Rory ran it back. We didn't think he could, but he did it anyways! Scott and Joe break down every key moment of the 2026 Masters with special guest @CEOofGolf Remec Carlson, who was on the grounds at Augusta all week. Remec shares why Rory was the obvious favorite all along, what holes players "pitched around", and how to maximize the Augusta expereince next time we attend The Masters... Follow the show on YouTube @nostrokes Follow Remec on Instagram @CEOofGolf Follow Scott on X @kitun
Scott Kitun (00:01.486)
All right. Welcome to episode two of No Strokes. My buddy Venmo Joe will be the constant here to keep me on the lines. We're adding the seal of golfer, McCarleson to this episode. Look, Rory ran it back. Rory did it again. I did not think that he could do it again. We basically handicapped the entire Masters last week around the assumption that the last person to do this was Tiger in 05 and that's not happening again. Rory ain't Tiger. And that Scheffler
had no reps and last time I saw him, he didn't make the cuts. I wasn't totally sure. So we literally handicapped the whole thing as if Rory and Scotty were just like, not part of this. We had a couple, right? We had Rosie, we had Burns, we had Young and Mix. I fucked up with Ham, with John Rahm, sorry. But you know what, in general, we were right. We were just wrong about the important part of Rory and Scotty. Look, CEO of Golf Remix, you were there.
and now you're here. What did you see? What was the Masters like? Was this your first Masters? This is probably my first question also.
Remec Carlson (01:06.826)
Yeah, how you doing guys? Thank you for having me on your show by the way. Really appreciate it. Yeah, this Masters was insane. Like it was my first Masters experience overall and just being in the atmosphere, just smelling what it's like to smell Augusta National Golf Club was pretty surreal. Being able to touch the grass, see the different undulations and slopes and
hidden T or blind T shots, blind approach shots. The size of the green was very surprising too. Size of the greens. 15 for example, had no idea that landing spot was so narrow. I was, I just assumed that that was the biggest green on the property. And it's like, it's gotta be like, I don't know what the depth is, but it's extremely narrow. And I can see why a lot of people.
Venmo Joe (01:53.786)
Yeah.
Remec Carlson (02:00.479)
find the water there or go long because it's like it's such a hard landing spot especially from like 200 plus. But kind of early on I was there during the practice rounds and I was watching Rory chip on the practice chipping green and I don't know just I had a feeling I put some money on him to win actually I had a feeling that like he he was rounding into form come
Come to master's week just because he looks so confident around the grains. And I'd say like, that's like one of the number one things that, hold on. How's it going? Thanks. Jimmy John's order. Got to be, I'd be proactive out here. Got to be proactive out here. No, but I was just saying like, that's the one thing that Rory has improved so much since the last time, I guess, 10 years ago.
Venmo Joe (02:43.545)
There you go.
Scott Kitun (02:44.023)
Yes, our first sponsor.
Remec Carlson (02:57.707)
He won, he won a major last year, but, um, going on 10 years, 10 years ago was the last, last time where he won a major. His short game is like so much better, um, compared to before. Like I remember he would duff a couple of chips here and there. Even, even we saw in the US opening, he missed a couple of short putts, um, to, beat Bryson. Um, but just last year and this year, you could tell like he's been getting a lot more confident around the greens.
especially with the wedges and it's a beautiful thing to see like that guy is unstoppable I think he has at least probably another like eight years of dominant golf ahead of him so I wouldn't be surprised if he rattled off like five or six more
Scott Kitun (03:41.742)
He definitely made me nervous on Saturday when he had the weird putting flubs all of sudden. like, oh shit, here we go. I'm not gonna lie. I I would have loved to see, I love Rory. I'm not a Rory hater by any stretch, but he backs into some of these wins. I would have loved to see the playoff with Scheffler. The golf gods decided that putt that Scheffler made on 17 wasn't gonna go in. Joe and I have talked about this during the tournament. You were there, so probably didn't see it. The CBS coverage was so brutal.
Remec Carlson (03:47.209)
Yeah.
Scott Kitun (04:10.549)
and I'm not gonna lark about it too long, because I think a lot of people have given their take, but I didn't know that Scheffler was making a real legitimate charge. It was just sort of like, yeah, he's like gonna make close and be there. I was not thinking there's the possibility of like Rory on 18, not just to win it, but like to not lose it, right? And then he hits the tee shot wayward and you're like, shit, here we go. And in general, I just felt like CBS did not set us up here. For you on the course,
Remec Carlson (04:22.164)
Yeah.
Scott Kitun (04:39.753)
You got to felt like things were just mounting Friday and Saturday. Like the people who were playing who, know, even if their score was not, you know, obviously Roy was up six at the end of Friday, the people who are not in contention, you had to have known who your like seven or eight players were going to be. Everyone talked about Reed. It never felt like he really had it. Like he was great, but didn't feel like he had it. So I'm just curious, like on the course, how you...
Remec Carlson (04:58.707)
So.
Scott Kitun (05:07.937)
can absorb the energy. What is it like versus those of us normies who have no choice but to clean our diaper shit babies while we watch it on a big screen?
Remec Carlson (05:17.278)
Yeah, no, for sure. It's definitely a different, different feeling being on the ground. It's like that major championship atmosphere, right? It's like it's a different air that, that accumulates over the golf course where guys are a little bit more focused, a little bit on edge. You could cut the tension with like a butter knife, right? Compared to like other tour events that I'm sure you guys have been to where it's like a little bit not as intense and people aren't like trying to
Remec Carlson (05:51.858)
It's really cool. It's unlike any tournament I've ever been to. Yeah, I just enjoyed every minute of it.
Venmo Joe (06:02.277)
Hey, Remick, you mentioned like, you know, not getting the, like for us watching on TV, you mentioned blind tee shots. What was the tee shot that like we might not fully appreciate on TV that when you saw like up live or you're like, oh my God, like this is such a tough tee shot. No wonder people struggle on this, right? Like, I don't know if that's, mean, 18 obviously with the pressure and the fact that, you know, if you have a good drive, it makes it scoreable. If you don't, it's not, but what was that?
Remec Carlson (06:27.113)
Yeah.
Venmo Joe (06:32.301)
one tee shot where you're like, I would want no business hitting this tee shot Sunday in contention.
Remec Carlson (06:38.826)
mean, 18 is just like the easy answer, right? Because the trees are you could kind of see it on TV. But I would say like, honestly, like 10 is pretty difficult. Like, it's a huge dog like left, super downhill. And they had the I was there during the practice on so they had the t boxes kind of back a little bit and you saw Justin Rose take that line where he just went directly over the tree without having to draw it or anything.
Venmo Joe (06:45.38)
Yeah.
Venmo Joe (06:53.818)
Yeah.
Remec Carlson (07:08.039)
And I'm like, man, that's such a, like a risky shot just cause like you get to clip the tree and just come back down, like a hundred feet in front of them. but I'd say that one's the hardest one. Cause you got to turn one over, or else it's just going to run out into the, into the bushes there. And, the rough is there is like, nonexistent. Like it's, it's some of the firmest grass I've ever experienced as, as a golfer.
Venmo Joe (07:30.618)
Yeah.
Remec Carlson (07:35.773)
Like it almost feels like you're walking on artificial turf when you're out there. It's just so compact and, and pretty much like a green almost. So that one's definitely the most tricky one. Cause you gotta, you gotta turn one over if you want to have like a mid iron, mid iron in.
Venmo Joe (07:55.768)
Awesome.
Scott Kitun (07:56.974)
I have to ask you, what would you shoot there? For those who are listening to the show, probably follow you at CEO of Golf on Instagram. You play golf, I take some tips off you. I'm playing irons because of your feedback. That's how much I believe in you. So what are you shooting out there? Because the average guy that I talked to is like, oh man, I'd be lucky if I break 100. I'm like, you'd be lucky if you broke 150, man. would honestly run out of balls probably before you even get to a number.
Remec Carlson (08:22.313)
That's a good question. Like if I had like, this is just like, like, no practice rounds, right? Okay. Okay, okay.
Scott Kitun (08:29.279)
You're just playing, not in the Masters. You're not in the Masters, but you are playing the course as you saw it. I already know the answer to in the Masters. That shit's crazy.
Venmo Joe (08:33.861)
Yeah, but we got a Remick. Remick, not playing the membership teams. You're playing the championship teams. That's what I want to remember.
Remec Carlson (08:40.083)
Yeah, Tammy, I gotcha. I gotcha. Well, I think it actually might be a little bit. I mean, obviously the pressure of the masters, but just the fact that there is like a gallery and patrons kind of like guarding the the fairway, almost like a like a bumper, like those little bumpers that you put on on the bowling line. That makes it a little easier. Like I would argue just because like you have people always going to find your ball.
Scott Kitun (08:40.267)
Yeah, you're playing pro-tease. You're a pro.
Venmo Joe (09:00.014)
Yeah.
Scott Kitun (09:02.871)
Yeah.
Remec Carlson (09:08.904)
If it gets a little bit offline, like it's going to get stopped, right? It's not going to go too deep into the trees. But to answer your question, I don't know. I'll be lucky to break 85. That's like 85 would be a good goal, especially like first, first time out there playing the course.
Scott Kitun (09:27.499)
Nothing with an eight in front of it even dawned on me for myself. Like, are you g-
Venmo Joe (09:30.509)
I mean, I don't think I'm breaking 85 if I'm starting on the green, like the farthest point of the green. I just got to putt it. I don't think I'm breaking 85. So that's pretty good, Ram.
Remec Carlson (09:42.546)
Somebody asked me the other day, they're like, if I put you on like the furthest point on the green from the flagstick out of every hole, do think you'll win the Masters? And I mean, think about it, you just got three put every green, right? But I don't know, it's easier said than done. I think I can do it. What about you guys?
Scott Kitun (10:02.999)
Hell no.
Venmo Joe (10:03.461)
I don't think so. I look at how Tom Lee on Sunday putting into the water and I think there was a couple guys that did that and I feel that would be my fate on a couple of those, but I got faith in you.
Remec Carlson (10:05.851)
Right.
Yeah.
Scott Kitun (10:17.399)
Dude, I will 30 put a muni course. Are you kidding me? Like, shit. As a joke.
Venmo Joe (10:23.473)
Hey, Remick, know you had great content from the Masters and I think you gave us a preview of how you should do it from a viewing standpoint. But for our listeners, can you walk us through where you put your chairs, how you structured the days that you were at Augusta to get your bang for your buck from a viewing standpoint?
Remec Carlson (10:34.449)
Yeah.
Remec Carlson (10:46.055)
Absolutely. So what I did was I got there super early and I always got told I'm like, you got to go to the merch shop. You got to go to the merch shop first. But I don't know if that's the play. You definitely need to go at some point to get your chairs. But if you already have chairs, I would suggest bringing them and go directly to AMN Corner. Set your chairs down. And if it's your first time there, like it was mine,
You go walk the entire front nine and then you walk all the way up to the chairs that you put down. sorry, let me start over. So you get there, your chairs down. You go to the practice facility, watch the guys warm up, enjoy breakfast. It's a great hangout spot, a great meetup spot too. If you lose somebody. and then once you're done with that, go walk the entire front nine, then walk.
back to your chair that you sat down on hole 12 and then grab a sandwich, enjoy some lunch, hang out there for a couple hours, then walk on over 14, 15, hang out on 16, maybe get another bite to eat, maybe get a beer, whatever your your shtick is, and then just enjoy the rest of the day. I think that's a perfect.
Venmo Joe (12:03.287)
Hey, the gears are a dollar fifty, right? So you can keep buying them.
Remec Carlson (12:07.75)
Actually, I was shocked. There were six bucks.
Venmo Joe (12:09.475)
I said, wait, what? thought that was their whole thing that everything's like a dollar 50 to $3 on the menu. The beers were more expensive.
Remec Carlson (12:16.518)
The sandwiches. The sandwiches are, I think they might've. Yeah. The sandwiches are a dollar 50. I don't know if they raised the price of the beer, I was, I was like, Oh, I had to lead a lot of beers. Um, I got, I got a nice stack of masters cups.
Scott Kitun (12:24.685)
Who eats? Who eats food?
I'm there to drink. I'm there for the beer, man. Thanks for the pimento sandwich and all,
Remec Carlson (12:36.185)
The biggest flex is like having people over and just handing them like a master's cup that you got from the, from Augusta. They're like, like, do you want any water or beer or anything? You just hand it them in a master's cup.
Venmo Joe (12:36.3)
I bet, I bet.
Scott Kitun (12:36.695)
That's amazing.
Venmo Joe (12:47.877)
I love that flex. love that flex. So that was the spot though, putting the chairs at A man quarter, right? So you see the tee shot on 12 and then you can see them finishing up on 11. That was the vantage point that you had.
Remec Carlson (12:50.032)
Yeah.
Remec Carlson (12:56.75)
Yeah.
Remec Carlson (13:00.57)
That's, that's the, my favorite spot, just cause you're so close. The guys are pretty much teeing off like 10 feet in front of you. that was my favorite. I did, I put my chair right behind the tee box on 12, just cause I'm a, I'm a golf nerd. So I like to see the golf swing, right. And like kind of what they're looking at and the down the line angle. but there's other places where you could do it too. You could put off to the side more up on the hill. So you could have a better, vantage point on 11.
Venmo Joe (13:14.701)
Awesome.
Remec Carlson (13:30.438)
I wasn't really able to see 11 too well, but 12 I was locked in. Like that was, that was a perfect spot. Um, it's just a great spot to have a sandwich. You know, you don't hang out there all day, even though you could, if you want to, um, I, you hang out there for a couple hours, see a couple of groups come through and then I'll walk, uh, 13, 14, 15, hang out there again, enjoy some beers, beverages, um, and watch, watch the guys come in on the 15 and 16.
Venmo Joe (14:00.709)
Awesome. And then with the the vantage of 12, help Scott and I understand, right? Because I look at it on TV and I'm like, this is 150 yard par three. Why does it give the pros so much trouble?
Remec Carlson (14:10.938)
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah. It looks like a little bacon strip where you're supposed to land the ball. Like it's, very like visually, deceiving a lot of pro shots. I kind of learned out of Gusto are visually deceiving where, it might be like really uphill. So you can't see the green or there might be a huge slope. So you can't really see the surface of the green or legit. There might just be like a bunker kind of guarding it. So you can't really see the
The green and that's, that's what was the case on 12. You got the water really close to the green and that big bunker right in front of the middle of the green there. And so like those two combinations, like, I don't know if that was, how on purpose, how it was designed, but that kind of. Makes the green look a lot smaller than, than it is, but it is small to begin with. So I think that might be a, one of the more bigger reasons why people struggle with that, that whole so much.
And the wind too, you hear about the wind tunnels that that whole rains and it's just tough to read the wind out there.
Scott Kitun (15:20.661)
question. I'm not jealous. I would love to play Gustav, but I feel like it would just demolish my game. Last thing I got for you, want to switch gears with you real quick. On a professional level, as a golf creator, right, there was a lot on Twitter about the calcification of the Masters, ESPN doing what ESPN does, and people were not thrilled. It's like the greatest tournament on earth. And I feel like it's weird to me, and I'm curious your opinion on this.
as digital creators, as a creator in golf, you guys are doing what I think they were attempting to do, which is to bring like real life access to golf. Would it not be better? I know you're gonna say, yes, you would rather be you than Kelsey, but like, would it not be better that they bring guys like you and the rest of the clan out there, the Wesley and the rest, onto the course with the part three or involve you in the pre-masters as opposed to ESPN trying to jam like one of these assholes?
Remec Carlson (16:14.874)
Yeah.
Scott Kitun (16:19.105)
down our throat, no offense, no disrespect to Kelsey. It just, he kind of ruined TGL for me, which I'm one of the like nine people who love it. And you were at the TGL event as well. like you've been there and I feel like how long is it before you're on the programming? Because I feel like that would be more for me and guys like Joe and the people who listen to the show, that makes more sense. Like that's more relatable to me. That makes a better experience if you're gonna change it at all.
Remec Carlson (16:19.748)
Yeah.
Remec Carlson (16:29.444)
Yeah.
Remec Carlson (16:44.196)
Yeah, I hear you. And I, I hated the fact that they had Kevin Hart and and the Kelsey's out there too. I just think like it's the Masters. like the most prestigious tournament of the year. I almost kind of like how snobby it is in a way, just because like that's the one event where like, it's elite like right, like they have it there every year. It's like so pristine and perfect. I honestly, I wouldn't like
Scott Kitun (17:03.297)
Yeah!
Remec Carlson (17:13.848)
the influencers to go even. just think like, just keep it the masters, like let all the other tournaments handle that.
Scott Kitun (17:19.179)
I'm totally good with that by the way. I just feel like if you're gonna do it, at least go with guys who are golfers. Like give me the perspective of a guy who's like probably the most elite version of my game that's way more relatable than watching Kevin Hart like smack a ball five feet in front. It's an embarrassment. Like they're taking chunks out of the turf. I was like getting pissed about.
Remec Carlson (17:25.305)
Yeah.
Remec Carlson (17:37.955)
Yeah, no, I was rattled about it too. but if they do invite me, I am not going to say no. So I just want to make that clear. Yeah.
Scott Kitun (17:46.19)
If you get extra tickets, just remember old Joe and Scott in your Rolodex. Hey man, we're gonna finish the rest of our handicap here of the recap of the Masters. What are you up to next? You look like you're about to go play some golf. I wish I was playing with you. Where can people find you and what are you working on next we should be looking for?
Remec Carlson (17:51.427)
I gotcha.
Remec Carlson (18:01.365)
Yeah.
Remec Carlson (18:05.22)
Absolutely. You could find me on all social platforms at CEO of golf. So the whole overall inspiration of the account name is I want everybody to become the CEO of their own game. And that's what we're here to do to bring them along this journey and to like better themselves on and off the golf course in order to be the best version of themselves on the golf course. So that's what CEOs do in business. That's what we're going to do to our golf game. So that's what we're here.
And they could find me on YouTube, Instagram, a little bit of TikTok. I've kind of gone quiet a little bit on there, but we're up to a lot of stuff, a lot of educational content. I try to make it a little bit entertaining too, to make it not so boring. Cause like a lot of golf stuff, educational wise is pretty boring. So we try to make it as fun as possible. But yeah, I love it.
Scott Kitun (18:52.513)
I did not hear that. I didn't hear that. If you could do me a favor and record one more video on stingers in slow motion for me, I have to hit replay on your video with my thumb as I'm trying to work on that momentum and weight of my forward foot and I catch the heel every time and it's not what I want. So I need another video on stingers, please.
Venmo Joe (18:55.192)
Yeah.
Venmo Joe (19:06.949)
You
Remec Carlson (19:09.346)
Yeah.
Remec Carlson (19:14.869)
I hear ya, you might need to get a club fitting. Clubs might be a little bit too upright. Could be the case too.
Scott Kitun (19:22.061)
All right, let's see. That's shit I wouldn't have known. That's shit I wouldn't have known. Remick, thank you so much for taking the time and joining the show.
Venmo Joe (19:26.629)
I'm sure your wife's gonna be really happy you're gonna get another club fitting scout, by the way. I'm sure that's exactly what I'm
Scott Kitun (19:31.543)
She's gonna love it. That's her favorite time as Scott gets club fitted.
Remec Carlson (19:33.867)
Yeah. You could blame it on me. She's like, Remig told me to do it, sorry.
Venmo Joe (19:38.404)
Yeah.
Scott Kitun (19:38.635)
I already did that with the irons the first time. I did that the first time.
Venmo Joe (19:42.563)
Yeah, Remig, I gotta say the CEO of golf, mean, just one of the better titles I've ever heard. So I'm jealous of that. I love the branding.
Remec Carlson (19:52.194)
It's one of my, yeah, it's one of the smartest things I've done in my life for sure. Put a top five up there.
Venmo Joe (20:00.409)
Yeah, that's good.
Scott Kitun (20:00.961)
The second was the engagement. I'll give you that one. That's, that's number two or number one. I think maybe it depends on who you ask.
Remec Carlson (20:03.809)
Yes.
Remec Carlson (20:07.266)
Yeah, exactly.
Venmo Joe (20:09.221)
Thank
Scott Kitun (20:10.157)
All right, buddy, we'll catch up soon.
Remec Carlson (20:11.971)
Alright, thanks guys, thanks for having me on.
Venmo Joe (20:14.253)
Thanks, Ron.
Scott Kitun (20:14.389)
Yep. Yes, sir. Take care.
Remec Carlson (20:17.282)
See ya.
Scott Kitun (20:19.693)
See you. All right. Hopping back into it, we talked a whole bunch at the beginning of the Masters on exactly who we thought was going to win. We brought this whole tech platform in, Sports Mockery built it. I think that if we enter the fact that we did pull Rory and Scotty out, the only thing that the platform did not really calibrate for was the Liv guys. It did not include Hatton. It did not account for Jon Rahm, just not.
showing up until Sunday, which it didn't matter. And you know, he put up a good round Sunday, but it didn't matter. And Bryson, you know, basically not knowing how to hit out of the sand. Maybe he 3D printed the wrong club. I don't know. But if you took that out, we really did do really well. But I think it also is worth having a conversation about, you know, and we probably could have talked about with Remic, but like the tech integration with the game, some things are chalk. Regular tournaments that are just center rotating. I think the tech is probably predicts some
Venmo Joe (20:57.177)
you
Scott Kitun (21:17.739)
you know, nine out of 10 with the Masters, the Masters is a character in the play. And I think that's the one thing that we forgot you in particular. You and I forgot the fact that no matter what the history says and the statistics of when the last guy did back to back or, know, or the fact that you're joining a group that includes Nicholas Faldo and Tiger. If you are an elite ball striker player in the elite class and you've played the Masters and won it or many times you've played well and almost won it that there is
Literally not even a single time that you should be removed from the equation We should have started with them and not not deduce them the fact that tiger woods While he wouldn't win it probably if he wasn't you know in rehab in Switzerland or whatever He's doing he he could almost win with one leg because he knows the course so well and so The only thing that I would would probably change is that from now on a mistake I will never make again is that if you have won here I mean we even talked about Hideki you kind of poo-pooed it even Hideki had a Sunday
kind of quietly making his way up the leaderboard. Adam Scott didn't, but he didn't play horrible. He played like a guy who was not on his game and still did all right. So I think that would be the only calibration I would make. If you think of the rounds and the people we talked about, I would love your take on Rose. I would love your take, how you felt about what happened there. And in particular, I would love to hear your take on where Rory kind of won this thing because...
Venmo Joe (22:27.247)
Right.
Scott Kitun (22:44.203)
This is the thing that I've listened to every golf podcast that is out there. Not every, but a lot of them. And the one thing I have not really heard people talk about, and I think I kind of said it to you before, is Sunday should have been, and set aside the CBS bullshit, it should have been. It was lined up to be maybe the greatest finale of all time. So all the biggest names in golf right now in real time with a chance to win this thing, storyline for everybody, right? Everyone's got a storyline. And what ended up happening,
Venmo Joe (22:44.429)
Absolutely.
Scott Kitun (23:12.063)
is that each guy kinda held the belt for like five minutes, two holes, and then that was it. And it felt like if you hadn't watched the round, it felt like it was chalk and it just ended how it started. But I don't believe that's a story at all. I think if you watched the round, particularly the middle nine holes, you were like, holy shit, there was a dog fight that took on, and somebody played some serious, like Rory said in his interview, he was scoreboard watching. I don't believe that for one frickin' second. So you tell me, Joe, you watch this stuff with your apps open and your eyes on.
Venmo Joe (23:42.723)
Yeah, I mean, I think with what you said at the onset, what we discounted at the Masters, it's going to be a guy that's like the face of golf and like what you see now over the last five years that it's Scottie, Rory and Ron have won the last five Masters. So.
Next year when we're doing our Masters preview, let's remember that you shouldn't really chase anyone that's like too far down the board because what history has told us at the Masters is that those long shots, at least in today's current state of golf, isn't happening at the Masters, right? So it's zeroing it on the guys that have had course success there. And that's always going to include Rory and Scotty. You know, from a Justin Rose perspective, we were right on, right? He played
consistent golf out of anyone, including Rory, because Rory had Saturday where he shot a 73. Rose was either 69 or 70 all four days. What I miscalculated with Justin Rose is once he got that lead on the back nine, my assumption was he is battle tested, right? He's a US Open champion. He's a guy that has played in a lot of high pressure moments, specifically in the Ryder Cup where he is
putt it really well. He's hit big shot after big shot. And what you saw from him on holes 11, 12 and 13, where Rory won the tournament and we'll get into that 11 through 13 is where Justin Rose lost the tournament. He bogeyed 11 because he flared out a shot on the right. It was very clear on that approach shot after hitting a perfect drive that he was not committed to what he wanted to do. He backed off the ball, flares it out right, leaves himself with a pretty impossible up and down opportunity.
got it to like 15 feet, missed the putt. And then you saw the nerves come in on hole 12. He pulls it long and left, flubs a chip. Another bogey goes into 13, hits a perfect drive, perfect approach shot. He's got 25 feet for Eagle. That's where, you me is holding a Justin Rose ticket. I'm pretty excited because I'm like, he can get those two bogeys right back, make Eagle put the pressure back on Rory. What does he do? He three puts it, right? He goes eight feet past.
Venmo Joe (26:00.023)
on his ego putt. He can't make the comebacker and Rory McElroy that same three hole stretch hole 11 he makes a 13 footer for par absolutely nails takes the most aggressive line that we saw all day Sunday on hole 12 sticks it to seven feet makes birdie and then he birdies 13 so he he took a man corner and two under Justin Rose took it in in two over four shot difference
Justin Rose loses the Masters by two shots. When I look back at Rory Sunday, 11th or 13th is where he won it, right? That's where he recaptured the tournament. He went one over from holes 14 to 18, and he still had that padding of the one stroke win over Scottie. So well done to him. Not something that you and I forecasted, but with his course history, him getting the monkey off of his back last year, it allowed him to
play a little bit free and he didn't he didn't crumble when he double bogeyed four right I think old Rory with all the demons he doubles that maybe he doesn't get himself back into the tournament he bounced back on the last couple of holes in the front and then he dominated a man corner
Scott Kitun (27:18.443)
Look, I'm not taking anything away from Rory. He won the tournament. You've got three, four guys with Scheffler. Scheffler was just too far back. As you've said before, he started a little bit too late on the run, but you've got four of the best, hottest golfers in golf right now that he had to fight off and fend off. Where I'm critical, and I just, I die in the vine on this. I really believe that there's a playoff. Scheffler kicks his ass. That's my personal opinion. Doesn't matter whether it's, you know, it's unprovable because it didn't happen, but I would ask you, do you think Rory McElroy,
is the back-to-back Masters tournament champion if he starts Sunday with a one or two stroke lead. Relative to starting off equal to the field. Do you think if he goes head-to-head in his match with a lead to hold onto that he walks off Sunday as the tournament champion?
Venmo Joe (28:04.855)
I don't, right? Because we saw what happened when he had the lead on Saturday. And what did he do when he had a six shot lead on Saturday and it was his tournament to lose? He tried his best to lose that tournament, right? He went one over when everyone else that was in that leaderboard went three to four under. So if he goes to sleep on Saturday night, not tied up with Cam Young and hadn't let a couple of other guys back into the tournament,
Scott Kitun (28:06.369)
I don't either, I don't either.
Venmo Joe (28:34.759)
I do think he plays a little bit differently. I'm not sure he's got the green jacket, but you know, it was tied going into there and then he did it.
Scott Kitun (28:43.757)
I'll play the inverse on you because I don't want people to think, yeah, I am talking shit about Rory. So I don't care if you think that, but like, I like Rory, but I also don't want people to think that I'm being unfair and it's like, man, like, what the fuck would you do? Here's the reality. It's actually less about Rory and more about the field. If he's got a couple stroke lead or he doesn't, you he comes in Friday, Saturday, he shoots a little bit better and it's two or three strokes. You've got a bunch of guys, not including Sheffler, who have never won this tournament. Rose, who's like legit, this is his probably last.
one or two more years of last shot at it, being like, dude, we gotta make up two, three strokes on the front, cause you know Rory's good for two or three strokes on the back. So we gotta get after it right now. And they play aggressively and they're chasing down. And what ended up happening is that they came in even and they're like, well, shit, let's see what Rory does and we'll play our game and adjust. And you know what it did? It did it for Scheffler. It ate up four or five holes, four or five holes, the entire field, including Scheffler.
We're playing conservatively like let's not screw up. Let's not create more debt. Let's just get ourselves to a position where when we when we see Amen, we know what we're doing. We're either all in or all out. Scheffler, he turned it on. You've said it before a little too late. I don't know if it was even his choice. It's just sort of what he played. was what? I mean, what the hell can you say? No bogeys, you know, perfect Saturday and Sunday. So you can't you.
Venmo Joe (30:00.805)
He played four under. Unfortunately, what was needed that day from him is not a 68. It was a 67 or a 66 and two.
Scott Kitun (30:09.493)
Yeah, he needed the 6665 round to match. But, but
Venmo Joe (30:12.613)
And to your point, people weren't playing that aggressively. Where like, I just assumed that someone that was on the top end of that leaderboard would go out and shoot a 65 or 66. And you don't get a 65 or 66 at Augusta if you're not playing your most aggressive brand of golf, to your point.
Scott Kitun (30:30.061)
Well, and that's how you got Hovland and Hatton and why you got a John Rahm Sunday round, because he doesn't give a shit, he just wants to finish in the top 30 or whatever. What I will tell you is this goes back to your Justin Rose piece. Like those guys are playing golf not to lose, not to get too far back. They want to stay in the game, not to get too far back. What ends up happening if you're Rose or you're Young who had it early in the round, you get the lead and you're not totally sure what to do with it.
because now Rory's the one who's gonna start coming at you and you don't want that. He's a ridiculous golfer. So you're kinda like, I want the lead, but I don't want too much. I either need like five strokes real quick because Rory fell apart. If I get hot, he's gonna get hot. And now I'm gonna head to head with like the most lethal guy other than Scottie Schaeffler and he's standing nine feet away from me, scaring the shit out of me. So like, I actually think that it was, you know, this is almost like tanking your last few games in NBA season to like set your match up.
Rory did not do that. He would never do that. But I will say this, it accidentally worked out well that Saturday he didn't play his best round. Everyone came back to him and he starts off like, look, I already got a green jacket. Who the fuck are you? I'm Rory McElroy and I'm gonna go out and I'm just gonna play my game. Which, and I know we're gonna end the show here, but like, I wanna go back to some of the stats that we talked about last week about important things. You're not gonna win any tournament, let alone the Masters without being able to make make-putts scoring, okay?
That's a difference between scoring and overall like, you know, gain strokes on putty. You can be like more or less an okay average putter, but drain a few important puts and win. Rory proved that. He also proved you don't want to be the best putter because he missed a shit ton. Kapka and a handful of others, Patrick Reed, all in contention, did not putt particularly well, great ball strikers. What did we say? Driver doesn't matter on this course today with the, with the weather as it was. Rory until Sunday.
It's like 90 out of 91 golfers and far in driving and gains and strokes gained in golfing off the tee. Didn't fucking matter. You know what did matter? Second shot, approach, short game. Remick brought it up. He saw Rory practicing. We found out after, you know, after the tournament started that he's been playing it for a month straight. But like that is what won this tournament. You either know the course, you know where not to go or you're practiced and skilled enough that when you do end up there, you can get out of there and you got to make a handful of putts and chips.
Venmo Joe (32:27.225)
Yeah.
Venmo Joe (32:50.469)
been real.
Scott Kitun (32:52.213)
And we saw it despite the fact that CBS did their best job to not make you know it. Rory McIlroy standing where Tiger Woods once was, chips the ball almost the exact same line. His doesn't go in, but it's a tap in. And on the hole to win it all, you know, he's got the shot here of him making his putt from here. He put himself in that position. And in the end, Rory McIlroy, in my opinion, did absolutely win it. But it was not without some serious golf gods nods and letting him.
Venmo Joe (33:18.275)
Yeah, I mean, if I would have, if we would have had the, the Remick Intel that like Rory was just walking around with his wedge and a bag of balls and all he cared about was chipping, our best might have been a little bit differently because that's the right, to your point, that's the right way to approach Augusta. It's about.
approach and then if you are offline on that approach it's you've practiced enough and you're comfortable enough with how nippy you've got to hit the ball around the Augusta greens to get up and down.
And he did that better than anyone, right? You saw that on Friday on 17, like that was an impossible chip that he made. And he did the same thing. Like you said on 16, right? Like such a dicey shot puts it to a foot 17, same thing. He flared out right. Um, not as good as Friday. He didn't make it, but he gave himself like a two footer stress free kind of pot to retain that two stroke lead having heading into the 72nd hole. And if he hadn't had that up and down game on 17,
Scott Kitun (33:58.178)
Ugh.
Venmo Joe (34:20.455)
when he goes wayward on 18, now all of a sudden it's a completely different ballgame because he's got one stroke to play with versus two. We saw last year when he had one stroke to play with he ended up in a playoff. That happens this year, like you said, it's not Justin Rose in the playoff, it's Scottie and you have to think Scottie.
Scott Kitun (34:37.557)
Now, we're talking about Scottie Scheffler, three time Masters Champion is what we're talking about if that happened. That's just my opinion, but that does not take away from Rory's incredible week. He, from day one to Sunday, he felt like he was the winner or gonna be, or one of three guys to win it. And Scheffler kind of came roaring back. He did not feel that way until really midday Sunday. So all in all, really enjoyed the tournament. I would grade it a B, around a B as far as our ability to handicap this with the tech.
I think that we got pretty close. We buried the lead. That was about it. Generally speaking, it proved out all of our points in retrospect, you know, would have changed a few things. The tournament itself was fantastic. I think that if CBS covered it better, Sunday would have felt a little bit more momentous. But as a person like you, me and those listening who really love the game of golf, I can say this much. It's fantastic how many incredible players we have in the PGA. And despite the fact that Tiger is not around anymore, really in the way he was.
I feel good about the game and I'm excited for Major season. We are in it now, weekly Joe, I appreciate you joining us on this show and going on this journey with me. And also I wanna thank the CEO of Golf, Ron McCarleson for being our first and not the last guest on this show. Hopefully you guys enjoyed him. He will easily be found on Instagram at CEO of Golf. Joe, it's good to see you. We'll talk to you next week to talk about the next round.
Venmo Joe (35:39.705)
Appreciate you,
Venmo Joe (35:56.963)
Talk soon my friend, see ya.