Talk Birdie Mini: The Case For and Against 'The Players Championship' Being a 5th Major

Well we called it. Scottie monstered the field in The Open Championship.Okay, we didn't call it, in fact our Betr multi was a bust on every leg....we will make formal apologies at some point on today's podcast, you deserve nothing less.But.....Scottie was magnificent, and controlled the tournament, certainly over the weekend, and we start today with Nick and Mark discussing some of the most impressive parts of Scottie's performance: his putting, his recovery from poor shots, his composure. Exceptional. Nick says the player interviews post the tournament and prior to the final day reminded him of when he was playing and Tiger dominated, in that everyone felt that they were playing for second place, Scottie was that good.Then Mark makes a big call on Scottie and how many tournaments he will win, Mark doesn't believe he will win over 10 majors in his career, as he feels that his footwork will limit him at some point. Nick disagrees, and says Scottie has plenty of years left and will get to double figures.Nick talks about playing with Harris English who he said was exceptional then, and now, and highlights what the weakness in Harris' game was when he played with him. Mark raises the Ryder Cup and says that surely Chris Gotterup is a certainty to be picked now, Nick says no.We discuss the Aussies. A poor tournament overall, with Marc Leishman the only one to make the cut, ultimately finishing T52. Mark raises Cam Smith, and his consistent poor performances in the majors, and says that whilst LIV has been great for Bryson's game for example, it has not been good for Cams, and he just has to start hitting fairways. Nick comments that Brysons performance at the weekend was very strong after a terrible first day, and Mark predicts that we will see Rahm have a 'cracking' 2026 season and explains why.Both Nick and Mark loved how Royal Portrush looked, Mark is desperate to play it. Nick loved the drone shots. And we discuss how on the hardest hole on the course, Scottie birdied Calamity 3 days of the 4....Mark would like a plaque to be placed there to commemorate it.Then we apologise for our Betr multi, although Nick notes one leg would have come off were it not for Shane Lowry's 2-shot penalty, Mark wasn't aware of it, so we play the audio and discuss. But one person does win, wolfpacker Narelle Brunotte was drawn as our winner - she had a punt on our Betr multi and whilst the multi was a dismal failure, Narelle has won 250 bucks to spend at the Golf Clearance Outlet...congrats Narelle!Mark lists his Top 5 courses in Ireland that he'd like to play, has he missed any obvious ones?As you'd expect, the PING global results today have a big focus on The Open Championship, although we do digress for a moment with a video that contained an unusual sound.....we play the audio, and if you're watching on YouTube you will see the Shepmates take on it....very funny. During PING globals, Nick tells a great story that has come out of an Australasian Q-School in the US at the weekend.Feedback - lots of comments on last weeks Top 100 World Golf Course List with Jasper from the Top100 organisation, and plenty of comments - some in support, and some not - on LIV seeking OWGR points.Nick's masterclass today is inspired by Scottie Scheffler and looks at why aiming for the middle of the green is more effective than aiming for the pin.A fun pod today, and a feedback one to come later this week which we're looking forward to!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.

23 Juli 52min

Voicemail from Mick in the UK who has some strong opinions about LIV golfers and whether they should receive OWGR points. You might agree with Mick, you might disagree. Love to hear your feedback in the comments.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.

19 Juli 1min

A feedback pod today, we start with a question from wolfpacker Ross on The Shark vs Rory. Michael asks about blades on tour these days. Ed has a nomination for the Top 5 injury comebacks list from last week who he believes we overlooked. And a suggestion for a Top 5 on 'unsportsmanlike' actions on the tour, we kick it around.We chat about pros breaking their caddys fingers. Apparently it happens a bit, and we hear about one time it happened and who did it, and Mark tells a story about when he nearly broke his caddys fingers.And Greg has a suggestion for the Top 5 Aussie golfers to never win a major.Then, after the turn, we chat with one of the honchos at the Top 100 World Golf Course list, Jasper Miners, about the list. Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen put their concerns to him, and ask for the names of who voted on the list. Jasper explains how it was constructed, what he feels are the strengths of the list and the areas it needs improvements. He talks about the country and world rankings not being aligned, and how he is working to address that. He also talks about how many on the judging panel have played the courses.Mark asks Jasper if Mike Clayton or John Huggan are involved in the voting, and for visibility over the names. Jasper gives his view on the ranking of St Andrews Beach over courses like PK North and South, and others, and whether he would have voted in that way.A good chat, love your thoughts.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.

17 Juli 43min

Grace Kim. What. A. Star.That was really one of the great finishes in a major, Grace was so calm, cool and collected and nailed the win. Nick and Mark discuss the tournament, obviously the final day in particular and what they loved about Grace's performance - the recovery after hitting it into the water, the chip shot, so much to be impressed with. Mark asks if anyone has ever hit three eagles on day 4 to win a major? He can't recall it happening. And Mark notes that credit must go to the PGA and Golf Australia, particularly Karen Lunn, in their development of the womens game in this country.Mid chat, the fire alarm at Titleist and FootJoy HQ goes off....there is a possibility we may not survive and this could be the last pod ever.....but, crisis averted, it's only a test. Phew.Back to the Evian. Obviously the big story is Grace Kim, however Mark loved how well Gabi Ruffels played, and he tells Nick his favourite thing about her development as a golfer.Another exciting result this week was Mark's cousin* Steve Allan who went wire to wire in New York to win on the Champions Tour, a popular winner, and Nick and Mark loved it. Nick raises Marks round at Kingston Heath at the weekend, he had a cracker....10 birdies in the first round with his brand new Titleist clubs, he talks us through the round and explains where it went well, and when he got nervous and had a couple of tough holes.We had young Jasper on the pod a week or two ago, he played in an under 10's tournament in Sydney last week and won by 34 shots ! Sheez....If you've not jumped on board our Talk Birdie Multi with Betr, 14 bucks for Scheffler to miss the top 10 at The Open Championship, into Lowry to beat Rory, into Fleetwood to beat Bryson. Head to the Betr website or app, search for Betr specials and you'll find it there - takes 2 minutes to set up an account, and you send us your bet, a screenshot, we'll choose one wolfpacker to win 250 bucks to spend at the Golf Clearance Outlet ! Nice.After the turn, we read the release from the OWGR on the LIV application for OWGR points. Should LIV players get points? And if so how many? Love your thoughts. Nick and Mark believe they probably should, but with limits. Inspired by Grace Kim, Nick's Top 5 counts down his best ever finishes in a major to win a major. And in feedback, as you'd expect, a heap of comments on Grace's win. Plus we get clarity on who the Liver King is, and a comment on UK crowds.Plenty for Nick to run through in the PING global results, obviously the Evian the big one, but lots of other golf over the weekend. And a great masterclass from Mark on chipping.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.

16 Juli 56min

It's the week of The Open Championship, or the British Open, depending on how you say it. Before we get to that though, we have to touch on Grace Kim's fantastic win, we'll go through it in great detail on tomorrow's main podcast, but we had to acknowledge it today given how incredible the win was, particularly the finish!Onto The Open. Nick and Mark discuss what Royal Portrush is like, how it plays, and how well one of the players they like this week - Shane Lowry - plays this course. Mark is concerned about Rory given the undoubted media attention he'll receive. Can Jason Day win? He could, but Nick and Mark don't believe he is playing well enough at the moment; however they do like Ryan Fox this week.Mark feels that this tournament may be Adam Scott's last chance to win a major. Nick disagrees. Predictably, Mark is bullish on Sepp Straka, knock us over with a feather, who'd have seen that coming. Nick disagrees (again), saying whilst the course suits Straka, he doesn't rate his chances. Mark says Morikawa is no chance as he is hitting the ball terribly at the moment.And Mark names the player that he would love to win the tournament (hint, it's not Straka). And Nick explains why he believes Scheffler might struggle this week.We run through a bunch of other players and how they might go, including Nick and Marks tip for the winner, and their roughie.And, given it's a major, we've got our Talk Birdie To Me multi on at Betr. Two legs a reasonable chance, one a bit riskier, but that gets the odds up a little further, we'd love you to get on board at Betr if you have an account, and if not, it takes a moment or two to set up. Here's the multi:1) Tommy Fleetwood to beat Bryson2) Shane Lowry to beat Rory3) Scheffler to miss the Top 10Paying 14 bucks. Remember, there's no guarantee you'll win, it's just a bit of fun, so if you can't afford to lose it, then don't bet it. But it's a fun one to whack 5, 10, 20 bucks on. You can find the Talk Birdie To Me multi on the Betr website or app under 'Betr Specials'.See you tomorrow when we go in depth on the amazing Grace Kim result on the main pod !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.

15 Juli 22min

This week we have a bit of fun, we've invited Australia's longest driver Jordan Bovalina into the Titliest / FootJoy simulator at Talk Birdie To Me HQ to see what he's got in the tank. Nick and Mark are interested in how he goes about hitting the ball, what he's looking to do to obtain distance balanced with accuracy, and we look at his numbers live in the simulator as he hits a few balls.The audio version is great - the video version of this one has to be seen to be believed. 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.

13 Juli 13min

Tour Pro Scotty Laycock is a regular voicemailer and always has great stories from his time on the tour, after hearing Nick and Mark talking about Aaron Pike, a Northern Territory (originally) tour pro, he left a voicemail with a fun story about Northern Territory Tour Pro Unho Park & Indian Tour Pro Jeev Milkha Singh swapping drivers on the range.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 Juli 1min

A feedback pod today, and we look at a few comments from you in response to Marks statement last week that he feels Royal Melbourne will need a small miracle to be ready for The Australian Open. He has heard some further information that is concerning, and unhelpfully says this on the pod, but refuses to divulge what that information is, leaving Nick, Dan and the wolfpackers all hanging. Poor form from Mr Allen and he should know better.That said, Harry has messaged in saying he has seen Royal Melbourne recently and agrees with Mark that it will be difficult to be ready in time. Thomas said Mark is being dramatic saying there is plenty of time, and 3-months of that time is peak growing season being Australia's spring. Sammy gives Mark a whack saying he's not a greenkeeper so what would he know. Ouch.Fun message from wolfpacker 'schooled golfer' on an experience he had with Wayne 'Radar' Riley a number of years ago, and leads to a rakepod chat.Ian doesn't like the term 'metalwoods' and offers an alternative. Do Nick and Mark agree?And after the turn we chat with Steve from Melbourne. Steve's objective is to play the the Victorian Senior Amateur event in 2026 as a tribute to his mate who always wanted to but is now unable to. Steve needs to be a 5-handicapper or better to qualify, and he's presently a 7.1, so is after some tips on how to get under 5.Keep the feedback coming, we appreciate you sending it in and listening, or viewing, the pod. If you haven't subscribed or given us a review, that would be great!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.

10 Juli 25min