Ep154: Ian Baker-Finch retires, Cam Young's Killer Final Day for his First PGA Tour Win, and a Royal Melbourne 'Open Update'

Great message from Mick from the UK this week that we thought we'd explore a bit. Mick has asked Nick and Mark to give their Top 5 courses in the world, so we thought we'd run through them. In classic Talk Birdie style, the Top 5 becomes a Top 6 from each of them. And in Nicks case, one of the courses may have been influenced by the wine he was drinking at a house on the course - he explains on the pod. And what course does he describe as a 'living, breathing, parcel of land' ? Mark tells the story of why he never got to play Augusta....interestingly, also related in part to drinking (responsibly of course).And we wrap with an email from David in Western Australia who has some comments about bad behaviour on the golf course.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;PING will help you play your best;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

19 Jun 25min

What. A. Weekend. The US Open had everything. Drama, comebacks, fadeouts, bad weather, amazing shots, and on the final day at various times any one of half a dozen players were a genuine chance to win. So good.We do of course start the show by talking about the US Open and the incredible win of J.J. Spaun. Mark talks about how Spaun describes himself as a 'bad luck golfer', but he made his own luck at Oakmont. That final putt was unbelievable. We discuss the comments that his coach made to him during the rain break about 'trying too hard', and Mark compares Spaun's actions in the break to Minnesota Fats in the movie The Hustler. Nick muses about what the scores might have been had the greens been firm, and we talk about that drive on 17 from Spaun.We discuss Adam Scott, a real chance going into Sunday and unfortunately a tough final round so he didn't finish the way he'd have liked. Mark described it as 'brutal to watch'. Nick and Mark discuss Scotty's reputation as a bit serious vs the reality of their experiences with him, and Nick explains why he 'hates Adam Scott'.Nick and Mark give their view on the Sam Burns relief (or lack of) ruling on Sunday, and Mark says whilst the ruling may have been technically correct, it means the rule is wrong.Nick forgot to put his phone on mute before the pod, but it works out well as he gets a text from US Tour Pro Austin Truslow who played the US Open, so we decide to call him back live and have a chat. Austin explains what playing Oakmont was like, how he approached it, and about hitting balls with J.J. Spaun on the Monday prior. Nick asks Austin what a 5-handicapper would shoot at Oakmont.There was some bad behaviour at the Open. Namely Rory McIlroy and Wyndham Clark. We discuss.In light of Spauns stunning winning putt, the Top 5 from Nick is the 5 greatest shots ever made to win their first mens major. Has he missed one? Competition time. Let us know if there is one Nick has missed and he will choose one wolkfpacker to win a Talk Birdie Prize Pack with $250 to spend at the Golf Clearance Outlet (instore or online) and a team entry into the Golfies 2-person Ambrose event, with the major prize a 25 grand trip to Thailand. Find out details and enter here. Remember - discount code 'Birdies' gets you 40% off your entry.As you'd imagine, feedback is heavily on the US Open today, but Dan gives Mark a whack for fighting with wolfpackers on social media. Mark defends himself saying that some people deserve to be whacked and he is happy to do it. PING globals from Nick, obviously Oakmont, but plenty of other great performances going on including an amazing result from a 15 year old women's amateur beating the pros ! And on Saturday Adam Scott showed some exceptional bunker play, and Marks masterclass today is on Scotty's bunker shots.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;PING will help you play your best;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

18 Jun 56min

Andrew from Canada is watching Day 4 of the US Open, which at the time of publishing this is still wide open - Burns, Scotty and Hovland the three most likely at this stage, let's hope the rain doesn't get any heavier. But, to Andrew's message - he left a voicemail thanking Nick and Mark for the Fathers Day (in the US) 'present' that they gave him.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;PING will help you play your best;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

15 Jun 1min

Brett from Brisbane (like most of us) watched day one of the US Open and had a couple of thoughts on Nick O'Hern and Mark Allens predictions following the first day, so he left a voicemail.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;PING will help you play your best;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

13 Jun 46s

Some cracking questions from Talk Birdie To Me wolfpackers this week, and Nick and Mark love chatting through them in our feedback pods.Craig is having issue off the tee, he is shanking it, and asks for a few thoughts from the boys....they have some solid advice.David sometimes gets distracted when he's over the ball if he sees some movement in his vision, and this is throwing him off....asks how Nick and Mark would deal with that. Tom loved Nicks story about having breakfast with Jack Nicklaus, if you haven't heard it you can watch it here. And Perry loves the idea of a bonus pod on the Troppo Tour, wants to hear some stories. Mark says that we have to get Wayne 'Radar' Riley on the pod to tell some stories.After the turn, we head to Wanaka in New Zealand to chase to wolfpacker Scott, who asks the boys about maintaining focus when you are playing well. Nick gives some great advice, Mark tells a brilliant story about tour pro Wayne Smith essentially helped him get another three years on tour by doing what Nick advocates, and then Scott is keen to know how Nick managed his mental focus when he was playing Tiger Woods. Great questions, great chat. We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;PING will help you play your best;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

13 Jun 19min

It's US Open week and you'd think we'd start the show talking about that, or maybe about Ryan Fox's win in the Canadian Open, but no. Mark has found a new emoji that he likes and that's what he brings to the table to open the show with. Seriously Talk Birdie To Me used to be a serious golf show, we have jumped the shark. Even worse, the emoji doesn't mean what Mark thinks it does....awkward.But onto the US Open! Mark loves the week, and says even though the course is set up to be brutal and unreasonable, he loves watching it. He asks Nick what a 9-marker playing on Thursday would hypothetically shoot at Oakmont. Sobering. Nick talks about how difficult the course is, and was when he played it. The rough is juicy and the greens quick, and Nick expects that there is a chance the winning score may be level par saying the course is a war of attrition.Don't forget our Talk Birdie To Me multi at Betr - 16 bucks for Scheffler top 3, Ludvig to beat Rahm, and Straka to miss the cut. Get on here.We then discuss Ryan Fox's Canadian Open win, and the playoff particularly which was enthralling. Nick and Mark would have preferred rather than a par 5, a 4 or 3 hole for the playoff.Serious time. Mark gives an investigation on the ludicrous Top 100 Golf Course ranking list.Mark and Dan have been watching a new series called Stick about a former golf pro, Nick hasn't seen it yet. See the trailer here, it's good fun and worth a look. Mark is also excited about Happy Gilmore 2 which is 6 weeks away, Nick will watch it but isn't as excited and feels it looks pretty ordinary.After the turn a selfish Top 5 from Mark. His 5 things that he is most excited about in golf at the moment. Controversial though, as Dan accuses Mark of telling porky pies, and Nick provides clarity over one of his entries that cast doubt for Mark as to whether it should be on the list.Huge week of results in the PING globals from Nick, plenty of feedback on the Top 100 list - unsurprisingly given how terrible it is, and Mark suggests a movie about David Graham's life would be brilliant to see, and reveals a fact about him that not too many people would know.And in the masterclass today, Nick discusses why good rhythm is good golf, and why he uses a metronome.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;PING will help you play your best;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

11 Jun 58min

Today we preview the US Open this weekend, how exciting is it! Mark has come specifically dressed in green or, as he puts it, the colour of money. That's because he is convinced that Straka is still getting no respect, with Hummer and the Betr team putting him at 67 bucks. Mark says they clearly don't know what they're doing.Mark's also watched a video on YouTube of Bryson at Oakmont, and says it is worth the watch. See it here.But onto the US Open - Oakmont, a tough course, Nick has played it and says it is 'scary' how difficult the course is. He also talks about playing US Opens and one of the reasons he loved them was that he knew at some point about half the field would lose their mind and their game would collapse. Nick says the USGA has two goals for the US Open, when they construct the courses, he tells us what they are and why they do it. Mark and Nick discuss the small fairways at Oakmont, and Nick talks about the rough and how thick it is, and what that means for some players.We run through the power rankings, a couple of surprises, and we look at the Aussies (and Ryan Fox) and discuss their chances. Mark says Cam Smith's swing is in bad shape, the worst he has seen it.After the turn....we build another Betr Multi. And it's a lazy chance.Scheffler to finish Top 3 - surely as close to a lock as you can be!;Ludvig Åberg to beat Jon Rahm - a good shot, certainly not a lock, but not out of the question;Straka to miss the cut.Mark is unhappy with the final leg, but Nick and Dan rate it.That's our Talk Birdie To Me multi, only available at Betr - download the app, or go the the website, it takes literally 90 seconds to set up an account, click on Betr Specials, and the Talk Birdie To Me multi is there.Enjoy the Open !We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;PING will help you play your best;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

10 Jun 27min

After Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen asked Tour Pro Scott Laycock to get in touch with his memories of the 2001 Australian Open, Scotty shot us a message on socials which we read out on Fridays pod, and he then left a voicemail talking about it which fleshed out what happened in that tournament a little more. Scotty also commented on the story Nick and Mark discussed regarding José Luis Ballester having an unscheduled bathroom break on Rae's Creek at The Masters and recounted a story of his own that cost him dearly when he was on tour.We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;PING will help you play your best;Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

8 Jun 3min