The Herd with Colin Cowherd - GoLow Golf: ‘Slow Play’ Cantlay, Rory’s RBC No-Show + Zurich Classic Best Bets w/ Jason Sobel

Episode Date: April 19, 2023

John kicks things off by explaining why the PGA needs to crack down on Patrick Cantlay’s brutally slow pace of play immediately, and why Rory McIlroy’s RBC no-show was a terrible look after his ugly Masters showing, and why he’s pulling for surging NorCal Korn Ferry pro Spencer Levin. Then, he locks in the best bets for this weekend's Zurich Classic with Action Network's Jason Sobel down in Augusta, and answers listener GoLow mailbag questions! #volume #herd Follow John on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest. Check out Gametime - the fastest growing ticketing app in the US, and the official ticketing app of 3 & Out and GoLow -  for tickets to all of your favorite NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA teams. Get concert and comedy show tickets, too. Go to Gametime now to create an account, download the Gametime app and use code JOHN for $20 off your first purchase.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Listen to look back at it on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The volume. What is going on, everybody, John Middlough, Go Low Pod. Back at it again, just saw the RBC Heritage, Harbortown, Hilton Head, 4.15 million people watch to put that in perspective on Sunday. The Warriors and Kings, which is the best playoff series so far, did this. the same number. So a lot of people watching golf, we will dive into it all. Patrick Cantlay in a slow play, as well as Roy McElroy, no showing. And my guy from Sacramento, Spencer Levine, winning a corn fairy tournament, baby. At Golopod. At Golopod is the easiest way to get in the

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which is something that is kind of, taken over the golf stratosphere and the talking points. I've been in this business now, whether it was working in sports for teams or now talking about it, my entire adult life. Since I graduated from Cal Poly, this is the only industry I've ever been in. It's really the only thing I can do, right? You know, and make money off of and be successful. It's all I got. I got one pitch and I've done it. And as you're in this industry, the longer you are, you realize, you know, the nuance of the way this all works. And I look at most things, unlike a lot of media people, from a business perspective,

dollars and cents. Like, that's what gets me going, how these leagues, how this podcast, how the whole thing, how we all are trying to generate money. And the whole point of pro sports, the reason why they get paid all this money, and it's not just high-level guys at the YMCA, is because of, television. Without television, none of this shit would exist. None of it. Right? They could not afford in modern day times just to have, if TV did not exist, if you couldn't broadcast anything, it was just the people showing up to pay for everything, it wouldn't pencil. Whether it's

golf, whether it's basketball, whether it's baseball, couldn't work. Television changed the game, whatever, 35, 40, 50 years ago. And the context, tracks during the internet age have grown exponentially, right? Football is the best example. No sport does a better job of monetizing football or monetizing their sport than football. Why? Because it's the most people watching. They have the largest audience, meaning they can sell it to the networks for the most amount of money. And then those networks sell advertising and make money off that. So it's a trickle-down effect, right? Why my football podcast does really, well. Why? Because it has a massive audience of people that consume it. Golf much more niche.

Big passion of mine. I love it. And if you're listening to this, you probably love it. But it is nowhere near the size of like the Minnesota Vikings fan base. Right. I mean, you see the numbers of these NFL games get when they are, you know, the playoff games. It's stupid. 30, 40 million people watch. That's in the first round. One thing that changed in golf was Tiger Woods. and they were always, like, when I was a really young kid in the late 80s, early 90s, golf was, I mean, beyond niche. It was a rich guy country club sport. And Tiger broke the noise.

Tiger made it universally kind of cool. And the PGA tour that you see now, all these guys that are having success, are, you know, trickle-down effects of idolizing Tiger and golf being cool. And now the tour, because Tiger is, you know, within, injuries never going to be a guy that's going to carry broadcast anymore. They have to do it as a unit. And we'll get to Rory in a little bit, but they've decided the way they can make money and get the best television ratings because Tiger's not walking through that door consistently

anymore, maybe twice three times a year now with his bad leg, is they need the top players that are still around to be in the events. And it's really important. And Rory and ROM and now Scotty Sheffler, you know, these guys, Jordan, Speed move the needle, that they are really famous as a group. One individually can't carry you, but when you get multiple guys in the mix, it matters. And it's the reason that the tour is able to still sell for a lot of money to the television networks, because they can still get two, three, four million people watching random events, right? Let alone the majors that they have nothing to do

with, but that's the point when the best players play. We saw last week, you got the best rating at the Masters in like five years. But Patrick Cantlay is a, unique example of a player who is really good. He is what many would consider an ATM machine. I don't even know where he's ranked in the official golf world rankings, partly because I don't take it that seriously. But I think it's fair to say he is every bit in the mix consistently the last several years for being a top 10 player.

He's elite. But when it comes to television and his value for the tour, and he's a guy that consistently, I would say, flirted with Lyft. and he's a guy now that from all reports always was very opinionated in these thoughts. He's an intelligent guy, UCLA guy, intellectual. But when it comes to making money for the tour, for being a great player and being someone who a lot of PJ tour events, some majors is going to be in the mix, going to be on television, there is not a more replaceable top player than Patrick Cantley.

If I got rid of Patrick Cantlay tomorrow and just inserted Tom Kim, or whoever, Ricky Fowler back into the mix, or now Jason Day, or whatever the player may be. It would not matter one iota. The tour could not afford to lose Jordan Spee, Rory McElroy, John Rom. Those guys value to the tour and to the television networks is really, really high. It matters a lot. Patrick Cantlay's value to the tour, the television product, I'd argue, is closer to irrelevant than powerful. And his slow play now, I didn't watch the Sunday RBC live.

I was out screwing around. You know, it just masters, you binge for four days. It can't just watch back to back to back every hour, though I watched a lot of it on Saturday and some of it on Thursday and Friday. I went back and watched it because I basically get automatic DVR on my YouTube TV. Just, I was going to watch basically the back nine of those guys. I couldn't last through a couple holes. He is, he's unbearable.

to watch. And he's not good enough and not important enough in my mind. First and foremost, I'm a consumer. I can't do it. I can't imagine being Jordan, being Matt Fitzpatrick, last week, Brooks and Rom waiting behind him, Victor Hovlin playing with him. And listen, this guy refuses to admit he has a problem. Listen, I play fast. I obviously just run-of-the-mill four-five handicap. I like fast players. You don't need to be lightning fast, but I tend to lean with Brooks and DJ and guy that keep a fast pace of play. Now, on a Sunday, in an elevated event, in a major, I get it. You got to take your time. Every shot matters. No different if me or you are playing, we have $50 hole. I wouldn't expect it to be your fastest hole of the day. So I give you

some leeway, but clearly he has jumped the shark in terms of his pace of play. His decision He just sits there and looks for fucking minutes on end. And then when he picks a club, a lot of guys, listen, some guys are slower decision makers than other. But usually once they pick the club, they let it rip. This guy is like watching, you know, syrup pour out of the bottle. It's like, come on, man. And he's just not important enough to the money making apparatus that is television and the PGA tour for this to continue without someone drawing a line in the sand.

It has to end. It's not fair to his playing competition. It's not fair to us, the consumer, because it's not a good watch. And I've heard a lot of people talk about it. Jordan sometimes, in a given situation, can take his time, right? Because he's talking with Michael Greller. They're talking it out. But it's kind of entertaining.

There is nothing. And I repeat nothing about Patrick Cantlay as a consumer that is entertaining. besides at the end of his round, maybe a score. But ultimately, who cares? It's about individual shots. It's about watching you play, nine holes, 18 holes, whatever. He's an awful watch. And his slow play now feels like he's getting slower by the week.

The tour needs to do something. I don't have the answer, but it's just not okay. Because he's not important enough for it to keep letting it fly. The big story out of last week was Rory McElroy not showing up. And, you know, for the golf nerds, you guys know the deal with these elevated events, a big part of it like we just talked about, was all the top players getting together and playing. Because that's where the needle moves. That includes ROM, Jordan, JT, Scotty. Those guys just all just played the Masters, right?

Do you think John Rom was exhausted? He literally said Wednesday, it's like, I could barely think. But he actually was like, I gained momentum toward like Friday and Saturday. I gained energy. Jordan Speed finished top three and easily could have won the tournament. obviously these guys are gassed. But part of being in a business partnership, and that's ultimately what these guys are involved in,

is being in it together. And it's hard because not everyone, and this was always thought this was funny in the NFL, when like Tom Brady and Aaron Rogers, the last couple years have been like, let's get rid of OTAs. We do not need OTAs. Well, yeah, you guys don't need OTAs,

but the six-round rookie guard who's trying to make the team sure as hell needs it, Like, you are not the majority of the league. You're an outlier. Just like the majority of golfers aren't the top 15 guys. Those guys are outliers. But those guys are well needed for this thing to work. And a huge part of it was, like, you got to make sacrifices.

The great part, listen, I haven't had a W-2 job now for almost eight years. The best part about that is I can do whatever I want whenever I want. But the worst part about it is like, I got to get it done. If I don't generate revenue, I don't eat. If I don't kill, no food on the table. That's the way it works. And there are pluses and minuses with it. But part of being a professional golfer forever was you picked your schedule.

You got to do whatever you wanted to do. Besides, obviously the majors and two or three can't miss tournaments. But for the most part, if you like playing a Harbor Town or if you didn't, you pick and choose whether you want to play there. Do you want to play Tori Pines or is Tori Pines not for you? Now with these elevated events with these big purses, everyone's got to show. show up. And kudos to everyone that showed up. John Rom, who I think it's fair

to say currently, is the best player in the world. And it's one of the best players we've seen of this generation. Just won the fucking Masters is getting to a point he's not worry rich, but he's got a lot of money and the money is really flowing these last couple of years. He had

to be like, I want to go home. But he didn't just not go home. He played the tournament where he was struggling. A reporter asked him if he thought about quitting during his Friday round. And he basically, it was an embarrassing question. And then on Sunday, he sat in the booth with Amanda and just commentated on the golf tournament. It was awesome.

It was like kind of what Phil did a couple years ago. It was really, really entertaining. And Jordan, who was right there in the mix, kind of, you know, at the Masters, showed up and competed to win. Same with Matt Fitzpatrick. Same with all these guys. And for Rory, and listen, me and, Sobel will talk about it to not show up. And I get it. I thought it was unfair for him to have to carry the PGA tour when that was Jay Monaghan's job. Right. Like just like it's, it's unfair for the

Sacramento Kings and the Golden State Warriors to have to play this incredible series to try to save diminishing ratings for the National Basketball Association. But sometimes it's part of the deal. And $3 million to Rory, whatever. It doesn't mean he won't even notice it. So losing the pit money, he doesn't care. But clearly the other players, because part of being in a partnership is like, we all bring different things to the table, but when times like, when we're all tired, we all got to be there together. And for Rory not to play, unless it's something really, really bad, which clearly he would communicate to some players, which didn't take place. So listen, it's going to be very, very difficult for this to sustain. I don't care how much money, because the more money you get, and

listen, as a 1099 guy, like when I'm making 50K, I'm scratching and clawing. You start paying me $5, $10 million a year doing this stuff. I can pick and choose my stuff. And these guys are making Buku bucks and the cash, the needle is just beyond, like, the 12th ranked player in the world these last couple years looks at his bank count at the end of the season and probably sees, you know, $40 million over a couple years when you factor in sponsor stuff, when you factor in tour winnings, when you factor in, I mean, it's just, it's a really, really good life, the PIP money now. And listen, I'm not defending, Rory,

but it'll be interesting if all these guys just consistently for the next three or four years to show up when they don't want to show up. Because eventually, yeah, I got to play well, I can win a million dollars. Well, what does a million dollars mean to you when you look at your bank account and you see 75? And I know that JT and Zander, they said last week, like, listen, I don't or who you are, 3 million is a lot of money. Yeah, I'm going to push back on that. Three million is a lot of money to most people listening and myself, 100%. But if you look in your bank account and you see hundreds of millions of dollars

and growing assets and complete financial security, I don't think $3 million is a lot of money. It's just not, not if you're super tired, not if you're exhausted. And I think we saw Rory, you know, show that, right? And I would say of Tiger and Phil who were in a different stratosphere when it comes to the amount they've made playing golf, I'd put Rory in that second tier of this group the last, you know, 20 years. And that doesn't even include live money. He's got that type money. So, yeah, I think the one question with Rory, and this is what I question. And a lot of people DM me over the last couple weeks, like how overrated it is he? The one thing that makes

me nervous about him going into this major season is like, Romp's mentally tough, man. That guy's wired like a football player. Scottie Schaeff, has got some just kind of see it. You know, you watch him play. You're like, this guy's not fucking around. So, if I was Rory, it's like, you know, life's pretty good. Just kind of whatever. Like, bro, you missed the cut last week.

To not show up, very, very disappointing. And last but not least, you know, this is pretty inside baseball here. But a couple years ago, I, uh, when my brother plays in the Sacramento, Davis area, it's called El Miserro, Country Club. And, you know, it's just blue collar country club. A lot of construction workers, a lot of farmers. And we have a good buddy, a good family friend who's very close with Spencer Levine and brings them out there a lot. And one day, I was a good week, I played with them.

And I remember thinking, I've played enough now with high level college guys and fringe pros. But no, listen, I've never played like John Rom or Tony Fienow or something. But it's pretty clear when you're playing with the guy like, this shit. I mean, this would work anywhere. I remember watching Spencer a couple years ago and he was basically out of it, right? He'd been off the PGA Tour since 1617. He was just fighting. He has this thing where the PGA Tour has a thing where if you make 150 cuts, you're vested from a retirement plan.

You get sponsors exemptions to get in the PGA Tour tournaments. He has 147. So he's three cuts made away from getting to that 150. And that was a huge, I remember him talking about that, something he aspired to do. And then over this last year, my buddy Scott, he keeps playing with him a lot. He's like, yeah, I think he thinks he can really play. And he's like, I'm telling you, he looks good. And so I've been following his, he Monday qualifies a lot.

He's gotten to some PJ tour events. He Monday qualified last week to play in the Corn Fairy event. So I'm falling on the ESPN app, Corn Fairy. And he's, you know, he's playing pretty well. He's like top 15, top 20, top 10. And then on Sunday, he shoots 63 with no bogeys. And he wins the freaking tournament. and Corn Ferry at the end of the year gives out 30 PGA tour cards.

And with a win, it's very highly weighted toward the top. He's now an 11th on the Corn Ferry, you know, points list. I'm just telling you, I know he's older and there are a lot of young studs on the corned ferry tour. This dude can play. He could play. Like, when I was probably a sophomore in high school, I think he was a senior in high school, he was easy.

There were three guys in Northern California when I was a kid. And this is before golf was cool. They were like, this guy's elite. It was Nick Watney, still playing on the PGA tour. It was Ricky Barnes and it was Spencer Levine. And all three of those guys have played a shitload of golf for a lot of money over the years. And this, this dude, like, he's got to get to 150 cuts, but I think he's going to be heard from. He just, he's got it.

I mean, the dude can just play. And there's a reason that all these pros always tell funny stories about him. And I also think he's an incredible story from a human standpoint of this was a guy, who's pretty famous for the cigarette smoking pictures. He doesn't smoke cigarettes anymore. He's also known pretty big drinker. I don't think he touched a drink in like seven, eight years.

I remember being with him. I'm having drinks. He's drinking Diet Coke's and O'Dules. Like, the guy does, he cleaned up his life. He has children. He's an easy guy to root for. And the cool part about golf,

unlike basketball, football, or baseball, you don't just like get caught or get, they get rid of you in like 15 or 16 or 17. And then in 2020, start getting a pulse again in your late 30s to play professional golf and be able to do it. And that's what makes this, you know, sport, if you want to call it that, pretty unique.

But awesome to watch Spencer win. And, you know, I'm one of his biggest fans. So keep an eye on him and he's going to get to that 150 mark. I put big money on that. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care what I'll say. Yep, that's me. Clipper Taylor, the podcast. forth. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you

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Back at it again with my main man, Jason Sobel. You can hear him every single day of the week. Sirius XM Channel 92. I think he's recovered now from his master of serious house, two to four with the caddy, as well as find him on the inner web writing about gambling. And he likes the slowest player in the history of Pace and Zander Shafley this weekend. Hard to not.

They're defending chances of Zurich. Sobel, what's up, bro? What's going on? Yeah, you already blew my cover there. I like the favorites. We're going to eat some chalk this week. It's going to taste awful, and I'm not looking forward to it whatsoever. Yeah, I think this is a good week.

If you love the PGA tour, like you and I, and many people do, just, you know, probably hang out of the fam. Maybe go on a bike ride. This is the tournament. It felt like it's always been after a major, right? Just kind of a throwaway tournament. Now they double down, which I'm glad they did. And then just do this feels like, you know, just playing with your buddy.

which if I was the top players, which many did, I'd just go home and do that on my own. No, see, I would love this. If I'm on the PGA tour, whether I'm a superstar or a journeyman or a rookie, this is my jam. This is like, hey, we're walking up to walk up music on the first tee. I got one of my buddies. Like we're playing. I didn't grow up playing golf. I grew up playing baseball and soccer and basketball.

And so I'm a team sport guy. I want to turn around when I make a put and high five somebody who's not getting paid to high thive me. I want to have a teammate there with me. And so I would be all in. I would love this event as a player. As a fan, I think it's cool. And as a gambler, it's kind of the weakest one out there, quite frankly. And again, that's pretty much the reason why I'm eating chalk. I'm going for Chantley and Zander. The way I put it in my preview this week, John, essentially like, if you go play one-on-one against Janus, well, you're going to get your ass kicked. But maybe like he've won over his hand at some point and somehow let's stop the backboard and bounces in.

If you and I go play Janice and, I don't know, Steph Curry and Luca Donchich in two on two, it's going to be even worse. Like two superstars is going to, they're going to double up on two. Well, I don't know about you. I would say below average players for me. Yeah, definitely for me too. But two superstars, that's even multiplying the differential between the talent. And so you put those two guys together.

And I don't see how they're not there right at the top at the end of this thing. Yeah, well, I'm with you. I mean, I don't know how you wouldn't bet against them. Let's go back to last week because we talked about in my philosophy last week, which I'm not going to use anymore. It's like, oh, Harbor Town, take, you know, kind of a long garage guy. When you get these elevated events and you get these big purses, I don't care if these guys just came off Augusta or they just came off the local Muni.

They're going to try. And now we have pretty consistent evidence all season long, starting early in the season. You got Tori, you got RIV, you got TPC, you got obviously the players. Now this, the time of it doesn't matter. The cream is rising in all these tournaments. Yeah, so a few things here. First of all, I thought that a designated event, the week after a major championship would be a bad idea. I figured, you know, the guys are going to be tired.

And they were. A lot of them were. Even if they played well, Jordan Spieth lost in the playoff. he talked about being exhausted going into it. That said, as far as the business product element for the PGA tour, it's not a bad idea to, as you said, double down the week after a major championship. Look, the PGA Tour doesn't own the rights to the Masters. And so if you want to gain some momentum after all these maybe new fans have watched the Masters,

we saw there are record numbers watching the broadcast from Augusta National. And so what better way to get people watching? And people go, man, that was really fun. John Rom, that dude's really good. I want to watch him. You don't have to wait three weeks to go watch him again. All of a sudden, he's on TV the very next week, and you can double down on that momentum.

So I didn't think it was a bad idea from a business perspective. The players that showed up, I know we'll get into that. Players that were there, they played hard. And I don't think it's a coincidence that two of the more hardworking guys out there were two of the guys at the end who were in that playoff in Fitzpatrick and Speed. I mean, uh, Fitz is, look, I don't know him that well, but John, he is a golf nerd to the core. And I mean that in the best possible way, I mean, for anyone out there who plays the game and then goes out to the range after they play and works on their game, then goes and records

their stats and then can't stop talking about their round and goes out the next day and does it all over again and then watches golf and watches videos on YouTube. Matt Fitzpatrick is your guy. That's the kind of guy that he is. He's obsessed with the game. Jordan Speath is pretty obsessed with it himself. So again, probably not a coincidence that those two guys out of everyone were the guys left standing at the end of this thing.

My favorite Fitzpatrick story, I remember hearing a couple years ago on a podcast saying when he went to Northwestern, he thought he just got to play golf. He didn't realize he had to go to school. You know, after like the first quarter or first semester, he's like, I'm out of here. I'm not going to school. I gave me here to swing the sticks. Well, speaking of everyone showing up, a huge part of these elevated events, right, is pooling all the top players to generate the money because they are what people want to watch, right?

Now, we can argue about Cantley where he's a needle moving. We'll get into him in a second. And obviously, all this guy showed up. Jordan, Rob just won it. Showed up and took pride and, like, people are like, why don't you quit? He's like, I'm not going to quit. Jordan, easily could have won the tournament. Zander, all these guys.

And Rory, and as of right now, we haven't heard anything. So I think it's fair to assume it's not something, you know, life threatening or someone sick or whatever. It was just fatigue. I don't see there's any way around it. And I get he spoke. He basically became the pseudo commissioner. But it sure seemed like those quotes, the guys were like, what the hell, man? So first of all, I sort of want to reserve judgment until at some point we hear from Rory McElroy.

I assume that'll be in a few weeks when they get to Quail Hollow for the Wells Fargo, championship because you don't know what's going on, whether it's a family issue, whether, look, mental health is is a big issue in today's society. He may have just said, I seriously needed a mental health break after missing the cut at the Masters. With the players, though, like Zander and was it Rom spoke out kind of like they did with, I mean, they know them pretty well. Yeah, I don't know if they would have known that much. But look, that said, And again, I started the preamble with, you know, I'd like to hear from them, but it's a really bad look. It's a really, really bad look for a guy who is taking on a leadership role with the PGA tour,

a guy who's helped construct this schedule, a guy who's on board for everything, a guy who knows that you can skip one of these designated events, but not more without penalty, skip the first one of the year, then goes and skips this one. If I'm another player, if I'm John Rom, especially who just won the Masters and is like, well, I kind of have to go on to the commitment because I'm supposed to go play. And all of a sudden, like, Rory of all people is like, yeah, now I'm just going to skip it. Boy, I do not feel great about that. Again, I want to hear what Rory has to say about it.

But it's a really, really bad look on his behalf. Yeah, and this is ultimately like in football, in basketball, in baseball, there's just a pretty strict set. The games are the games. You play. You show up in golf. it's always kind of been unique, right? It's like kind of pick your schedule. And that's why it was a major change.

And Rory, besides Phil and Tiger is the third richest guy. So it's like he, you know, money losing $3 million to him. Money's all relative. Me, not losing sleep over it. So it's, you just wonder like in the future, guys are tired or guys are tired. And they might just like screw it. You know, that's why I do have a lot of respect for Jordan and Rom. Like you said, Rom just won the thing.

And Jordan was right there grinding to. ass off and then he comes back and he almost wins the thing the next week. Yeah. Yeah. I, I don't quite understand. I mean, Rory played too fewer rounds than everybody else. He had a chance to go home for three or four days after the Masters was over for him. Uh, he didn't have to go play in that, uh, that crap on Saturday. He was done in the better part of the draw even his who was done on Friday early afternoon could have gotten home for four, even five days until he went to Hilton head. Again, I keep saying the same. over and over. I'd like to hear from him and reserve judgment a little bit, but yeah, I don't

quite get it. I don't understand what his thought process is. And again, I know you're rich, you got money, you don't need more money, money doesn't rule everything around you. That said, you're Rory McElroy, and you're essentially saying, I don't want to play Hilton Head, and I'll pay $3 million to not play golf this week at Hilton Head, which is like, that's a weird take right there. Yeah, and the other big story, listen, I'm a relatively fast player. And, you know, when I'm playing bad, it's not a good thing because I get going extra fast. And it's why I have a lot of respect for the Kepka's, the DJs, who just haul ass and play at the highest level.

And even I'd say, you'd know better than me, but like watching Tiger on TV, once he picked a spot, he went, right? Or Phil. Like, it feels like Can't Lay has jumped the shark on the whole thing, right? Obviously, if you're in a weird spot, you got to take some angles, you get a rules official. But it's, you hear these players, once you pick the club, like, what are we doing? And the waggles and them stepping off. And it's, it's gotten pretty outrageous. So, but it feels like you saw some of those shots of Fitzpatrick's caddy.

I mean, playing with them. We saw last year or last week, Hovlin walking. This has to be one of the talking points of the players to each other non-patrick can't land, and Zander, right? Yeah, no doubt. And so I have changed my tune on this over the years. I used to tell people, look, this is not your Sunday morning for some of the local muni where you're a 14 handicapped and you're looking at your putt from all directions

because you got a $3 NASA on the line. They're playing for big money. They're playing for points. They're playing on TV. This is their business. In fact, I like the fact that guys take a little pride in it. And they're not just, let me walk up to the ball and hit it. They're taking their time with it.

I've changed my tune on that a little bit. This is an entertainment product, and quite frankly, they're losing a big part of the entertainment. And I didn't necessarily think so until I started watching Major League Baseball games over the first three or four weeks of the season, John, because I'm a baseball fan. And quite frankly, I've been turned off over the years, especially for a mid-April Marlins Padres game where in the top of the third inning, it's four to one. and some guy steps out of the box three times and the pitcher goes to the rosin and the bat takes 15 minutes and it's like what are we doing like it's just it doesn't matter that much they've sped up those games and for me as a fan my interest levels way up the enjoyment levels way up and i think golf needs to take a hard look at what baseball has done and say we have to do the same thing

i don't know that golf is losing people necessarily because of slow play but they're certain not gaining fans. And I do think that it just an overall sort of speeding up of the entire process. And this is not to single out can't lay because I think he gets more of a spotlight on him because he is very good. He is playing on TV more than others. And he is in that spotlight. But look, it's all got to be quicker. And I used to say, what's the difference? If it's 515 for a three-man group or 445, what's the big deal? All of a sudden, I look at baseball, I'm like, you know what? It is a big deal.

It's about pacing. It's about keeping your interest level. And again, it's about being an entertainment product. I think they've lost a big part of that entertainment product. I saw a lot of people on social media this past week after I was writing about the pace of play, John, say, you know what? I gave up on the 15th hole. I just couldn't watch it anymore. I couldn't do it.

I couldn't invest my time the way I wanted to. And that's a shame because it was a really good tournament. It was a really good ending. and if people won't watch because of guys like Patrick can't like taking too long, something needs to be done. Well, because a simple reality is one of the best players in the world. So more often than not,

he's going to be shown on TV a lot on Saturday and Sunday. And this year he's consistently been in the mix now, right? So he's playing in major groups. You talk to caddies, people around the tour, like beside a penalty, right, or putting you on the clock, which seems like nothing ever happens.

Have you ever heard of a good idea? Like, you know, a clock? I mean, what could you really do besides, actually in force penalties and it feels like a guy like can't lay would then snap. Yeah, a shot clock is they've tried it in European events. I don't know that that's necessarily the answer.

Because the guy's not looking at it like the quarterback, right? Right, right. I don't even know how quite you do that. The AJGA, Junior Golf League that so many young kids play and they do essentially a soccer system, a yellow card red card system. So you get one bad time, you essentially get a warning, you get the yellow card, you get a second bad time, you get the red card, you get docked a penalty stroke.

And so I do think, look, there are holes in place. Unlike baseball, it's not like we need to create new rules. All we have to do is enforce the rules that are out there already and they don't enforce them. They've been there forever and they don't enforce those rules. Again, I thought before watching baseball games, I'm like, come on, all right, maybe you give a guy a one strong. strike penalty for not being in the batters box when he's up in the bottom of the second inning. You're not going to do that in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded. And yet, Major League Baseball has done that. And what's happened is guys know they better be in the box.

And pitchers know they better pitch on time or else they're going to suffer that penalty in a consequential situation. And so Patrick Cantley is playing the 18th hole and he's standing over his shot and he's trying to figure out what to do. And he's taken too long and he's tied for the lead and he gets docked to stroke. oh, well, you know what? You knew what to do. You knew what the time was, and you didn't get it done in that time.

And so I've come around on that, like I said, over the last little while, that something needs to be done. Well, you know, like when a, you know, lobbyist, it happens in Washington all the time, you know, you take care of people so you don't get screwed. It feels a little bit like why Cantlay got on the pack, right? So, you know, he didn't want, you don't want any of that. And he's got to be one of the better players on the pack. You know, you start controlling, you know, the dog of pay. You know where that thing's coming from. Look, they need to get the players to buy in, too.

Look at how much the PGA Tour is done. We talked about designated events already. PGA Tour has done so much over the past year. And granted, a lot of this has been in retaliation of Liv. It's been done to keep up with Live to win fans or at least keep fans from going over to live. But you're marketing yourself as an entertainment product. And that's what you're doing.

You're trying to improve the fan experience. Well, if fans are watching for five hours and 15 minutes and they're falling asleep in their chairs and they're not going out to watch and they turn off their TVs, that's not a good fan experience. You need to change that part of it too. So it's not just about, hey, let's create a schedule where the best players play against each other more often during the year. If they're playing against each other and it's taken way too long, it eliminates that fan enjoyment that you're trying to create anyway. it's unique because you're not you're on separate teams basically as an individual but you all know

each other especially you know speed has been on rider cup teams and presidents teams with them but it gets to the point like you know in all your years being around have you ever seen anyone snap like hurry the fuck up or let's go I mean it's a tough spot for a caddy but I mean you can tell the caddies get really frustrated

yeah yeah a little bit over the air and certainly look pretty rare they're there guys who maybe internally and not not externally. They're like, oh, hey, hurry up, let's go. We heard Brooks Kepka talk about it during the Masters. They were playing in the final group right behind Patrick Cantley. He's like, John Rom went to the bathroom seven times. We never fell out of place. Those are two pretty quick players. Patrick Cantlay, when asked about it, is like, yeah, well, you know, we're waiting on

some T-boxes too. I'm like, come on, man. I always, John, I always like it to traffic. He's like, yes, people, and you go, hey, do you like traffic? Nah, hate traffic. Traffic's the worst. Are you a fast driver? Do you always, you know, make sure that you don't, you know, stop. There's a guy changing a tire on the side of the road. Yep, yep, that's me. You know, I go fast. Well, something's causing the traffic. Nobody thinks they're the culprit and everyone hates it. Let's do something about it. Same thing in golf. No one thinks they're the culprit of slow play, and yet they're playing slowly. Somebody's got to be to blame. Hey, before we get out of here, live Australia. Any thoughts this week? Zero.

I like Camp Smith this week. How's that so? It'd be hard not to, you know, I saw at least when it was like 30 to 1. I was like, you know, last time I bet on Bryson DeCambeau might be my last live bed of all time. So I, yeah, that's that's a one to burn the ticket and get out of there. Did you hear anything when you were at Augusta about some buzz about Greg Norman coming down the home stretch or run and live?

That seems like something out there in the ether. No, all I've heard is that some players may not be as happy with him as, as they think or as Greg thinks they are. I'm sorry to hear also some whispers, but like Harold Varner the Third saying like, give it up, guys. You guys are talking about like, hey, we're going to go grow the game around the world.

We're doing this because they're paying us a lot of money. So this whole like live solidarity thing like, hey, guys, we're going to go change the world. We're doing this together. And we're all buddies and teammates and partners in this thing. That's a little overblown. Not everybody on the PGA tour sees eye to eye on all the issues. And I think we're starting to learn that not everybody on live sees eye to eye on everything as well,

which is, I think, an interesting dynamic in itself. Well, so we'll have a good week. Enjoy the links. If you're going to get out there and play, hang out of your family, do whatever you do. And have a good one. Talk to you soon. Thanks, buddy. Appreciate it.

And yeah, I'll have a lot of fun bet on a three to one favorite this week. Buckle up. Okay, let's bang out a couple questions at Golopod. Out at Golopod is the Instagram. Fire in those DMs. We're out of them. I need you guys firing in there. At Golop pod, fire in there.

Another question for the Golo mailbag. So we know the big time power agents in football, baseball, and basketball, Rosenhaus, Rich Paul, France. Who are the power agents in golf? I have to believe that the big time dudes are pretty much represented by the same two or three agents, much all pro sports. Scott Boris, my bad, confused with Todd France, Dax agent. Well, if you're Dax agent, you're a pretty big agent as well. I would say that for a long time, Steinberg, just because he had Tiger Woods, right?

So Mark Steinberg, who's basically Tiger Woods right-hand man, has represented him for, who knows, a long, long time. I think he went independent, left CIA a long, you know, 20 years ago. And with Tiger, I would say no longer being the lead dog on the tour anymore. you know, Excel, who they represent, you know, basketball, definitely baseball and football players, I think has a lot of golfers. Justin Thomas, I'm pretty sure Jordan Spee, Fitzpatrick, I don't know who the individual agent is. That is a pretty good question for Sobel. I don't have the answers to this, but I'm with you. I would be stunned if they're really not three or four guys that represent the majority of players.

and I would say golf, you know, pretty good life to be an agent. And the NFL is kind of hard because you're constantly dealing with, oh, the coach is mad at me, all we're underpaid, oh, I'm injured, oh, I got in trouble. Like, how many golf guys, like, I'm not saying we all got our own dramas, but relative to basketball, football, baseball, feels like it'd be easier, you know, just from an outside perspective. It feels like it would be a lot easier. currently watching the RBC Heritage,

ROM and especially Speeth clearly care about playing well. I was just wondering what you think the difference is in preparation and effort in this event versus a major. It's not like they aren't trying to win. They clearly care. So what is really the difference?

Well, I don't think there really is a difference because they just spent a month getting dialed in to get ready for the Masters. So their preparation to play high-level tournament golf is already in full go. They've planned, especially those guys, the elevated events, the players, like these guys have been pretty dialed now

for a long, long time. So back to like TPC Scottsdale, the waste management. I don't know if much changed. The only thing they had to manage was their energy. But in terms of their golf, in terms of their golf swing, in terms of the way they're playing,

I think they just probably relaxed on Monday, played the pro am Wednesday, maybe some light practice Tuesday and just let it rip. I mean, I don't think the preparation last week, it was clearly I would imagine much lighter on Monday and probably even Tuesday. But I think it's just keeping your swing dialed. Fitzpatrick played well at the Masters.

Cantlay was playing well at the Masters. Rob just kind of ran out of juice. Speed's playing obviously well. Zander's been playing well. So I think the preparation, it's just lighter. you probably approach it more like a Thursday game in football just but there's still a lot of money in the line and once you start playing you just turn into a competitor.

So yeah, I have a lot of respect for those guys playing their ass off. I am playing the Dallas Cowboys golf course in a few weeks and I'm wondering if I should walk or ride in a cart. It's apparently a very nice course and I usually only play local munis. Should I walk to really get a full appreciation of the course or should I ride and have a more luxurious laid back on the track? My handicap is between a 12 and 15.

Thanks. This is a no-brainer answer for me. I was never the biggest Nick Faldo guy on television as the analyst. But I remember watching a YouTube special. It might have been even a television special before like the Masters or I can't remember exactly what it was. But he brought up a great point. you get a different feel for a golf course on your feet.

Now, obviously, he has someone carrying his back, but get a push cart. Listen, the top courses I've ever played in my life, Olympic Club, a cow club in the Bay Area, I would say, what's an LACC where the U.S. Open is, are definitely, I played Monterey Peninsula Country Club, but I rode in a cart. but I would say Olympic club and LACC I walked and it was fucking awesome so if I ever play Pebble Beach I would 100% walk Now push card I'm cool with but I think walking

If you're playing a nice course If you're playing a venue I walk TPC Scottsdale most days People always like what are you doing I'm like come out here to get cardio man This is I'm not playing on the PG tour I like walking the course Now I like it helps me stay in shape I enjoy walking now I'm not saying I won't ride if I'm hanging out, having beers, whatever.

Like, I'm not opposed to carts. But you're playing a special course. If walking is an option, I think it's a no-brainer. I always think it's the move. You ever play, like, a major-style course, a lot of them make you walk, right? Like, you're not taking a cart,

not like we're ever playing Augusta, but if you ever do, you're walking. Right? You play Olympic Club. You're walking. When I play with some guys I know here at Mesa Country Club. You walk. And it's awesome.

I really enjoy it. So I always recommend walking. I think Faldo's right. There's an essence of golf. If you're truly taking it in. Now, if it's your own country club or Muni that you play all the time, then who cares? But like, you're playing a special course, something, I don't know what the Dallas Cowboys Golf course is.

Imagine it doesn't suck. Say hello to Jerry. And enjoy yourself. Walk. Tell it. Bring cocktail with you. Have a good one. Fire in those DMs.

at Golopod, at Golopod. Have a good week. Zurich Championship, whatever. But we got the PJ Championship right around the corner, so let's dial back in. Adios! Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite.

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