The Shotgun Start

Andy and Brendan return after a eventful weekend of sports losses and an "uneventful" weekend of pro golf. Andy is still in the dumps after the Cubs loss in the NLDS, but claims a Victory Monday for Chicago anyway. It was an eventful weekend in French Lick, Indiana at the Korn Ferry Tour finals. Andy and Brendan run through the Top 20 bubble and discuss many of the players that earned their PGA Tour cards for next year. They also commend the KFT broadcast crew for bringing something different to viewers before wondering what Brian Rolapp was thinking during his trip to French Lick. On the PGA Tour, Xander Schauffele found his way back to the winner's circle at the Baycurrent Classic in Japan. This was Xander's tenth PGA Tour win, leading to a discussion about how many he'll end up with at the end of his career. Unlike the KFT booth, Andy was less than impressed with the Baycurrent broadcast and calls for more analysts to tell it like it is. Brendan is fired up that the year of Marco Penge rolls on after his big win at the Spanish Open. Penge will now be in next year's Open and Masters and said post-round that he thinks he's set up for success at Augusta. PJ checks on his Masters odds and finds that Penge's priced lower than one recent major champion! In perhaps the biggest news of the week, the LPGA's streak is over. Jeeno Thitikul won the Buick LPGA Shanghai, becoming the first repeat winner of 2025. The greens at this event were under fire all week for poor conditioning and Brendan was excited to see some pros having to handle muni-like conditions. Alex Cjeka won the final Champions Tour event of the regular season and the "senior mules" are unhappy about Brian Rolapp's recent cuts to the pension program. As for the rest of the news from this weekend, it came out that J.J. Spaun was held out of foursomes at the Ryder Cup due to his golf ball. Andy suggests maybe it's time for golf to have just one ball to use like every other sport does. The two then discuss the current state of Tiger Woods following another back surgery and where his place in today's game may be. Will he even play a TGL match again, much less any on-course golf? To end the show, Andy demands that PJ apologize for an abysmal performance from Justin Fields on national television as the Jets remain winless in 2025.

13 Okt 54min

Sometimes, things are willed into existence. Following this podcast obtaining footage of PGA of America President Don Rea's performance of "Lose Yourself" by Eminem, Brendan is first joined by a giddy Andy to discuss this monumental moment in golf history. Andy details his reaction to seeing the "cinema" for the first time and pleads for Don to remain in this leadership position forever. Brendan then brings on KVV for a frame-by-frame breakdown of the nine second video, as well as the rest of this regularly scheduled Friday episode. Brendan, KVV, and PJ recap their Wednesday night consisting of acquiring the video and the ensuing checks and balances to make sure this iconic footage was not produced by AI. They commend Don's courage and leadership, as he took the reins and lit a fire under Team USA, who won Sunday singles by five points following this inspiring round of karaoke by their fearless leader. KVV highlights some lines of the song that he wishes were on film, but we're all still hopeful that the full tape will one day make its way to the internet. In non-Don news (yes, that exists!), Brendan shares an unbelievable listener email about The Great Manassero teeing it up at a San Diego muni earlier this week. KVV is enthralled by Beau Hossler's ayahuasca use and ensuing passion for coffee, leading to a group discussion of which professional golfers would make the best hallucinations while on a trip. The Korn Ferry Tour is looking at a bit of history this week, as Tiger's season-scoring record is apparently in danger of being broken. This has Brendan out of his mind, awarding the KFT socials with the first-ever "Ragebait of the Week" award. Joseph LaMagna published a wide-ranging interview with Team Europe Vice Captain Dodo Molinari which revealed just how far ahead the Euros seemingly were compared to their American counterpoints at Bethpage Black. KVV uses this, as well as his article about the analytics used by Team USA, as a way to ask why Ryder Cup USA hasn't pivoted its backroom strategy yet following another defeat. Speaking of the Ryder Cup, Collin Morikawa was popped by a European journalist in Japan about his request for "chaos" from the crowd at Bethpage. Morikawa claimed that his words were taken out of context, and Brendan demands that we stop acting like the American players are at fault for the rowdy fans. Two Golf Advice emails round out this episode, with a debate on how to fix the "crowd issue" at future major golf events and a question about teens hitting into people under the cloak of darkness.

10 Okt 1h 21min

Andy and Brendan return with plenty to discuss as the golf world finally moves out of the Ryder Cup's blast radius. Naturally, this episode kicks off with a Baseball Minute due to a disappointing start to the NLDS for Andy's beloved Cubs and Pete Crow-Armstrong. Things quickly transition to "Don Watch" as Brendan is hearing rumblings that the "Lose Yourself" karaoke video may surface in the coming days. The PGA Tour moves from Jackson, Mississippi to Tokyo, Japan this week for the Baycurrent Classic. This event and its various changes in the last five years leads to a wider discussion about the PGA Tour schedule and the ultimate question of "how many tournaments is too many?" Elsewhere on the schedule this week, the Korn Ferry Tour finals are set to go off in French Lick even though most of next year's Tour cards are locked up. On the DP World Tour, many LIV stars are at the Spanish Open contending for a 2026 Masters invite. Jon Rahm is playing his home event and spoke to the media to somewhat re-ignite the Ryder Cup crowd discourse a bit, as one does. After running through the rest of the Schedule for the Week, Andy and Brendan parse through a bunch of golf news including the return of the Skins Game and the 2026 TGL schedule release (with accompanying content!).

8 Okt 58min

Just when we thought we were out, he pulls us back in! After declaring this podcast done with Don Rea until Year in Review, Brendan starts this episode off with the late-breaking news of Don Rea's karaoke performance after Saturday of the Ryder Cup. According to the Times of London, D-Rabbit reportedly took the mic at his hotel and performed Eminem's "Lose Yourself" in front of player families and more onlookers. Andy is stunned by the song choice, thinking that an Eagles song would be more up Don's alley. Everyone is wondering when and where the video of this historical moment will inevitably come out and PJ is debating on making some calls across Long Island to see if he can procure it. With Don's one-year anniversary as PGA of America president coming up, Andy ponders if he makes it through half of his two-year term. Brendan is aghast at the "Deep State" of European media and PGA of America members who are trying to cancel Don, demanding that this cannot happen, if only for the sake of this podcast. Before running through this week's results, Andy and Brendan also provide an incredible update on the "Lotte at Lottie's" challenge! In actual golf news, Tommy Gainey secured his first win on the Champions Tour and Andy believes that this may mark the end for the senior circuit in more ways than one. Speaking of the Lotte, the LPGA's unique winner streak carries on after non-member sponsor exemption Youmin Hwang took home the win. Big Shot Bob MacIntyre won a rainy, cold Dunhill just a week after battling at Bethpage. The weather was so bad in Scotland that the event was shortened to 54 holes, causing some Pro-Am celebs to walk off the course due to the conditions. On the PGA Tour, Steven Fisk chased down Garrick Higgo at the Sanderson to win his first-ever PGA Tour title. Andy pops PJ about the latest Jets loss and there's some network television discussion to round out this quick Sunday recording.

6 Okt 47min

Andy and Brendan! went LIVE on YouTube for this Friday episode to kick off the post-Ryder Cup weekend. We've received word that the "Lotte at Lottie's" challenge is off to a roaring start, with two listeners finding each other at the bar on Wednesday watching tape delayed coverage of an LPGA event from across the world. As you could probably guess, most of this episode focuses on the continued fallout from the Ryder Cup crowd fiasco and Don Rea's various responses. Andy and Brendan dig into the Don's LinkedIn post responding to criticism, something he's experienced since his days as a Minor League Baseball umpire. "New level, new devil" has now become a staple in the podcast's vocabulary as well. Andy got duped by a photoshop of Rea's potential resignation being discussed on ESPN's "First Take," but Brendan can't imagine a golf world without Don moving forward. Elsewhere in the crowd discourse, PGA of America CEO Derek Sprague spoke to The Athletic about "not hearing" what happened from his luxury box on Saturday. Matt Fitzpatrick and Tyrrell Hatton spoke out prior to the Dunhill, unsatisfied with Don's trophy presentation and ensuing apology. In non-crowd Ryder Cup cleanup, Furyk & Friends has become a bevy of content! AssCap Jim Furyk was unhappy about the green speeds being off at Bethpage and wonders if that was to blame for Team USA's poor putting performance. Stewart Cink also revealed that he interviewed for the 2025 captaincy, only to get ghosted by "special agent" John Wood afterward. Moving on from the Ryder Cup, LIV has reported its financial losses and the numbers have Andy and Brendan wondering where the league goes from here. Things wrap with Golf Advice, including Andy's passionate defense of poker chip ball markers.

3 Okt 1h

The dust is beginning to settle from the "biggest Ryder Cup ever" and the PGA of America has found itself in the crosshairs of everyone in golf. The organization has still not formally acknowledged anything regarding fan behavior or experience at Bethpage, but a Don Rea interview from Sunday morning has surfaced and provides Andy and Brendan with plenty of fodder. The President of the 31,000 thought that you could find fans like the ones on Saturday at a "youth soccer game" and claimed that he hadn't heard any of the barbs thrown at Rory McIlroy during the week. He wrapped up his chat with BBC by saying that "golf is the engine of good," which sets Andy and Brendan off to the races. They look back at the week as a whole and wonder what the PGA of America's true focus was on and whether the organization truly cared about putting on a quality golf tournament. The two discuss where the Ryder Cup should go from here and whether it needs to be sold or licensed to another company for future installments in the United States. After a complete dissection of Mr. Rea's quotes, it's back to normal in golf with plenty on the Schedule for the Week. It's chicken time at the Sanderson, you can go watch the Lotte at Lottie's, and Furyk & Friends has a distinct Ryder Cup feel! Plenty of LIV players and Ryder Cuppers will play at the Dunhill Links on the DP World Tour with celebs like Wayne Gretzky, Bill Murray, and the bassist from Linkin Park. A brief Playoff Baseball minute sends us home for this Wednesday episode with both the Guardians and Cubs starting their runs on Tuesday afternoon. Always remember, by listening to this podcast, you're part of the engine of good!

30 Sep 1h 12min

After an unexpected dramatic Sunday at Bethpage, Andy and Brendan are back to debrief from Europe’s win on away soil at the 2025 Ryder Cup. What does Europe do and have that the USA continues to botch? They discuss the American side’s valiant effort to make it close in Sunday singles, but turn to Europe’s brilliance and the autopsy of yet another USA failure. They ponder the envelope rule and how that had the USA side miffed and how the worst-case scenario of a tie was narrowly avoided. They grade each and every player, including the captains, and it’s not a kind review of Keegan’s week. The fans are also graded, and they go through one more day of shouts and heckles and react to Rory’s comments on it from the weekend. Course setup is also discussed, revolving around Keegan’s admission that he “made a mistake.” PJ and KVV join with some amusements from the ground as well after another incredible day covering one of the best events in golf.

29 Sep 2h 12min

Andy and Brendan have PLENTY to talk about after a full, buzzing Saturday at the Ryder Cup despite the blowout on the scoreboard. They jump immediately into the testy exchange between Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Rose, caddies, Francesco Molinari, and others during another winning afternoon for Europe. They dissect Keegan’s miscues with lineups and management but wonder if it would have mattered given Europe’s play. They also go into the extremely hostile crowds, the constant abuse of Rory McIlroy and the opponent, and discuss how bad it got out there and how much it crossed the line. KVV and LaMagna join late to relay some of their notes from their days inside the ropes before a rambling discussion on Russ Henley, Rose, New England sports analogies, and much more in this rollicking Saturday night episode.

28 Sep 1h 34min