Ep80: Can the Presidents Cup Survive? PGA Tour vs LIV Showdown in December, and Where the Hell is Riyadh ?

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

Big pod today, we start by discussing the great win by the Australian Women in the International Crown in South Korea. Sensational! A wonderful performance.Speaking of fantastic womens golf, Nick was excited to see Yani Tseng back in the winners circle, and what a finish it was. It's been a long time, great to see her back.Mark has a history of, from time to time, teeing off on local councils. And today he has a bee in his bonnet about a local council and what they have done to a suburban Melbourne golf course.Then, we talk yips. Risky territory we realise that. But we chat about the yips, how they occur, how to fix them, and hear some hilarious stories on the way. Mark talks about being a tad yippy at one point and how he fixed it, Nick explains why he moved to putting right-handed and what he had to learn to do, and Mark tells us what he calls 'the greatest yipping story ever'. A bold claim, but to be fair, it's a pretty funny story. Mark raises Peter 'Pom' O'Malley and his flirtation with a bit of yip activity, and wants to confirm whether his memory is correct so he texts Shags, Poms caddy, to ask him for clarification.A fantastic Touch of Class for BMW today featuring Michael Brennan, who won his first PGA tour event at the weekend, however the Touch of Class is not about his performance as such, but something else related.After the turn we launch a massive opportunity for one wolfpacker. We have a spot in the Victorian PGA event coming up in early December to give to one Talk Birdie listener! It's a Pro AM, so you'll be partnered with a Tour Pro and in the same group as last years winner Tim Snow (of FootJoy). To have a shot - send us a pic of you rocking a pair of FootJoy's, your handicap (you need one to play), where you play your golf, and a video of your swing would be fun to see as well. We'll pick 10 finalists, and randomly draw one on the pod in a couple of weeks.If you're in Melbourne you're sorted. If you're interstate, regional or international, we'll fly you to Melbourne and put you up for the time you're here. Send your entry to us either via socials, our website or email it here.Top 5 for Betr is on, what else, the Top 5 'yippers' of all time. Yikes.Nick runs us around the world in what really was quite a massive weekend of golf in the PING Global results.Been a long show today, so a shorter version of feedback for Southern Golf Club - we always love to hear from wolfpackers, keep it coming.And we wrap with a masterclass from Nick, for watchMynumbers, inspired by Yani Tseng on putting the opposite way.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.

29 Okt 1h 1min

A bonus pod today with Damien de Bohun, Golf Australia's General Manager - Clubs, Facilities, and Places to Play. Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen have two items on the agenda to discuss with Damien today:Firstly, the new Golf Australia handicap system and how the rollout is going. We've had mixed feedback from wolfpackers. Many love it and think the change is excellent, however some are critical of some of the bugs that have emerged, and importantly we've had a number of listeners who have suggested their scores are not being captured correctly - including wolfpacker Tom who wrote to us, so we want to ask Damien about those things and find out the latest. Mark is also keen to know why the change was necessary, what was wrong with keeping it the way it was?Secondly, there have been developments today on the Moore Park saga in Sydney where NSW Premier Chris Minns and Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore appear to be pushing ahead with their plan to cut one of Australia's busiest golf courses in half, moving it from 18 holes to 9 holes. Damien talks about the latest developments and the Golf Australia proposal which he says lays out clearly how they can achieve what the Premier and Lord Mayor are looking for, more parkland, and retain 18-holes at Moore Park. Damien says that given how important Moore Park is, Golf Australia are seeking a meeting with the Premier and Lord Mayor in the coming days and are confident that when the proposal is understood, it should be received favourably.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.

28 Okt 13min