Talk Birdie Mini: Disaster Has Struck With a Terrible 'Curry-Based' and 'Flu' Incident Impacting Tour Pro Selections

Todays pod starts with a discussion about Aaron Rai, clearly an excellent player, and a big win at the weekend in Abu Dhabi for him - however Mark tells Nick that Aaron 'makes me laugh', and he explains why. One of the reasons is wearing two gloves, and Nick explains why he does.That said, a fantastic win at the weekend by Aaron, at a course Mark describes as a 'fake links course', and he has a theory on what any 'fake links course' needs to do in order to improve the look of the course. He compares the Yas Links course and how it looks to how Tara Iti and 7 Mile Beach look. We discuss the tournament and the 'brutality' of the course, and look at some of the stats from a number of players. Plenty of great performances.Mark brings up the World Wide Technology Championship, and in particular one Tour Pro who made the cut and had a shocker on one of the Par 4 holes shooting 12. Ouch.Tour Pro Ian Poulter spoke with Rick Shiels this week and listed his Top 6 golf courses in the world, there was one he listed that made Nick and Mark laugh, with their view being it should not be on any Top 6 list....but they have a theory as to why Ian put it there, which we investigate. Mark tells a couple of stories about escorting Ian around the hospitality tents when he was in the country for the Australian Masters and talks about how Ian was to deal with.For BMW our Touch of Class is Ludvig Åberg, the vision is spectacular and you'll see it on our YouTube show, but Nick and Mark talk through it and explain why it is so good.Inspired by Aaron Rai, Mark's Top 5 today for Betr is the Top 5 (or is it Top 20?) things that Pro Golfers laugh at Amateurs for doing.Plenty of results for Nick to run through in the PING globals today, and one result next week which will no doubt get a run - is Marks performance in the mighty Box Hill Pro Am this week....he is forecasting a 64 so we'll watch with interest.Heaps of feedback on our Gary Player mini, we read out a couple. Plenty of comments on the discussion around technology in golf and how to address the flow on effects, and a couple of comments and our poll result on the LIV changes from last week.And todays masterclass for watchMynumbers from Nick is inspired by Moe Norman, and what Nick has taken from Moe and is incorporating into his game.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.

12 Nov 1h 4min

Bonus pod today with Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen previewing the DP World Tour Championship this weekend in Dubai at the Earth Course. We discuss who is coming in with good form and whilst there are plenty of great players in the event, Nick and Mark believe the combination of Rory's form coming in, and the type of course it is - which Mark says is 'built for Rory' - means he is an excellent chance of winning.Nick says the Earth Course suits long hitters perfectly. So he agrees that Rory looks good, as does Marco Penge as a fellow long hitter in great form. Mark is confident that Elvis Smylie is ready to step up and perform well, particularly with the ramifications for him from this tournament important. So we have built a Betr multi exclusively for Talk Birdie listeners, one which we are quietly confident about - but of course there is never any guarantee, so if you can't afford to lose it, don't bet it. If you want to have a small punt, find our Talk Birdie multi on the Betr app, or website (here) and look under Betr Specials to find us.Rory to win.Penge Top 10 plus tiesSmylie Top 20 plus tiesPaying 31 bucks for Talk Birdie listeners.Good luck, and gamble responsibly!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 Nov 10min

Last week Gary Player was interviewed and asked about the best golfers in history and made the statement that while Tiger and Jack were 1 and 2, there was no doubt that he was #3 of all time. There is an argument for that, but it did generate plenty of discussion, so today a Talk Birdie Mini where Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen discuss if indeed Gary is #3 or, if not, who is and what criteria is used.The boys share some stories about Gary, and do their impersonations of him. Mark talks about meeting Gary at The Vines, and Gary asked him to punch him in the stomach....Nick says Gary also asked him (and almost everyone) to punch him in the stomach - which he did! And Nick shares a story about witnessing Gary like up the parents of an overweight kid on the range about his eating habits.A fun Talk Birdie Mini today!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.

9 Nov 14min

Tour Pro Scotty Laycock was listening to Nick and Mark chatting about US golfer Jerry Haas getting the yips when Mark was playing with him, and had a story to share about a player he saw having the yips some years ago in Brisbane. Ouch!Hear Scott's voicemail here.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 Nov 1min

A feedback pod today and we've had a few whacks come in, so we thought we'd take our medicine and spend the first half of this pod copping a serve...and a few wolfpackers have not held back!Kevin lines up Nick for something he did when he was on tour. Parrot has a crack at Mark saying he has no idea what he's talking about on a particular issue.Carlos has a crack at the entire pod over our view on one specific aspect of golf.And Shane listened to a recent interview on the pod and said it was disappointing and we were 'soft'.Sheez....after the turn, we could do with some positivity so we chat with wolfpacker Rod who has some great stories about meeting the great Jack Newton when he was younger, and getting some tips from him! We spend some time reminiscing and sharing stories about the great man.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.

6 Nov 23min

Well it might be a quiet time for tournaments, but goodness there is plenty of golf news to discuss this week!But first today, a reminder of our Victoria Pro-Am comp. We're looking for one wolfpacker to be our official player in the Vic Pro-Am in December, send us a pic or video of you rocking a pair of FootJoys, your handicap, where you play, and all eligible entrants (ie: who have a handicap and aren't a pro) will be in the draw next week on the show. If you're in Melbourne great. If you're interstate, regional Vic, or New Zealand, we'll sort your travel and accomodation. Entries close COB Monday November 10th. We discussed the huge LIV changes on yesterday's bonus pod, if you've not heard it, it's in the feed and worth checking out. Nick and Mark discuss what LIV's move might mean, and explore some of the questions that arise now about how they'll do it. Given the magnitude of the move, there is more to discuss, so we chat LIV today.The Old Course at St Andrews is undergoing some changes in preparation for the 2027 Open Championship, in part to address golf's length issue. Nick has a firm view on how to address this, and he doesn't believe extending courses is the way to go. Mark has some thoughts as well. We run through the Old Course changes, and discuss whether they'll make a difference, or are relatively minor.Marks Touch of Class for BMW is on a young 20-something player he saw at the weekend who played beautifully....he explains the context and reasoning. Nick raises Lee Trevino's comments about the Top 3 players in the world, following Gary Players thoughts. And the WPGA schedule has been released for 2027, it looks good. Nick talks us through it.Top 5 for Betr, in light of the St Andrews changes, Nick lists his Top 5 holes that have been lengthened - for better or worse. Mainly for better. In fact all for better. Slightly misnamed Top 5.The mighty Southern Golf Club bring us feedback, and we start with a whack for Mark over comments he made on last week's podcast. Into a number of various 'yip-centric' comments following our yip-heavy pod last week. Also, a number of comments on Nick O'Who's performance in the Titleist simulator last week. Mostly positive, with one piece of constructive criticism. And some feedback from Tour Pro and legend Bradley Hughes on the drivers.PING Globals, Nick takes us around all the results from the last week. Mark has a crack at the music in the opener. Some things never change. He invites wolfpackers to suggest a new opener. Don't listen to him.Into the masterclass for watchMynumbers, Mark played at the weekend and in his words 'played bad', he had an issue with his swing, but he reckons he may have solved it. He explains the problem, and what he did to address it.If you haven't heard our LIV bonus pod from yesterday, it's in the feed here and on YouTube here.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.

6 Nov 1h 3min

Big news from LIV Golf today with the announcement of a move to 72 hole tournament in 2026, we read the statement that LIV released. Nick and Mark discuss the implications, why they've done it, and what it may or may not mean.How will it work within the Teams & Individuals structure?. Could a cut be on the cards in LIV tournaments? Why are they doing it? Mark believes it is designed to put pressure on Trevor Immelman who basically oversees the OWGR these days.The PGA are yet to respond, however Nick reads through the PGA's response from a couple of days ago to the LIV Promotions format and what the PGA have said in response.Massive news, and Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen are all over it on Talk Birdie To Me.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.

5 Nov 14min

A feedback pod today and we start by looking at a tweet from golf stats guy Lou Stagner that a wolfpacker sent in, both Nick and Mark enjoy Lou's insights usually, but this time he has made a comment that they both vehemently disagree with regarding the St Andrews Old Course.We discuss the Old Course and why it is special. Mark brings up the 1984 Open Championship, famous for Seve, but tells the story of what happened to Ian Baker-Finch on the last shot of the day as a result of the sprinkler the night before. Speaking of IBF, Paul has written in with a suggestion for Australian golf coverage. Ken replies to wolfpacker Martins comments last weeks about The Players being a possible major, and Ken pretty much gives everyone a whack - Nick, Mark, Golf Australia. Ross has a question about Tour Pro's moving back to amateur status, and Nick and Mark talk through why they would never do it.A question from lefty Matt on his concerns about being fitted for new clubs.David reckons Nick and Mark are being too kind to LIV Golf and believes it is a failure. We discuss some of the players currently re-signing with LIV.Scott has an idea regarding the Australian Masters, and it reminds us that we've not reviewed Royal Sydney yet - if you've played it, we'd love your thoughts.And we finish on a comment from Paul about returning to golf after some tideway, and the difference hybrids have made for 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.

2 Nov 25min