Memphis was…good?, The Fleetwood chronicles, and Spieth’s season ends

At long last, it's major season on the 2024 Year in Review! Back from the Hero World Challenge interlude, Andy and Brendan resume the Year in Review and get through the year's first major, Scottie Scheffler's second Masters win. Andy begins the show by remembering Peppy Peter Malnati's victory at the Valspar, his first PGA Tour win in nine years. Peppy Peter is moved to tears in his post-round interview, and finally plays in his first Masters tournament a few weeks later. Brendan then moves through the Texas Children's Houston Open, where Stephan Jaeger secured his permanent call-up from AAAA player, outlasting Scottie Scheffler, Tony Finau, Tosti Boy, and more. Tosti becomes a national name this week, and Andy and Brendan remember the finest Tosti Tales from earlier this year. PJ jumps in to recap Akshay's shoulder-popping win at Valero, Anthony Kim's "vaguely remembering" Tiger's 2019 Masters win, and a thrilling ANWA finish. From there, it's a group effort on the Masters, covering Monday's total eclipse, Zach Johnson (not) cursing at patrons, and Scottie pulling away from the pack on Sunday after weekend charges from Ludvig Åberg, Collin Morikawa, and Max Homa.

10 Dec 20242h 47min

It's been a while since the last one, but Andy and Brendan break down yet another Scottie Scheffler victory in this Monday episode. Andy begins by claiming a Victory Monday, as his household's rug saga has reached a conclusion on the fourth purchase and Swag Sports Minute recaps where Illinois and Boston College football will be bowling later this month. From there, the two get into the golf, starting with the Hero World Challenge. Scottie Scheffler, now using the claw grip with his putter, won for the ninth time in 2024 with a dominant weekend showing. Andy and Brendan discuss the psychology of competing against Scheffler and how many players believe they can beat him with their "B" games on a Sunday. They also discuss a new-look Justin Thomas, whose speed training was on full display in Albany, often outdriving the rest of the 20-man field. The conversation then shifts to the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa, where Aldrich Potgieter had a chance to win in his home country before making a triple bogey on the par three 12th. Andy and Brendan debate whether they've seen a player in contention have a worse singular hole. Joaquin Niemann won again in Saudi Arabia, taking down fellow LIV golfers Cameron Smith and Caleb Surratt in a playoff at the Saudi International. In news, Greg Norman visited Indianapolis and acknowledged that his time as LIV's CEO is coming to an end sometime soon. This episode closes with a lively conversation about the College Football Playoff, with Andy and Brendan both wondering how the No. 1 seed, Oregon, has the toughest route to a championship. Before Brendan can sign off, PJ jumps in to share the breaking news of Juan Soto becoming NYGC's biggest fan, as he's signed a 15-year deal with the New York Mets.

9 Dec 202458min

With the Year in Review on pause until next week, Andy and Brendan use this Friday episode to catch up on the remaining golf news from this week. Andy spends the entire show dealing with a potential tsunami warning in California, leading to multiple cut-ins with the latest updates from the National Weather Service. In terms of late-breaking golf news, Brendan shares that Scottie Scheffler is using a claw grip to putt at the Hero and the two wonder if this will be a long-term solution for him or if he's just trying it out in a "hit and giggle" event. NYGC's Cameron Young is off to a hot start in Albany, setting him up for his first "win" on the PGA Tour. It was revealed that Tony Finau is NOT going to LIV (as of now), but withdrew from the Hero World Challenge due to knee surgery. Speaking of LIV, it's a loaded leaderboard for the weekend at the Saudi International series, currently being led by Logan McAllister. Dustin Johnson, the latest Golf Saudi ambassador, missed the cut, but had some quotes about "growing the game" in the Golf Saudi press release. Patrick Reed also had some newsworthy comments, suggesting that players who can qualify should be able to play on any tour they want, without suspension or fines. The Ryder Cup pay-for-play debate is somehow still rearing its head, with Scottie Scheffler and Justin Thomas being the latest Americans to be peppered with questions about it during pressers at the Hero. Kevin Kisner will be the new lead analyst for NBC in 2025 and Brendan wonders how this will impact his TGL status as a member of Jupiter Links Golf Club. Brendan and Andy also break down a potential LIV-WNBA legal battle after the WNBA's latest team logo may rip off a LIV franchise. This episode closes with some SGS Golf Advice about a dice-roll cheater and a legendary war of words at a golf simulator in Canada.

6 Dec 20241h 10min

Things are back to normal on this Wednesday episode as Andy and Brendan pause the Year in Review to discuss the Hero World Challenge and plenty of news from across the world of golf. Brendan recaps an amazing Browns loss on Monday Night Football to start things off and Andy wonders what the career of Justin Thomas would look like if he took a Jameis Winston approach to improvement (praying to be delivered from pick sixes). From there, the two recap Tiger's annual press conference at the Hero, where he claimed that his competitive fire is still burning but he's unable to compete physically right now. Andy and Brendan discuss key takeaways from the media session and wonder if Tiger's waning energy is being wasted on the PGA Tour-PIF negotiations. Meanwhile, the LIV Hot Stove is scorching as Thomas Pieters was dealt from the RangeGoats to the 4 Aces in exchange for... nothing and Tony Finau is rumored to be the latest to make the jump after withdrawing from the Hero on Monday. An all-new "Commissioners Minute" segment leads to debates about Jay Monahan's place among sports commissioners after it was revealed that his 2023 salary totaled $23 million. "Commissioners Minute" continues with the news of Mollie Marcoux Samaan's resignation as the LPGA's leader also breaking on Monday. Andy and Brendan then move to the metaverse, where Tiger claims that he will be ready to play when Jupiter Links GC hits the SoFi Center for the first TGL season in January. Unbeknownst to this podcast, the NYGC squad had a media day in New York, where a non-invited PJ missed out on a chance to have Mets/NYGC owner Steve Cohen compare Matt Fitzpatrick to Sean Manaea. The premier golf gambling podcast then makes some picks for the Hero World Challenge before running through notables at the DP World Tour's Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa. To close things out, PJ recaps the first round of Champions Tour Q-School's final stage, where some SGS favorites are looking to secure status for next year.

4 Dec 202458min

Andy and Brendan return after the Thanksgiving weekend to look back at the PGA Tour's Florida swing in the third installment of the 2024 Year in Review. First, they start with a much-anticipated Swag Sports Minute as the Bears fired Matt Eberflus after a late-game collapse against the Lions in the Thanksgiving Day Classic. Andy is excited that the 'Flus is loose, but is not hopeful about the future head coach of the Bears being anyone good. PJ is fired up after Kyle McCord led his Syracuse Orange to a win over Miami and Andy petitions the CFP committee that Illinois is the best three-loss team in the country. Fear not, as golf is the main discussion for this beefy boy of a podcast, as Andy begins this Year in Review episode with the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches, formerly known as the Honda Classic. This was a Monday finish won by Austin Eckroat, but the more pressing content was happening in Jeddah, where Anthony Kim returned. Brendan then recaps Scottie's first win of the year at Bay Hill and sprinkles in some notes on the Puerto Rico open before making the transition to The Players. Jay's "State of the Tour" presser, collars of rough ruining 17 at TPC Sawgrass, Xander's failure to close, and a Rory-Spieth spat over "Dropgate" are all discussed at length to round out this episode.

2 Dec 20242h 26min

Andy and Brendan return with the second installment of the 2024 Year in Review, recorded on Wednesday morning as part of the YouTube livestream extravaganza. During your Thanksgiving travels, listen to them recap Wyndham Clark's course record at the rain-shortened Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the "out of control" scene at the Waste Management, Tiger's trip in a "paramedic truck" at Riviera, Jake Knapp's mighty win at the Mexico Open, and plenty more in between.

29 Nov 20241h 45min

Andy and Brendan are back for one their least favorite but also most enjoyable exercises of the year: it’s the SIXTH annual Year in Review! And they are maybe, kinda out ahead of it this time, although that could all change quickly if their pace of play slows to crawl. This first installment begins as always at the start of the year in Kapalua, where Dayman(!) unveiled his first-ever Malbon outfit, Jon Rahm was on vacation, and Chris Kirk became the first player to get 700 FedEx Cup points for a win . It runs from The Sentry through the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines and features many delights and amusements you may remember but likely forgot from the start of the year swing, which turned out to be much more of a slog than normal. This is the usual SGS approach to the year in review, focusing more on the amusing, inane, and extraordinary and it will continue to roll out over the next several weeks in multiple parts to be enjoyed at your convenience during the holiday season.

27 Nov 20241h 53min

Andy and Brendan are together again for a Monday episode wrapping up the end of both the PGA Tour and LPGA seasons. Before getting to that, Andy has some thoughts on Golf Channel's coverage of the Australian PGA Championship late Saturday night, as the broadcast cut to commercial after the approach shots on the 72nd hole. Although we didn't entirely see how, Elvis Smylie made his par and secured his first DP World Tour win, holding off Cam Smith in the final group. From there, the two discuss the RSM Classic, the final event of the FedEx Fall and the end of the 2024 PGA Tour season. Maverick McNealy won his first PGA Tour event with a birdie on the final hole, leaving Luke Clanton, Daniel Berger, and Nico Echavarria (and his minute) in a tie for second. Brendan and Andy give props to McNealy on his first win after an up-and-down career so far before questioning how Luke Clanton, an amateur, has not secured a PGA Tour card yet despite his four top ten finishes this season. Brendan also shares a quote from Daniel Berger about how just 10% of his peak play is at a "different level" than most of the guys he's competing with. Lastly, Andy and Brendan take a look at the top 125 bubble at the conclusion of the FedEx Fall, where Joel Dahmen kept his card using the 13 FedEx Cup points he got for free in the no-cut Zozo. Next, they talk through the CME Tour Championship on the LPGA Tour, won by Jeeno Thitikul, making her the big financial winner of this season and NOT Nelly Korda. Lexi Thompson, playing in her final event as a full-time player, expressed some displeasure at split tees on Sunday due to the TV broadcast window, which did not allow her to finish her career on the 18th hole. With golf talk wrapped up, Brendan details the biggest event of the day - the Maplewood 11U football team against Major Tuddy and his band of misfit mascots at Northwest Field. The kids shut out the mascots, winning 13-0 with two forced turnovers in the short game. Major Tuddy did get some hits in though, with footage of a personal foul after an interception making the rounds on Twitter. Andy is fired up about the "best case scenario" of another Bears loss with Caleb Williams looking great, as the 'Flus must be cut loose after this season. PJ shares that Bob Papa is not pleased with the New York Giants and the three make another pitch for a godfather offer to bring him to the Champions Tour full time. To finish this episode, everyone goes back and forth about the inaugural Year in Review livestream, coming to YouTube at some point this week.

25 Nov 20241h 6min