A TGL opening night content bonanza, amusements, and impressions

This is a different style episode for the Shotgun Start, focusing on the final round of the U.S. Open the last time it was at Winged Foot. The episode features clips from an interview with Geoff Ogilvy, the 2006 champ at WF, and some of the calls from the NBC broadcast on a day when Johnny Miller’s fastball was touching triple digits on the radar gun. In addition, we celebrate the many facets of this particular championship that align with the SGS oeuvre. Andy and Brendan set up the world of golf coming into that national championship, recall some now-forgotten moments, embrace the fashion peculiarities, discuss the brutal test that is Winged Foot West, and spotlight some of the critical moments that got it done for Ogilvy. Then there is considerable time spent on the collapses of Colin Montgomerie, Phil Mickelson, and a few others who may have escaped the infamy over time.

15 Huhti 20201h 43min

Brendan and Andy return from the weekend with our golf appetites satiated in a way by the Masters Rewind on both ESPN and CBS. We discuss why this worked from the minor details to the obvious advantages, and if it is at all replicable for events that are less prestigious. Why are we not seeing more of these real-time lookbacks with player interviews and just more experimentation from the Tour? In news, we hit on the Tour’s plan for fan-less events and spotlight some of the achievements and quirks of Doug Sanders, who passed away over the weekend. Then we go back and forth on 10 events that would be the hardest to part with in the remaining year, or which 10 we most want to see for either giggles, intrigue, or schadenfreude. Finally, we conclude by knocking off a few more AMA questions on topics from a hypothetical Brooks vs. Ernie fight, TopTracer convincing every junior to hit a fade, hotel bed preferences, the SGS target audience, the infamous lost guest tape, and why we rarely have guests at all.

13 Huhti 20201h 12min

It was a long week for Brendan and Andy, who are walking wounded into this Friday episode and just start talking about a sundry of topics before moving to some more AMA questions. First up is Andy’s harrowing fence problem at home. Next comes Tiger’s inability to do puzzles at his home. Then comes the overengerized Bryson and his huffing and puffing backyard range session. In the AMA portion, we respond to questions on Vijay vs. Phil, our favorite vegetables, the decrepit equipment in our golf bags, filming a one-on-one match, venues for a WGC tour, why we don’t have merch, favorite Outback menu items, and a critique of us for goofing on JJ Henry.

10 Huhti 20201h 21min

This Wednesday episode begins with some brief news on Bryson releasing a fancy video with his Masters scripting despite the fact that there is no Masters this week. We also discuss the Masters field being finalized right now at 96 players, even though the tournament will not be played until November. Then our SGS Spotlight focuses Fred Couples. We dive into his upbringing in a middle class neighborhood in Seattle, learning to play at a local muni, and eventually working his way to Houston. His two Players wins, his Masters victory, and his peak years as the world No. 1 force are given the treatment. We also review the critiques from his contemporaries about his apathy, absentmindedness, and aversion to practicing. His struggles, both with tragedy in his personal life and with his injured back, are also discussed as consistent themes that kept popping up in research. This was an enjoyable one on Boom Boom, aka Mr. Skins aka the Czar of the Silly Season.

8 Huhti 20201h 42min

This quick pop-up podcast takes on the wave of schedule announcements that came from the various organizations on Monday. Eamon Lynch, a columnist at Golfweek and contributor at Golf Channel, reported on the discussions between golf’s organizing bodies last week and that reporting came official on Monday. Eamon discusses the process of the PGA Tour, R&A, USGA, PGA, and Augusta National coming together to create a makeshift schedule for the rest of 2020 immediately after The Players was abandoned. We discuss the R&A’s decision to cancel The Open and how the delay in reaching that caused some tension at the end of an otherwise collegial process. We also discuss the USGA’s “creativity” in the process, from cutting down its field to considering Riviera as a 2020 venue, as Eamon reported on Monday. And finally we consider what further changes may be coming and how tenuous this current schedule may be for the rest of the year. Thanks to Eamon for joining us for this interview.

6 Huhti 202026min

A break from the SGS Spotlight pace of the past couple weeks to follow up on a call for Ask Me Anything questions from the end of February. We tried this back around the holidays of 2018 with relative success and had planned one even before golf went on hiatus. We pore through your questions, in part 1 of what will be an attempt to answer every single one even if it is dodgy reply. We discuss mostly golf, our ideal major rota, what the Tour will look like after this crisis, our favorite fruits, the origins of this podcast, 5-year-olds saying the f-word, the best time zone, our past occupations, and if Andy has ever been to the zoo.

6 Huhti 20201h 15min

This portly Friday episode begins with the latest news on what may come of a 2020 men’s golf schedule. We cover Golf Digest’s report that The Open will be canceled, and then review Eamon Lynch’s wide-ranging report on the initial plans for shuffling around the Masters, FedExCup, Ryder Cup preparations, and a potential west coast U.S. Open. Paddy Harrington’s plea for 12 captain’s picks and a Ryder Cup committed to 2020 is also discussed. Then we get to our SGS Spotlight subject, Curtis Strange. Is he the player of the 80s on the PGA Tour? We proffer some nuts-and-bolts facts on a great career, hit on his outrageous title winning moment in college, and then his rise up the money lists and at the majors. We relay some legendary stories about his redass instincts and hot-tempered outbursts that got him in trouble even with Arnold Palmer early in his career. The back-to-back U.S. Opens are discussed in detail -- the playoff win over Faldo and that “Soak Hill” Sunday run to put him in company with Hogan. The ‘85 Masters he nearly (or should have) won after shooting an 80 in the opening round is also covered in detail. The Ryder Cup pressure and ignominy of 1995, which resulted in heckles about choking for years is recalled via some vicious Rick Reilly columns. Reilly also humorously pops Strange for his mishandling of Sunday singles as captain in 2002. *That* Tiger Woods interview is also debated before a closing discussion on his legacy and HOF credentials.

3 Huhti 20202h 5min

This Wednesday episode begins with news of a PGA Tour memo to players indicating that they should still plan to be back in action at Colonial in mid May. The memo also, per reports, outlined details of field increases and more opposite field events to maximize playing opportunities when the season resumes. The new pace of play policy, however, is pushed off to next year and this, along with a deluded memo that the Tour may resume in mid May, has us aghast. What also has us aghast is a Valero Texas Open all-time power rankings that put Charley Hoffman No. 1 ahead of Palmer, Snead, and others based on … all-time earnings. Then we get to our SGS Spotlight of the day, focusing on Woosie’s nearby boyhood rival, Sandy Lyle. This is a fun deep dive into Lyle’s upbringing, his hyped amateur days, his peak run at the top of the Order of Merit, and his quick-strike efficiency picking up two majors and a Players in an otherwise underwhelming record at those “big events.” A career intertwined with Nick Faldo is closely examined from their earliest days to their distinctly different personalities to their rise as two British legends. The quirks of the ‘85 Open and the improbability of the ‘88 Masters are discussed, as well as the circus atmosphere of his ‘87 Players. Some fun stories about his propensity for skipping range warm-ups, the late-career tiff with Monty over a Ryder Cup captaincy, and once drinking four glasses of wine before unexpectedly making a playoff are also among this reliving of the Lyle legend

1 Huhti 20201h 52min