Hammers in the sand at 9 Bridges, Brooksy’s Saudi enthusiasm, and a new KFT schedule

We react to the final round of the men’s major season, celebrating Shane Lowry’s triumph at Royal Portrush. We relay a fun story about Lowry coming up in Irish junior golf in the shadow of superstar Rory McIlroy and then review his work from the weekend to win The Open. We also consider the hot take that this was actually a bad year for major Sundays. Then we get to Lee Westwood’s day of yippy putts and leaderboard watching as he positioned himself for a spot at his happy hunting ground in Augusta. We review who was “most disappointing” from the group of potential chasers, hitting on Tommy Fleetwood’s underwhelming day, Brooksy stuck in neutral, and, uh, J.B. Holmes’ implosion. The Holmes-Koepka pace of play dynamic is given a full account. We hand out a final grade for this Open and then discuss the one thing from the week that we think may change pro golf for generations.

22 Heinä 201959min

This special Saturday edition of the Shotgun Start delivers some instant reactions to the third round of The Open. We begin lamenting the fall of Westy, who put it in neutral for much of the afternoon following a rousing tease in the first five holes. Does he have any hope playing from behind and is there a different game within the game to watch for on Sunday? We review the 54-hole leaderboard and marvel at Shane Lowry’s 63 that has him four shots clear. We nominate some contenders for a chasedown and discuss Brooks’ contentions that no one is hitting it better than him. The second half of the pod is largely devoted to the failed driver test scandal and Xander Schauffele outing other failed manufacturers while also describing why he’s “pissed off” at the R&A. Is this just the tip of the iceberg of a conspiracy that runs deep? Should PGA Tour be testing drivers before every single round? We go at length on the issue before wrapping with our picks to hoist the Claret Jug on Sunday.

20 Heinä 201949min

This special Friday afternoon edition runs through some instant reactions to the first 36 holes at The Open. Andy cannot contain his Lee Westwood excitement with the hard-luck Englishman rising near the top of the leaderboard again. We run down Westy’s chances, as well as the entire top 10, and look for some names outside that group to make a longshot, given the history, run at the Claret Jug. We review the contrast in Brooksy’s and Spieth’s rounds, and who should be the favorite at the midpoint. With the Pace Car in the lead, Flashback Friday goes down the rabbit hole of that one time the R&A handed out a slow play penalty, which Andy attempts to argue greatly helped Phil Mickelson’s career. We spend a segment reviewing Rory’s push to make the cut and his emotional post-round interviews. Tiger’s decision to skip the WGC Swampass is praised but the grading of his week at Portrush is not kind. We wrap with some late breaking news on Xander Schaueffele failing a driver test and Bobby MacIntyre getting into it with Kyle Stanley over his failure to yell “Fore!” We conclude with some quick hitters on the Meth-head uprising in the heartland, Dru Love’s admirable work in Canada, and Carson Daly returning to our golf lives.

19 Heinä 20191h 5min

Brendan and Andy hop on the horn for some instant reactions to the first day at Royal Portrush, but not without first relaying some information exposing the junk science behind the fraudulent physicist’s golf ball ad. Andy also reveals some amusing intel about the physicist hitting seven tee shots into one hole during an Open practice round before finally proclaiming it “impossible.” Then they move to the real action of the day and debate the internal out-of-bounds that ejected Rory McIlroy. They also review Tiger’s day and put forth some compelling evidence of why he SHOULD play the rest of the season, especially at next week’s WGC Swampass Invitational. Lee Westwood’s round is celebrated and given its just due as they examine whether he has the staying power for the weekend. They also consider the nightmare scenario of the Pace Car ruining the Open and playing in the final group on Sunday debating shots in the wind. Would Marty Sleeps ding him with a slow play penalty? They wrap with some “contender or pretender” before Andy attempts to argue that David Duval, of the 20-over 91 first round, played better than Tiger Woods.

18 Heinä 201945min

It’s Open eve and we begin this Wednesday episode full of gratitude and anticipation and  a few reasons why each of us have come to hold this major as our favorite on the men’s schedule. We drive off the cliff and discuss the Barbasol field for longer than we should before getting back on track, reviewing some fun quotes coming out of the pre-championship press conferences. First we go to Brooks Koepka’s quip that he doesn’t practice for non-majors and that the only time you see him on TV is when he’s playing golf. Then we get into a lengthy discussion on Justin Rose’s comments that the new schedule has failed to “protect” the major championships, choosing, instead, to prioritize the FedExCup. We then move to some of our favorite tee times for the first couple days at Royal Portrush, from the stars to the hotheads to some of the tough draws. Before we wrap with our one-and-done picks, we discuss Royal Portrush, it’s stout traits, the weather that may not come, the concept of internal out-of-bounds.

17 Heinä 20191h 8min

This Monday episode begins, apropos of nothing, with a story about Monty. Then we move to the heartland and weekend at the John Deere Classic. We discuss Dylan Frittelli’s career arc and the last player to win on Tour while wearing glasses. We also get into the JDC’s spot on the schedule and if it has been unfairly squeezed. We then move over the Scottish Open and the absolute pillowfight of a playoff, as well as one participant’s odd hat design. Beef Johnston’s last-minute qualification for The Open, as well as his recent disclosure that he’s been battling depression is discussed at length. The no-cut Senior Players meant there were going to be some big numbers at the bottom of the leaderboard, so we go fishing down there for some interesting stories and catch a few. To begin Open week, we go over some vocal critics of Tiger’s scheduling approach, Phil’s “reset” and consistently odd wardrobe, some early course intel at Portrush, and Brooksy perhaps feeling slighted by not being the betting favorite.

15 Heinä 201953min

This Friday episode begins with a review of the early action at the John Deere, where almost everyone (but not Cameron Champ) is living under par. We discuss Bobby Diaz separating himself slightly at the top, Hosung’s miraculously leading in a strokes gained category, and Robert Allenby’s activities around the Quad Cities region. We also discuss some low early scores at the Scottish Open, the yardage hype of the Colorado KFC event, and the revelation that the senior major this week is a limited field no-cut event, which has Andy staggered. We also pass along notes from a listener’s pro-am round with “The Assassin.” Two tweets -- one from Bryson and one from PXG -- get a close reading and critique. In Fan Vote Friday, Jr., we give you some quick notes on DJ Trahan, whose Dad is definitely editing his own Wikipedia page, Chad Campbell, a Hooters Tour legend, and Bronson Burgoon. A glorious Flashback Friday on the Quad Cities Classic focuses on “The Grip,” “The Pool Boy,” and “The Tiger Killer,” who are, oddly enough, all the same person. We wrap with news of Rory Sabbatini getting into The Open.

12 Heinä 201956min

A rollicking Wednesday episode begins by immediately taking a hard left turn off the planned route to discuss the Senior Players Championship, specifically the major getting away from some recent excellent venue choices and intel on Monty’s prep at a local suburban Ohio retail store. We then get into the KFC Tour’s event in Colorado, which gives Andy an occasion to disabuse the notion from overhyped headline writers and tweeters about an event at elevation being on a “monster” course. We then whip overseas to the Scottish Open to discuss the background behind the Renaissance Club, the loaded field, and how they’ve made this proper prep for The Open. The John Deere field gets a full review, which provokes many questions and some harebrained theories on PGA Tour status and building fields and JJ Henry. Fan Vote Friday remains the province of Cam Champ, while Fan Vote Friday Junior is decidedly not. In news, we hit on the odd sequence of events with John Daly ending up at the Barbasol and read an absolutely BRILLIANT theory from an SgS listener on how Brooks Koepka builds his schedule. We wrap with Paulie’s Picks for the Deere, diving in the dumpster to find some lesser-known options and maybe even a four-fingered fisherman from Korea.

10 Heinä 201958min