Subpar - Keegan Bradley Interview: Teaming with Phil Mickelson at the Ryder Cup, keys to beating Michael Jordan on the course

Episode Date: July 14, 2020

On this week's episode of GOLF's Subpar, 4-time PGA Tour winner Keegan Bradley joins former PGA Tour pro Colt Knost and his close friend and on course rival Drew Stoltz for an exclusive interview. The winner of the 2011 PGA Championship discusses why he loves being paired with Phil Mickelson at team events like the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, the keys to beating Michael Jordan on the golf course, and the time he founded himself in a legendary pick up basketball game with both MJ and Tom Brady. Manscaped is the official sponsor of this week's episode.  Get 20% Off + Free Shipping, with the code SUBPAR at https://www.manscaped.com/?utm_source=golf&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=subpar&utm_term=prospecting&utm_content=m

Hello world. Welcome to another week of golf subpar. Colt Nost and Drew Stoltz coming at you. Sleys, very, very exciting week in the world of golf. What a tournament. The Workday Charity Open did not disappoint. Probably, and this is saying something, probably the best event or most exciting event since the restart. And there's been some good ones. Big names up there.

Colonial had the playoff too. Now Maracaa's been a part of two of them. But that thing went from looking like it was over. Justin Thomas was going to walk away with it. And then all of a sudden, bam, in three short holes. it was we're live with the play Yeah, three shot lead, three to play, couldn't close the deal,

and then Justin Thomas goes out in the first playoff hole, makes a 50-footer, goes nuts, thought the tournament was over right there, and then Colin Morikawa, zero panic, steps up during the 24-footer to extend the playoff.

It was incredible. Yeah, that was the second put. That 50-footer Justin made, that was the second putt he made where I thought this tournament's over. The first one was the Eagle put on 15. I was like, well, that's it. Three up three to go,

if Morcawa made the six-footer for par, which he did. But I thought it was over at that point, and then after the 50-footer goes and I was like no way this thing goes in that was the first hole after by the way this is crazy like we we should need to talk about this the like three foot par putt that morikawa had to go to the playoff i mean that thing was about a centimeter from horseshoe and would have been a second short miss putt that cost him a golf tournament and all of a sudden the rhetoric behind

calling morikawa would be completely different but he can't make short putts under pressure all this stuff and instead he lips in and then he goes and makes the crazy 24 footer on top of jt's 50 it was wild yeah it was it was a lot of fun to watch and now once again again this week, another huge event. Same golf course, different title, the Memorial Tournament, and this field is absolutely loaded. It is going to be so fun to watch. We'll get to that in our picks

later on in the show. First, we've got to do a little funny money from the Memorial and I got one for you this week. Okay, feed me. So this actually has nothing to do with golf. It happened at the Memorial. As usual, play there, MC, weekend off. Not the worst thing. Me and my boy, DeStef and some others decided to go to a bar

out in Columbus, having a good time at night. I know it shocks you, but I was in like a black t-shirt and a black hat you're all black everything that's weird i wouldn't even recognize you we're standing like kind of by the front door at the corner of the bar right there and i'm standing there's mind my own business hanging out we're talking and all of a sudden someone comes up and hands me their id thinking i'm the bouncer and i'm like yeah here's you good make sure this guy knows you're okay i'm like well let's just let's just roll with this so for about an hour i played a bouncer at this bar everyone's coming up give me IDs girls obviously got in

right no problem you look good no need to check literally after an hour An employee comes up and they go, what the hell are you doing? And I was like, I don't know. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I'm ready to quit. Can I go ahead and get paid right now? By the way, I quit, but I need to get paid. Yeah, I'm going to sue your ass.

I'm going to need a couple of weeks advance on this here. I let in some sketchy characters. I did. That is for sure. But it was a lot of fun looking back on it now. I love that that's my best story from the Memorial. Tell us a great story about the Moro. I pretend to be a bouncer one time for a couple hours.

That's pretty good. Oh, bad. But it was a lot of fun. But first, we got to get next. we got to get to our guest for this week. Keegan Bradley. We've had him on our other show, Sirius XM. He's our guest on golf subpar this week.

And once again, he did not disappoint. He's great, man. He really opens up in these things. He's got some really, as obviously a New England guy, he's diehard Boston, everything. But on top of that, he's gotten to be really close with Michael Jordan. So he's got some great stories about him as well as Tom Brady. He's got to spend some time around Brady. And there's a really good story in there about when the two of them were down in the Bahamas and play

little hoops together, which is a fantastic story. It isn't. I mean, how about being a part of that on the basketball court? First off, with Michael Jordan, but then just throw Tom Brady in there as well. Oh, yeah, do you want to play a little twos? Oh, yeah, me and you? All right, you got Tom. Don't touch them.

But this one was so much fun. I wish you could have been here in person with us, but still, nonetheless, it was one of my favorite interviews we've done. All right, well, before we get to Keegan Bradley, Sleez, you have a very important message from our official sponsor. Yes, I do, Colt. Thank you very much. Support for Subpar is brought to you by our official sponsor, Manscaped, who is the best in men's below the belt grooming. Manscape offers precision engineered tools for your family jewels. They obsess over their technology developments to provide you the best tools for your grooming experience. That's why

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I'm telling you right now, get 20% off and free shipping with the code subpar at Manscape.com. That's 20% off with free shipping at Manscape.com. use code subpar. Well, it's now time to welcome in our next guest to golf subpar, four-time PGA tour winner, including the 2011 PGA championship. Some call him Grandpa. We're going to call him Keegan Bradley.

Keegan, welcome to the show. Thanks, guys. Well, let's just start right there. Your nickname is Grandpa, amongst some of your really good friends out there. You've had it since college. Can you please explain to us why Grandpa? Well, I've always the first to go home when we go out, number one, even in college. And I was always the one that was like, oh, let's just stay in.

So everyone called me grandpa in college and they still do. But I just get tired. I can't stay out until two in the morning. I go to bed at like 10.30, I'm like, all right, guys, I've had enough. This is enough for me. I love it. Do you like the nickname or not? Yeah.

Yeah, I don't mind it. I mean, in college, it was, that was like a real derogyn. Tori 10th, like, all the grandpa's here is you don't want to go to bed. Now I'm like, yeah, it's exactly why. Yeah, you got a wife and kid. Now, of course, you want to go to bed. I agree. Yeah, I can't get to bed early enough. But that was given to you in college at St. John's. I find it interesting because, like, this gets referenced a lot. Like, you went to St. Johns. You spent your final year of high school in Massachusetts, where you won the state championship, by the way, and yet we're, like, not highly recruited. Like, how does that work? You win state, you got to think there's at least a handful of

schools knocking on your door. I didn't get recruited really by anybody. I didn't get recruited really by anybody at St. John's. URI, they sent me some recruiting letters. And I think they offered me a scholarship, but it was like 20%. I can't remember the right amount. It was barely a scholarship. And the reason why I went to St. John's was I love the coach Frank Darby, but they offered me a full scholarship right there when I went on the recruiting trip. And it was like when he said it to me, it like kind of blew me, blew me away. I couldn't believe it. And my really my plan was was to go there, play well and then transfer into maybe a bigger program. And I just fell in love with St. Johns.

I fell in love with all the guys on the team. And there was a point where I thought about it. And then I just decided, no, I love it. I wanted to stay at St. Johns. And there was a part of me that was worried that I wasn't getting the right sort of training to become a pro. But, you know, everyone takes a different path. Yeah, I heard, like, y'all were just kind of a team that would show up,

hit a few balls, and play a lot. There wasn't a whole lot of practice going on up at St. John. we didn't have a home course we didn't and then you know it's in new york so the the winter time we couldn't play and we would one of the things i would do is i would go into the we had a thing in the st john's called the auxiliary gym was this gym that no one used and they used to set up batting cages in there and i would like pull a rug in from somewhere and i would hit balls in this batting cage and if i hit it hit a shot perfectly right and hit the metal part of the cage the ball would come whizzing back back of my head. And then I'm speaking to like my buddy John Curran and all these guys and they've got,

you know, facilities and indoor this and ranges they can go to. We would get a call in the summer from our coach and be like, all right, you can go play this course, but you got to go in the maintenance area and start in the third hole. Like, don't look anybody in the eyes by you there. So it was a different experience, but, you know, it all worked out. You mentioned John Curran. What was it like playing in the massive shadow of John Curran? I did play in the massive shadow of John Curran. I moved from Vermont when I was 16.

And like you said, I was an accomplished player in New England and Vermont. That doesn't mean much of the golf ball. But I went to Hopkins in high school and John Curran was there. And he was one of the top ranked juniors of the world. And I played number two on the team behind John. And, but what was great, when I moved to Massachusetts and became friends with John, it was the first person that I had met that wanted to do what I wanted to do and had a love for the game like I did. And we were able to play. I always had someone to play with. And it was a big change in my career. Is it fair to say at this point you're the most famous person ever from Vermont?

I don't know the answer to that. I doubt it. Aren't the, isn't the, isn't the, isn't the, fish from Vermont. Oh, the band fish? Oh, yeah. Colt would know. That's Colt's genre. I have no idea. He's eating granola and driving around his Subaru.

He's got a lot of fish going on. You go from St. John's. You go to the mini tours for a year or so. Then you make it out on the PGA tour in 2011. And you have what of the greatest seasons ever for a rookie on the PGA tour? You win the Byron Nelson. You win the PGA championship. And then your name, Rookie of the Year.

Take us through that year. I mean, what was that like for you? Well, was that your rookie year too, right? No, that was my second go-around. I was out there in 2009. Yeah, I mean, I just, you know, my lifelong goal, as it is for everyone, is to make it to the tour. And I went through, like you said, St. John, Vermont.

I played a year on the Hooters tour, a year in the, it was called the National Identance, Corn Ferry now, and then I got on a tour. So I took sort of a different route than a lot of guys, and I had realized my lifelong dream of making it to the tour. and I never had really thought past that point. And once I got out there, I felt very comfortable. I felt like the courses suited me better than the mini tours in the Korn Ferry Tour.

I felt like it suited my game more of hitting drivers. And I got out there and I felt very comfortable. And I at the time didn't know, but I got very lucky sort of. I came in sixth or seventh at the Humana or Bonho, whatever it is now. and that reshuffled me up. And now I see guys, rookies, and have great corn fairy and get on a tour, and they don't reshuffle it on their careers are almost over because you don't get in any tournaments. So I reshuffled up quick, and I got it in everything.

And it just, everything was just happening at the right time, at the right moment. And I'm very thankful and lucky too. Did all that success, like you come out, your rookie year, you win twice, including a major, your first major ever played in, you win the thing, did that, like, skew your perception of how tough it is to win on the PGA tour. Like, hey, this shit's pretty easy. I just showed up here. I've won twice, and I already got a major.

Not really. I definitely think there was an aspect of that of like not knowing how hard it is to win a major. Like every tournament was a major for me at that point. Every time I teed it up, whether it was Sony or the PGA, like that was the biggest tournament I'd ever played. And I was trying to establish myself in my career, but also keep my card. and, you know, all of a sudden I was in the PGA with a chance to win, and it just felt like, you know, this is what I've been doing,

just keep my head down and go. Now I think if I had getting contentioned to a major, it might weigh in you a little more, especially if you had one one. So I kind of had that going for me, and that was kind of a plus that I didn't even know that was happening. Yeah, so you're an Atlanta Athletic Club. You get to go in the PGA after.

winning the Byron Nelson, and you're around the lead after you're, I think you're in the last group on going into the weekend. You're right there with four holes to play. You make a triple bogey on the 15th hole on Sunday, which is an absolute, obviously a disaster. Your five shots back with three to play to your good friend, Jason Duffner. At that point, were you kind of like, okay, let's just try to have a really good finish, or did you think you could still win the golf tournament? So I was in the second to last group on Sunday. Duff was behind me. And I made a promised to myself that I wasn't going to look at any leaderboards the whole day. Now, I probably would do that differently now, but back then, that was just a goal of mine was to, I'm just going to go

play my round and see what happens. So I had no clue where I stood. I made triple on 15. And I didn't think, I didn't know where I stood at number one, but winning the tournament, I just, it was, it was a long walk to 16. I just kept telling myself that this is the best, this is going to be the best shot I'm going to hit all week. I'm going to hit this drive on the fairway. And I smashed my drive down there. I had 30 yards less of what I had all week. I made birdie there and then I made a really long pot on 17 to go birdie 16, 17. And again, I wasn't looking at any leaderboards. I had no clue what Duff was doing. Meanwhile, the 15th hole is a 270 yard part three of water. Like it's a joke. And so I'm walking to the T and down the fairway and the crowd is yelling out,

what's happened. So my whole plan of not knowing the leaderboards was out the window because guys are telling me, Duff just hit it in the water, Duff made this, you're tied for the lead, and I'm just trying to like walk down the fairway. So it was my plan kind of changed. Because then I'm thinking, do these guys really know or are they yelling out? Maybe they don't know. So I ended up getting in the playoff with Duff and beating him, but pretty incredible week. When I think back on that, I see it happening from like almost like I'm watching on TV. I don't see it through my sort of vision. It's hard to explain.

It seems surreal. Would you ever do that again, like having done it that way, not looking at a scoreboard for the entire Sunday? If you're in a condition at your next major, would you do that same thing? I don't know. I think if you're in the final group, it depends on the situation that you're in. If you've got the lead and you're going into Sunday, by two or something. You shoot three or four hundred up the front. You know you're in the lead. Maybe let's just play. But I think that I've now, and I'm a little more comfortable, I would

want to know kind of what's going on. But there's definitely a good aspect of not knowing that. I'm trying to do the best I can on every hole. So in a major, if the pins over a bunker, getting into 30 feet might be a great shot. And that's hopefully not going to change what I'm going to do. Are you more comfortable coming down the stretch in a major championship or at those photo shoots you used to have to do for Tommy Hill figure. Definitely made the kid. Those those were

they were different. Let's put it that way. You looked like such a natural. Yeah. They would fly. I actually see one of the models that I did it with. She's in like a perfume commercial with Jared Leto now. They flew in like proper

French photographers and like these really serious models and I would go in there and be like one of them we did on a yacht and like ocean and I was just so uncomfortable but it's definitely not something you think about when you're making the tour what it's emotion for those models they show up for keegan and they get freaking Jared letto man what a downgrade who's this bomb I wanted keegan I'm so awkward too so like they they talk to me and I'd be just like what I don't know what I'm doing here This doesn't make any sense. I know that the photographer would be like,

Keegan, I really need you to relax a little bit. Like, you're way too uptight for this. Like, it used to make me do this exercise with my mouth and have to go, to try to, like, calm my face down. So it was hard to work. That should have been filmed, behind the scenes, Keegan Bradley, the model. Go on YouTube.

He's got sweater tied around his neck. Oh, I watched it all today. Okay, okay. The model, she's beautiful. It's incredible. Oh, that's so good. Well, you have this monster year in 2011. One of the perks of that, obviously, is you get on the Rider Cup team at Medina and you're paired. You've played multiple Rider Cups, but the pairing that sticks out to me and maybe it does to you as well. And I think a lot of golf fans is the one you had with Phil Mickelson. You come out there at first Rider Cup. Is there a better person on the planet that you could have been teamed up with than Phil Mickelson? No, well, actually, I've never played with anyone else but Phil in two rider cups in a president's cup. So I don't know what it's like to have no partner. But I remember Medina being

just so nervous, like to the point of like I didn't want to play really. I was that uncomfortable. And then I got on the tee and I'm there with Phil. I'm there with one of the greatest players ever. And we just were such a great partnership. Like he would feed off me and then I would know. I loved playing with Phil for a couple of reasons. One, an alternate shot, I knew I could hit it anywhere. And he would know he'd hit one out or I'd miss the grain and he'd chip to a foot. The other thing that we did was in baseball, my strength is I hit it pretty straight down and fair away.

And Phil is dinging it over here and over there. And he's getting shots out of the woods to 10 feet. And guys are like, he's over there. I don't even know where he is. I just hear the crowd cheering. And next thing I know I look is up by the green. So I loved kind of our dynamic as a partnership. And I was very willing to let Phil kind of talk and, like, lead the way.

And he was the boss. And that really helped me too. And I always text him during these rider cups and stuff, how thankful I am for him taking me under his wing. And as a rookie, it's so important to have a guy like that as your partner because they, you're so uncomfortable and nervous. and a guy like Phil takes that away. How big, is there a better rah-rah guy than Phil out there?

I mean, your first one, you said you're so nervous you don't even want to play. But he waves the pom-poms for his partner. Specifically, I would think, a rookie like you, better than anyone, it seems like. Absolutely. And what Phil does is what he's great at is kind of, if the situation is really tense, he has a great way of like making a joke or saying something that kind of making you laugh and that can kind of disarm you or he used to have me rub his belly because he said it gave me good energy like stuff like that i'd be like freaking out over something go come around my belly is just

going to help me make this pot and i go over there and i'm like all right i feel better now maybe i'm saying stuff like that was he's just fill it and you guys know he's just the best he's just a fun guy to be around you can't rub the belly anymore though you get teamed up with him again you're going to be rubbing that six-pack and they don't have the same juice Is there anything better or anything you look forward to more than playing on those teams, though? Because that just looks like the greatest time and also the most nerve-wracking at the same time. It is because as golfers, we crave that locker room kind of team atmosphere because so often we're so on our own in the sport. And we're on our own when we win and we're on our own when we lose or when we make a miscut.

And it's so fun to be in that team locker room where, yeah, we have friends and we root for them. But we always want to beat that other person. But in this atmosphere, you're really rooting for this guy to play well and to do well. And it's so genuine. And you can root for all the people you want or you can have a favorite player. But in this instance, you really, they're on your team. You want to win this. And it's almost like a drug.

You really want to get on those teams and enjoy those times. Yeah. So your first Ryder Cup was on home soil in 2012. Then you make the next team in 2014 over in Scotland. what's it like obviously the first one everyone in the pretty much everyone in the gallery is rooting for you now you go across enemy lines over to scotland what was the biggest difference for you and is it as hostile as it looks on tv i would say it's a lot crazier in the u.s than it is over there that the fans are a little more subdued but it's still it's still intimidating it's just

it brings a whole other element into into what you're doing because you know if you hit a bad shot or do something bad, they're going to cheer and they're going to love it. But then there was also such a fun atmosphere because you're kind of the villain. You can kind of go in there and be like, all right, we're going to shut these guys up. But we're going to go and we're going to go beat this team and it's going to feel even better. So there's that there's that side of it, but certainly playing in all this is way more fun. And you hear, I hear so much about the Ryder Cup team rooms. It's one of the things that, like, I think is the most fascinating thing in golf.

And what role, like you were a rookie one year, then you were a veteran going into your second one, what role would you say you play in that team room? Like, are you the jokester, the shit talker, the serious guy? What's your, if you had to define your role in that, in that player's room, what role do you feel? My role, I didn't, I'm, whenever I'm in these team atmospheres, I kind of like to be in the background. There's definitely the guys that deserve the, that deserved the attention of the room, like Phil, Tiger, Stricker, Furik, those guys. I never felt, like I was in that spot where I could, there's always a moment in these team events where the team gets together and they

throw out ideas of who they want to play with, you know, what days they want to play, what sort of do you want to play alternate shot or best ball? And I would, I was always just like, plus I had Phil that was doing the most talking, so I didn't have to say much, but I would kind of just sit in the, sit in the back and just kind of sometimes I'd be sitting there thinking I can't believe, I remember my week for Medina at, I think the BMW event, we had a team dinner, only the team. And this is way before the tournament. I remember sitting in this room thinking, I cannot believe I'm here doing this.

Like all of us, two years ago, I was on the Hooter store. And now I'm in this team room. And we're talking about the Ryder Cup in it. There's some moments of, like, pinch yourself stuff that's so fun. That's why you want to be on those teams, because you get a friendship with those players beyond that that is incredible. Yeah, and you also get some special guests that come to those team rooms, and a guy that you've become very close to, Mr. Michael Jordan, was in the Ryder Cup team room.

Can you tell us a little bit about your relationship with Michael? Yeah, MJ, actually, it's the first time I met him was at Medina, and I've always said there's no one that loves golf more than MJ. He just loves it. I'd say he plays, he plays 36 holes pretty much every day of his life, and he loves the rider cup, which is such a cool thing. He goes every year, doesn't matter home or way. And again, it's just another guy that I met that loves golf and loves to go off and play a match. It loves to joke around on the course. And somebody that, again, as your idol as a kid, and now you're

able to have a friendship with him and somebody that you look up to and someone that I can text and lean on for advice that you can't get from pretty much any other human beings to ever walk the planet. So it's a, and Cole, you know, Cole, he's just the greatest guy. He's, he's nice to my friends. He's nice to people that just walk up to him. He's nice to people in restaurants. He's somebody that I really look up to in, in envy at what he does with other people in the way he treats people. Well, you might change what you're, what you just said after I read to you what he just, he texted me because I asked if y'all have been playing much golf lately. And he said, as of lately, Keegan has been my whipping boy.

Ooh. He said he has just been slapping you around. Fighting words. Defend yourself. I will give. So if you win one match out of 250, does that count as a whipping boy? I can only say what the great Michael Jordan said.

We played a game of wolf. This is his big win. We played a game of wolf before I left, and he gets all these shots, okay? So he tries, he gets on these holes, and he'll just drop us all and go for him. his shots to try to bully us in hammering and pressing. He got us that day. I'll give him that. But one out of one out of a thousand, I guess he can hang his hat on that. I guess he just,

he got you the last time out. So that's why as of lately he's a short memory boy. Short memory. Short memory guy. I love it. Give us a story where you've whooped his ass because the only thing I ever read, the only thing I ever hear about is guys like, oh, I had Michael three down and then he won the last four and I lost. Give me a story about you whipping Michael's ass because there's none out there. If I always say to him, if I'm running low, I don't want to go to the bank. I just text MJ to see him to put it to holes. But the thing with MJ is if you can when you get, if you get him down, you've got to beat him because if you get him riled up just like on all these like the last dance and stuff, if you start talking and he gets excited and he'll

start pressing you, like with my buddies especially, he'll he likes to press you to kind of get you comfortable. So you got to get him down. And you get, I always, whenever I, bringing them down i don't say much i just like go about my business but i don't i can't think of a specific story because there's too many of them i can't i can't pick one they're all my favorites like you can't pick your favorite kit the 249 and one in the last 250 so that's pretty good well i want you to share first of i didn't even know this story until today i was digging up some dirt on you and i know you went to the bahamas and y'all y'all land with michael jordan and there's tom brady I also want to play it, and y'all end up playing a pickup basketball game.

Okay, first off, this just blows by mind. Okay, you're out there playing basketball with Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Like, at some point, did you pinch yourself and be like, holy shit, is this really happening right now? Yeah, well, so we were going to Bahamas, we were with Luke Donald, too, and we land, and this plane pulls up next to us, and we're looking out, and this guy gets out on. I'm like, that looks at Tom Brady. I mean, Tom Brady, I grew up in New England. M.J. and Tom Brady were my guys. Brady is like a god

where I grew up. And so I didn't know this, but MJ and Brady are pretty close. And it just was total luck that this happened. So we played golf a couple times. And I remember this one time, this one thing,

Brady, they were talking with each other. And MJ said something like, get back to me when you got six championships. And this was now he's got six. Now he's come back and he's like, it's like crazy to think about this was probably five six years ago but we were sitting around at the house and i said to luke donald i was like let's go let's go shoot some hoops i wanted to see if i could get mj to come shoot with us and so i'm just like where you going we're just going to go we're just

going to go shoot a little hoops goes oh okay i'm not going to come sure enough we convinced him to come he goes i'm not going to bring my shoes i'm just going to go and we're going to just go So we go down there. We play 21, and he's just kind of hanging. And then at one point, he looked at one of the guys that worked there. He goes, go back and get my shoes. And so I was like, okay, nice. Now we're talking.

So then all of a sudden, now people are coming out from everywhere, from your houses, MJ's in court, and here comes Brady. And Brady's like, I want to play. So we played, it was me, and a couple of the guys at Baker's Bay, and MJ and Brady got to be on the same team. They're like, they're friends. Luke was on that team. And I had to guard Brady, and Brady was going so hard, like, too hard.

Like elbowing me and, like, hitting me and, like, going off for rebounds. And I was like, dude, you've got to chill out because if I, if I do come down and, like, tear your ACL, I'm never going to be able to go home for Christmas ever again. And he was, like, really, really serious. Like, I was an incredible basketball player, but it was, I have a picture of me guarding MJ and him kind of doing his moves or he picks the ball up he's doing this he's talking trash and again it's one of these moments it's like wow and in obviously it shouldn't come a surprise but it was incredible how good he was like it was we were playing we were playing outside and it was super

windy you know when you shoot outside and it's windy it's hard to hard to make baskets and he was shooting these like punch shots that were like hitting the back of the rim and it was just it was just awesome. It was just, that's, that's a memory of mine that's like, that's in the Hall of Fame of memory. I want to see that picture because that's got to be incredible. I mean, that would be a pitcher. You'd never lose. That's amazing. I have a few. I have a few. And he was talking. And then, then all of a sudden, 200 people are now watching this basketball game. And MJ's loving it. Like, if I, he was talking trash and, you know, there's some videos on YouTube with it. It's really just letting Brady score because you're like, dude, if I,

accidentally go at the ball and break his thumb like i'm going to be the most hated man in america no because part of me's like he's this guy's tested me right now like he's like i can't back down from him but then i'm like i don't want to tear my ACL either he's he's got 200 million in the bank i'm still trying to you know and but what was really uncomfortable was how good he was because I think I'm decent basketball player, and he was, like, really good. And I really literally had to go, you got to cool it, because this is like, one of us is going to get hurt here. That's hilarious. That's so good.

Tom Brady, obviously, first off, one of the reasons me and you get along so good, one of many reasons is we love trash talking football. And I know you're a diehard Patriots fan. Like, I'm a diehard Cowboy fan, but I just love giving it to you when something bad happens to the Patriots, which is not very often. But when Tom Brady signed with the Buccaneers, it was honestly top 10 days in my life just because I could mess with you finally. What was that day like for you when he left your beloved New England Patriots? So I have been hearing rumors all year that he was leaving, like guys that would know, guys like sports commentators and people that spoke to him. But I never thought when the time was going to come for him to like tell Belichick, I'm leaving. I never thought he was going to actually do it.

I just didn't, but I've been here in the whole year. I heard he was going to the Raiders. I thought he was going to the Raiders the whole time. And then when it happened, it was like shocking. Like, I couldn't, like, I couldn't believe it. Like, this is a guy, and this is, I've told this to Brady before. My love for the Patriots is, goes back to when I was a little kid. Like, I had such memories with my dad watching the Winister Bowl, my basement.

And then I have a memory now with my son. And I went to two Super Bowl. my wife or they won. And then now I watched his Super Bowl win with my little son, Logan. So I had these like life memories that go along with these Patriots and Tom Brady, as corny as that sounds. But when he left, I was so sad. Like I was like, this is, and I'm 34 years old. Like I'm an adult now. I'm not 13. And I was bummed. But when, when Grunkowski went to Tampa, that, I started to get upset. I went from sad and being like, I don't know, this is, I'm not liking this. same one. Do you own true or false a Tom Brady popsicle color Tampa Bay TB12 jersey yet?

No. Okay. That's true. I'm a Tom Brady New England Patriot man. I mean, I always want these guys to do well, but man, I would just, if this Cam Newton can come in and they can meet the Super Bowl or something, holy cow. I wouldn't be able to be around you. I would not be able to be around you if Cam Newton leads them to a Super Bowl against Tampa Bay. Like that would just be... The Super Bowl odds went from 34 to 1 to 19 and 1. And then I just read a sports better sharp that says the real odds he thinks is 12 to 1. Wow.

Pretty good odds. So you like the signing? I think it's incredible. I love it. I think he can come in. I don't know. Because if you look back through his last healthy season, he was incredible. But in the last couple seasons, it's been terrible because I think it's hurt.

I don't know. I'm excited. If Cam comes in and wins Super Bowl in his first year as a healthy Cam, does that just prove that, hey, it wasn't Tom Brady? Maybe it's Bill Belichick that's the master behind all the secret sauce. I don't think so. Okay. That's Tom. My best friend, Tom.

It's my guy, Tom. Well, oh, let me ask you this. I saw Brady and I was like, I went up to him and I was like, hey, I'm always going to be rooting for you, blah, blah, blah. And after I was like, man, that was so weird. I can't believe I said that. I went back to like my 13 year olds itself. Like he's like got to get, he's got to get like, he's got to feel good for me saying. Like I, like it matters to him.

But I was like, hey, I'm always going to be rude to. Don't worry. Tom, you can still always call me. You need to talk about anything. Tom can sleep easy at night knowing he's got Keegan support even though he's on the bucks. My wife always makes fun of me because I get. I get starstruck around Tom Brady a little bit. I've met presidents, Michael Jordan, all these guys.

Tom Brady's the guy where I'm like, after I say something, man, that did not come out right. That's not what I meant to say. That's awesome. That's great. I got to ask you this one question because I'm genuinely interesting because you were probably the first guy. I'm a big shoe guy.

You were the first guy that I can remember wearing Jordan golf shoes on the golf course. And obviously you have a close relationship with MJ. So I assume that's how it came about. But how do you go, is that a situation where you approach? Michael Jordan like hey dude I'd love to wear your go I'd love you even make some golf shoes and I'd wear them for you how do you get that deal so this actually goes back to a Tommy Higger Tommy Hilfiger photo shoes he can believe oh yeah on full circle so I had a I had a

shoe deal with a certain copy and they had a clause in my contract that said if I have a golf club in my hand and I'm getting a photo taken I have to have these style shoes on if I don't they can terminate my contract. So I did this deal almost, I was with this company and then I signed this deal. I did this because I liked this guy that worked for this company. It wasn't a deal that I had to have. I just thought this was the way thing to do. So I did a tall-me-go-figure shoe that was super fancy.

I had like a tux on or something. And I had wooden golf clubs that were like props on my shoulder or something. and I had dress shoes on. They saw this photo and terminated my contract. I was so pissed. I was, like, furious about it. And so then, like, the next day, I'd been playing golf a ton with MJ, and, you know, I struck up a friendship.

I just got up, and everyone they said, hey, you have any interest in doing golf shoots someday? And it was like, yeah, I've been wanting to do this. And would you be willing to go out to Oregon and blah, blah, blah. And so I went out there and went through all the steps, and that's how it, that's how it happened. And it's the, to watch, you can see why Jordan brand Nike is so successful because the, the, the, the, uh, focus they put on the shoes to, I wanted to tongue a little longer, a little wider. So when it rained, it wouldn't like drip in. I wanted the shoelaces a little shorter or this and that.

It did everything. It was really incredible. That's incredible. That's incredible. Eric Kagan's coming soon. Waiting on those air kegans. I love it. All right.

Well, Keegan, this is the last part we do. We do it with every guest. It's called Emergency 9. Nine fun questions. Don't overthink it. Don't get nervous. But I'm going to... Be yourself, Keegan.

All right. So there's a movie about the life of Keegan Bradley. Who plays Keegan Bradley? And by the way, we both... Okay, who you got? Well, I told you this at the Ranger Rib that it's... I got up the most high-strung guy, so I'm going shy of the booth. He has, like, a meltdown like, every other week.

so I'll choose him. I like it. So we each get to come up with one for you as well. Off the rocker. And I found one that I think's very good. And I think you're going to like it, actually. Does the name Jim Parsons ring a bell? Yeah.

He looks like steely a little bit. Did you say steely? That's Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory. I know you're a big fan of the Big Bank Theory, so I thought that just would work perfect. Yeah, I like that. That's got to be flattering. I had you pegged, and I take a lot of pride in these picks,

as Adrian Grinier from Entourage. Wow, I was just watching Entourage before I did this, like 20, like right before I got on with you guys. I would take that. Yeah, we'll get this movie made too, by the way. By the way, I could rewatch the Entourage series every other week. They're incredible. I love it.

I've literally just been watching it like this whole afternoon. Great. Number two. All right, number two. Of the following three, who do you think is the most handsome? Tom Brady, Julian Edelman, or Cam Newton. That's a lot, that's a hot lineup.

Okay. He's not going to go against Tom. Dude, Edelman. There isn't a question where what's better and Tom Brady's in? I'm going to choose Tom Brady every time. It's not even, you could name like 50 other people. It wouldn't matter. Okay.

Who's the best at math? No, I'm kidding. All right. I like, okay. So after you won the PGA, you got to do some really cool things. And two of these happened in the same week. You got to throw out the first pitch at a Red Sox game. and flip the coin before the Patriots game.

Which was the better experience? Well, for me, my mom has this little thing when I was like in kindergarten, first grade, or something of what I wanted to do when I grew up and I wrote for all the first picture family. So that was, and it was Red Soxie Yankees, and it was a week after I won the PGA, they gave me a box and I had like 30 people come.

And that was, I also got to drop the pocket of Bruins game that same week. Damn. The holy Trinity. I went well and I also went to the Celtics practice facility and Danny Aange gave me a jersey with my name on it with a red eight and shot eight under at the PGA. So I had to do all four of those at one one week. It was pretty incredible. But the first pitch by far is like I've been asked to do the first pitch again at other places.

And I'm only a Fenway guy. I only do it. What a week. Sorry about your life. Things will turn around, dude. Things will bounce after every dark night. There's a bright day. That's Tupac.

This is not one of the questions. If they had a radar gun on your pitch, what did you come in at on the first pitch? Not hard. Because I practiced, too. And all I do wanted to do is not balance it. So I was like, like, I went and talked. They must say I had a joke with the pitchers because I was so nervous. I'm nervous about everything.

But I asked Tickfield this. What should I do? Should I do a wind up or no? He goes, no. The biggest mistake is guys go out there and do it. windup and they'll do horrible. It's like, okay, perfect. And then John Lester was on the team at the time. And I asked them, I go the same question. He goes, everybody does no wind up. And that's why the script, you have to do a windup. So like, this is like 10 minutes from go out. And I'm like,

they had to have had people must ask this to them all the time. So I didn't do a wind up. And I threw it soft, but it was overplayed. Yeah. There's only one. There's only downside and throwing out the first pitch. If it's terrible, it's going to be blasted everywhere. Otherwise, you're fine. All right. So you did good because I haven't seen how, if it was bad, I would have seen a million replays of it. All right. next question you're lining up at slot receiver for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for an entire game you're a very good athlete that's been well documented do you end the game with a reception current day okay yeah i think that's the right answer so i could probably just run out there to

get me my hands but no i couldn't i don't think so okay that's very honest of you kegan i respect that all right number five you've obviously you've played a lot of golf with phil mickleson a lot of golf with Michael Jordan both legendary trash talkers who's better who can get who gets you better mj and j he'll say stuff but you're like laying in bed later and you're thinking oh that was that was brutal like there you'll mj mj's top or fills is like kind of fun and like mj's like if you get if you go ahead you better be ready he's like cold it's like you i don't like saying of you because you'll come back 10 times harder and then you can't see anything back to you because it's like you doesn't doesn't affect you but mj and j by far well i'll just give you one right now

just to help you next time i talk trash to you you can always just say well you've never interviewed me so that'll that'll help you yeah that's put it to bed there you go see i just hate it on myself just get it out of the way that's good that's good and mj and colt do get brought up in the same sentence a lot of time. You're not the first person to put those two names in the same sentence. All right. Next question. You're driving down the street. Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Mark Walberg are all standing on the side of the street for a ride. You only got two seats available in your car. Who are you leaving behind? Boston Legends. Oh, I knew that would be. Everyone hates Affleck.

I met I've met Walberg. He loves Play Golf. I've never met Damon. So, I have to say, I'm like, I actually saw you in Hawaii this year when Justin Thomas took me to dinner with Walberg and you came by and said hi. Yeah, yeah, he's, yeah, he loves like all. Yeah, he's such a good guy. Yeah. And he's a piece of pro. He's from Dorchester. That's the real deal there.

I feel like all you Boston guys are such a tight-knit group. I'm shocked that you haven't met those guys, the other two. Well, yeah, it's like if you're from New England or especially Boston area, you're like in a little club. You're from Boston. and then you just like automatically friends. It's not possible. Yeah, it's so obnoxious. All right.

All right. Number seven. What's the biggest insecurity about yourself? Mm. Biggest about my golf lies? No, just about you in general. It doesn't have to be golf, but you in general. My biggest insecurity about myself, probably my biggest, wow.

I'm really curious. Yeah, dude. We bring the. always on this thing. My biggest insecurity would probably be my my biggest fear is in my golf career is I'm going to look back and think man I didn't do enough with what I think I could have done. So this way I'm always practicing a ton and I always I'm always worried that I want to ask myself that question at the end of my career and not have that like man I think you could have done more. And I think about that all the time. And now I'm 34. You know, I'm, I'm,

all of a sudden, like I was always one of the younger guys in the tour now I'm not there. So I definitely, that's my biggest, that's my biggest. Well, that's a great answer, but it's the wrong answer. Because I've heard from several friends, including your good friend, Mr. Brendan Steele, that your biggest insecurity is your feet. Oh my gosh. Wow. This is really serious.

Yeah, it is. I won't wear sandals. I will always have socks on. I heard you go in the pool with socks on and then take them off. That's weird, dude. That's weird. That's what Brendan said. That is so strange, bro. What's going on with your feet that we got to know about? What is the problem? Hold your feet up right now. I want to see one. My wife will even say like they're not gross. It's just like I need. A male feet are just like so disgusting. Like everything about them is just horrible. I feel very uncomfortable in my bare feet. I cannot believe you swim with socks on. That's that's that's really strange, bro.

Let's take a quick dip. Let me go get my socks on. All right. All right. Next question. You can't get mad at me for this because it was approved by a couple different people. They said it'd be okay. But all right,

you and Miguel and Hell Jimenez step into the octagon. Who wins? And how long does it last? Oh, well, I'm half his age, aren't I? Yeah, I think so. We almost not. I know. That's got to be quick.

He doesn't want any part of me. That's what I figured. That's what I figured. All right. Last one. This is a tough one. Okay. John Curran, Jamie Lovemark, and Brennan Steele are all drowning. You only got one life jacket to save them. Who gets it? Oh, shit.

Yeah. You're going to lose two friends. I'm staying with Brendan and Jamie right now. They're right outside here. So John's dead? One of them's dying. So I only have two life jacket? No, you have one life jacket.

You only got one, bro. Two are dead. Supplies are short on this boat. I have to save Johnny Carr. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're going to have to not let these guys hear that part. IP, Brendan Steele and Jamie Lovemark, tough break. Learn to swim better, boys. I love it.

Well, Keegan, this has been an absolute blast, man. We really, I really appreciate you taking the time to do this. And best of luck this week. Thanks guys. Yeah, go get them. Keep those feet covered up, bro. See you, buddy. See you, bud.

Well, Sleece. That was so much fun. Kegan is just an absolute blast. And I love, first off, he swims in socks. That bothers me. We did not get into that near deep enough. I want to see one of these feet and what one of these little hooks that he's got on the bottom of his legs look like. They got to be terrible if he will swim in socks.

He had no idea that that was coming. I have to thank Brendan Steele for that little bit of information. That was a very nice. text he sent me we do our homework here on golf subpar but uh I love that he decided to choose John Curran after letting after Steel killed him with the feet comment after drowning Brendan Steele yeah I sent steal a text after that because they were staying in the house together there in Columbus I was like hey go in and ask Keegan Bradley why you're done why you just drown and he's like all right

hold on he comes back and he's like ha ha it's okay I would have saved current too yeah it was great it was a lot of fun dude a hell of a player too I mean he's got it first of you don't realize he went on a run there for like three or four years where he was in the tour championship made a ton of money out on tour obviously a major champion winner but a guy that really seems like he's getting back into form now that he's figured out this putting a little bit yeah the putting thing i mean he comes out has one of the best rookie years that we can remember i mean he wins a regular tour event and wins a major that rarely happens and he's got everything down he's rolling the shit out of it with the belly putter

and then all of a sudden like oh hey by the way you know that secret weapon you got can't use anymore i mean that's a huge thing just mentally and then he's experimented with a lot of different ways now and hopefully he's locked in with that you know arm bar with the arm bar grip what i'm not choking the same way uh web putt's so it works for web for sure but yeah it'd be good to see him getting back getting comfortable with that putter because he's got a lot a lot of game for sure but now we have to go over our results from last week i i finally rebounded a little bit yes um had all four guys make the cut and made up a little ground i believe producer mark yeah you made up some ground i know you hate the rule about not being able to pick the same person, but not being able to pick Patrick

Cantlay last week, even though he finished top seven for Drew made you an extra half million dollars catching up in this with JT. For nothing. Overall, you've closed the gap down to 670K, a strong week here. Obviously, we can see the lead retaken or something big open up with the prize money involved. Yeah, massive purse this week. This thing is a roller coaster right now. This is a title fight.

This is a couple of ways. It's just trading blows right now. Yeah, this rule of having to not be able to pick the same person, even though I do extensive research. And it's not my fault that you can hack into my computer occasionally and copy some of mine. And then I have to change my picks. But I've got the honor back this week.

Well, if you hadn't, if I had given you the pick last week and given you can't late, I would have taken Justin Thomas. So it worked out in your favor after all that charade last year. Anyways, back to me. It's my pick. It is yours. Thank God.

Yeah. I'm going to keep rolling with this guy. he played great on Sunday final round 65 defending champion at memorial Patrick can't lay 14 to 1 I'm gonna roll with him yep not a bad pick probably would have been the direction I would have gone seven straight top 17s now for can't lay and he didn't really even figure it out I didn't feel like till the last round so I expect big things from him I'm gonna go out of the box here yeah a little man by the name of guess it bryson de shambo he's back the big the big unit he's been a in Denver all week, I believe, working on hitting it further, which is good.

I gave him a little extra distance. So I mean, shit, dude, it's hard not to pick him. It's cliche to pick him over and over, but like, God, play a bad week and maybe I won't pick you, but he doesn't play bad in so long. So finally, this should be one of those big boy courses where he can really send it as much as he wants. And we'll see how it goes, but I'm willing to roll the dice until I see one until I see one. I don't blame you.

All right. Let's go to pick number two. All right, pick two. Our 26 to 50 to one guys. And there's some big names in the next two categories that you normally don't see just because the field is so good. here but I'm going to go with the guy I know we both love Xander Schaughley is 28 to 1 this week which I mean he's 14th last week one of the better iron players on the PJ tour and being that this

course is going to you know what we're expecting is it's going to play tougher firmer greens probably not going to touch the rough for the rest of the week I like him the heart of the golf course gets the more I like him so I mean another solid week last week for Xander I'll go with uh Zander for my middle tier 28 to 1 yeah very good pick I really like that pick a lot but since we're not allowed to duplicate each other I'm going to go with the guy got a little inside information on this guy. He's 40 to 1. He finished T5 last week, putted the ball. Great. Was fourth in putting. He texted me and said, if I finished fourth in putting, I should win the golf tournament by three to five shots. He was very upset with his golf swing. Did some work

Monday morning with a new coach, new little set eyes. Justin Parsons said he really likes what Justin did with his golf swing. And he's one of the best iron players on tour. There's no doubt one the best ball strikers. Gary Woodland, 40 to 1, look for him to play great this week. Skinny Gary. Going off at 40 to 1 is very surprising. Especially after a T5 last week. U.S. Open Cup. U.S. Open Champ. One of the best Iron Player. Yeah, defending U.S. Open Champ, which he makes sure that we remember that. So yeah, 40 to 1, I think that's a good pick. All right. This is where I feel like it gets really interesting this week. There are some dudes in this 50 plus to one category that normally aren't on the board. I feel like this is where you can really

make some money. The first one, now I'll lead it off here. I'm going with a guy 80 to 1, which is really surprising given the style of play, or the way he plays golf is Paul Casey is 80 to 1. He's only had one start since the restart, which is that probably is why his odds are so high. He shot four rounds in the 60s at the Travelers, a place that he's been great. But I look at Ironplay as, you know,

this week, the top three guys in the tournament were the three best strokes gained approach. This guy's ninth and tour on strokes gained approach. Paul Casey, I'm going with him, 80 to 1, which is pretty surprising. Very, very solid. I guess the putter is always the question. with him. And on these big, fast, sloping greens, that'd be the only reason. Yeah, I mean,

but 80, I got to think the 80, if he had played it just a couple weeks, it would be significantly less than that. All right, my guy is going off at 70 to 1. One of the streakiest players on the PJ Tour. We've seen it happen twice in the FedEx Cup playoffs. When he gets rolling, he goes. He finished T7 last week, finished tied for ninth in the 2019 Memorial. My man, Billy Ho. Billy Horshaw. Okay. Yep. We'll sneak back. I didn't see it. That one coming did not see that he's going what 70 to 1 need to one man some big name shot 66 on some crazy long odds this would be a good week to sprinkle the infield on some of these 50 plus to one if you're a guy that likes about 20 bucks or something but 20 of these guys and you got a pretty damn good shot of one of them having a week all right you got billy ho of your first one I'm gonna go this is it came down at three names on the list here I ended up going with a guy that I think is perfect here he's played well here the only caveat he played last week played terrible drop five over missed the cut trunk slammer but when you look at all the stats that matter and he hadn't played in a while i'm giving him the benefit of the doubt mark leishman's going

off at 66 to one uh he's really high up in the strokes gained approach category as well um so you know hopefully last week with the plus five a little warm-up event for him got his feet wet you can't go anywhere so he's been in columbus there's only one thing to do really he's hit balls so i like leishman on this golf course 66 to one i like leishman everywhere yeah really really great solid sneaky quiet player. All right. My pick, 70 to 1 as well, been playing some great golf. Second at the Travelers. Seventh last week after not the best weekend, but a guy that just hits a ton of greens, doesn't make a lot of mistakes. And I think with the greens being a little firmer, a little faster, puts more emphasis on ball striking, and there probably won't be as many putts made, which really help him out.

I'm going Kevin Streelman. 70 to 1. He's been nice. He is so good in the Midwest. Like as soon as you get off all the Bermuda and the Southeast stuff. You get him back into like place he's comfortable. He is a beast up there. Okay. So to recap, I got Patrick Cantlay, Gary Woodland, Billy Ho, Kevin Streelman. Yes, sir.

Team Sleys, D. Shambow, Zander Shafle, Paul Casey, Mark Leachman. All right. Well, best to luck. Somebody's going to make a huge jump in this 50 plus category this week. All right. Well, everyone have a great week. We'll talk to you on next week's golf subpar.