Rory returns, Annual Walk-up Music Quiz, LIV’s pre-PGA schedule

This PACKED Wednesday episode wanders around for an hour on a variety of important and inane topics on what should be an otherwise sleepy stretch of the golf year. Andy and Brendan begin with news of some truly horrific TV ratings from Sunday’s PGA Tour event, which were beaten by LIV’s own paltry ratings. Then they get to a Bloomberg report that talks between the PGA Tour and PIF might be held up on the notion that LIV players must return or forfeit their money from that enterprise, along with Joel Beall’s reporting otherwise on what’s truly holding up the talks: how LIV players are re-integrated back into the Tour. They discuss how that might happen, and who is actually worth taking back of real value. There’s a lengthy Mid-Am digression with some notables and their incredible stories. There’s also a segment on the legend of Sunny Abacoa coming out of the swamp to reclaim his MLGT throne. Schedule for the week goes deep on Champs Tour chatter at Pebble, as well as the DPWT’s flagship event at Wentworth. They close with news on the Masters expanding coverage to Paramount Plus and a name for the Vegas match between LIV and PGA Tour stars.

18 Sep 20241h 10min

An awesome weekend of September golf has Andy and Brendan in great spirits for this Monday episode. To start, Brendan downplays a Browns Victory Monday in the Swag Sports Minute, but Andy is riding high after a great day at the ballpark and delivers the news that Andrew Price won the Crump Cup. After that, the two dive into a loaded weekend of golf, starting with the Irish Open at Royal County Down where Rasmus Hojgaard chased down Rory McIlroy and the Great Manassero for the win. Andy and Brendan share their thoughts on how RCD played for the pros, the TV coverage (or lack thereof) of the tournament, and another disappointing finish for Rory in a tournament that means a lot to him. After that, Meg Adkins calls in from Dulles to help recap the Solheim Cup as the Americans finally secured a win in the competition. Meg shares on-the-ground insights from the week, hitting on the shuttle disasters of Friday morning, standout performances from Nelly Korda and Rose Zhang, Charley Hull's smoking habits continuing to take over social media, and who will takeover as captains for both sides in the next Solheim Cup in September 2026. After wrapping up with the Solheim Cup, LIV Bolingbrook gets featured after Bryson DeChambeau said the course "played close to a major championship test" this week. Jon Rahm took home both the tournament and the season-long title, leading Andy and Brendan to wonder what this means looking back on not only his 2024, but also his career. Producer PJ then joins to share the great news that the leading Champions Tour gambling podcast has stayed hot and even improved on last week's efforts, as Brendan secured a Steve Stricker playoff win for those tailing the picks. To finish things off, Patton Kizzire gets a shoutout for winning the Procore, with Creator Classic alum Wes Bryan taking in a T13 in Napa.

16 Sep 20241h 18min

A late Wednesday recording leads to a Thursday release for this episode, as three events tee off on a Friday-Sunday schedule this weekend! Brendan attempts to start this episode with a Solheim Cup preview, but excludes the Champions Tour’s Sanford International from the Friday-Sunday schedule and leaves Andy aghast. This turns into a lengthy edition of Champions Tour Minute with Producer PJ, as the three look to stay hot with their picks for the big weekend in South Dakota. It’s then revealed that PJ may be taking a trip to the Schwab Cup Finals in Arizona for an in-person Champs Tour weekend, but the funding may depend on how successful the one-and-done picks continue to be. The Solheim Cup is then previewed, with Andy and Brendan both picking the United States to win big. They discuss the one year turnaround between Cups, the potential for a breakout American golfer, and some early gamesmanship with the team houses on the course. After an interlude about over-negotiation and when to tip in certain situations, the two dive into LIV Bolingbrook and wonder whether the Ironheads or Majesticks can finally secure a podium finish. They then note that Jon Rahm is attempting to play some DP World Tour Events in order to maintain eligibility for the 2025 Ryder Cup, but seemingly won’t pay the fines necessary to do so. This episode finishes with some quick NFL talk heading into Week 2, and a golf advice question surrounding “low-cap privilege.”

12 Sep 20241h 5min

This Wednesday episode previews a beefy week of golf, with tournaments of interest taking place across the world from Northern Ireland, to Napa, to Virginia, to Bolingbrook, Illinois. Andy and Brendan begin with some early LIV talk as the league's Individual Championship makes its way to Bolingbrook Golf Club. Brendan reads through the pre-tournament notes, with some editorializing from Illinois local Matt Rouches as well as Andy's personal experiences. They discuss Phil Mickelson's appreciation for the course and Arthur Hills as an architect, and why LIV decided to change the routing for their tournament. Next up is the Irish Open, the Event of the Week, being played at Royal County Down. Andy runs down the field list, noting home clubs of notable players teeing it up in Northern Ireland this weekend. The two then discuss the coverage schedule for the event, with most of it airing on the NBC Sports App due to a loaded weekend of golf. Attention then turns to the Procore Championship in Napa, the first event of the new-look FedEx Fall and Brendan previews some Fall SGS Awards to keep an eye on as the fall swing gets underway. Producer PJ joins for a quick look at this week's Champions Tour event before Brendan and Andy wrap up this episode with the news of meetings between the PGA Tour and the Saudi PIF taking place this week in New York. Check back Thursday for coverage of this week's Solheim Cup and more as fall golf begins to hit its stride.

11 Sep 202446min

It's a quick Victory Monday episode as Andy is riding high after wins by the Illini and Bears this weekend. Brendan is also celebratory as the BC Eagles are ranked, but is licking his wounds from a Browns blowout loss to start the NFL season. The two break down the much-anticipated debut of Caleb Williams, Illinois storming the field after beating Kansas, and Producer PJ joins to preview the Jets on Monday Night. Champions Tour minute leads the golf portion of the show, as the pre-eminent Champs Tour gambling podcast had a great week in one-and-done picks. Andy then provides some Kevin Sutherland insight from the broadcast that gets everybody going and leads to some reminiscing about Sutherland's match-play career. To wrap things up, Matt Wallace's win at the European Masters is touched on, as he's finally back in the winner's circle after some struggles he spoke about at the Scottish Open.

9 Sep 202431min

It's a birthday episode of golf's preeminent birthday podcast as the show turns six! A Friday whimsy episode starts with an Andy story from his final fantasy football draft of the year before Brendan asks how he's feeling about the debut of Caleb Williams on Sunday. After Andy runs through the graveyard of Chicago quarterbacks, the two do actually talk about some golf news. Sun Day Red unveils a new line designed for "focus" and "limiting distractions," causing Brendan to wonder who these brand posts are even meant for. They re-hash the dishwasher discussion and decide that washing dishes before running them through a dishwasher is the way to go. The bulk of the podcast focuses on an Eamon Lynch report that Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler will square off against Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka in a made-for-TV match at some point in December. Andy and Brendan discuss whether they're excited about this event as a golf product, what it could mean in terms of a re-unification of men's professional golf, and take some joy in the fact that, at the very least, this event will be something that fans have been asking for since the game split apart. They then dive into a Sports Illustrated article discussing the "power struggle" going on inside the PGA Tour as they attempt to reach a deal with the PIF. To wrap things up, a few Golf Advice emails are read before making final NFL predictions ahead of the season openers.

6 Sep 202457min

It's the first true offseason episode of 2024 and nearly all attention has turned to the upcoming Presidents Cup. Andy and Brendan begin this episode with a Victory Tuesday celebration for Brendan's Boston College Eagles after a Top 10* road win at Florida State on Monday night to open the season. They then discuss the breaking news of the day, captain's picks for the Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal. Mike Weir decided to go heavy on the Canadians, selecting Taylor Pendrith, Corey Conners, and surprisingly Mackenzie Hughes in addition to Min Woo Lee, Si Woo Kim, and Christiaan Bezuidenhout. More qualms were had with Jim Furyk's picks for the American side, leaving Akshay Bhatia, Billy Horschel and Justin Thomas behind for Brian Harman, Max Homa, and vice captain Keegan Bradley, among others. Producer PJ comes on to defend his fellow Gen Z-er Akshay, and Andy shares a possible conspiracy theory regarding one selection for the U.S. After a walk through the history of Expos first basemen, the two then discuss the two events on TV this week, the Champs Tour stop in St. Louis and the Omega European Masters in Switzerland. One-and-done picks for the Champions Tour are made and Brendan shares two new facts about Frugal Fritelli, perhaps the best ones yet. To wrap things up, it's a quick NFL roundup before the season kicks off on Thursday night.

4 Sep 202450min

It’s Tour Championship Monday, a holiday here in the United States as everyone recovers from the excitement and celebration that was the season finale of the FedExCup in Atlanta. Andy and Brendan convene to chat about Scottie Scheffler’s “dominant” performance to cap off a truly dominant season. They, uh, may have a quibble or two with the format that had Scheffler win low net but not low gross, and the Tour throwing a bunch of “records” in our face that indicate a win. They also discuss the Curtis Cup, a truly fantastic match play watch on the weekend that had the GB&I team eke out only its 9th victory in the history of that competition. They also recap the LPGA and DPWT events from the weekend, discuss some Ludvig news, and an unsubstantiated rumor about the SSG people starting to look under the hood at the PGA Tour.

2 Sep 202452min