The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Favorites - Bettor's Guide to The Masters

Episode Date: April 6, 2022

The most mythical of professional golf's four majors, The Masters is an annual rite of spring for golf fans and golf gamblers alike. Today Action Network hosts Chad Millman and pro gambler Simon Hunter welcome Action golf expert Jason Sobel onto the program to cover it all. Together they go through the latest on Tiger Woods, Brooks Koepka and the other heavyweights in the field, plus discussions on Phil Mickelson, first round leader bets, finishing position plays and so much more. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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1-800-889-9-9-9 or visit 1-800-gambler.net in West Virginia. Welcome to the favorites, the podcast from the volume podcast network. I am Chad Milliman, Chief Content Officer of the Action Network, massive, massive sports week. You think coming out of March Madness, we slow down a little bit. But the bang never stops at the Action Network. We've got Major League Baseball opening days this week. You could argue that people are even more excited about the Masters. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

Simon Hunter, professional bitter, my BFF, my companion, my compadre, joining me, as always, my co-hosts. Dude, Masters is sneaky big in the betting world. I'm not going to lie to you. This is a Duke fan. I'm still dead inside a little. I can't say I'm not. It's over. Coach Kay, the worst way it could possibly end.

to UNC. But a really smart friend of mine, a fellow gambler, he sent me something that Buddhist said, in this universe, the only way to create is with destruction. So that's what happens. We got destroyed, but something maybe beautiful will come from it. I can tell you, I haven't moved on. I'm not moved on yet, but thank God for the Masters. I can talk about Tiger all week with other betters. It's just going to be a fun week. I think that's why you just said people are more excited for the Masters than baseball right now. It's just because we all kind of see it, right? We all see this might be the end for Tiger. So this is how we know springtime's here, right, bro?

It is great. And you're right. Jason Sobel, the preeminent golf betting journalist of his generation. He also happens to be an Action Network senior writer. He's got the Links and Locks podcast. He's got the Gimmie, our live show that will preview the Masters this upcoming Wednesday night. The one thing I want to say, even though Duke lost, that was an epic.

college basketball game. Holy crap, that was just so much fun to watch. Do you have a take on the Duke players walking off the court without shaking hands? I'm not a Duke fan, but I was rooting for Duke to win it all because I'm sentimental. I like closure. I like the idea of them winning it for Coach K, even though so many people I know hate Coach K. Do you have a take? It's like the old Jason Kelsey in Philadelphia. Nobody likes us. We don't care. That's what it is with Duke. You're a coward kind of piece of shit if you don't shake the other team's hand after a game like that.

Like that is a great game, was a clean game. Love just hit a clutch three at the most important time. That's why UNC won. So I hated that they didn't shake hands. But who knows what was said, right? That's why I never dread to rush to judgment. To me, though, that's the lowest form of just being a coward. Like look them in the eye, shake their hand after you lose.

Like no one likes to lose. That's why you play the game, though. So I hate it that they didn't shake their hand. I noticed the players walking off the court and they hadn't shaken hands. But I also thought it was like North Carolina immediately went into celebration mode, right? And the players, the North Carolina players weren't lining up to shake hands. They were sort of all celebrating and hugging and they were in the corner. And I think the Duke players, I don't know, maybe I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt because Coach K and the coaches stuck around.

I think the Duke players were like, games over, they're celebrating. I guess we're not doing it, you know, so we're going to leave. Maybe I'm being completely naive. I don't know. I think you're just a nice guy. I think they were just embarrassed. Like, lost to him twice in a row. That was embarrassing.

That's why you and I are ying and yang. We compliment each other so well. You bring the cynicism. I bring the optimism. I bring the benefit of the doubt. You bring the everybody's evil. That's totally cool. Jason Sobel, I feel like he lives in the middle of this world right now.

You're at Augusta right now. I'm jealous of you. You would have the greatest job in sports journalism. I thank all the people that have helped. paid the way to get me to this job. I can't believe you guys are talking about other sports during Masters Week. That's sort of sacrilegious. I've been watching March Madness Hoops the entire time.

I will give up now and not watch Kansas UNC because it's a golf week. It's all golf all the time this week. And I hope you guys are on board with that. I'm 100% on board with that. As the kids say, I'm here for that. I don't think we should do with Dally. I think we should get right into it. We're going to talk about Tiger.

He has had a co-operable. ability to reclaim the narrative about who he is. And it shows you that time heals all wounds. And he has sort of become, again, his beloved figure in the Gulf War. But listen, you wrote a great column. Your master's preview on actionnetwork.com in the Action Network app download for free is always like a must read.

You start off with a very interesting premise, that there are stats that matter and stats that are essentially stupid. you run down the elimination factors, which everybody always does for the master's, take out people who haven't won who have done this, take out people who haven't one have done this, and you can narrow down the field because it's always so hard to do that. Talk to me about your elimination factors right now. Yeah, so I think we look, Chad, at the last 10 years here at Augustine National, no player who's been ranked outside the top 30 has won this tournament.

I think, okay, there's something to that. Does that mean the player who's ranked 31st in the world right now can't win this week and has no chance? Of course not. I think we have to open up some common sense when we do these eliminators. This is a popular little internet gimmick. I'm all for internet gimmicks, especially as far as golf prognostication is concerned in trying to figure out a cutesy way of who can win this tournament. I like the fact that you can look at it that way, but you don't necessarily eliminate

Nate, anyone, you just say, okay, there's there's a much better chance that we will have a world-class player winning this as opposed to a player who's ranked somewhere after the top 30 in the world. You can similarly look at form. Everyone going back to Adam Scott back in, I believe it was 13, has at least three top 25 finishes in that year prior to winning the Masters. And so it tells you, you don't necessarily have to be winning at a Scotty Sheffler-like clip who's won three of his. last five starts, but you at least have to have played pretty well in the three months leading

up to the Masters to come out and play well. And I think that's something that should stand. Does that mean if you've only got two top 25 finishes, you're out and you can't do it? Tony Fee now fits that profile this year. Does that mean he can't win? No, but it means, look, we should probably give more credence to those who have played well so far in the first three months. So that's the kind of stuff that I'm looking at. things that are more than just coincidences that have been trends here over the last decade plus that we've seen from the winners. All right.

So I should set the odds, set the table before I ask you right off the top, who your pick is going to be. I don't want to, you know, I don't want to delay. John Rom right now leader leading the field at 11 to 1, Justin Thomas 12 to 1, Cameron Smith, 14, Dustin Johnson, 16, Scotty Sheffler, 16, Jordan Spieth, 18, 14, Victor Hovland, also 18. Before I give you my pick, I want to go through these odds just a little bit. You mentioned all those. Instead of having one dominant player, instead of, you know, for so long we come to Augusta every year, and Tiger Woods, the prohibited favorite, and anyone else who's out there, you can get a pretty good price on them because Tiger was such a favorite.

so dominant at this golf course. Now, we've essentially got, I think there are 12 players right now. I believe a dozen players, depending on the book you look at and shop around, of course, but I believe 12 players who are 20 to 1 or shorter this week, which makes it, first of all, really tough. There's a lot of parody out there. But secondly, it gives you a lot of decent options, I think. So you can look around my favorite of that bunch this week is Brooks Kepka.

I was not a believer, Chad, after his first month. major championship that he could just go out and play his best golf at a major. That was back in 2017, almost five full years ago. I just thought, okay, well, he had a good week. You won a major. Then he did it twice in 2018. And finally after the third one, I said, you know what? This guy's got a lot of ego, a lot of hubris, a lot of confidence, maybe even cockiness.

And maybe he can just show up at majors, kind of flip the switch and say, all right, I'm ready to go play some great golf right now, and he does it. And so, you know, he, he is essentially the opinion of what Tiger Woods has said for years, which is, I want my game to peak four times per year. And I've spent the last 10, 15 years asking world class players about how do you get your game to peak? My favorite answer was Jason Day was, I don't know, just kind of shrugged at me. You know, it's not like if I'm playing really well in my last event before the Masters that I try to play worse so that I can play better two weeks later. It doesn't really work that way. So Brooks Kepka has figured out a way

to get his game to peak for major championships. I look at a week that we're going to have where it's going to be warm, then it's going to be wet, then it's going to be windy, then it's going to be cold. Mother Nature bringing in all different kinds of elements. He deals with those elements really, really well, just sort of shrugs them off. I like Kepka. If you'd ask me a few weeks ago, a lot of people did. Patrick Kantley was the top by list. Recent form. is not quite where I want it to be. That said, I've only lowered him to number two in my ranking, so I'm going Kepka and then Kantley for my favorite two plays this week.

So why does form not matter for Kepka, but it does matter for Kepka. First of all, it does matter for Kepka a little bit. He's played well this year. I reached the quarterfinals of the match play in his most recent start just a couple of weeks ago, but he's shown that he doesn't need any form at these things. So I like the fact that, all right, first of all,

he doesn't need for him. He can show up and essentially play his best golf, which I've spoken with him about over the years. He's like, well, he's very contrarian when it comes to this stuff. You know, we'll say, you know, man, you must be working at home. No, I don't work when I'm at home. You guys don't know this. And then we'll say, well, you don't work very much. You know, how do you get prepared from the manager? He goes, I'm working so much at home. You guys don't understand. He's sort of a walking contrarian. And yet that's okay. Look, whatever works for him. He builds up this chip on his shoulder, whether he thinks everyone's doubting him, whether he thinks people can't do. He's not on the interview schedule this week here at Augusta National.

And I'm sure he's going to post that interview schedule on his rental house refrigerator and keep referring back to it. The fact that he's being overlooked or overshadowed or something by the people that run this tournament. So look, he's got good form, but he doesn't necessarily need that good form. Patrick Cantley is a guy where, again, Again, I'd like to see some sort of form. He's been 33rd missed cut, then didn't reach the weekend at the match play in his last three starts. That said, his last two wins have come on the heels of not great play either, both the Memorial last year and the Zosso championship the year before.

And so, excuse me, not his last two, but two of his last, I believe four wins have come after he didn't have great form. And so, you know, you can't. I just like to see something a little more. He started the year with four straight top tens. Three starts since then, like I said, not great. But I still like it's not like I'm moving them down to 30th on my list. I've just got them just below kept it number two.

Now, you talk a little bit about the weather. I'm just wondering, is there a way to handicap that with golfing? Like, I know in football, for me, I can find an edge when there's weather for certain teams. There's certain players you look at where it's like, okay, if this guy is a good day, one, when it's nice out, he's really going to pull away when the weather gets better. is that just impossible to really quantify golf? Yeah, there's no real stats. So it's hard when you don't necessarily have the analytics to back it up because, quite frankly, win changes.

So we don't have stats. I would love to see an advanced analytics on some day on Brooks Kepka hitting shots in 10 to 15 miles an hour. And then, you know, where does he rank? Approach shots from 150 to 175 in 10 to 15 miles an hour. I mean, that would be great to be able to look at that. stuff. We don't necessarily have that. And so we're basically using the old eyeball test. And we can look at players. I'll give it. Mark Leachman is a guy. Whenever it's really windy, he's a guy that I look at. He hits a low ball flight. And so when it's windy, he's not getting

it swirling up there in the winds. He keeps it underneath it. And that's the kind of ball flight I like now. We're going to get the combination this week, it looks like, of what we had at the players championship a month ago, which is it's going to rain a whole lot. And then, it's going to get windy. And it's a weird combination. Usually when it's windy, it's dry. And so it gets firm and the ball's going to blow all over the place. When it's wet and it's windy,

you almost lose that combination of, okay, well, hit it low, keep it under the wind. If you hit it low and it's wet, the ball doesn't blow out as much. Now look at the big hitters, most of the big hitters are also high ball hitters and they kind of cancel each other out. So it's a whole long roundabout answer of

yeah, I mean, you can look at these things a little bit, essentially want guys who just aren't unnerved by the conditions. And that brings me back to a Brooks Kepka who's just going to go, yeah, whatever, man, let's go play golf to see what happens. And he isn't going to be affected by it too much. But I might want to look at the players championship last month is at least a decent barometer for who dealt with the conditions pretty well,

who didn't mind it, who relished that challenge, and who sort of scared off by a little bit and just, you know, once it wasn't perfect out for them, didn't have their best stuff. I love it. I love a good weather goal, especially like makes things in the British Open. Every time they play over there,

it seems like it's 20 degrees out, super windy on the coast next to the ocean. The ball is blown all over the place in the rain. But I would love to hear what the tiger factor is for this. Am I getting a bump in a number and a value? Because people are betting on Tiger right now where, again, who knows what that's going to be like? I think it's just a fandom where he's getting the most of the bets,

most of the money's coming on Tiger. is there a tiger factor in the masters where it's like you know what that's not a dumb bet because he does have an edge on this course yeah i think so simon i think that we can look at tiger i wrote him up my preview and again all this has to come with an asterisk we're speaking right now uh late monday morning he said he's a game time decision he's here practicing at augustin national he's on the interview schedule for tuesday i can't imagine that he's going to go through with all this and then not play the event and what we've heard from tiger over the last handful of months is that he's not coming out to be a ceremonial golfer. So if indeed he does deem himself healthy enough to play, and I think he will play, then we should expect him to play pretty well. He's not just going to come out and knock it around for two rounds, get on the jet and be home for dinner Friday night. He's going to go out there trying to play well.

So what I'm looking at, and I'm not necessarily going to suggest that Tiger Woods can go from not hitting a single shot in individual competition for more than 16 months, and all of a sudden show up at Augustine National and win the Masters again. It might be the greatest sports story of all time after he authored one of the greatest sports stories just three years ago. We thought back surgery, multiple back surgeries

coming back from that was a lot. Coming back from a near fatal car accident, almost losing a right leg to win a master's would be unbelievable. But I do think there's some value in Tiger, and I get it. This is going to sound strange because we never would have said this about Tiger back in the day.

Hey, there's value on Tiger for it. top 40. Yeah, no kidding. But Tiger Woods at minus 170, I believe, for a top 40 play this week. And 21 career starts as a professional at this event. He's never finished outside the top 40. So I think that's a very low bar to start with. If you want some sort of Tiger Woods investment and say, look, I'm a better, but I'm also a fan. I want to have a Tiger ticket. I want to be able to root for him. I want my money on Tiger somewhere. I think top 40. is a nice place to start. I've got him in my final rankings,

which I'm still working on right now as we speak, but somewhere in the 20 to 25 range. I really do think it'll be a very, and I consider that a huge success for Tiger. I think that's a major success week for him coming back from, like I said, not having played in 16 months and being able to return to competition and not just play without extreme pain,

not just find his swing, but to be able to beat a lot of the, world's best golfers right now, guys who are half his age, would be really, really impressive. All of that said, I don't know where there's value in bets for him further up down the board, further up the board, because if you look for a top 20, well, I'm saying right now, I think somewhere in the, you know, low to mid-20s is where I've gotten him in my ranking. So I don't think a top 20 player has value. Top 30, okay, sure, you can, you can try that.

I just think top 40 is probably the best value. you the part of this is that his odds, quite frankly, are just so short across the board because he's the, as you guys know, the New York Yankees, he's the Dallas Cowboys, he's the Los Angeles Lakers, he's the popular play that everybody wants to have a ticket on just in case, and that's what keeps his number so well. Well, look, I want to remind everybody, you're going to go much deeper on betting and DFS with links and locks, our podcast, that'll be out probably Tuesday, again, we're recording this Monday mid-morning.

The Tiger thing, I do want to dig in on that just for one more second because, look, in the middle of this tournament, in the middle of this hype, like everyone is anxious for Tiger to come back. Everyone is rooting for him to come back from this leg injury. And the trajectory of him in public life, I feel like there is just so much warmth and love and sentimentality. for Tiger because of the way he's managed his career later in life. What do you see from him personally that helps contribute to this change and sort of attitude towards him? You know, I was with a bunch of colleagues last night, Chad, and we were all talking about, we're actually talking about Phil Mickelson.

I said, you know, I think society has changed a lot. And this is a bigger, a bigger question, a bigger topic than just Tiger and just golf. But I think society has changed a lot over the last 20, 30, 40 years that we used to root for our heroes. We used to cheer for our heroes. I think there's this sheddenfroidistic opinion now of people that, you know, hey, you're rich, you're famous, you've had a great life. And society almost wants to bring you down a little bit.

You guys were talking about Coach Kay earlier and how many people dislike Coach Kay and they wanted them to lose the final four before we retired. And I feel like a generation, two generations ago, people would root for the legends of whatever sport they were in to have more success. And so the fact that Tiger has gone from absolute hero, absolute legend, to having a personal downfall, to being very mortal in the eyes of a lot of people and having faults and not being infallible by any means, to going back to, okay, well, now he's, he's, he's He's a legend again.

And I don't know that you can find a person who isn't rooting for Tiger Woods. I mean, this is this is a person who's been very, very mortal over the years, you know, off of the golf course. And we've sort of lived through everything with Tiger a little bit. And what we find from now is that he's more human, it's more personable. He's a father now. He takes that role, at least from an outsider's perspective, as seriously as any role that he's taken on the golf course. And so we look at him, we go, you know what? We see a little bit of ourselves in him. Hey, we've all grown a little older. We've all gone through a metamorphosis in

our lives. We've all gone through changes. We've all done stuff that we've regretted. We've done stuff that's been stupid. Then we kind of come back and say, boy, I'd like to see him have success. And so I guess the main point here is that we don't always these days in society root for those heroes, those legends to continue to have that type of success. The fact that Tiger is essentially, you know, if he's in contention, if he could somehow win this tournament or any tournament, again, would tug on the heartstrings of nearly everybody out there watching. It would be pretty remarkable if you did.

Yeah, there's just, it feels like there's a lot more humility with him. And he talks much more openly about the challenges of coming back, specifically, I think seeing him break down a little bit, has helped reframe people's opinions of him, to be honest. And then the flip side of that is you open the door on Mickelson. And I do want us to run down like top five, top 10, top 20 long shots, but you open the door on Mickelson. And obviously, he's a guy who has had nothing but goodwill his entire career. This is the first major, the first huge event in golf since the way he handled the Saudi tour and the comments he made to Alan Shipnuck about sort of Saudi politics, their human rights abuses, and why he can dismiss all that. What is the reaction right now was all of you gather in Augusta to the film?

narrative. Bewilderment, I think, is maybe the, the most characterizing way that I can put it. I'm not sure as fellow players understand. I spoke with the player recently who is friends with Phil, plays a lot of golf with Phil. Had texted Phil said, hey, how you doing? Everything? Okay. Phil essentially wrote back, yep, all good.

And so I don't know that anyone knows what to think right now. I mean, you know, I was sitting at dinner last night with a lot of colleagues who have a lot of inside knowledge. We have no idea if he's suspended from the PGA tour or not. We have no idea if he might play the PGA championship and defend his title next month or not. We have no idea if Augusta National suggested that he not play this week or not. I don't know exactly what Phil, what's going on with Phil right now. I have a feeling that whatever is out there is probably only the tip of the iceberg and that there might be more coming out. And he's suggested as much when he wrote up his quote unquote apology,

which didn't really quite apologize for anything. But, you know, quite frankly, I don't know what to think with Phil right now. I'd assume that at some point he comes back and we look at it. We go, all right, well, you sort of staged a coup against the PGA, too. Or you sort of, you know, tried to bring all your fellow elite level players to a government-backed Saudi-based league that, you know, has done some, some heinous, heinous things as a terrible human rights record.

And so, you know, a lot of it's being done for money, even though Phil says, you know, look, we're trying to tell the PGA tour, you know, how things can be done a little bit better. And we're trying to have our own rights and things like that. But I quite honestly, Chad, I have no idea what to think of where Phil is right now. what Phil's doing, what's he thinking? Is he planning a return, a comeback to professional golf soon? Is he out for the rest of the year? Is he out for the rest of forever? I mean, will he ever tee it up on the PGA tour again?

Will we see him in a study league event in a couple months? I don't know the answers to any of those questions. I don't think anyone does except for him and maybe only him. Chad, let's go on something a little softer here. Jason, what's your top five, top 10, top 20, like Chad was talking about, Some good long shot. Yeah, top five, I don't have a great long shot for you. Probably the biggest long shot I've got is Will Zalotaurus.

And I look at him very much in the same vein that I look at. Jordan Speeth, who, you know, we only see have a narrative. You need to have experience at Augustin National. This is a place where you've got to play the master six, seven, eight times before we really figure out this golf course and this tournament. Jordan's beat figured out pretty early. And I feel like Will Zalotoris in his first start last year, runner up to Hideki Matsuyama.

He's sort of figured it out a little bit too. And it doesn't mean that he's going to finish right up there every single year. But he's a tremendous ball striker. And I look at him and I don't have a whole lot of long shots in that top five right now. So I'm not going to give you guys too far down the board. But I do think that Zalotor is the guy that can back last year's runner up finish with another title contention this year. As far as top 10, look, you guys who and Simon, I want to speak to you.

but Chad I know isn't paying tremendous attention to golf on a regular basis. I know he's a golf fan, but I know he's not a golf nut studying and researching every single week. And so those of us who do, we're almost a disadvantage for this one because we'll look at Tony Feene out this year and go, well, his best finish is a share of 19th place. That was three months ago at a shortened field. And the ball striking numbers are okay, but they're not great. and he really hasn't done much since that win in the FedEx Cup playoffs last year. It's been a while now.

And those who sort of helicopter in and only pay attention to the majors will look at a big number next to Tony Finau's name go, he's good. I like him. I'm going to pick him. And I think that works out this week. I think you forget everything that you've learned over the last three months. I think there's almost an advantage in having less knowledge about what's going on with his games. He's got three top tens and four career starts at this event.

And I do like him this week. I think he's a kind of guy that can turn his game on when he needs to. And it hasn't been terrible. It's not like he's playing terrible golf coming into this. Finished in the top 30 last week at the Valero, Texas Open. Okay, that's not saying a whole lot. But at least it's not like he's missing cuts every week. Then for a top 20, if I was to tell you guys,

the best ball striker, the best iron player on the PGA tour so far this season is not Colin Morikawa, it's not Justin Thomas, not Will Zell, Torres. It's Russell Henley. And Russell Henley is a guy who's due for what a lot of people call the positive regression, sort of the oxymorotic term that always comes out in the analytics world, which is essentially, I look at him like a Major League Baseball pitcher who's 7 and 12 with a 270 ERA. And he say at some point, look, the numbers are there. He's pitching well. He's just not getting the help. He's not getting the luck. I mean, Henley's a a guy who last year at the Wyndham Championship led for three and a half rounds, wound up

missing a put to get into a playoff and finished in T7. That's never happening before in the last 20 years. The fact that you could lose by one and not cash a top five ticket, Henley's had a whole lot of bad luck like that over the last couple of years. I think that he's due for some good luck. I've got him just for a top 20 this week, but top 10 wouldn't surprise me whatsoever. for the record. You nailed it.

I'm not, I'm not, you know I'm going back to it. I'm not digging into the golf stats week to week because we have you and we have like Josh Perry. And we've got an entire team of people that are doing it. All I have to do is read what you guys write, watch the guinea,

listen to links and locks, and I'm done. That's, that's all I have to do. That's why we hired a great team, Jason Sobel. I appreciate you hiring me. They really do.

First round leader. Give me a first round leader. Okay. So I will start my first round leader play by telling you that I like everything about Sam Burns this week. I like Sam Burns for second round leader, third round leader, and maybe even final round leader, which is also called the Masters champion. He is in a marketplace where it just seemed like almost everybody's too short. Sam Burns number is twice as much as it should be this week, at least from an outright perspective.

He is 50 to 1 I saw this morning. He is the 11th ranked player in the world right now. He won in his last start at the Valspar championship. Start before that at players, he was right there in contention, played in the final group or second to last group on that Monday afternoon before shooting the final round 76. The kid is really, really talented, 25 years old.

The only thing I can find in that, why he is, why his odds are as long as they are is the fact that he hasn't played this event before and passed. So we all know no Masters Rookie has won this event since Fuzzy Zeller back in 1979. It's been an awfully long time. It doesn't mean they can't do it though. I mentioned Will Zalotaurus earlier. I mentioned Jordan Speed who took to this event very quickly. I can see Sam Burns jumping out there playing really well on Thursday and then playing well throughout the weekend. So I like him for outwrites. I've bet them already for outwrites. Really like him for first round leader, though, because he's a quick starter. Finished 16th on the PGA tour last season

in round one scoring average. He's 12th already this season. Plays well on Thursdays. Plays well usually on Friday, Saturdays and Sundays as well. So he's a guy that I like for full tournament, but especially first round leader bets. Isn't what player are you avoiding? Are there a couple of guys you're avoiding in this tournament? You know, it's funny. Simon, I just saw a colleague a few minutes before we start talking and he said, hey, you like this week. I gave him a couple names and said, how about you? Who do you like? And he gave me a name that I had mentioned and said, you know, there's really not many players in the top 30, top 40 that you look at this week. Oh my God, I can't believe you're picking him. He's terrible. There are a lot of really good players

and you can make a case for most of them. Bryson de Shambo for me is a very easy fade. I think he's an easy fade for most people, which is why his number has drifted so much. I believe he was 20 to 1 at this time last week, following another miscut at the Valero, Texas opening is now as high as 40 to 1. And so I think some people might look at that and say, okay, I'm getting a little bargain now on Bryson. You know, I'm essentially getting half off on my Bryson ticket. Why don't I go out there and have a little investment on Bryson the Shambo this week where look, maybe it'll bash it around and maybe no one expects them to play well. I just don't see it happening. I think more injured than he's,

he's letting on. I think that he's got all these other things. He's filmed a dude perfect video around Amen Corner, which just blows my mind for about 20 different reasons. But the fact that he's just not in any sort of form, he doesn't have 100% health right now. I'm staying away from Bryson, but there are very few players in that top 30, like I said, where if you brought up their name right now, I'd say, no, absolutely not. I can see it. I can see the pros. Maybe there's some cons,

but I can see the pros on a whole lot of players. All right. So is there one, before we let you go, is there one final long shot we should be thinking about? There's a guy, and I talked about this being a ball strikers golf course. There's a guy who's third on the PGA tour this season in strokes gain T to Green. Now, I don't know that Luke List can go win this golf tournament.

I don't know that I want to bet him outright. He's got a big number next to his name right now. He's about 130, 150 to 1. But he won at Torrey Pines earlier this year. Like I say, he's good ball striker. He's doing the proverbial sleeping in his own bed this week. So he's got a little narrative street there. And I think he can have a really good week.

He hasn't played his best golf since that victory back in January. But if you're looking for a guy who's completely off the radar, and this might be less for outrights than maybe a couple of props. You see him some matchup plays. You want to play a DFS lineup. need a guy who's a little, who's a little cheaper down the board. You look at Luke List. I think you can have a nice week this week.

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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 behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast.

It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right what you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes.

Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people.

I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little kill? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack.

I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. so I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah.

For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In the 2022, just download the Fandulis Sportsbook app to get 30 to 1 odds on Spieth, McElroy or Dustin Johnson, just to make the comment. at Augusta. Fanduel Sportsbook, official betting operator, partner of the PGA Tour. You must be 21 and over and present in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, or West Virginia. Must wager in designated offer market, max bet $5.5. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fandul.com. Gamble problem? Call 1-800 next step or text.

Next step to 53342 in Arizona, 1,800 gambler or visit fanduel.com slash RG in Colorado, Indiana, New Jersey, and Virginia, 1 8887-9-77, or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut, 1,800-2707117-1-7-1-7 for confidential help in Michigan. Call the Tennessee Red Line 1-800-9-9-9 or visit 1-800-gambler.net in West Virginia. There's a recipe for getting your car running just right. And whatever you're cooking up in the garage, you'll find what you need at eBay Motors.com. They have over 122 million car parts and accessories in stock, all at the right prices. And that can help you turn your ride into something really tasty.

The parts you need are just a click away at eBaymotors.com. Let's ride. I'm always upgrading my car. Not because I need to, because I want to. Today, it's custom rims from my ride. Tomorrow, it might be a new driver's side seat cushion. And eBayMoters.com always has what I need. They've got over 122 million car parts, all at the right price.

That's perfect for me, because I'm a car guy. Are you still in the garage? It's two in the morning. Uh, almost done. Okay, I'm a car fanatic. eBay Motors, let's ride. So you're in the garage working on your car. And you need the valves you bought last week.

You look in the cabinets and on the shelves. But the parts are never in the right place. eBay Motors has the car parts you need. Over 122 million of them all in one place and all at the right prices. Find parts for everything from your classic coupe to your brand new truck at eBaymotors.com. Let's ride. What I really want to know is, so like I said, it's Monday afternoon. And you've mentioned a couple times, you know, having chit chats with your friends in the golf media world.

Mm-hmm. So tonight, tomorrow night, Wednesday night. Mm-hmm. You guys just all like go to some dinner and some restaurant that every year you go to the same place in Augusta, get to gossip about stuff in golf. Like, who do you go? What do you do? Tell me. I need some use.

So as you know, Chad, I'm also doing Masters Radio this week, which is going to be on Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio's usual channel, as I always do, hosting my hitting the Green Show on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday. And then starting on Thursday, I'll be doing reports during our pregame show. I'll be doing player interviews, post-round interviews during the live broadcast coverage. You've got Mike Tariko posting the play-by-play and Curtis Strange is our analyst in the booth. and then I will be hosting the post-game show on Master's Radio with our buddy, Drew Stoltz, the Slees.

And so in any case, I'm hanging out with that whole crew all week. We have a few houses. All the houses are nearby. We'll hang out at somebody's house each night and maybe have some dinner. I believe we've got catering this year, which we haven't had in the past, so we don't have to go find a busy restaurant. We went out to a Buffalo Wild Wings last night. It took an hour to get a seat. And that was only a Sunday night in Augusta, so you can just,

imagine how busy it is trying to get out somewhere else on any other night past that. So I believe we'll have catering this year. I can tell you, I've come a long way from, I believe the first masters I covered, I stayed the comfort in those three and a half miles down the road. And I walked to and from the golf course every night and grabbed a couple of green wrappers sandwiches on my way out the door and like eight sandwiches in this dirty hotel room. And I'm now staying in nice houses with friends. colleagues and eating catered food. So that to me is a master's victory, Chad.

You know what? I didn't even know we were going to get that story. Outstanding. That's a Jason Sobel victory right there. Jason Sobel, in addition to all your duties for Action Network and Serious, don't forget, check out the links and locks podcast. Check out the Gimmie. Thanks for joining us, buddy. This was very enlightening for someone who's only going to dip into golf as you casually blame me of doing. This is exactly why I do it because I get everything I need. So you're welcome. Have fun helicoptersing in. Those of us who do this on a weekly basis, we invite you to come join us every single week, but enjoy this week. This is the best week of the year. It really is. Well, that's kind of how I live my life. Dip in when I feel like I want to

and then go about my merry way for my BFF, Simon Hunter, for our brilliant producer, Matt for Jason Sobel. I am Chad Millman from the Action Network. Download the favorites from Apple Podcasts from Spotify, wherever you get your podcast. Rate, review, subscribe, give us five stars. Say whatever you want. Feedback is a gift.

Until next time, love you. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David. David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and headwriter, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me.

I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. Before it was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart 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'm saying. Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the 4th. seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfilts of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Imagine an Olympics where do 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 IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed human.