Subpar - John Maginnes Interview: Playing with a young Tiger Woods, losing track of time in Vegas

Episode Date: January 18, 2022

On this week's episode of GOLF's Subpar, former PGA Tour player John Maginnes joins former PGA Tour pro Colt Knost and jicky jack legend Drew Stoltz for an exclusive, in-studio, interview. The host of "Katrek and Maginnes on Tap" talks playing with Tiger Woods during Tiger's third event, how that relationship helped his broadcasting career, and losing track of time in Vegas before an early round.

All right, hello world. Welcome back to golf subpar. Colt-nosed Drew Stolt. What a week in golf it was. Slees, we pride ourselves on our fan dual picks. We've been on a heater in golf lately. And my God, I thought we had another one with Russell Henley. But the master's champ, Padeki Matsuyama, swooped in and beat him in a playoff.

I apologized to everyone out there. I thought we had another one. I'm a big fan of live betting. As you know, I like to feel the game out. I like to get a taste for the mo and how things are going. Thank God. I did not live bet at the turn yesterday because I've been willing to wager a substantial amount

that Henley was going to bring that thing home. The way he closed the front nine, Bertie, Bertie Eagle goes five up. And at that point, it's kind of like, just don't shoot yourself in the foot and everything will be fine, barring Hadeki going crazy on the back night. Well, he did a little bit of that.

And I thought, looking back on it, at the end of the day, the only bad shot I can really look to that Hennley hit was on 11, and the two-stroke swing on 11, where he makes bogey, Hedki makes birdie, especially the wedgey that hit on 10 where he laid up off the tee, hit a very conservative wedge.

And it's fine, dude. You got a five-shot lead. That's what you're going to do. The next hole, I expected it to be 30 feet right, right, right, for anywhere but left of the hole I thought it was going. And that was where it all of a sudden went from five to two really quick. I disagree with you about the conservative shot on 10 just because of how he was rolling throughout the day.

He was hitting unbelievable iron shots. He was so dialed. If you look at those last four holes of the front nine, he had it to two feet, three feet, eight feet, three feet for Eagle. Stony. It was like he was just on. cruise control and there's another chance right there you're five up with nine to play Hideki drives it down in front of the green let's keep the pedal on let's get this thing to six

with eight to play and this thing is night night and he went a little conservative and you could see once he made the bogey on 11 when he hit it in the one spot he couldn't hit it I was really surprised by that I agree with you you could see the wheel started turning a little bit things were starting to be like oh boy this could actually have it went for five to two in a blink of an eye and then it was game on and man you're right he didn't hit too many bad shots coming in he missed in the proper spot. He hit the bad T shot on 14. Wasn't able to hit the green, but made par.

Same thing on 13. But, you know, Hadecki makes it from outside of him on 15, which was a huge, got him within one there. And then Russell Henley hits, they both on 16 hit beautiful putts. They both probably thought they made. Both good puts. Yeah. Yeah.

And then 18. I mean, Hadecki hits the smash T shot, hits in the middle of green, two put birdie. And I mean, Russell Henley, he thought he made that one for the win. I mean, 10 feet straight up pill just needed an ounce. of more speed and it goes in. Tough break and then, listen, Russell Henley just struggles with that T-shot.

He made, he played it five times. He made one eagle and all the rest par. I mean, I guess you can give him six in the playoff, which it didn't matter after. Yeah, he was trying to hold the wedge. Yeah, after Hadecki hit the shot of the year to this point, the three wood from 277. But just something about that T-shot didn't set up well for Russell Henley.

It doesn't like to really draw it. But at the end, Hadeki Matsiyama, shoot 63-63 on the weekend. Yeah, it looks worse because you look, I mean, Russell Henley shoot 65 on Sunday with a two-shot lead, and you don't win the golf tournament. It's like not a choke at all, you know, but if he had not shot 29 on the front nine,

we're singing a totally different song here today. But after that 11th hole, I thought he more or less did what he, you know, he's going to play more conservative. He's got a big lead going into that back nine, but he hit shots at the fat side of the green, gave himself a lot of like 20, 20, not the looks he was getting on the front nine, clearly, but makeable puts,

rolled made some good puts up there. There's not one swing other than 11, you can look back and be like, that was bad. It was just a gradual. like oozing and Hadecki's playing, you know, he's chasing, he's going to play aggressive, he's going to put the pedal down. Haley's trying to hold on and take the thing home. It's just, it's crazy what, you know, the change in mentality because like I'm 10, like you

said, that wedge would he have 120? I mean, he's been stoning those all week. He plays conservative. You never would see that on a Thursday, but it's hard for me to blame if he would have aimed right at that flag and missed it right. Short side of him made a bogey or something. We'd be like, what are you doing, dude? Buy that thing 25 feet left to the hole and you got a five shot lead.

So it's one of those things. It's hard to close. On the BJ tour, especially when he got Hedecke coming down the stretch. And that three wood in the playoff, I mean, just disgusting. Beautiful three words. Disgusting three wood. That was special. But hey, that's his eighth PGA tour win.

Ties KJ. Choi for most by an Asian-born player. Listen, this guy, he's going to rewrite all the record books for Asian-born players on the PGA tour. He's just an absolute tear. I mean, if you look, he was number one in putting. Yeah. Heading into the week. He was 205 for the season. I don't know many guys there are, but there's not many below 205.

And he turns it around, figured something out, had a terrible putting week at Capilua. comes out best in the field putting last week. Three wins in his last 17 events and he's 205 in putting. He doesn't put well all the time but when he does put good he puts really good and when he does that he wins

because he hits so many good shot. I mean there was more one-handed follow-throughs his like standard Hadeki that you think you're expecting like oh it's in the bunker oh it's over the green when it lands 12 feet from the whole pin high. Just like his ball striking

is on a different level so when he puts it he's a beast he's a force to be reckoned with but the Georgia Bulldogs showed up this week we were talking about you know coming off the big Natty do you short them because they're all happy and they're, you know, party and having a good time, or do they all have a week? 10 of them made the weekend.

10 for 10 for 10. The fact that there's 10 them on tours of the job. Yeah, and then all 10 of them in the same field make the cut. Kevin Kisner, a little tie for third. Been playing great since he came on subpar. Guys, it's, listen. It's very, very simple. You want to turn your shit around.

You come on golf subpar. Park it right here. His quote about the Ryder Cup, not getting picked in the politics thing. That kind of took off a bit. There was a little golf channel. Brandl talked about it. They talked about it on the show there. So that made a little pub.

He used that and now he's a lot richer than he was when he flew down to Hawaii. Yeah, he played great. Made over $700,000 in two weeks. Good, shabby. Good session. Send us our 10% kids. We'll be waiting on it. That's the standard going rate.

It is. But the Sony wasn't the only golf this week. I took a little trip up to Shadow Creek. You know, a different week, but same story. I own Monty Montgomery, Sleece. How's the back? How's his injury? Which one?

His back, his shouldery. I don't know what it is. He couldn't play the twin fin again, you know, because his back, nagging back problems. like that you got to see taylor in action too taylor he uh he got me a little but just barely if you net out the montgomery family i came out well ahead okay so taylor beat you by a good margin and you just saw you by just a little bit but he did shoot a little 30 on the front night at shadow creek taylor did he's good and then he follows it up with 84 down the first round in there in

the bahamas saw that give those guys a pass a lot of the time at the bahamas because it blows 75 miles per hour it's just a it's a complete shit show down there a lot of the time 84 though i would expect a little bit better from tm it'll be all right though I'm not worried about the end. Like I said, I still own Montrell Montgomery. And I'm going to give a lot of that success to my new Callaway driver, Sleece. Of course. The Calloway Rogue ST.

This new driver is the company's fastest, most stable driver ever with industry-leading innovations that create a breakthrough and performance. Dude, I was hitting this thing in places at Shadow Creek. I've never seen before. Moni was like, God damn, you're hitting it far. I'm like, dude, it's the new Callaway Rogue ST. ST, bro. You got to get it. All new tungsten speed cartridges play specific weight up to 26 grams, low and deep in the head for increased speed, stability.

and high MOI. They are the leader in artificial intelligence. They have lowered spin and increased forgiveness in their face optimization formula. Rogue was the most played driver at the Century Tournament of Champions this year. To find out more, be sure to visit Callawaygolf.com slash rogue drivers. There's four different models, please. We've got to figure out which one we're going to put you in. I need toe forgiveness that also hits bombs.

Well, I believe that's the Rogue ST Max, because it's Calloway's best combination of distance and forgiveness fits the majority of players. Sounds like you. I'm in the majority. They got the Rogue ST Max D, dedicated draw model for players who need the most shot-shaped correction. Then there's the Rogue ST Max L.S, stronger trajectory, lower spin, and more neutral ball flight. Maybe that was you and your prime. Yeah, that was 2014 Slees.

That's me. And for me, I go with the Rogue ST Triple Diamond LS, a compact low spin head for better players. I'm saying you're a great player. Moni, you can't handle that one. Triple Diamond LS and you're using artificial intelligence. I mean, if you ain't using this stuff, you're in the Stone Ages. So once again, go to CallawayGolf.com slash rogue drivers.

Another man who could probably use a little more distance. Our guest this week, the great John McGuinness. We need the illegal super titanium Vaseline on the face. ST super triple max. My guy John McGinnis. What a dude, though. I mean, there's a fun one. We work with them on PJ Tour Radio.

If you know him, you love him. If you don't know him, you're about to love him. He's a bit teddy bear. He's like Santa Claus when he shows up, dude. It just makes everyone just gets happy to see him. He walks in a room, everyone gets happier, they smile. You want to sit next to him, hear the stories, hear all the bullshit. He's one of the best.

He's got a great laugh, a very gargly voice. He's had some, there's some miles on McGinnon. And they aren't highway miles. These are off-road X-Games miles. So he's one of the most beautiful things about this man is he comes in, he's so on brand, right? So he loves red wine. So I bring a bottle of wine from home. Well, I forgot an opener.

No problem for Mr. McGinnis. What does he do? Takes one of our subpart divot tools. opens her right on up. Got a little bit on his shirt, so we got him a fresh hoodie, but the man can do it all. He went with the vet move,

the McGiver move. You don't have a bottle of brink. He pushed the cork down into the bottle, which a lot of purists out there would say that maybe not the way to do it. McGinnis doesn't care. He was ready to bite off the top of the bottle to get to that wine.

There was no way that wine wouldn't be being drunk while he was on property. He was going to do anything to get to that. Well, let's don't spoil it. We got to get to it. This is going to be up there with some of our favorite episodes, I believe.

Here he is. John McGinnis on Golf Subpar. Suffice it to say, I think we have one of the most well-liked individuals in the game of golf with us here today. Five-year tour pro before finding his calling, I would say, as a PJ Tour radio host and golf broadcaster, the great John McGinnis in the house. Let's get amongst it. Yeah. You got it. What a natural.

I'm ready. I'm ready. I mean, I'm mad that you guys thought of that, and I didn't, but let's get amongst it. You're about the brand though You might have been You are You're amongst it before anybody else was a month As we saw from the way you opened this wine bottle

For the audio listeners The cork is floating Because we didn't have a wine opener I mean you're a new genius You guys are at least halfway home In the hospitality area To be fair You're right

I'm just gonna leave it at that Yeah You're right we are You got a new sweatshirt out of the deal I got a new sweatshirt out of the deal For those I mean and it's perfect Yes

I believe that My partner on the radio is going to be really jealous that I got the sweatshirt. We could probably get him more. When he comes on, he'll get some swag. Yeah.

And he'll tighten this ship up too. I mean, he is a radio broadcast professional. We need one on this show. We got no captain. You know, it's just like y'all said, rudderless ship. Nobody's steering. That's okay, though. Yeah, it's all right. We like to break these interviews down, though, in certain

sections. And we normally do, like, the short stuff first. We're going to talk about your golf. Okay. I just want to throw that out there. Let you know. Look, I can sum it up this way. At the Players' Championship this past year, on Wednesday morning, I went and played Pablo Creek. Who is at Pablo Creek every morning but former commissioner of the PGA tour, Tim Fincham?

And I said hello to Tim because I did play the tour long enough for him to pretend to remember me. And I thanked him for the retirement program and explained to him that I am quite possibly the worst player fully vested in the PGA towards retirement program and he said well John nobody else is laying claim to that

yeah so there you go I have the worst player in their retirement program at least he didn't say who the shit are you right exactly I could have been worse I got friends that you'd say that too

I will say though I was going over some of your stuff the other night and you have possibly one of my greatest my favorite quotes I've ever heard because I can relate to it

and I want you to explain to the listeners at home you said, quote, throughout my career, I knew that if I just got a little better or a little worse, that my life would have a better chance of making sense. Right. And I love that because I know exactly what you're talking about. I mean, living in

that area, you know, at 125 on the money list, that's just a nerve-wracking place to be. And I did. I got worse, fortunately. Actually, I'm not so sure I got worse. It's just that everybody around me got better. The level of play on the tour from 2000 to 2010 was, I think, the technological explosion,

but also just the sheer golf explosion. You know, Tiger had been around long enough at that point that people started working out. The athletes got better. The balls got better. The drivers got better. Everybody got better. Somehow I missed the boat.

You hung in there? I just hung around. But, yeah, I feel like when I was able, and look, golfers are the worst. at retiring. Congratulations to you. You were very good at it. You stepped away from the game and you stayed away. And I did the same thing. Most of us, you know, feel that calling. I've got to go back. You know, I can play again. I believe you have corn fairy tour status. I did. I'm immediately thinking about calling them and being like, there's no chance I'm playing.

We're going to dial that back up. We're my horse ready to run, dude. I'm going to feed him. Some apples. I felt like a big weight was lifted off my shoulders when I stopped playing. Yeah, I agree with you. That's why it's a great quote. And I've never heard anybody say it that way. It's always like, oh, if I could have just had this or that go my way. And it's like, no, if I could have actually got a little shittier. Yeah. You can always justify continuing.

You can always justify continuing. And it's like, I'm 99 stories of a 100-story building. I'm right there. I just need to go up one more. But at the same time, you're not getting there. But if I start over and stop playing, I start at floor zero somewhere else. That's scary. I was really good at the second stage of Q school.

I found a place that I was going to get through every time. if they went back to the Ombre in Panama City, Florida, reopened it because it's closed now. I mean, the golf course was as wide as this room. You had to walk single file on every hole, and I hit it really short and straight. I was going to get through there every time. I've heard horror stories about that place.

The guy's talking about how narrow that place is. I think you should share one of those horror stories because Q School is a great topic with you. I mean, you did go 12 times. Right. You made it through those. But tell the Ombre story that you shared with me earlier, because this is great.

Dude, so at the, The second stage, it's past fail. You either get to the finals. And at the time, if you got to the finals, you won, you had a chance to finish the top 25 and get your PGA tour card. Or actually, it was probably 40 back then. But you were also guaranteed a place to play. You were in the system.

You were on what's now the Corn Ferry Tour. So I was first out of the back nine right in the middle of the pack playing the final round. And I was one under and I shot one under. And so I finished it two under. knew three was probably going to be the number. So I'm upstairs with John Morris, who won the Sony Open a couple of years before that. And I'm drinking beer. You know, it's noon.

And my golf career has just, my career has just ended. It's noon. It's noon. My caddy, Barry Williams, who later went on to win with Boo Weekly and John Rollins and, you know, really improved his status when I stopped playing. he came up the stairs he said you're not going to believe this a guy in the second of the last group just made a nine on the last hole he was seven under he went from seven under to two under and let all the two unders in i go to the finals of q school finished fifth and get my card and that was also your fifth year on the pGA tour which qualifies you for the retire who was the guy you remember his name oh my god you omah thank you or a bottle of one or something he's teaching old ladies how to he's teaching old ladies how to he's hit a hook somewhere now. But God bless them.

God bless them for it. For the people at home, like, I mean, the Q school stories are just incredible. I mean, for the guys that have gone through it like we all have. I mean, it's just a brutal week, especially final stage. And I mean, I know you've had, you claimed sleepless nights about it. I had a caddy,

and I won't mention any names, Barry. That year we got our card. The next year, I'm back at Q school again. I was exempt of the finals. And I'm playing, I'm playing much better this I mean, I'm in the top 10 all week. And we get finished and you might sense a problem here with my game. We're drinking a beer afterward.

And he says, you know that shortcut on 13? I said, yeah, where we go back to the tea and you guys cut through the woods up to the landing area? He said, yeah, my stomach couldn't take the pressure today. He said, I lost my lunch on that. I'm like, we had six holes left. I thought it was 10 shots inside the number. He said, yeah, he said, that's what Kews cool is. Yeah, yeah.

You never, dude just made a nine over at the Ombre. Right, exactly. This shit ain't in the books. It happened every year, second say some guy would be in second place. Yeah. Nine shots clearer the number. He'd come in 80.

Yeah. Miss by one or make it on the number or something. It just happens every time. Are you a guy that wishes they would bring that direct path to the PGA tour back? I think so. I think, you know, not a lot of numbers. Five cards. I'd be okay with 10 cards.

I think the players who get to the PGA tour through the Corn Ferry. tour process right now are better players. But, you know, we got great stories. We got Boo Weekly at a Q school. We got great stories at a Q school. And, you know, there's nothing wrong with keeping that dream alive. We can still do all the other things we're doing. The difficulty here is if we do bring back players at Q school, you know, say you gave five cards, well, those guys are eight tournaments behind because they're not going to get to play in the fall. So immediately, showing up in Hawaii.

You can change the date. I don't know that you can change the date logistically. They're going to miss some tournaments because I don't know if you know, but the offseason was one week this year. Where do you pull the other five cards from? Are you going to do her this year? Are you going to yank five from my corn fairy graduates? I would do 10 and make the corn fairy 40 if it was up to me.

I agree with that. That makes sense. Just from entertainment, though, to have that at the end of the year for 5, 10, whatever it is to watch that and go through the same shit. I mean, your caddies out there throwing up in the woods. There's nothing. It's the best television period. Never more nervous.

I don't care if it's Sunday of a major, which I've never been there. But you're playing just to have a chance to do that. I mean, I can still remember shots that I hit at Q school. My first Q school of graduation was in 95. I'm playing at the Bears Club in West Palm Beach. I'm finishing on number nine. I'm playing with Taylor Smith,

who we lost several years ago. I've got four iron, 202 back left flag. I hit four iron off my back foot and I cut everything. I started it at the left fringe. It came right down the flag. I have to make par to get my car on this 440-yard hole, which back then that was a long par four.

And it lands about 15 feet from the hole. Taylor was a shot ahead of me so he could make bogey and he already hit it in the right fringe. And as he's walking by in that great Lagrange, Georgia, he said, he says, Johnny, and I can't say, say all the words, that's the best shot you've ever hit in your life. You can say anything you want on here, but we appreciate you keep it at PC. I think I get it.

I think we were going with it. Would you agree with that? I still have tingles. This is 25 years ago, and I still makes the hair on the back of my next standout. But that's what makes you come back more, though, too. It's like gone now, yeah. Hitting shots like that because you can remember it so well. Yeah.

Well, what, you graduated in 91 from ECU, then you got your 95, was your first? 96. I was already. So you got out there. Tiger was really scared of me when he. came out too. I've heard him talk about that. You were the guy. Everyone were pointing out. But you got, what, four or five years to get on the PJ tour? Were you going to be a PJ tour or bus? If it takes me seven, I still don't have a card. I'm going to keep going.

I majored in English and philosophy at East Carolina. There wasn't a whole lot left out there for me. I mean, the big philosophy firms were shutting down at that point in time. Yeah, big philosophy is taking a hit. Professor McGinnis. This was, it was, the thing is, we didn't know, I didn't know how hard it was. We didn't have the internet. We didn't have any of the things that told you how good Phil Mickelson was. I only knew who Phil McKelson was because I played in a U.S. amateur that he won. But I didn't play with him.

Because if I had known that's how good you had to be, I would have quit and done something else a long time ago. Ignorance is bliss. Yes. That's a little philosophy for you. There's a philosophy, yeah, philosopher Sleez. Slees to Radamas. You mentioned Tiger because you did play in Tiger's third ever PJ Tour event.

I played with him at the BC Open. Give me first thought I mean obviously you know who he is because he's all over the news Well my first thought was at the time I was a newlywed And my wife caddied for me And I mean I was young and attractive Look we

I made $180,000 that year and kept my card You were in catch No what I'm saying is I would have had to pay a whole lot of money to a caddy She got it all That was better But kept it in-house But I was thinking this kid's younger than me

He's already richer than me. He's better looking than I am. And my 20-something-year-old wife may just be looking at him. He flew into a different airport than we did. So the third hole at the BC Open is where they now play the Dick Sporting Against on the Champions Tour. It's a par five. The first two par fours are sharp dog legs and you lay up to the corner. Tiger hits this kind of pull hook into the trees and it rattles around in the trees and actually kicks back out in the fairway.

and I've dribbled my drive right out to the corner so I know I've got right got $2.40 to the front, and maybe I can roll my three wood onto the front of the green. Tiger's 30 yards behind me. He has fluffed cany for me who I had met the year before, or catting for him, who I had met the year before at the U.S. Open played a practitioner with Peter Jacobson. Tiger pulls out an iron because he has $2.70 to the front.

He's clearly laying up. It makes sense. I'm standing 10 feet away from the hardest golf swing I've ever seen in my life, the loudest contact to a ballad of golf ball I've ever heard. And this ball took off and it looked like a laser. And right when it was supposed to start coming down, it did that. And it went up in the air a little bit more. And it came down. And by this point, Tigers already walked 40 yards. I mean, as soon as he made contact, he knew. And it landed about four steps out of the front of the grain and trickled to the back fringe.

And I looked at fluff. And I want to be very clear to all. all those listening, I was not asking advice when I said, fluff, what the F was that? And he said, that's our two iron. We carried about 275. You're not the only one who said, what the F is that to fluff, I promise over the year. And I said, I don't have a club. At the time, I was averaging 268 off the teeth. And he said an iron.

He hit an iron, 275. What do you look and say to your caddy at that point? Like, well, this is it. We had a good run. And I did dribble that three wood right on the front trench, by the way. Eat shit, Tiger. Did you play with him anymore in your career? I played with him.

Remember 99, Paine Stewart wins Pebble Beach. They washed out the final round. But we had teed off on 10 that day. He and I and Stored Appleby and Stored Appleby's amateur partner. And they blew the horn. And then they just called the tournament and gave the trophy to pain. And the next day, as we're leaving,

they said, well, we can't play on Monday because the forecast is too bad. And it was 75 and sunny all day on Monday. So I could have played with Tiger. You should have called his room and be like, you want to go play anyway? Hey, bud. What are you doing? Are you already gone? Go back to 96 when you played them because he was just coming on tour.

He hadn't done what he did at Augusta yet and all that stuff. And a lot of people that were out there were kind of doubting, like, anointing this guy too early. Was that the common consensus? Oh, yeah. He hated again. Like, dude, he hasn't done shit yet. You know he's common, but like, let him earn it at least.

Was that the vibe? The money, you know, the whole night, because the rumor was 10 million. Well, 10 million was a sum. That was beyond what a quarterback was making. You know, this was an astronomical sum of money. So we resented him. And then I met him.

And you've met him. You know, this is one of the funniest guys on the tour. This guy's awesome. And so you immediately love him. I mean, Tiger's beloved in the locker. room as you know. But once I saw the game, I knew that everything I'd ever done in my entire life had been in vain.

That's a good feeling, too. Well, I just wasted 25 years of my life to get my ass kicked by this kid. There was no question. He hit a little cut off the tee after hitting draws all day on our last hole. And I thought, that's just not even fair. You can't hit a little cut off the tea after hitting draws all day. And the cut was, of course, off the wall. that was up the left-hand side.

Why wouldn't you? Like that's an example, and this was in 96, but why guys struggled playing with him so much? Not only just the gallery, but the things he could do, you were in all of it, you were watching it instead of worrying about your own stuff was going on.

I mean, Joe Daly was the other guy in the group. And between shots, Joe and I were talking about what we were watching. Yeah. And I do remember, I shot eight under for two rounds, and he was 11, Tiger was 11 under, because I wanted to beat him. And thank God he decided not.

to play the next week. The next week was Calloway Gardens tournament called the Buick Challenge. And he was supposed to get the AAU's Athlete of the Year award in Atlanta. There was a big stink when he said, look, I'm not coming. He turned down a sponsor exemption

in his fourth professional event. Typical. Because he was tired. And thank God he didn't play because I lost in a playoff. It kept my card that week. and Tiger probably would have won by six or seven the way that he was playing. Instead, he waited until the next week in Vegas to beat Davis-Love at the playoff

it went for the first time. Yeah, it's incredible. And then it took an entire seven more days for him to win the next time. What was he like that week with the week you played with him? You might have one of the lowest scoring averages paired with Tiger Woods, though, if we go back and look at it. You shot eight under with the kid. They're not too many people averaging four under.

That's a good point. And throughout their career with Tiger, so you might be in the record books there. But when you did play with him, he was so young, Was he, were you guys talking and cutting out? Oh, yeah. But he was less, like, guarded than he was years later. Absolutely. But I think on the golf course, inside the ropes, he'll talk, you know, he'll engage with whoever he's playing with.

I mean, he's engaged, he is engaged with me more in, in broadcasting than I would have ever thought. You know, he always says hello. He calls me Johnny. He's the only person on the planet that calls me Johnny. But I'll, okay, I answer. If you had an I, E to then your name or why. that means you're his boy. Weirdly,

even if it doesn't sound good. Right. I was okay with it. Yeah. But yeah, I thought that he was great. And I've never had a bad interaction with Tiger in the 25 plus years that I've known him.

And you've interviewed him a bunch of times. I've seen him. I feel like he is more open. What's that? I have this job that I have now because of an interview with Tiger. The first one? The very first interview I ever did. It was your first week of TV, right?

Second. Second. week of TV? Yeah, you were a rough. First week of TV, I did the senior players championship in Dearborn, Michigan. I was there for 48 hours. I did Thursday and Friday, two hours. We used to work two hours a day from four to six.

That's a hell of a job. And we stayed at the Ritzkawton. It was the best week of broadcasting I've ever had in my life. But, yeah, the next week was in Flint, and that's where I interviewed Tiger. Hey, that's a great tournament, though. It was a great tournament. My rookie year was the last year they had that. That thing was awesome.

I didn't understand how Tiger can continually win your golf tournament and the tournament goes out of business. That was one of the great mismanagement of all the time. Hold on, you get Tiger and he wins here every year. Yeah. And you can't keep it going? And you have massive crowds that go crazy all the time. It's a mini Phoenix open.

Yeah, that's a good. Hard to mess that up. But your first interview, yeah, tell us about you said you got your job because of him. Well, I was filling in on you, that was back on USA Network at Thursday, Friday coverage, and it was just a two-week gig. it's 545, Tiger's just finished, and he comes down the steps, and the scoring was in a really secluded area, so it's just me, the caddies,

and Greg Parker, who is ubiquitous in all of these situations, who you've seen on TV with the white hair, he's the spotter for CBS. At any rate, a tiger comes down the steps, and I'm in a sling. I have literally had elbow surgery a month before, and he makes a joke about the fact that I only have one arm. And I knew he was in a good mood. And so the second question I asked,

well, Lance Barrow is in my headset. Lance Barrow has won 40 Emmys. A lot. And is saying, Ask Tiger, what he has to do on the weekend to win the golf tournament? And the words that came out of my mouth were, this is 2004, remember, Tiger, we all know you're getting married soon. How's that going to affect your fishing?

Genius. It's good. question I've ever asked anybody ever. And he laughed and he told a story about how, you know, he and Eland had discovered spear fishing down in the islands and they had these bases that they went and when there's blood in the water, there's trust and teamwork and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and I mean, I'm like, back up to you, Bill. And all I hear in my headset from glance is, McGinnishure done. And I'm thinking, oh, I've just screwed up. I am completely fired. And Kevin Landy was my producer from USA Network, who's now the director of communications.

for the USGA. Later, when I got, you know, I'm waiting around the TV compound to thank everybody for my two weeks of work. And he said, well, there's 11 weeks left in the year. Can you work all of them? Oh, wow. And I said, okay, sure. That's awesome.

So that injury was kind of a blessing probably. Oh, yeah. Yeah. You would have kept staying the same at golf. I mean, it didn't feel that way when the bone spur pierced the tendon and detached it from the elbow. But after that, it was a blessing. Yeah, exactly, right.

But obviously, I would imagine, like a lot of us golfers, when you're playing, there's not a plan B. And probably media was never a thought. As soon as I got hurt, I called my buddy who sold me my life insurance policy. And I actually, for a very short period of time, was licensed to sell life insurance in the state of North Carolina. And my thought was, well, you know, there's all these young tour players who are having babies. they need a wealth management life insurance policy, and the tour didn't have anything at the time, and their agents didn't have anything at the time to help them with that.

So I was going to be that guy. If I had done that starting in 2004, you have any idea how rich I'd be right now? If I'd been selling all those kids on tour life insurance policies, instead, I'm scraping my week-to-week. I think you're doing okay. But by the way, I mean, if you ever step away from this, think about your resume.

golfer life insurance I never actually sold a policy okay well you you were I just got a new kid dude I'll buy one from you go back your resume make me an offer I don't know how the shit works but golfer life insurance

media star yoga studio owner I mean how many people can put all four of those on one thing I'll show you my down dog uh over here please God show us the down dog this one did not understand the down dog oh I asked this to Amanda Ballion

I don't I haven't done yoga before. Actually, I did hot yoga one time, but I was like, downward, I know the name of the, but I was like, where does that even come from? And apparently that's the dumbest question of all time. No, no. Yoga is for everybody, even fat gas.

Even more so, maybe. Port City Power Yoga, Wilmington, North Carolina. There's the shame. Plug that, yeah, my wife opened the yoga studio in December, and couldn't be more proud of her. And the way that I look at it is, and you guys will agree that you don't get to the PGA tour by yourself. It may feel like that a lot of the time, but there's your parents, your friends,

the people at the club. There's a level of support that is absolutely required, even for the guys that are pricks. Who are those? Name them. And so when my wife said, you know, my dream's always been to open a studio, I thought, well, you know, there's a whole group of people that help me pursue my dream. This is a small dream by comparison that we can actually afford. So let's open a yoga studio. You ever get in there and do a little instruction? You show them that down doggy? I will

absolutely go in there and mix it up. I guess it in there. I like it. As you should. Well, let's talk a little bit about the serious XM gig because I think that's where a lot of our listeners know you from. I mean, you've just killed it on that network with your partner Brian Ketrick, who's actually sitting us right here.

Shout out of K. K. Ketrick and McGinnis on tap. I know I believe at first it was just McGinnis on tap. And that was hard work. Solo show. That's a different ballgame. Yeah, that was hard work. Well, BK.

We had Matt Adams in the morning at 8. Brian Kitt came on at 10, teed off. He was teed off with Brian Ketri. And he was angry. He's all, any angry dude. They must have been out of Mountain Dew. And somehow he made Peter Kostis, who came on, not Peter Kessler, who came on after him, even angrier.

So you're responsible for that explosion? I filled in for them one December. And they were like, okay, he can do this. And so that's when I ended up doing a post game. My first gig was a post game show. I would do the live coverage and then stay on Thursday through Sunday and do the postgame show. And what we realized was there's a whole lot of appetite for this on Thursday and Friday by compared to Saturday and Sunday.

So in the offseason, I went to five days a week or Monday through Friday. And it was really baptism by fire on so many different levels. We were selling our own advertising. That's how we were getting paid. Series X-Hen wasn't paying us, which was fine because Brian and I got great at selling advertising.

Not as good as Jim Con, but we got good at it. And, you know, we were thrilled when the opportunity for us to join forces came, And to stop having to, you know, be a one-man show, a producer, you know, everything all in one. It was a blessing. And I've had an absolute blast working with Brian for the last few years. That's a monster to be selling your own advertising, signing your own guests, doing every segment by your side. I mean, that's a whole different animal than like, hey, Brian or Colin Coward shows up and like, hey, you got this guy, this guy, this guy today.

Here's your progressive read. Do that. But then you go. You get these moments that happen, and you're like, holy crap, I just did that. I just had Ken Venturi on the day that he was announced that he's going in the World Golf Hall of Fame, and 15 minutes into the conversation Lance Barrow calls in, and they do the next 30 minutes talking about old times. I mean, you're like, okay, I got to do that. How did that just happen?

You know, hold on my calls, please. people. A lot of people trying to call in. This ain't radio, dude. There's a podcast. The phones aren't open. I think this is my first podcast appearance. Is it really? Is that right? With video. Oh, you're a veteran. You're very comfortable behind the microphone.

If you do that downward dog, that'll be the only thing we put on social. I was going to bring a wardrobe change for every segment. And then I realized, well, they don't have freaking commercials. And then I ruined my sweatshirt when I got here. And you guys gave me one. Yeah, you're going to walk out of here with the new wardrobe. Tell me this, because you do both play-by-play and you do, K. Chirma, Guinness on tap.

Is there one that you preferred? Are you a guy that likes to sit down for two hours there, or do you like being out there in the action roaming the fairways? I'd much prefer walking the fairways. And fortunately, PGATR Live likes me out there. And I did the live radio coverage in the early iterations, and I spent one year 32 weeks in D.C., Duke being the analyst on radio.

I was going up Thursday morning on the train and driving home Sunday night from North Carolina. And it was great work. I needed it. I was probably going through a divorce. But to be outside, to walk the fairways, to walk down the range and tell you how to go guys, you know, I'm getting older now.

So I have to go introduce myself to guys on the driving range these days. You know, at some point, we're going to get to a year on the PGA tour a full season where nobody that I played with wins a golf tournament. Haven't gotten there yet. Stortzink took care of it a couple of years ago right out of the gate. That was nice of him. Phil Mickelson last year.

I mean, old guys are still winning, and I like that. I think you're good for about five more years. I don't know. I mean, it could happen any year, really. Who's the youngest guy out there right now that you played against? Oh. That can win? I mean, I played with Charles Howell.

I played with Adam Scott. I played with... You got Tiger. Tiger, you know. Possibly. Basically, if they're in their 40s, mid-40s, I'm probably playing with. You got the Seagull, Charlie Hoffman?

The goal's coming in hot. Yeah. Yeah. He's 44, 45. I played with him. Quite a bit, actually. And, you know, Charlie and Pat Perez were quite a duo there in their 20s. You should get them to tell you those stories on this podcast.

Well, yeah. I think we have. It's pretty good. Given your success on PJ Tour Radio and in the broadcast and stuff, if I said, hey, you can give one more year, go back in time, you get one more year healthy on the PGA Tour, or I'll give you all this that you have had since then. The broadcast, what would you do?

I'm the luckiest guy I've ever met. I got to do that so that I get to do this. I wouldn't change a thing. I mean, I'd be a little skinnier and I'd like a little more hair. But other than that, I mean, I wake up every day, I'm like, I can't believe that this is my life. You know, I've got friends that go to offices. I get to get on planes, go to great locations, and talk about golf.

And last night, we're here in Scottsdale, last night got into town, the guy that we went to dinner with who lives up at Pinnacle Peak, I played with in the first Monday pro-am at the Wells Fargo in 2003. He's from here. He had taken a group of guys. They played in that pro-am, and then they went to Piner. Well, I told them everywhere they needed to go in Pinerist, drinking and play golf.

We adjusted their itinerary during the round. That was almost 20 years ago, and we're still good friends. I mean, that's how cool this game is. It really is. I mean, it's just so cool because I remember, you know, I went to the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble, and that was my first live golf event to work. And I'll never forget. I walk into the rental house, and you look at me and go,

take a good look. This is your future. You just gave it one of these, and I'm like, shit. Fucking, I'm out. I'm out. I'm going to the range. Yeah, I was like, I got to go. And I was still trying to play at the time.

Right. Yeah. But I followed you around on Friday morning. We had Tiger, Justin Rose, Jordan Spee. And I could not believe the amount of people in the gallery that yelled at you and tell how much they love your show. I thought it was so cool. I was like, man, they really love this guy out here.

And I think that's got to make you want to go to work more and more every time. There's no question. We ran a rip on our show for years of broadcasters and others who have called in, mispronouncing people's names. And while many of them, I had some longevity, there's one that still sticks out right now that as I'm walking a rope line, somebody will say,

Finu! Talking about Tony Finole. And that's just, it's like, that's what are morons. Fabulous. That's what a moron. Those are our morons. And we appreciate those, you know,

we are the, we are the morons that get to do that. So yes, when there's a situation. And I had a hard time from March 2020 through the period of time where there were no galleries out there trying to keep the energy level up walking with a group in a huge moment doing the radio broadcast at Wingfoot. And there were a dozen people walking with Bryson DeShambo and Matt Wolf. I mean, that was surreal.

It made no sense to me looking at that clubhouse. They both make Eagle on nine in the final round. The first Eagle was Wolf who pulled within one and then Bryson tops him to go three. Imagine what a New York gallery

would have sounded like right there. So I struggled a lot with that period. I think the guy is how bad it sucked until they, I mean, you did, but until they came back and you'd be like, Phil at Kiowa. Like, holy shit, this is fun again. Lee Westwood had my favorite line.

He's like, man, it's really nice to have some of the gallery back. That's very, very true. It is true. Let's talk about a little bit where the game of golf is right now. Because obviously, as you said, you were a short straight hitter,

I was a short straight hitter, the game's changed a lot over the years. And you've seen it happen. It ain't coming back. No, it's definitely not. How do you feel about where it's at right now, though? You know, I think that there was a period of time in there I think I would have answered this question

completely differently than I do. I will now. because I feel like there's a element of skill that's kind of being brought back into the game. I feel like John Rom can do things with a golf ball that there was a stretch in there where you didn't need to be able to curve it a little bit. Kalamorkawa curves the golf ball.

Bubba always curved the golf ball, but he was pretty much the only one. He and Tiger. Now there's curving the golf ball again. They're spinning, you know, they're hitting little nibble, draw wedges that spin left toward the hole or, you know, cuts that spin right toward the hole.

And I'm like, okay, the skill's coming back into the game. They're never going to put the toothpaste back in the tube and dial the ball back or whatever. David Faradie had a great suggestion. He said, just take their tea away from them. He said, make the tea an inch and a half long, and that's as long as you can have it. Well, you know what, that might do it, but they'll figure out how they'll figure it out. Yeah, exactly. But one thing like, you know, everybody talks about Bryson and what he's doing, but he's,

You're out there in the fairways. You see it. He doesn't get near credit for how straight he hits it. I mean, I've talked to top rank, one of the very high-ranked players in the world. He's like, Colt, if he hits it straight, we can't beat him. Right. I mean, and it's that impressive. Like, what he did at Bay Hill?

Like, that stuff's cool. Like, back when I was playing, I probably wouldn't think it was. But I followed him around at Memphis, which is a very hard golf course and watched him hit 17, nine irons or less into 18 greens out there and shoot 63. And I was like, and he hit 10 to 14 fairways. Right. I was like, dude, it's not like he hits it 60 yards offline. No. Like, it's impressive.

It's not like he plays the way Phil played. Exactly. I agree with there. There's a misconception that he is, Phil was haphazard. You know, Phil was dangerous at times. Was? He probably still is, but he's not in as many featured groups as he used to be. True.

But Bryson is, I mean, it's so mind-boggling. To me, the only comparison is Tiger. in the late 90s. When he hit the driver in the singles at the Ryder Cup, I was with that group. It was he and Sergio. Sergio had already hit and hit a good drive, 20 yards short of the green.

I lost Bryson's ball in the air, Ketrick's calling it, and as it lands, I take over. And what shocked me, what amazed me about that ball that had just flown 328 yards to land on that green was that it then only released out about 12 feet. It came down like my eight iron. And I feel like we'll get caught up in so much what Bryce is doing with the link stuff that we forget

about like you take wing foot, for example. He was one of the best around the greens that week. He was the best putter that week. Like there's other things. It's not just, there's been guys that have hit it long for. Hank Keeney led the PJs who were in driving by a long shot way back in the day, like 320 plus back before all this stuff happened. He wouldn't win in every single golf term. He was by far the longest. There's other shit that has to go. into it to win golf tournaments. I feel like that just gets swept under the rug. The driving distance matters more now. Hitting distance is what the USGA calls it. And that's fine. They can call it whatever they want to. The fact of the matter is that in the

80s, the guys who were in the top 10 in driving distance were not in the top 10 in money. I feel like now you've got to be in the top 20, 25 in driving distance to have a chance to be in the top 10 in money or FedEx Cup points unless you do something so extraordinarily well that isn't driving the golf ball. Colomarcawa's iron, iron play, Jordan Speed's short game. Those guys can still compete at an average distance, but I think to be an elite player on the PGA tour,

and not so much on the LPGA tour, not so much in really even the amateur game, but for some reason, the way the golf course are set up on the PGA tour, to be an elite player, you have to be. Because everyone's good at everything on the PGA, you know, there's no room to make it up. Well, I just don't think you're going to see guys, like I'll never forget the year at Hartford

there was a playoff with Corey Pavin and Bubba Watson like that's not going to happen anymore first of all there's no young kids coming out that are Corey Paving Justin Leonard who's a borderline Hall of Famer in my opinion you're not going to see any thing like that I agree I mean it's just which is kind of unfortunate I think that if you're one of the guys that's not blessed with a ton of speed

well I think you have to I think you have to develop the speed right from the gate you know I've got a two year old I also have a 23-year-old. I mean, he's already, I'm not teaching him anything, but swing at it as hard as you can. You know, let's swing it at heart. And it was the opposite when I was coming up.

But you're never going to see a Corey Pavan win at Shinnock ever again either. You know, you're not going to see, but the same way you're not going to see another, I mean, probably John Stockton playing the NBA. Things change. You have a better chance of that. 95 at Shinnock. I'm playing in the group.

the USDA used to have a sense of humor. It was me and two other guys named John that had never played in the U.S. Open before. We were behind Norman, Azinger, and Floyd in front of Jack Nicholas, Ian Baker Finch, and maybe Sevy. I don't know. We were literally called in the New York Post the beer and hot dog group.

That is awesome. When this group comes by, get your beer and hot dogs. Greg Norman was incredible. They cannot, if this new tour happens, they can't have a shot clock out there. They can never assess anybody a penalty for slow play because he was the slowest. At any rate, I'm playing right behind him. I'm 10 shots, I'm 11 shots behind him playing the last hole with the 10 shot rule. He chips in from behind the green.

Incredible shot. Took like a four-shot lead. well I can't make the cut now I hit my forehand on the green my wife who was caddying for me he says you know we may never play this I haven't played a PGA Touring at this point so this was the largest gallery

that I'd ever seen me hit a shot she said you might as well make this put because this is probably it this might be it yeah enjoy this man and I hit it and it actually and it went in I'm in a bar in Southampton five hours later and they're not even watching the golf

and they flip over to the golf and it says, Project a cut plus six. And it was like, well, that doesn't make any sense. I'm plus six and Norma's six under or whatever,

plus five, whatever. The number was, I was 11 shots back. And it turned out there weren't 60 players within, they're within 10 shots in the league. So I went to the next number

and I actually got to play the weekend. No shit. Wow, that's cool. story. Couty under pay that week. Might as well make it. She should have been saying that from one through 35 holes. She got 100%.

She took a pay cut in the divorce. Which is like 80. I love it. Well, should we get to the E9? Yeah, you want to talk for eight hours with John McGuinness. Let's go to EGN. Nine fun questions. They're all fun with you, but this is going to be a lot of fun, I think.

Are we asked this to everyone? You could trade lives with anyone dead or alive for a day. Who would it be? I don't have an answer for that. That's a first. I'm a narcissist. says, I like me. Perfect.

You don't want to trade? What day? What day you want to go back and relive? No, no, I think that there's some, I think I want to trade with Michael Jordan any of the game sevens. Oh, that's a cool one. Yeah. You know, I think that knowing what it would feel like to fly, and I'd like to know what that felt like from a confidence standpoint, to not only know that you're better than everybody else, but they know you're better.

they're better, you know, that you're the best. Yeah, it's a good feeling. I would think so. I mean, you definitely have the best hair on this show. Oh, thank you. Worse beard, though. Yeah, and he doesn't have one. Yeah, that's true.

That's true. Number two. All right, number two, what has better odds of happening? You never having another drink in your life or your co-host, Brian Ketrick having his first? Well, now, he just doesn't like the taste. Oh, is that right? It's just a mountain do. Yeah, I mean, he just doesn't like the taste.

But that one clearly has a better chance of. happening than me never having another one. I'm going to have another one right now. Yeah, exactly. As you should. I was going to ask you whose diet would mess up the other ones more. If you had to go to six mountain dues a day with skittles and whatever, what else you eat, BK?

Cookies, everything. Oh my God. But no booze or he has to go to whatever you eat with the booze. I actually eat very healthy, but I drink. I remember, I live with a yoga instructor. That's true. You're a yoga guy. I mean, I eat lentils and things.

She makes pancakes out of oatmeal. You know, wait, wait, no, they get flour and sugar. No, they don't get flour and sugar in my house. That's bullshit. Yeah, that is sad. All right, number three, this is just one last, one, one, kind of serious golf one for you. Give me John McGuinness's boldest prediction for the PJ Tour in 2022.

I'm going to tell you what I'm putting my money where my mouth is. I'm betting a certain amount of money every time Colin McCrakew or Ceeze it up to win and every time Victor Hovlin tees it up to win. I've already told my bookie, just tell me what the odds are that week. And I figure that if they win twice each, they have probably win twice each for me to break even.

Okay. I feel like that's a pretty good bet. That's not a bold prediction by any stretch. What do they go? Like 15 to 1? If they play 30 events. If they average at 12, I was thinking 25 events at 12 to 1 is the break-even number. But that's just.

Yeah, Colin, maybe 12, Victor, 15. I mean, a bold prediction would have been Phil wins a major again last year, and you'd have been right. I think it's a bold prediction to say Tiger plays all four majors this year. There you go. But that'd be incredible. God, be the greatest. I hope you're right on that one. I hope you're very right on that one.

Are you working the Masters? Yes, sir. Oh, baby. Do they know where? I don't know what I'm doing yet. I mean, you'll be sitting down. I'll be there all week. That's a really fattening week just so you know.

I was there last year. Yeah, he's just sat in a group. Feature groups and then went to sat in the green room. Yeah, set and eat. Sit and eat. Actually, we'd go out in the mornings and walk around and watch them because it was limited patrons. Right. So you could see everything.

Right. It was great. And it was my first time there, so. Right. Have you not played the golf course yet? I played it in November. Played it all the way back. got my ass whipped and said,

I'll play the member T's from now on if I get invited back. Never played it. Really? Guy like you? Never played it. Really? As tight in as you are right there in that neck of the woods? I can be there in three and a half hours.

If anyone's listening. Never played it. We got a lot of members that listen to this podcast. I know if you guys too. You know, I don't know if you heard. I hosted a radio show on this network with a Masters champion every other week. Who can be?

take me to play there. That's just wrong. And he didn't. On this network? Craig Stather. Yeah. PJ to her radio. We're not on radio right now, but I get it.

Easy mistake to make. The Walrus has not taken you after this show. No, no. I should have been written into the contract. No, you know, it'll be in the next one. Yeah, the next one. All right, you kind of touched on this. I don't know if we ever got to where we were going, but if the game of golf never

existed, what's John McGinnis do for a living? I have no idea. I can't even wrap my brain around that. John McGinnis. I'd be selling something. Insurance was a... Insurance would have been a beast. My brother, who's funnier than I am, has a little less hair.

He's a little shorter, a little rounder. You'd love him. He sells medical devices. I'd be with people. Selling. I'd be with people. You'd be selling. Yeah.

I told you. I got you your first policy. I'm taking it. Give me a deal, though. You can talk about it. All right, next one. Actually, just changed one up. I'm going to go with this.

We give you a whole year on the PGA tour right now. You can play every single event if you want to. How many cuts you make? Well, my last year on the PGA tour, after surgery, I made one in 19 starts. There's only a few places I could possibly make the cut. Sony, Hilton Head. Colonial? Maybe?

Colonial, although when those greens get firm, I don't have a chance there either. None. I can't make a cut. I'm not sure that I can make a cut. No, I can't make a cut on the PGA tour. I don't think I can make an LPGA tour cut either. Oh. No, seriously.

How far are you hitting it right now? 230. 230 off the T? Yeah. 240? You might not. I think you'd probably get your shit kick. I think I could make a symmetrical torque cut.

The corn fairy torque cut, that's the hardest cutting golf. 240 you're going to be hitting first in every hole on the LPJ tour. I agree with that. Yeah. But only by 30 yards. Yeah, but just by, not by 100 yards. Yeah, true.

Well, that parlayes perfectly. That's what I thought you were going into my next question. I drop you at 305 yards in the middle of the fairway of every hole on the PJ tour, 25 starts, whatever. How many cuts? Every one of them. Make every one. Every one of them.

3.05 center, which is like, that's just above average right now. Pretty much average close to it. I figured I put you average. That's five yards above average. No, what do you hit from? No, I wouldn't either. I wouldn't. I wouldn't, it wouldn't.

But I would make some cuts. How, how, how, how, how, how do you hit from 150? What club? Out here in the desert is an eight iron, but back home, it's a seven iron. Okay, so you'd be two to three clubs. A lot of guys hit wedge. Oh, and I think my clubs are jacked up too. You got them tweaked?

No, no, look, I'm 53 years old. Yeah, I know. I can't even compete on the champions tour. I went to a champion, I went to a champion, I went to one champion's tour this year. But I'm giving you three and five. You're never punching out. You're never, you're just firing.

Three, oh five in the, three. Three and the year. Three, middle of the fairway is good. It is. But if I'm a colonial, I can reach, I can reach every hole in regulation

at that point. If I had to play a PGA tour course now, there's a half a dozen holes every, every round. I can't reach. Those 500s into a puff. Yeah. Can't reach.

Problem. 2.30 off the, yeah. 2.230s don't get there. You still got, you might have a nine iron. All right. Number seven.

Did you know? The only part of my game that compares to anything they're doing is my putter. I can, Yeah, you got those hands. You got those hands. Don't worry. You know what I'm talking?

I'm the guest. I'm the guest today. Yes, you control it. This is true, you are. So allow that interruption. All right, number seven, did you know you were the reason Kevin Strillman decided to turn pro? I played with him the week that he, the day that he turned pro. I know.

He informed me of this yesterday. Do you know why? Do you know why he turned pro? Well, he turned pro for the U.S. Open qualifier. And Pine Wild, don't don't listen to what. Look, everybody knows that Kevin Stroman is a notorious liar who snuck. He plagiarized his way into Duke and he pretended to graduate. Actually, that's not.

I played with Kevin in a U.S. Open Qualifier. He did. He's such a great guy. He knows I'm kidding. I played with him in a U.S. Hope Qualifier. Vance Heffner was the third guy in the group. Vance Heffner, a winner on the PGA tour in the old team competition. competition, but it gave him life membership. And Kevin hit it, Vance and I hit it the same distance at that point in time, 265, 270.

Kevin was hitting it 50 bias, but he didn't know where it was going. But that was the local of the U.S. Open Qualifier right after he was, or as he was leaving Duke. And I had no idea that guy was going to win on the PGA tours. many times or be as successful as he has been. Because it was so unrefined at the time. I remember very clearly, but the speed was what was clearly an asset. And then he turned into not only a great player, but look at the career that he's had. I mean, it's hard for me to think of him as a gray-haired veteran, but he's a gray-haired veteran.

He kept his car like 14 straight years. Yeah, 14, 15 years. Yeah, he's just one of those real consistent guys. He's got up. He drives it very like under, it's not flashy, but it's good. It's hit and it's flat and it gets some bounce. It doesn't carry as far as others. The whole point behind that was to say that he turned pro because he realized you were trying to do it for a living so he knew he could.

That was the whole point of that thing. I made a 12 footer. I made a 12 footer to get through. Your memory is sneaky good. Did you beat him? It's not sneaky. There were only four spots and I got the last one. Yeah.

And then I got in whatever that U.S. I was. I think that was a. I think that was 01 at Southern Hills. Yeah, Johnny whoop that ass, Kev. Think twice before you speak about Johnny like that. Couldn't beat him again ever. Are you calling him Johnny now just because Tiger does?

Me and Tiger. We're only guys allowed. You cool with that? Yeah, I'm good at that. Perfect. All right. Next to the one. Better golf nickname for a legend.

Freddie Boom Boom Couples or Johnny, the Unmade Bed McGinnis. I will say that caddies. give way better nicknames than players do. Boom, boom, boom is a decent nickname. It'd be nice to be called boom boom. Phil Blackmar, who, have you worked with Phil? Yes, he's awesome. Yes, one of the sweetest, nicest men you're ever going to meet.

6-9, one of my favorite Stuart Scott moments on ESPN is when Phil Blackmar wins Houston. Stort Scott said, 6-9, Phil Blackmar, he can guard Scotty in the post, wins at the Houston Open, which was just a great line. But our nickname for him? Big. Yeah, that's... His nickname is Big. Yeah.

Great. Yeah. English caddies give the best nicknames. If you ever get a chance, I don't know if you've ever had a cocktail with the English caddies. But one of them told me, back when I was caddying for the Olympic flame, you were caddying for the Olympic flame. You were caddying for the Olympic flame? He says, oh, yes, ordered food to the room every night, never went out. That's a nickname.

You have to think about it for a second. Yeah, that's good, the Olympic flame. Who was it? I don't remember. I don't remember who the player. It was a European tour player who probably made a nine on the last hole at Q school back in 2002. Yeah. By the way, the people watching on YouTube, they're not going to understand the unmade bet.

I mean, you look fantastic. in that birdie juice hoodie. I agree with that. I'm okay with the whole unmade bed thing. I do make my bad, but I look like an unmade bad. I get,

I look, clothes don't fit me right. They don't make clothes for fat guys. That's just ridiculous. You look good in this right here. I agree with that. This is,

we might have found the right recipe. I agree. All right, last one. There's a lot of legendary stories from Vegas and PJ tour players out of the tournament. You might have multiple.

Yeah. But I'm hoping you tell the one that's my favorite. So give me your best John McGinnis, Vegas story. I can't give you any of the best stories. I gave one to Brian on the golf course today, and I think he's still thinking about it. But the one that you're referring to,

so 96 was my rookie year. We just covered that Tiger didn't play the Buick Challenge. He wins. This is the day that Tiger wins his first PGA tour event. I have kept my card the week before, making a whopping $64,000 by losing in a playoff. That is crazy. Times have changed.

But Jimmy Buffett, I shot, it was a, Vegas was a five-day tournament back then. It was a death march, and I somehow made the cut and shot 75 on Saturday. So I'm first or second out on Sunday. And by the way, if I did the math, if I shoot 62, I'm going to make $2,400, and if I shoot 82, I'm going to make $1,800. There wasn't a whole lot to play for. So I went to the Jimmy Buffett concert with David DeVall and a nice group of people. I went back to the hotel.

I ran into a titleist rap, and we ended up shooting some dice. And then I got hot with the dice. I started rolling 11. I started rolling yo a lot, $100 yo! And I don't remember what happened, but I had a whole lot more money in front of me than I could possibly make the next morning. It was the only time in my life that I looked at. I had like, anyway, it was $20,000 or so. I go upstairs.

It's finally, Tim Herron is amongst it. Okay. And I looked at Tim, I said, what time do you play tomorrow? And he said, I missed the cut. I was like, I probably ought to go up to bed. Didn't wear a watch, didn't have a cell phone in my pocket. This is 1996. Cell phones were this big.

And called down for a wake-up call. Say, hey, can I get a wake-up call for 6.30? I got an 8.30 with Billy Mayfair. She says, sir, it's 645 right now. Get your ass up. Okay. Now, I get in the shower, and the whole time I'm in the shower, I'm thinking, I shouldn't really drive to the golf course.

I don't really have any choice. I was downtown, fortunately. I wasn't all the way out of the strip. And I get to the golf course, and Jelly was caddying for me. Oh, man. Richard Hansberry is Jelly's real name. You see him folks on the broadcast on CBS. He stands on the last part three, and he's the spotter.

He is one of the finest human beings I've ever met. And Jelly walks over to the car, and he looks at me, and he says, Driving Ranger, first T. I said, I'll see you on the first T, Jail. He says, we got 42 minutes. It's okay. I get to the first T.P.C. Summerlin, 390 yard par four? I had five iron in.

cold topped it off the tea top the driver billy mayfair did not believe me when i told him that i was suffering from flu symptoms and the 71 that i shot that day may have been the best round i've played all year that's incredible 71 with the top eight hours later eight hours later tiger woods was his first bGA tour event your story's way better way way better wow 71 and the four iron you hit at cue school best big golf accomplishments? Getting to the PGA tour was that's my biggest accomplishment.

Staying there for a period of time. I'm not that good. I know that now. I'm an analyst now. I look at the numbers. That guy's not that good. And yet somehow it happened. I call them bumblebees.

And we all know them. You know aerodynamically a bumblebee can't fly. Their bodies are too big and their wings are too short, but nobody told the bumblebee. Genius. God damn.

What a way to end it. John McGinnis, thank you so much. Thanks for all you do for the game of golf, man. You're the best. That was so much fun. I loved it. Thank you.

Appreciate you, brother. Bumblebee. Never heard that either. All right. Well, that was the great John McGinnis joining us on golf subpar. I mean, so much fun. First off, once again,

he opens the line with a divot tool. He wins the dry heave, walk off, last shot of the tournament. I mean, this guy, he is unlawed. Unbelievable. So much fun. It's just nonstop laughter with John McGinnis.

I told you if you didn't know him, you're going to love him, and now you do know him, and you should love him because he's the best. Speaking of the dry he, if he comes out there, he and Ketrick were doing the radio show prior to, right when we started the things was like, hey, kind of drag this thing, pass us, and if we can finish before, we'll go out there and hit the shot. Well, we were literally on the final group of the day. I thought they weren't going to get to it. They hit the, you know, the winners were set, basically.

You were in the top three, I believe, at the time, right? I was about to get paid. Michael Fiegel's, you know, All American in college, all that stuff. for a tour player. He was leading. You were up there. McCord, who hit the ball off a T. He was seen off of the driver hit it with like a wedge, spun it back in there to two feet. God knows somehow. McGinnis comes trotting out here. Last guy, okay, hold on, hold on. We still got one more team to go. I'm not sure he even knew the distance. It was 94 yards. Maybe you told it to him right before he said him. I was kind of rapping. He grabs a pitching wedge. Pretty damn sure he

hit it full bore. He hasn't done anything except sit for the last couple hours. He grabs the pitching wedge hits it in there to a foot. Damn near it goes in. Somehow I got a wedge to spend back from 94 yards, which I've never really seen before. Almost went in and the place erupted. There's never been a more popular winner than Johnny McGinnis this year at the dry. It was awesome. He shared some great stories. I love the playing with Tiger and Tiger's third event on the PGA tour,

hitting the two iron from 280 yards. The Vegas story. Come on. All time. I mean, that, excuse me, ma'am, I need a 630 wake-up call. Sir, it's 645. Oh, shit. Guess I got to get up and get going.

I don't is like to scratch that. I need a shuttle to the golf course immediately. Oh, what a beauty. So much fun. I mean, I agree with you. He's one of those guys when he walks on the range, like all the players see him, they just smile. Yeah, dude, he's one of those guys at the end of the day

when it's all sudden done, you're retired, you're done doing what you're doing. I think that's ultimately the way you're judged. Like, when you walk in, are people happy to see you or they don't care if they see you? John McGinnis walks in the room, any tour player, any media person, whatever, they're all happier as soon as John. Johnny, what's up? They all want to come and talk to you and sit down with him. He's just a positive energy guy.

Andy's really good at his job. He's really good. He's one of those guys that likes to play, you know, up his role, like, I'm the fun, goofy guy, like drinking have a good time. He's a lot. His memory is sneaky. There's some substance there. There's some depth there.

Well, that was a fun one. No doubt about it. And he's got a great track record against Tiger. He does. One of the greatest, I would say. Right there with him. All right. Well, it's time to get to Fandul,

the greatest sports book in all the landslis. We almost hit him again. We have been on a heater with our golf picks. It's going to continue because we do our research. We know what we're talking about. But the golf season is back in full swing, and there is no better way to make every moment more than on Fandul Sportsbook.

each week we love looking through all the different markets and finding fun and unique bets like finishing position matchups round leaders and group winners and don't worry if you missed out on getting your bets in before the tournament starts because fandle has live betting options slees's favorite all throughout the weekend so you can always make every moment more and if you win they even get your winnings in as little as two hours slees that's right brother you can play our props futures whatever bet you're looking for live betting like i said i like to hop on that train all the time odds boosts and specials every day look for some super big boost each weekend i was running extremely hot there for a while took a little back seat i'm in the nfl now college is over i'm back to nfl

don't have the greatest track record with that so i've given some back but we still got games i'm ready to ramp this thing up and really really hit these guys all right and right now fandul is letting you place your first bet risk free up to one thousand dollars just place a bet on any game or golfer and fandul refund you up to one thousand dollars back if you don't win your first bet Seriously, there's no strings attached. Just place any bet you want. If you win, you keep the cash. If you lose, you'll get your entire bet up to $1,000 back in site credit.

All right, we are on to the America Express. We're coming off a tough playoff loss with Russell Henley, but we are back. We're going to the desert, three golf courses. Passed side of Q School, terrifying. Yeah, it's a scary place once you just drive on property. Got one of the best, the best putting greens you'll probably play in your life, Lakeinta Country Club.

Absolutely beautiful. We got the stadium course, which can be terrifying. But nowadays, these guys still torch it. If it's calm, they still kill it. However, if there's a little breeze, it's one of the most terrifying things. Dude, it's TPC sawgrass finish, basically. You got a par five. You can kind of get 17 Island Green, which is actually longer than sawgrass.

And then 18, you got the water all down the left, and it's easy to make a number. Yep. And then you got the Nicholas Tournament course as well. So three courses. Then you play the stadium, the final day. All right, here we go. Let's keep this train rolling sleeves. I'm going to give you my favorite, but then I'm going to give you a dark course because I'm surprised by these odds.

Okay. I'm going to give you a favorite. I'm going to give you a medium color horse. I'm going to go with, again, another one of your favorites. A guy you used to have a man crush on. I think y'all broke up. Who's that? One of the best ball strikers in the planet.

If it's calm, I mean, no one hits their numbers more than Sung J.M. And that's what you got to do around this place is iron it to death. He's going off at 21 to 1. He's the fourth betting favorite, I believe. But I love Sung Jay. I just, I think these golf courses set up so well for him. Sung Jay and I had a very real bromance there for a while. When he first came on the PJ tour, nobody really knew about him.

His betting odds were way down the board, and I've been hearing about him for a while, and I was hammering him every single week. Since then, he's getting more popular. He's getting a little more expensive. So we're just taking a time out right now. I'll take him for the week. I took Russell Henry last week.

I'll take some. What's his odds? 21 to 1. Okay, I'm going to stay around that same number here. I'm picking a guy who has a win here, not on the PJ tour, but on the jickey jacks. Back in the day, where I actually went toe to toe with him in the final round,

here at the stadium course. Can you Google this? picked up his win. Don't worry about that. It actually is true. He referenced it last year where he came close. He finished fourth last year, 14th the year before. I'm going Tony Fienow, 24 to 1.

Like the place for him. He likes it out there. Greens are perfect. They're not the trickiest greens in the world so that putter can thrive. He's got, like I said, a really good track record around here. I'm looking for Tony Finaw come out of the gates. 24 to 1. He's played well here.

Another guy that's played extremely well here, and I'm surprised by his odds. I mean, he hasn't played yet in 2022. I played with him recently over at the Twin Fin one day. day games looking really really solid but his track record around here is crazy he's got a t2 two t3s he finished tied for 32nd last year which was a bad week for him i played with him when he shot 59 at lekeen country club adam hadwin is 75 to 1 so if you want to make some cash maybe sprinkle a little bit there on hadwin he's looking to rebound after hitting it in the soup i believe at the dry we got him we got we won't be out there but 17 it's a little longer than 94 yards this year but uh yeah he's he's had

a hell of a run you got to witness that 5 9 that he threw on the board even though the score tried to jakes him on that deal. No, not the score, his amateur partner. It was an amateur partner. That's what it was. Hey, you're throwing a no hitter. Yeah, got it, bud. Thank you for that.

All right. This is my medium-colored horse right here. This is strictly based on social media. So I've been watching on social media. Matthew Wolfe been putting in some sessions with Gankis leading up to this week. It looks good. I love what I'm seeing. It's close to a home game from where he grew up.

It's just right down the road. You know he's comfortable in Southern California. He's going off at 31 to 1. And I think Wolf's the kind of guy when it gets going, man, If there's not a lot of elements out there, wind, anything, like he gets hot, he can go crazy hot. So I think, you know, just with his level of offense that he can get, if it's calm up there and these scores are low, like they probably will be. I'm going, I think Matt Wolff's worth a run at 31 to 1. All right.

Well, there it is. Get your bets in with Fandual Sportsbook and make some cash. That's going to do it for us. Another very special guest next week. Another fun one. We got Rich Beam in the house. Stay tuned for that. Everyone have a great week, and we'll talk to you on next week's golf so far.