have a very good week in the betting game. The John Deer Classic was not very kind to us. I mean, I took Brian Harmon, who's basically just printed money every single week this year, averaging probably about 150 grand a week. Yep. Missed cut. Actually didn't even sniff making the cut.

I think he missed by like four. Cooled him right off. And you got your man Sung Jay. I've been waiting on, just figured I had to pick him. I didn't knock this course for any reason. I was like, I can't bench Sung Jay for the entire year. He cruised up with what, Mark, a little smooth 17,000, pick himself up a Honda Civic. Yeah, a little T-47, $17,33939, which grows your lead to $891,058. You can't rest on that. We still got some big boys coming up, namely this week, but I knew I'd get a top 50 out of Sung Jai. Almost auto top 50.

You used him very well. Yeah, got my money's worth. All right, but we are on to the Open Championship, the final major of the year. Obviously a huge purse. A lot of stuff can happen. I know you're hoping for some chaos over there with the weather. This is one of my favorites because this is great. On the weekend, I mean, I can be down at Bevy in Old Town and I watch it.

Then I come home. I fall asleep. I wake up and it's still on. Wake up, hungover. Boom. I'm back in the game. It is the best. It's awesome.

I do hope. I want it here more than anywhere because those golf courses need it. If they would get over there and it's calm and you catch one of those waves or something, it's like that's not how it's supposed to be played. and that's when you can see some weird stuff happen. The only thing I don't want is one wave to get the shit draw, one wave to get the good one. Then it just chops the field and half base.

Like when Louis won that happened, like nobody was making it from the other wave. I played one open championship. You got shit brother. I were one. Of course, probably has changed your career. I get it.

I never had a good wave in any jick of all time. So I don't want that to happen. I just want it to be consistently nasty for the entire week. It is such a cool event. I only played one. It was at Royal Trune. But the walk-up 18 with the stands and everything, it is so in the big yellow scoreboard.

It's so cool. But, I mean, you know, everyone tees off number one, so the bad wave can't happen. But I was the next to last group on Thursday. I teed off at 4.05 p.m. Nice. Just getting ready for happy hour. I'm like, what in the hell am I supposed to do all day? I didn't finish.

I walked off the golf course at 9 o'clock. You got to try to go to bed at 4 a.m. Just stay up, drink a couple bulls, bang through a few seasons or something, and just try to wake up at one. That's too long to sit around and wait and think, especially if you're first open championship. You're already hyped up. You want to get in the arena and get going. I'll never forget.

I got up. had breakfast, watched some of the coverage, took a nap, got up, had lunch. Took another nap. Went and hit balls, wouldn't have some more food, wouldn't hit balls. Second lunch, nap, and then go. Get me out of here. That's a disaster. I love the Lynx Golf.

I freaking love Lynx golf. This is pure links over here. We don't really have anything that's pure links in the States. Love this stuff. Creativity thrives. All right, well, let's get to it. You have the honor. All right, I'm going to go with a man here.

I got to get him off the roster. I mean, I got some big dogs left here, but I'm going Brooks Kepke. I believe he's going off at 12. one. I didn't really realize this. It's kind of sneaky, but three top tens in his last four open championships, two top fives in his last two, just major championships after the, you know, the knee situation. Every major championship. Exactly. Major specialist. If I don't take Brooks Kepka in a major this year, I'm going to feel like an asshole. I could have had him in one of the last two top fives. Would have been nice. But I'm using him this week. I got Brooks Kepka.

Got to empty the chamber, like I said. So go with the, go with the specialist. I was leaning towards him. I actually haven't used to me. I've just butcher this whole contest. It's absolutely embarrassing. That's what we do. Ever since I, ever since I, went against Justin Thomas at the players when he talked to me out of picking him. It's just been a absolute disaster for me. So here we go. I'm going to go with Justin Thomas. There you go.

Just finished eighth over at the Scottish Open. So played really well. I think he's learning how to play over there. It doesn't have the greatest open championship record, but I know you and I both love the way he flights the ball, you know, changes speeds. And I think it's just perfect for over there. If he can just get the putter going, it's been a problem. But I think he's like the fourth or fifth betting favorite.

So here we go. Justin Thomas, if you play like shit, I'm sorry. And he's just coming off a top three wood last week. So that means he's this close to get into top three woods are no problem. I look at those as a uptrend. Like, dude, you're close. You're a millimeter from flushing it. But yeah, dude, I mean, pick Justin Thomas after 10 missed cuts in a row. I'd be like, yeah, it's going to happen at some point.

So, all right, Brooks and JT. We're emptying the clip. All right, here we go. Everybody enjoy the Open Championship. And we'll talk to you on next week's golf subpar.