Wyndham Clark anger, Olympic sport gatekeeping, and Golf Advice

It’s Friday and we are spinning the clock to the weekend and Open Championship week. Andy and Brendan begin with an unsubstantiated run-in with a Team Smash member on the recent workout drama. Then they get to the quote roulette of players reacting to the Senate hearings, including Xander, Spieth, and Scheffler suggesting some hard questions coming for Jay and a total lack of clarity. There’s a separate section on Xander’s standing in the game. They also discuss the mishmash of narratives pushed by the Tour, and why the players are clearly right to lack trust in the leadership. Then they react to some of the startling numbers shown when Rory hit a persimmon driver at the Scottish Open, and his comments to “roll back everything” including the clubs. Lastly, they close with some SGS Golf Advice on drunkard in a PGA Tour pro-am, a HS match against an opponent in a cart, and chipping green etiquette.

13 Juli 202353min

Well, it had been a long time since they forgot to hit the record button but all good streaks come to an end. This is a re-load after it was discovered the first 25 minutes of the first run were not being recorded. NEVERTHELESS, Andy and Brendan get right back on the horse and deliver this peppy, puzzled, enthusiastic, skeptical, and amused recap of the Senate committee hearings on the PGA Tour and PIF deal. They discuss some of the Senators’ antics, the performances of Ron Price and Jimmy Dunne, and the implications of their testimony. They also get into the document dump that occurred alongside the live hearing and how the picture it paints, combined with the testimony, seems to strengthen the PIF’s negotiating position over the next five months. There’s also a lot of reaction to some of the proposals, realistic and fantastical, in the documents as well as the botched rollout of the deal. Then the schedule for the week starts at the great Barbasol Championship with another rousing round of In, Out, Alternate? There’s some Scottish Open chatter as well as LPGA and Senior Major coverage to close it out.

12 Juli 20231h 5min

Andy and Brendan recap an eventful week in golf, but first there are some questions about the winning caddie now all of a sudden getting a trophy or award and how that is judged. This is a cause to talk about the massive weekend for Jay Monahans, one the winning caddie of the U.S. Women’s Open and the other returning from his leave of absence. They discuss Allisen Corpuz’s breakthrough win at that event, praising her and Charley Hull’s Sunday rounds. There is time dedicated to Annika’s sketchy drop on Friday night. They also discuss Pebble’s place as a steward of the game, and whether its presentation and the USGA setup this week are a good example of that. There is great delight in the Sepptic Tank rumbling his way to a John Deere win, and what it means for Sqairz coming to the Ryder Cup. News closes it out with the announcement that Monahan is coming back to be Commissioner next week, and that Randall Stephenson has resigned his spot on the PGA Tour Policy Board. They ponder a motive for that and what it means in the elbowing to get the framework settled or scuttled.

10 Juli 202353min

It’s Friday! After a brief geography dispute, Andy and Brendan get into some early reactions to the Pebble Beach U.S. Women’s Open. They discuss the “grow-the-game” impacts and have a new favorite player based on some up-close observation by Andy on site. Then they get heavily into the “terrible” setup choices and fairway narrowing for this championship that have them wondering about a fundamental misunderstanding of golf, or at least high-level women’s golf. It’s a wide-ranging chat on setup philosophies and also the unfortunate aesthetic impacts at one of the best and most beautiful courses in the world. There’s some light John Deere chatter before news hits on Brooks Koepka napalming Matt Wolff’s “wasted” talent, and Wolff responding with his own statement calling the comments “heartbreaking.” Bryson’s return to his old caddie is also noted before a sign-off for the weekend.

7 Juli 202349min

It’s a throwback worse-for-the-wear Wednesday episode following the July 4th holiday. Andy and Brendan begin with some wide-ranging insights on the Biker Club (Don’t call me a Gang) culture picked up during the holiday. Then they get to the ECCO Event of the Week, the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach. They discuss some qualms they have with setup and rough at the classic course, but also how it will bring out the best in the women’s game and the course itself. Notables at the John Deere are given a closer inspection. News touches on Open Championship qualifying and the release of documents from the Klay Man’s lawsuit against the PGA Tour in South Florida, specifically with the laughable talking points intended for Tiger and the PGA Tour’s plans to ally with the distressed European Tour.

5 Juli 20231h 1min

With the holiday this week in the USA and the early finish in Detroit, Andy and Brendan jump on the horn for this Sunday edition. They are overjoyed with Rickie Fowler’s playoff win at the 3-1-3 Classic, where he birdied the last and then did it again in extras against Collin Morikawa and Adam Hadwin. They discuss the absolute hot streak that the PGA Tour is on this year, even at the events that are supposed to stink. Andy has some props for Rickie vs. Just A Guy and a Ryder Cup prognosis. That transitions to another rough week for JT, who is on the playoffs bubble and mired with the “SB2K” bug. Outside of Detroit, they discuss the lack of pop over on LIV but praise their slow play enforcement. There’s also a backboarding mess on the Euro Tour and record-breaking dominant win for another anchorman at the U.S. Senior Open.

2 Juli 202344min

A plan for Friday Summer hours and a brisk 20-minute episode goes awry. Instead, Andy and Brendan discuss some of the fallout from the eight hour PGA Tour Advisory Board meeting, from Peppy Peter’s interview with Golfweek on it to a handful of players posting a social media note defending Patrick Cantlay and his reported attempted coup. They also discuss the small matter of the PGA Tour providing little in the way of a leadership plan or status update on how things will be proceeding some two-plus weeks after Jay Monahan took a leave of absence for health reasons. The second half of the episode was supposed to be SGS Golf Advice, and it is for one email that also triggers a handful of stories from Andy and Brendan’s days caddying.

30 Juni 202354min

It’s an eventful Wednesday episode, beginning with the exciting development of Andy’s new standing desk, which he adjusts multiple times during recording to his own great amusement. Then they get into the actual “framework” document of the PGA Tour-PIF merger becoming public this week and what questions it answers, and which ones it precariously does not. Notables are back on the shhhhedule for the week, which touches on an amusing 3-1-3 challenge being done by some of the listeners. Then they discuss the “fake controversy” of Eric Cole playing an invitational with mini-tour players and amateurs. Finally, they are joined by Gabe Feldman, a sports law professor with experience in antitrust who has been following the merger news from the beginning, to provide some insight on the recent document release and the road ahead navigating antitrust scrutiny.

28 Juni 20231h 1min