Gotterup steals the John Deere with a bogey-free 62, while Ben Kohles drowned it on 18 and Max Homa's birdie train came up one short. Scott and Joe argue whether five wins in twelve months puts Gotterup in the best-under-30 mix, then get into the Michael Block YGT drama and what YGT, TGL, and the Internet Invitational need to figure out. They close building the card for the Genesis Scottish Open, where Gotterup defends: Joe's Marco Penge one-and-done, a Rory-Scottie-Rahm ranking, and a Xander sprinkle worth taking. Follow on X @kitun, Instagram @kitun and @venmojoe, and nostrokespod.com.
Scott Kitun (00:00.314)
Whoa. Whew. Alright, welcome back. No Strokes Golf Podcast. Venmo Joe. I got my shitty instant coffee here to to tide me over. I'm an idiot. Don't know how to buy coffee. You'd think at this point I would, but nope.
Venmo Joe (00:13.57)
Hey that that's that's just your dedication and no strokes, man. Anything to grab some energy before you jump on and and talk some golf.
Scott Kitun (00:24.216)
Ready to go. and talk off we will. I'm gonna start off with a tweet of the week I read that I thought was great. And it was John Deere Classic is the travelers with a shittier field.
Venmo Joe (00:36.286)
Ha ha ha.
They're not wrong. They're not wrong. But like kid can I do I was just gonna say, does it like just like just like we talked last week, the travelers delivers, doesn't John Deere always deliver? Like yes, shittier field, but you know, the one guy that or the there was two guys that were in the Exactly
Scott Kitun (00:42.35)
Yes, you're not wrong. It was fucking awesome. It's fucking awesome!
Scott Kitun (00:54.576)
Яс.
Scott Kitun (00:59.248)
Shittier feel to whom? Shittier to whom?
Venmo Joe (01:03.884)
And there was two guys that were in the top fifteen in the world playing, and one of them won the tournament. So fuck, John Deere delivers yet again.
Scott Kitun (01:11.02)
I mean you take out Matty Fitz and our boy Cam Young and Chris Godder up now has more wins in the last twelve months than any of the rest of the people who played in the Travelers combined. So on you.
Venmo Joe (01:27.042)
Yeah, that's a that's a that's a stat. That's a stat. I I did
Scott Kitun (01:29.744)
Dude, crazy. And also, he's awesome, by the way. Like, love to watch him. love to watch his brother, who's not always on his back but was. His brother on the range waiting was fucking masterpiece. Yeah! And then the the quote, the quote that I caught, which wasn't even mic'd up, was Chris is sitting scrolling on his phone. I don't know if he's married or not, so I'm not gonna say scrolling on Tinder, but whatever he was doing, he was scrolling. And his brother is like
Venmo Joe (01:38.22)
Yes. Yeah. Warming up. He's hit he's hitting the shots on the range.
Scott Kitun (01:57.841)
and he like kind of grins and Chris like what? He's like he pulled it in the water. And Chris goes, green side or direct? And he goes, green side. Thumps the wedge back down and goes, he can still chip it in. And he starts hitting balls again.
Venmo Joe (02:13.185)
That would that was fantastic that was fantastic. I would agree with you on that. I mean I felt for Ben Coles, man. Like, dude, to be that close and then just yank. I mean, dude, he is I've actually followed him before, like
Scott Kitun (02:20.88)
Ben Cole.
Scott Kitun (02:26.788)
What a grinder.
Venmo Joe (02:33.675)
He's a historically bad putter, which is why like he just for whatever reason these four days, like we've talked about, you get a hot putter, you can contend, and he was finally making putts that he historically misses up until that, you know, three foot bogey putt cost him three hundred thousand dollars on eighteen. That was brutal to watch after he lost the tournament and then he could still tie for second and he just shoves that three footer. but I I hated seeing that on eighteen, right? Like, but you know, it's
Scott Kitun (02:54.256)
Yeah.
Venmo Joe (03:03.625)
It goes to show you that well, I know you had your Goddard up contract, so I I know you were cheering for that, but
Scott Kitun (03:03.96)
I didn't mind it.
Scott Kitun (03:09.348)
Godterup contract, bro. We we did. I I woke up yesterday and was like, I'm not watching. I I'm gonna watch it obviously, but I was like, I'm not watching this with any sort of anything in play. I woke up, my tickets were Grillo, Blades Brown, top 20. Max Homa, top five, God her up wins it outright. That's what I woke up with. And I looked at it and was like, all right.
We'll see. Like I'm just looking at like if they could make a run I could sell. I picked up some Lucas Glover along the way when he was down and then I was like shit that was bad and I sold that off. But like I I mean honestly I think I sold it like what I bought it. So it was like I got him when he was just getting within two and then down, whatever.
Venmo Joe (03:45.089)
Yeah, it was bad.
Venmo Joe (03:51.956)
Yeah, no harm no no harm, no foul.
Scott Kitun (03:54.769)
I to you to go back to your point though, I did not buy Kohl's because I know he can't putt. Then he goes and drains a handful of putts after the bur the bogey. He makes a putt for par, he makes a putt birdie, and like, shit, this is this guy's day. Goddard's not gonna win, but then it got so good that I I was joking with you. Homa, you know, he's like birdie, par, bogey, birdie, whatever, on the front. And I'm thinking.
Venmo Joe (04:07.234)
Yeah.
Scott Kitun (04:21.208)
Well, here comes a home around. And so I had $200, 200 contracts for top five. He's at I want to say 11th place or 12th place tied at this point, which is only two strokes. It's not like a lot, but it was where he's ranked. And I was like, fuck this guy. It's Max Homa. I'm out. I tried to panic sell it on Robin Hood, and only two of the 200 contracts went through. And I was like, Well, that's gotta be some kind of a sign. I never try again when I do stuff like that. By the way, for any gambler degenerate, if you try to do something and it doesn't go through.
Fucking drop your phone. That's whatever God you believe into telling you to shut the fuck up. That's what that is. So just don't do it. So I left it B, and then sure as shit, he goes like a four-birdie train and places top five. And I ended up walking with about 725 bucks yesterday on a day expected to lose, you know, 40-50 on the stupid bets that I had. so in general, went really well. Staying hot, but
Venmo Joe (05:11.768)
Stay hot, Scary. Stay hard.
Well what was crazy too, like, I mean, I think you went into it the same way God erupt did. If you if you heard his press conference, he was like, I don't know, I was five back. I wasn't thinking I was gonna win the tournament today. I was just trying to play the best round I can play and guy shot nine under and it was good it was good enough to win the good enough to win good enough to win the golf tournament. By the way, to borrow from Bill Simmons, you know, he's got the gambling manifesto. We need we need to create the golf gambling manifesto
Scott Kitun (05:30.128)
threw six birdies and twelve holes and was like, hmm, maybe I do have a chance.
Scott Kitun (05:41.38)
Yes.
Venmo Joe (05:44.737)
A thing we need to remember crazy comebacks happen at John Deere on Sundays. Because that course can be gettable, guys just get super hot. Sep tr Sep Stracka did it three years ago where I think he shot, he might even shot 10 or 11 under on a Sunday and came back from like six back, seven back. Like I love I love looking at the board at these like les marquee golf tournaments on Saturday night and just seeing where there's value. Because I'm sure Goddard up five strokes back.
Scott Kitun (05:47.311)
Yes.
Scott Kitun (05:50.681)
Yes.
Venmo Joe (06:14.64)
Yesterday was pr I mean he had to be like I don't know 100 to 1, 75 to 1. Because I know Blades Brown was five back and he was 100 to 1 going into Sunday. So there's always value in looking at that on courses that do give up birdies where there's these huge swings, and when the leaders don't go like crazy, a guy like Godterup, who's you know 10-11 groups in front of them, can go post a score and win the tournament.
Scott Kitun (06:22.223)
Well, I bought it.
Scott Kitun (06:42.722)
Yeah, I mean I think I got I mean I it was five hundred contracts paid out four hundred and fifty or sixty dollars. So I'm I probably was at like sub ten cents on the purchase would be my guess. Twelve cent, whatever it is, do the math on less fees. So like that well it was it wasn't it was Saturday. Well, yeah, I guess it was Saturday still. I can't remember if the if if if Coles was done already or not. But either way.
Venmo Joe (06:56.318)
they had to be. They had to be. They had to be.
Scott Kitun (07:08.77)
I one, we're definitely gonna do this manifesto. We talked about creating like a fantasy league season-long fantasy, kind of like you do in football, but do it for golf, which we're gonna do. So then we'll have to do the manifesto. One of the things I would add to this is again, this is the preface being, you how Simmons has the preface, like this is the asterisk, like in in case this happens. If you've got, you know, a Rory or a Scotty or one of those types who's still not in the clubhouse, but they're three, four strokes back and they've got you know six holes to go, nothing is safe.
But we do not give enough respect to getting in the clubhouse with the low number. Time and time again, we look at the guys out there and it's like, you know, the number we think is negative 19 or 20 or 21. And you get someone who comes in at 20 and they finish, they post the number. I mean, you kind of saw with Morokawa, it almost fucked everything up for everyone at the Travelers. You come in with a real low number, you're like, now I have a number I have to hit. It's not hypothetical.
Venmo Joe (08:03.202)
Yeah.
Scott Kitun (08:08.366)
And I think it screws with people. Like I definitely think it got Ben Coles. I think he looked at it, he's like, he fucked up, made he didn't make Birdie, gets a par, that's a problem. He comes back and now he's like on eighteen, all I gotta do is not fuck up. And he fucked up. If he would have been pay playing a number that's still out there, it would have been different.
Venmo Joe (08:15.19)
Yeah.
Venmo Joe (08:21.878)
And what w what was cr what was crazy what was crazy too, Scott, that was only the second ball that went into the water all day on eighteen. Like, so that's again, that but that's what we watch, right? Like there even the professional golfers have nerves, right? And like pull shots and like when it's the ultimate pressure and you know, you're sitting in the middle of the fairway trying to win your first PGA tour event. I think he just close I think he just won a corn ferry. It's not like the guy hasn't won, but
Scott Kitun (08:31.0)
Of course.
Scott Kitun (08:37.816)
Yeah.
Scott Kitun (08:48.152)
Yeah, he won Corn Fairy, but he's he did this before though. He blew it on eighteen at the Byron a couple of years ago and he it was eighteenth whole bogey. So he does this.
Venmo Joe (08:53.442)
Yeah. So you just feel you just feel
You just feel for him because now it's you know it's happened it's happened more than once, so it's a pattern. So, you know, i th there's some demons that that guy's gonna be fighting the next time that he's in contention. There's no doubt about that. But you gotta give I I give it up to Goder up. He went out there and got it. he's now won he's now won five times in the last twelve months. A great segue for when we get there, right? 'Cause he's the defending champ at the Genesis. The Scottish Open is what kind of kicked off his his being.
Scott Kitun (09:10.743)
Yeah.
Scott Kitun (09:14.254)
He did the number, he went and got it, no question.
Mm-hmm.
Venmo Joe (09:27.844)
On the scene here, right? So the last 12 months have been pretty good if you're a Chris Goddard fan.
Scott Kitun (09:33.221)
Well, I mean, in in a couple of months here, the conversation becomes is he the best best player under thirty? And he'll be the person with five five wins. Cam Young turns thirty, like I think shortly here. So like it it kind of is stupid sounding, but it is like he's got the most wins in the shortest period of time. He just hasn't won in in signature events though. That's the question. Like he's got these wins, the three, but they're not they don't have pack fields.
Venmo Joe (09:47.788)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Venmo Joe (09:54.643)
I I that's a that's a great call. I mean listen, Scott Scott the the Scottish and the f and Phoenix are are two unbelievable wins, but
Scott Kitun (10:01.059)
I still love him.
Scott Kitun (10:07.332)
No, those are real. Yeah.
Venmo Joe (10:08.834)
But I'm with you. Like I I think your question to to who's the you know who's in the who's number three, right? Because like we talked we've talked about this at nauseum, right? It was Cam. We threw Fitz out there. Hovlin can certainly get there. Goddard up throws his throws his name into contention. Morakawa when he's right, is right there. Like I think we need I I I think it comes down to can we get one of these young studs that has won one major or hasn't
Scott Kitun (10:10.712)
Yeah.
Venmo Joe (10:38.768)
hasn't won a major yet, win the open here in two weeks. And I think that's gonna be the guy that like going into the playoffs into next season is like becomes in in my opinion that third guy, right? I would love to see if we can get Goder up, Hovland, Sam Burns, Ham Young, one of those guys, like it can they win at Royal Burkdale and like finally kind of close the case shut and be like, hey, now I've got everything.
Scott Kitun (10:57.584)
All right.
Venmo Joe (11:08.698)
On my resume. Not only do I have like you know the five wins or the eight wins if you're Hoblin, now I've got the major championship to go with it.
Scott Kitun (11:10.234)
So
Scott Kitun (11:16.644)
So who is number three in the in or four on the rushmore this season is a different debate. I don't put Chris Godd up anywhere near that. To me, when you talk about Rushmore, it is performance, but it's also
Venmo Joe (11:27.419)
I mean he's definitely I mean he's definitely up there. How is he not?
Scott Kitun (11:32.078)
Well, because I don't think he is. Yeah, no, no. But like I'm looking at like the general are we talking about this is like the MVP versus the like season the best player in the league, really. Like Scotty Scheffler has not won other than the one, and yet he's in second in contention to every single major. Goddard he's in contention, Goddard's not even in the fucking tournament.
Venmo Joe (11:34.582)
You said this season he's won multiple times this season. Who else has? Besides him and Fitz.
Venmo Joe (11:53.305)
Yeah, but like but Scotty but Scotty's number one. Like we don't need to debate Scotty. We're debating three and four.
Scott Kitun (11:57.657)
No, I know. I I'm just I'm just making a point that like I wasn't I'm not we're gonna save it for a different show debating the actual like who is the kings of the of the turf out there right now. I was just framing like when you look at next season going into the season, who are the best players under 30? And this is the crazy part. In the next month, you are gonna have Scotty Scheffler's already out. He turned in June, 30. Kyle Murakawa turning 30. If he hasn't turned already, he's turning thirty. Victor Haven will be twenty-nine next season, twenty eight now.
Cam Young will be turning 30. Ludwig Oberg, who will never win, is 26. So he's your young one, he's competing. Akshay, 24, he's competing against. Chris Godarp is 26, he'll be 27. Robert McIntyre, he's 29, turning 30, so he's out. Sam Burns is 29, just turned 30. He's out. Minu Lee, 27, we'll be 28 by the time we talk about this. That's the top 10 I can think of off the bat. You can go to the really young, you know, the Jackson Quavens in these, but they haven't won anything yet. You gotta be on tour, stay on tour.
When you really think about it, that's Hoveland and God are pretty much right there.
Venmo Joe (12:56.846)
Well too how about can wait wait pause pause really quick. I I
Venmo Joe (13:03.926)
Yeah, I mean I don't have the list of it. I I would like to look at that further, but yeah, you're probably I mean, that was impressive that you just rattled those ages off. I don't know how you did that. That was pretty good. J Jackson Coyman though, like
Scott Kitun (13:13.69)
GPT baby.
Venmo Joe (13:18.242)
Now we're kind of seeing, and I I talked about this last week. I mean, Blades Brown was in way more contention than than Coyvin was, and I said you're getting a way better number on Blades Brown, and the guy has got way more experience than Coyovan. That was Coyovan's first like event as a as a pro. He missed the cut. Hey, by the way, let's not play let's not yeah, but dude, this is why you don't put a guy that's never his first his first event as a pro, he should not be twenty-five to one. I don't care what the field
Scott Kitun (13:36.088)
Yeah. He had some neck shit, whatever.
Scott Kitun (13:47.833)
No, it was great. Well, that's I mean, everyone's betting on hype. Everybody loves the fucking hype machine, and he's certainly full of it. I mean, I I've said this before, I'll say it again, this is gonna age terribly, because I really do actually think he's a stud player. The guys like him, who are phenomenal putters, this is the speeth thing. Only speath got way more than you could ever ask anyone, like multiple majors, and he's one away from winning the Grand Slam. You can despite what the last seven or eight, ten years of Speeth has been, you you got
An apex from him, like very tiger-esque apex, which is like a lot to expect. Jackson Quivans being compared to that, in fact, said he's even a better putter. Guys whose entire game is relevant on a putter and they're five foot five, five foot nothing, you know, whatever the the the rootie line is. The five foot nothing kid who hits the ball a good a good amount for his size, but isn't built like Rory with the wide shoulder, wide big leg, he scares the shit out of me. And this little injury thing, which I think is like nothing at all, and he's young.
was like in my head, was like, uh-oh. Like the and I'm not trying to talking head my way into this guy's future 20 years ahead, but there's something about guys who are only putter is like their big thing. It's like you are one yip. We've seen it time and time again that a guy like Ben Coles can win a fucking tournament after being a historically almost a worse putter than me. He can come in and just get hot for a for one tournament and he can win it.
Venmo Joe (15:09.334)
Yeah.
Scott Kitun (15:13.508)
And that means that Coyvon is competing with the guy who gets hot every single week, and that's his strength. And I'm just a little concerned that he's not gonna be everything that people expect. And so that bet I saw, we talked about it, I thought it was crazy. I put my money on Blade. And I I and I will do it again because he looks like a complete player. He's not the putter that Jackson is. He's not the ball striker off the T precision-wise, but he's got more distance, he's a better iron player, in my opinion.
Venmo Joe (15:38.146)
Way distance. Yeah. I lo I I really like Blaze Brown. Like that's a guy that Yeah. Yeah.
Scott Kitun (15:42.476)
His name is Blades Brown. We don't have to say it every time, but I'm gonna like that that guy, you might as well I'll put a tattoo of that dude right in my little like what's the frat kid does right here? I'll put it right there.
Scott Kitun (15:55.299)
No, I want to be early. I can always just change it to like blades, and it's just like my mirror irons. no, either way. So the point is like we we always talk about the recap of of these tournaments, who's hot and where it's going. We've got a ton of young kids, young kids coming with an amateur Stroud also compete in this. And you know, obviously it should be mentioned, not the deepest field on the planet, but these are real players. There's some guys out there. any field where Zach Johnson can top 10, I feel like is questionable, but that's a different topic.
He's a douchebag. I'm gloved that and his caddy couldn't even high five.
Venmo Joe (16:25.228)
Yeah, we almost we almost went back and we almost went back I mean, it was definitely like a nostalgic kind of Friday where it's like you saw Zach Johnson at the top of the leaderboard and then Lucas Glover took the lead, like Lucas Glover looked like he was gonna almost go wire to wire.
fallen off a little bit on Sunday, but that that's what that's kind of the charm of the John Deere though, right? Is that if you've got that good course history, it just seems like you can compete you know, the later stages of your career. Like Glover won it, I think four or five years ago. Like he's he's done it in in recent time. Like he just he pops up on the radar every once in a while. Like I was looking before we jumped on here because I was like, remember that a couple years ago Glover won back to back tournaments on the PGA Tour? Like it was absurd. He won
Scott Kitun (16:46.298)
Tam put.
Scott Kitun (17:13.508)
I do.
Venmo Joe (17:14.124)
the he won the windham I think the last regular season event and then parlayed that into winning at St. Jude. It's just golf is nuts, man. Like to just be someone that's like you don't think about for a couple of years and then all of a sudden they're just like poop. They're there, they have their moment, they might win a tournament and then you don't hear from them for another two or three years.
Scott Kitun (17:35.459)
It's it's why I have a bit of a hot take on this. And we haven't talked a ton about the PGA tour announcements on the the the challenger and this kind of stuff. and I'm not gonna do it here. I I actually think there's still a lot that needs to be flushed out before that's actually talkable. Everything else is kind of speculation. But I will say one thing stood out to me, and this tournament really, in my opinion, kind of like drove it home. I don't understand why we're talking about bringing new tournaments into the PGA's normal.
Course play and not drawing on tournaments that are pre-existing 20, 30 years long with history and locations. I know we want to do the big city thing. Liv did this big city. No one gives a fuck. Chicago will fill up just like it always does. But we always have like the President's Cup coming into Medina this year. We have all these things that like we'll go to. You have a passionate crowd in Iowa or Illinois or Wisconsin or wherever these like random kind of tournaments that we are like kind of.
Diminishing. I feel like the John Deere shouldn't just be sitting there. It should be elevated. Like I think the PGA is making a mistake trying to introduce new tournaments that are gonna be bigger and not taking a John Deere and saying, Hey, why don't we get the best players here? Because for 30 years, the people turn out. And there's a reason that we're talking about the John Deere saying that was an awesome tournament and everyone really loved it. And it the vibes on television were really good. I like
Venmo Joe (19:02.154)
Always are, yeah.
Scott Kitun (19:03.886)
I don't know why we're why would we why would we not reward the rural areas? And I understand all the math and shit, but the rural areas that have supported big tournaments with big companies for a long time. The John Deere charters a plane for all the players to go straight to the to the Genesis right after the tournament. It's a not a small deal. Like, this is a a tournament to me that is run exceptionally well. Exceptionally well. And I feel like we're we're trying to add stuff. We've talked about this in other episodes.
Get out of your own fucking way. We're trying to add stuff when really taking away and pushing forward the best product is is a better, in my opinion at least, is a is a better move here.
Venmo Joe (19:45.697)
Yeah, we'll see how it all shakes out. I mean there there are things that they've introduced that, you know, you and I have talked about that I think
everyone is universally in favor for. Like I love relegation. I love you gotta bring cuts back, right? Which they're doing. some of the some of the pressure that kind of has left the ecosystem since Live, right? Where, you know, signature events, no cut, huge purses. So they they they definitely needed a course correct there, which they did. I'm interested to see what what tournaments kind of go by the wayside or go to like the you know the challenger.
The challenger versus the champion tour, but I'm with you. You have to like balance what they're trying to do, kind of running concurrently these two different tours with keeping keeping the courses in the cities that have kind of you know sustained PGA tour fandom for decades, right? Like you know, part of their rallying cry when Liv started was hey, you can't just create legacy out of nowhere, right? Like we
Got all of these tournaments where you've got moments and legacies have been defined at, and like you just have some sort of like emotional pull towards some of these tour events because like you can remember them over the years, right? You remember moments, you remember comebacks, you remember the crowd energy, you remember certain holes on the on the course that you know just always bring kind of drama into the fold. So they've got to figure out a way to to make sure that they're maintaining
That legacy, while also I get it, they do want to introduce new courses that we haven't seen in in bigger cities. What I what I will disagree with you on a little bit here, and I don't even know if it's disagreeing, Chicago needs to be a stop on the PGA tour, Chicagoland. Like, and I and I don't I love the John Deere, it's in Illinois. That that's not the Chicagoland stop, right? Like you've got so much good golf in Chicagoland. and I think the last PGA Tour event that we had was the BMW championship.
Scott Kitun (21:35.952)
Yeah.
Scott Kitun (21:42.296)
No, no.
Venmo Joe (21:52.321)
at Olympic Fields three years ago. Like, dude, you can't you're the we're the third biggest market. We're starving for PGA tour golf, and all we've gotten over the last couple of years is live playing at our one of our favorite places, Rich Harvest, which is great, but like that's not that's not the PGA tour, right? So they they do need to figure out getting to some of the bigger cities that I think have like largely gotten ignored as the schedule has evolved over the last five
Scott Kitun (21:54.958)
Yep.
Scott Kitun (22:23.8)
I totally agree, obviously, about the Chicago piece. I I think that there are plenty of tournaments to shift down to Chicago and and have. I would just hate to see things like John Deere get moved or rolled over or left behind. It's like, well that's a challenge. That's the big challenger event now. And it's like, so their expectation is that every year just like the lowest crop of people show up. It's like, fuck you guys. I don't know. I I feel like these tournaments are so good.
Venmo Joe (22:47.894)
Yeah. But I think what they are. They are. But they'll they'll find their stride. Like the the concept of what they're introducing I I like a lot and I don't
Scott Kitun (22:57.743)
Yes.
Venmo Joe (22:58.86)
I think with all of the talent that you've got now on the PGA tour, I d I you know, I hope that there's enough talent that, you know, that Challenger series like is going to be like super competitive and dramatic and it's gonna bring eyeballs in, but you know, it it depends on how it shakes out and that like and you can get guys that we know, right? Like you could get a listen, this is going on in twenty twenty eight. In twenty twenty eight you could have guys like Jordan Spieth or
Scott Kitun (23:16.919)
I
Venmo Joe (23:28.814)
Or Max Homa, guys that everyone knows that like, hey, they don't have their best game anymore, but then you get this kind of comeback, kind of story art that could potentially happen on this tour.
Scott Kitun (23:38.981)
Yeah. I wish it was one year sooner because I would love to take all the live guys and be like, Your your penance is you're on the challenger tour until you win two in row or or t you know, whatever, win two, or it's a two-year that you have to be on here. And that way they get to jump up all these tournaments, have like half the field still pretty good. By then speed and those guys will be down there naturally, and and it'll work itself out. But that's not all that we've been talking about lately. There's there's also the online golf world.
Which Grant Horvat and folks have have turned on with the YGT. And there's this week, we'll talk a little bit about this ongoing, but this week I'm gonna let you do the talking here. But this week, it the the streams collided because we had Michael Block. And he's both a PGA pro asshole, and a guy that occasionally shows up in majors like the US Open and PGA, and people love him. but
Venmo Joe (24:08.374)
Yeah.
Mm-mm.
Venmo Joe (24:28.984)
Mm-hmm.
Scott Kitun (24:34.884)
There was a moment and the the YouTube world and the real life world collided for a moment and and there's also Brad Dolkey, which is another example of the internet world and the real world colliding. So why don't we give it away, Venmo Joe?
Venmo Joe (24:43.68)
Yeah, it it it is all it is all converging for sure. So yeah, to to build off of what you said, it's YGT, your golf tour, the four founding fathers, Grant Horvat, the Brian
Was Wesley George and then Brad Dulke. I thought it was super entertaining. So the first video dropped I think last week, probably around this time. So the first nine holes, it was just a scramble. So you had four teams, and then within each team, you had two-man teams. so scramble was interesting, but you know, you had crazy scores because you've got really good golfers and and they're playing a two-man scramble.
The intriguing stuff was the second video drop that dropped, which was alternate shot, and then they introduced each team had a wild card that they introduced at the at the start of the first video where they would sub out one of the guys on the team from the front nine and and put the wild card in. So on Grant Horvat's team you Michael Block, Blocky, put in.
Scott Kitun (25:47.727)
Yippee.
Venmo Joe (25:48.515)
I don't know, dude. I I enjoy like Blocky has a lot of quirks. I enjoy him. I think that the hate is a little blown out of proportion. and listen, I get it. If you if you don't like Michael Block, I completely get it. I think he's a guy that like dude, he was a And and that's and that and that's f and that's fair, but
Scott Kitun (26:04.642)
I hated him the moment I the moment I saw him, I was done with him. The fucking inter Like I didn't even I didn't even get into it when they first this first time he's on the air and it was like he's a thing, I was done.
Venmo Joe (26:20.15)
I lost you there for a sec, sorry.
Scott Kitun (26:21.38)
Yeah, for a second. Keep going, you're good.
Venmo Joe (26:24.938)
I listen, I I get the blocky hay. All I'm saying is I I'm just giving a different perspective where this guy was a PGA tour pro, no one knew who he was, all of a sudden he burst onto the scene four years ago. And yeah, like is he a little is he a little much and like a little douchey? Of course, right? But like he's a guy that became famous like in his fifties. Like I probably wouldn't know how to act either. but anyway, the drama that that got introduced into the YGT video is that Grant Horvat's
Team. the fur the out of the four teams, two were going to advance to the championship. Grant's team was in second place for pretty much the whole video. They get to hole 18, which is this beast par five. They both both two-man teams on Grant's team par. So they're only up one stroke on Brad Dolkey's team. Dahlke's team comes in actually one of the teams on on Dahlke's crew, Eagle. So they act they went advanced
And at the end of the video, they show some audio with with Blocky just expressing his frustration. Like, I flew all the way fucking here for nine holes. Like, I only got to play, I played nine holes, and I played a great nine holes, and like, can't believe I'm going fucking home. I liked it because it's like what YGT is trying to do is they're they're trying to take a step up from just like, hey, YouTube golf is just like there's no stakes, it's just for fun. We're like, no, it's it's now a tour.
There's money on the line and like real competition with really good golfers. I think it was like completely fine that they included that audio from Michael Block. you know, Horvat and the YGT guys come out and apologize for including that audio because I reading in between the lines, right? I'm sure what happened is Block's team was like, hey, we did you a favor, we came to your inaugural YGT event.
Michael Block has got a lot of eyeballs on him, like we did you a solid and like you put some editing out there that made our guy look bad. I don't think it made him look bad. I think it made him look like a competitor. Like
Scott Kitun (28:35.136)
What maybe look like Michael Block.
Venmo Joe (28:37.324)
Yeah, and that's who he is, right? So I don't know. I I didn't think that there needed to be an apology that got issued, and I think that's the you know, I look at it and like that's the difference between YGT and like what they created with the internet invitational. Like, could you imagine Dave Portnoy coming out and apologizing for that? Hell no. So I didn't think it was a great look for YGT. I get why they probably got pressured to do it, but I think they should have held to their guns and just been
Like, hey, we showed it. This is why we showed it. Like, Block came, he came off great in the video. Like, he was a great teammate. He was reading everyone's pots. He played fantastic golf. Like, it's not like they edited him in a poor way whatsoever during the during the four-hour video that he was a part of. It was just they included the audio of him at the end because he was pissed off they didn't win.
Scott Kitun (29:32.453)
I totally agree. I don't really have a take on that part of it. I mean, I'm I'm kind of half joking with the block thing because, well, I I personally do not like the guy. I'm not hidden my feelings towards a lot of different golfers out there. But it also makes me want to watch him more. Like, whether I'm rooting for or against, that's what the that's the whole point of this. Golf has always needed tension. We tried to create the tiger and fill thing, and there was for a minute, but there really wasn't. Like Tiger beat his ass. There wasn't tension. Come on. Like it just, we haven't had it.
And I think the opportunity that we've talked about before with media.
Venmo Joe (30:03.566)
I w I think there was just I think there was just tension off the course with Tiger and Phil on on who could creep out the who I was gonna say who could who could who could creep out the the the local talent quicker. But sorry, quest.
Scott Kitun (30:08.046)
Well, they're chasing the same piece of squirrel. It's hard to it's hard to
Scott Kitun (30:15.396)
Dude, well, there's nothing quite like the the three-mile stare that Phil can give you. nothing, nothing turns me on more than that. although he was a great crafty putter and short gamesman. anyway, we have to manufacture tension. And the thing that I feel like creators have an advantage of is tension and being media personalities. And one of the reasons, and I I love this. I this is my the
Venmo Joe (30:19.724)
Ha ha ha.
Scott Kitun (30:43.15)
The most fun I've had watching and participating in golf my entire life is right now, because it's the na the apex of real golf, really good, and my world of media and creator and all this other shit. Like it's all converging at the same time. And the challenge with Dave Portney's thing, and not that he couldn't do this, like I'm actually kind of surprised that he didn't, but this is why this is hard. Internet open, internet invitational is really cool and it's a fun watch, but it's mostly shit guys. It's they're not great.
There's a couple in there that are good and
Venmo Joe (31:13.992)
Well, I mean it's a it's a balance between there there is the elite of the elite, but you know, they've also erred on that they want entertainment too, right? So you've got the Duke, you know, who's one of the worst golfers you're ever see. I think Jersey Jerry's in the field this year who, you know, is is lucky if he breaks a hundred and ten. So yeah, I hear you. It's not the but that's not what that's not what they're that's not what they're going for, right?
Scott Kitun (31:19.407)
Yes.
Scott Kitun (31:23.086)
Right.
Scott Kitun (31:33.488)
Терзно кін.
But but the yes and no. Yeah, you're right. Yes to that. And and that's not what what YGT is going for on the other side of this, but the and that's not what TGL is going for. This is three or four different theses that this is what internet online off-season winter golf is gonna look like. And the Barstool fan who just like the stooley, who's just there to watch guys chug beer and talk shit and whatever, will watch it regardless. But that is a
No matter how much money Dave Portnoy makes and then sells his company for and buys it back for a dollar, how many times he does that, there's only a limited number, particularly in golf, who wanna watch fucking stooges. And on the YGL, YGT thing, the issue is that, and I'll break this down, but like the issue for YGT is that they want to capitalize on really high-quality golf. They want to get the online, digital golf, marry sim to it, get the off-season going of all your favorite creators.
Who are really good golfers, but they also have personality, which is solving for the TGL's problem, which is they've got the best golfers, no fucking personality up other than Kim. No one. So, like YGT is trying to be like, we're gonna take the best players. Well, well, no, I'm talking about TGL. TGL having like no
Venmo Joe (32:47.232)
And our boy and our boy Roger Steele.
Venmo Joe (32:53.026)
Yeah, no, but he yeah, but he but he's the analyst. He g he brings some entertainment to to guys to guys to guys hitting balls and screens. Yeah, no, you're right, you're right, you're right.
Scott Kitun (32:57.744)
Towards the end he did. Towards the end he did. He wasn't there. He he wasn't there in the beginning. They're trying really hard to like lean into creative entertainment, the PGA is. And they're not gonna be able to do that because you can't teach a person to become funny. And and YGT is looking at what Internet Invitational did and said, we need real skill. You can't teach a funny guy how to play better golf. We got the best of both worlds. People who are paid to be online entertainers who are also really fucking good at golf.
That makes a potentially a really compelling and bettable situation that could be an actual, you know, like offseason tour tournament and they can travel and have majors IRL and sim leagues and all this shit. I just feel like if you're gonna do that, you've gotta stand to your point, put the flag in the ground, and and understand that Michael Block's situation doesn't happen to the PGA stuff because he's fucking happy to be there. It doesn't on TGL.
It doesn't happen if it was a traditional media NBC airing it, TNT, the match. He can't say shit. His people can't say shit. The fact he got invited is he's lucky to be there. But with you, you're new, and he felt like he could pressure you a little bit and make you feel uncomfortable. And then you go and you make the the, in my opinion, the mistake that a Dave Portnoy, who's a master on the media, less so on the sport, he would never make.
The whole purpose of our show and our media is that I am what I am. I say what I say, and I don't give a fuck. I'll say sorry if it's real and I deserve, I should, but if it's not, it's just my opinion. Tough shit, man. Like, you got ratings, you got invited. Don't come back if you don't like it. Don't come back. I hope next time they don't do this, they take their gut and they go with it because that this is their opportunity. Like, I think this is an important moment because regular traditional media.
Has never been able to recreate a true character, creative person the way digital creators are. And the bar stool types don't have talent. They could buy it, but don't have talent like Grant and those guys have. You've got a really cool opportunity, but you can't go back and forth and sort of pretend to be serious media and you know the country club sort of mentality. They have to be a little bit more Dave Portnoy, or they're gonna get rinsed away. Because I think people wanna watch this, but I I
Scott Kitun (35:16.508)
You they're not gonna want to watch it if you if they find out for a second that now I just learned that you might be editing people out because you didn't like what they said. That ruins it.
Venmo Joe (35:23.266)
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. I could completely agree. Completely agree. Like I think you gotta they've picked the lane that they wanna be in now and now you've gotta you've gotta stick to it, right? 'Cause we're not
If it was just about the best golf, we wouldn't be watching YGT. We wouldn't, because they're not the best golfers. Why we're watching YGT, to your point, is that these these are internet personalities that have cultivated a fan base over the years, right? Like these guys have been doing I mean, Horvat's been doing this forever. Garrett Clark from Good Good's been doing this forever. The Brian Bros have been doing this forever, right? Like they have a following and they're entertaining. but you can't and they're really good at golf, but like
Scott Kitun (36:01.954)
Right. And they're really good at golf.
Venmo Joe (36:05.558)
they're not the best at golf, right? So you need that entertain you need that entertaining storyline. And like they had a good storyline with Michael Block, and that's like, I don't know. Are they being genuine in their apology or are they actually making the apology because they wanted they're trying to draw more eyeballs to it? Like it's just I don't know. Just
Scott Kitun (36:19.914)
both. Both. I think it's both. No, I don't think so. No, I I think it's both. I think it's because they genuinely wish that they hadn't pissed off Michael Block and they come from that kind of country club golfers, golfer, you know, aware and agreed. And on the other hand, they're also like, shit, we have a thing. We don't want to fuck up. We gotta, we need more people to come on. And to me, it's like you said you gotta pick a lane. I don't agree. I think you have to build your own lane. That you're like if you want to be successful at this, you have to literally build your own.
Venmo Joe (36:32.502)
I I agree with you. Yeah.
Scott Kitun (36:49.016)
You say that they're not the best golfers. I would say that Brad Dolkey contending in a PGA, Grant, forget about how he got there, contending in PGA events and other guys like Block who play on the PGA tour, at least at majors, and come back to this. What is different between in online invitational, TGL, this, whatever the fuck else comes, live, PGA tour in general, is that there is either a divide, the PGA doesn't want any part of it.
Or the PGA is like weirdly introducing the Kelsey brother type shit into their content to try to like win over the b the stoolie. Bad idea by the way. Congrats on Taylor Swift and Travis's Whiting. I'm sorry I didn't get the invitation.
Venmo Joe (37:30.893)
I doubt you might be on that list, Gotty.
Scott Kitun (37:33.742)
You don't know if I was there or not. It's top secret. no pictures. And then you've got the Y the Y G T piece.
Venmo Joe (37:37.43)
yeah. You'd be you'd be you'd be the only you'd be the only person that attended that wedding that didn't post a picture, by the way. But
Scott Kitun (37:45.301)
gee. Quick selvy. No, but YGT, who has this, this like they actually could bring in, bridge the gap. They can bring PGA guys in and they have guys who are good enough that they are actually contending, which, you know, can you imagine? I'm not suggesting this should happen, but can you imagine I would like to see Anthony Kim go straight to the tour? But could you imagine Anthony Kim ending up at a couple of YGT events playing while he's trying to make his way back on tour? You get to watch up front.
He's recording a documentary. There's a couple of guys doing that right now. They are the one group that is for a person who's a golf sicko and an online person who bridges the gap in such a way where the PGA accepts them, does not shun them, lets guys go back and forth, doesn't penalize, and the media doesn't shit on like Dave Portnoy. They can walk this fine line so long as they stay true to themselves, present their product as the highest quality golf.
That is online. And that and like to me, that makes it a really compelling product in the way that the online invitational is a weekend where I kind of laugh and snicker, but I would not watch that ongoing. TGL, I fucking love, but that's not, I don't need personality. You could watch a shit on mute, and I'm just like a sicko and watch the swings, but they need both.
Venmo Joe (38:59.394)
Well and what well and what TGL gives you what TGL gives you too is that you can gamble on it, right? It's a li it's a live event, right? That's that's what YouTube is never gonna have an answer for, right? So that's where T GL I mean, when are they they gotta do live they have to do live broadcasting then?
Scott Kitun (39:05.573)
Correct.
Scott Kitun (39:11.696)
Well I disagree with that. I did you see TGL just bought what's it's called today? Well and they have that capability and they they if it's not them, it's gonna be Netflix who does so one of them is gonna be doing it very soon. I'm sure you saw Versant Media Group acquired full swing today, simulator technology group that does TGL bought full swing for five hundred and thirty million dollars today.
Venmo Joe (39:37.038)
What do you mean bought full swing? Like the T V series?
Scott Kitun (39:39.419)
Full swing got the full swing, like the the whole the show, the the media company behind it, the creator channel, Versant bought it. So now full swing the show is I would assume is gonna become an extension of the TGL and yeah. I get my point is all this is coming together in a way where it would suggest that there is a meaningful and enough audience and demand for a product.
Venmo Joe (39:46.486)
Mm, interesting.
Venmo Joe (39:53.804)
Yeah. That's interesting.
Scott Kitun (40:05.85)
But the product, if you're looking to like, if you make the mistake ESPN and big leagues tend to make, they try to just put what they do in real life online and they that's it. And it doesn't really work well because those guys were built for playing in tournaments behind ropes, not wired in play. And these other guys that have historically been really c really funny, charismatic, are not used to playing and putting for a lot of dough and they blow putts. And the first time it's really funny.
The second and third time you're like, this is actually just a shitty product. These guys suck at golf. And that's where that becomes an issue. There's no reason at all that gr and I I would not believe this for a second if you told me that Horvat and those guys did not have their eyeball on a l a live tournament stream at some point in the very near future. And and that's like all the reason why having handicaps is such a interesting to me that they post handicaps is interesting to me. Makes it pedible.
Venmo Joe (41:00.366)
Agreed. Yeah, I'm sure that that I'm sure that that's that's where they they wanna go, right? I think the the challenge is is that the benefit that they've had is that you have time to edit, right? So you can curate what you're showing and the personality and all that sort of stuff.
Scott Kitun (41:14.702)
Yeah, but that's that's the full swing piece. That's the full swing piece. You make you you you post op, you pull the stuff and create content along the side. But like we saw Mike Tyson fight with Jake Paul stream on Netflix and there was no problems there.
Venmo Joe (41:29.006)
anyway though, like I mean at the at the end of the day at the end of the day, like I don't agree with how they handled the block situation, but
Scott Kitun (41:30.464)
What could go wrong? Anyway, it's it's a it's a topic.
Venmo Joe (41:41.067)
I thought the the first two videos were were high entertainment, high quality, high quality golf. Like I I do think that they've they've obviously got something here. I'm gonna be watching. The views have been absolutely insane. Like I I know they eclipsed a million views very quickly. So hey, what they're doing's right. Like I think the product's really good. this is probably just a bump in the road, but yeah, did didn't love how they handled that that piece.
Scott Kitun (42:09.72)
I love the fact that we're talking about this with like three or four different entrants to negotiate who we think is doing what. Like that's how fucking hot this is right now. That there's literally multiple people that have their own kind of thesis on how this is gonna go. with AI and everything else, I do not imagine that even by next year they can't live stream and then take cuts and clips and have clippers posting it all over the internet in less than minutes after it happens. So like I I'm not worried about that. I think we have this is the iron sharpens iron.
Venmo Joe (42:18.157)
Yeah.
Scott Kitun (42:39.642)
Hopefully you've got three realistic versions of this kind of stuff and they're all gonna fight and compete and make their product better. And it's just good for me. And you and I just want to bet on it, really, at the end of the day. At the end of the day, that's all I really want.
Venmo Joe (42:53.027)
For sure.
For sure. And it's just what I always like about YouTube golf is that like you can always get your fix of watching golf, right? Like it's there's always a video on YouTube golf waiting for you. Like, you know, if you're if you're looking to just burn some time, put something on before bed, like you just have this library of like awesome golf content. And like it just depends on what you're in the mood for too, right? Like if you're just in the mood to laugh and go to sleep, put on bobbed up sports, right? Like if you're if you're more into like, hey, wanna feel this.
Scott Kitun (43:14.394)
Dude.
Scott Kitun (43:23.662)
Little Rick Shields before bed. Little Rick Shields.
Venmo Joe (43:23.83)
competition a little yeah not a Rick Shields guy but like you if you want the if you want to get the itch of like competition like this is what YGT does right like you actually get like real legit competition where you can see guys that are used to playing big golf like feel the nerves
Scott Kitun (43:45.69)
Yeah. Well Rick's not coming on this show anymore. Thanks for that.
Venmo Joe (43:50.102)
Just being honest, not a Rick Shields guy. No.
Scott Kitun (43:51.365)
Hey, no, I I I agree. It's you know what he's actually good when you're looking up certain club products for like what is this putter versus that or whatever. That's where I get it. I I probably couldn't listen to him for much longer than that.
Venmo Joe (44:00.407)
Yeah, I know dude, I'm not saying he's bad. I just haven't consumed his content. Like that's just I that's that's just being factual. I haven't consumed his content.
Scott Kitun (44:04.728)
Alright, well, guess what? He's not gonna consume ours either anymore. so speaking of a bunch of really talented golfers who don't play on tour, the Genesis Scots Scotland is is gonna be really good and loaded with live guys. I'm excited to actually see some of these dudes in a non-major environment because I feel like while we always talk about the pressure and and the the major thing, this is gonna sound totally weird.
Venmo Joe (44:10.434)
Mm-hmm.
Scott Kitun (44:30.18)
But I actually feel like it's it's a there's a patterning conditioning where you get into major mode and for some reason you can like almost mentally get to another level of your game just because that's like what you're kind of wired, that's all you know. To see a bunch of guys who have not played in this environment in a while, other than those who recently are on the DP, be able to come and play in this is gonna be kind of fun. It's gonna be nice to see faces and it not be like, Will Rom win, you know, the PGA or whatever because he has before or whatever. So they're masters.
It's gonna interesting to see those guys and a good field in general.
Venmo Joe (45:04.052)
It's a great field, right? I mean, kinda kinda the polar opposite to our our one of our favorite John Deere fields, right? But yeah, it's it's gonna be awesome, right? You've got I feel like we haven't had Scotty and Rory in the same field, outside of majors pretty much like all year. So that's gonna be exciting. I honestly think this is gonna be really good for Rom.
Scott Kitun (45:19.204)
Better one.
Venmo Joe (45:26.222)
'Cause to your point, the only time that we've seen him is made like you know, masters to the PGA to the US Open. Like I think him having this as the as the prep for the open is gonna benefit him. I don't necessarily love him this weekend, but I I think it's actually gonna like maybe weirdly take some of the pressure off at Royal Burkdale, 'cause he's like, hey, you know, I I was just in the biggest event in the world last year
Last week I just went toe to toe with you know, the best field in golf, right? So now I maybe he just doesn't put as much pressure on himself next week. So I think that that could benefit him and any of the other live guys, right? Hatton is is really performed well in the majors, but it could benefit him as well. but yeah, I I'm excited for it. It's always a great always a great prep for for the open.
Scott Kitun (46:20.25)
Who do you like at this this week's event? Who who are you looking at like? I mean, yes, there's part of it's leading into the British, but like in general, who do you like? I cause I like a lot I actually you said Rah, I didn't want to put his name on there. It's not nothing to do with what you said, actually. I I feel like he he was playing well. And then he had the blow up on the back nine before he missed the cut a few weeks ago. And I felt like he thought he was doing really well.
Venmo Joe (46:24.513)
It's
Scott Kitun (46:50.232)
And looking good and then it fell apart at the open and that was that. But like he looked like he was gonna be good. Def definitely on Thursday. So like did he have a moment where it's like, shit, and then he's coming back? Like where where do you I don't mind Rom in this one, but look what are you looking for?
Venmo Joe (47:03.842)
No.
I mean I don't mind him in this one. I just I I think that he's got one focus and his focus is major hunting. So I I think this is always the tough part, Scott, is that when you have these tournaments where the guys actually play in the week before the major, you just never know who is treating that tournament as like completely a prep for the following week versus like who is really like focused on that particular tournament and wanting to win
the tournament. So that's why I always struggle with the top guys. because I if I were in those shoes, I would probably be approaching it more as like, hey, if I if I win great, but winning is really not the outcome I'm looking at this week. What I'm looking what the outcome that I'm looking for this week is how do I get my game fine-tuned for the following week. So it's not to say that you know Rory or Scotty or Rom
one of the big guys can't win. I just don't think that that's their primary focus. So I in these like week leading up to the majors, when they do play, I tend to stay away from those guys and just look for some value a little bit further down down the roster. Like there's a couple guys I like, I mean there's there's a a whole host of players that have
made the cut in its first four years since it's been at the Renaissance. Like a couple guys that that jump out to me are Kurt Kiteyama and Tom Kim. Like Kitiyama continues to gain to gain shots on approach, right? Like I think he's done it in 25 straight events. Like I feel like he's gonna figure everything out, put it all together. He's a great driver of the golf ball. Tom Kim is just one of the he's kind of like, you know, I was on fit I was on Fitz earlier this year, then I moved
Scott Kitun (48:53.86)
Hanging around.
Venmo Joe (48:57.208)
to Ludwig, then I moved to Hovlin. Like Kim is the guy I've circled now. you know, was on him at the US Open. He was he was okay at John Deere, like he he looked like he was gonna contend.
Didn't do much yesterday, but he's got some good course history at the Renaissance Club. And then the other guy that I really like is Marco Peng, who finished second last year. just played really well. He's a he's he's on the DP World Tour, but he's popped up on the PGA tour a couple of different times and contended. I just like his game and I haven't gotten to to bet him in a while. Last I checked, he was like a hundred and five to one. So those are him and Kim and
And Kitty Amba are like the three that I'm circling. if you're looking at like more top of the board, I like Xander. He's won here before. he's delivered multiple top twenty finishes at this event over the first four years. Like, so anywhere from Xander, Tommy's done the same thing where he's had a couple top twenties here, but you know, so is Scotty and Rory and our boy Ludwig Aldberg.
Scott Kitun (50:07.544)
I mean, I think all those guys are gonna be at the top of the board. I Rory I think will be I I could see him winning it if he comes out and shoots his ass. Like I I really think that Fri Thursday probably more than anything is gonna determine how guys like he play. Like if I'm looking at Rory's game and he comes out and shoots a sixty-five or lower on f on Thursday or Friday, I I think he will actually try because then it's like, well fuck guys. I've been, you know, floating around, you're all out here. And Scotty's out there. If Scotty shoots like shit on Thursday.
I think he's gonna try to play real well Friday and Saturday, but I don't think he's like gunning to win it. I think it's just like, hey, let's not let's not do this again. I I could see John Rahm and guys like that, I would say Tommy Fleetwood, but I mean he does this naturally, getting himself to the top and being around the cup, so to speak. And like if there's a put back available, Rom reaches up and takes it, Tommy will reach up and miss it, like Charles Oakley or Charles Smith or whoever it was that couldn't make a layup of the Knicks. that's what'll happen.
Venmo Joe (50:52.318)
Yeah.
Venmo Joe (51:07.446)
I think both.
Scott Kitun (51:07.65)
And I I I yeah, I think actually fuck well the Knicks got redeemed this year, so you what I was gonna say fuck them Knicks, but they got redeemed and I love love Jalen Brunson. Either way, I love Xander Shoffley here, but I think he's like he would be my top top ten pick, top fifteen pick anyway. Tommy is a top twenty pick for me anyway, Ludverg is a top twenty pick for me in this anyway, because I just think they have games that are there. I don't know.
If any of those three guys would reach out and win it, I don't think Xander wants to win this, frankly, coming into the British.
Venmo Joe (51:43.715)
He he would be the one guy out of that top tier that I would say I wouldn't be surprised if he won it. Just because he's been he's been he's been hanging around he hasn't he hasn't won a tournament in a long time. Like I think it would it would help him going into the open to g to win this, right? And then it's like hey
Scott Kitun (51:51.79)
No, not at all. I just don't think he's Yeah.
Scott Kitun (52:08.036)
That's actually a great I didn't think about that. That's a great point. That like maybe getting this getting off the snide for him has a val like in my head when I said that to you, I'm thinking to myself, the last thing this guy wants is like he's performed so well in the majors that he wins the tournament before the major and then goes to the major and is just sort of okay. He wants to be on it. But you're right.
Venmo Joe (52:26.262)
I just think it I you know you and I always do this, right? And we always look for like, hey, what's the potential storylines going into a major week? And like I could totally see it being like, wow, kind of people forgot about Xander. Like, you know, we we yes, we've been penciling him in as top ten or top twenty in majors, but like he hasn't truly contended. shit, he just won at the Renaissance, right? Like he he might be ever like he then is on everyone's like not that he wouldn't be, but like he is on everyone's like, hey, he's one of the first three storylines.
now going into the open championship.
Scott Kitun (53:00.332)
I like it. I mean if I was gonna build a card
Venmo Joe (53:00.972)
Worth the s worth the sprinkle, worth the sprinkle.
Scott Kitun (53:04.376)
Yeah, no, I like it. If I'm building a card right now, I'm just looking at it as we've been talking. I actually would w will put in on a Tom Kim top twenty. I will put a Tommy Fleetwood top top ten. I will put a Xander top five. Ludbig, I probably would put in a top ten, but Raleigh a top twenty, honestly, just because I he's one of those that if he's hot, it it looks good. And if he falls off at all a Sunday, he can drop like ten spots.
Venmo Joe (53:26.414)
There's just something. There's just yeah, I I think top twenty. There's something missing with our boy Ludwig, unfortunately. I mean, honestly, dude, his his Sunday closing problem started here two years ago. Like he was like in full control of this tournament two years. The one that Mac when Mike McIntyre won. Like Ludwig Ludwig was like in cruise control going into Sunday and then just like I did not shut the door.
Scott Kitun (53:46.553)
McIntyre one, yeah.
Scott Kitun (53:53.679)
Maybe that's all he's gotta do. He's gotta bury the bones here and come back out. as I said I think
Venmo Joe (53:57.507)
Potentially, but I'm not I'm not gonna put money on it.
Scott Kitun (54:00.962)
No, he's I don't I've kind of stayed away from him. I would I could see myself betting in tournament on him. Like if I see him kind of moving, I'm I'd pick and choose. I don't, I don't love him. I do like a little bit on a ROM pick. It's not going to be cheap, so that's probably one where you wait and see. you probably get better odds on on Friday than you get on Wednesday. and then in general, you know, the the Rory thing, he hasn't been like sharp. We've talked about this. Is this something where it is a prep?
Venmo Joe (54:27.555)
Yeah.
Scott Kitun (54:28.558)
Tournament for British, he doesn't give a shit about winning. But is it one where he could come out and pistol whip the crowd right off the bat and be like, well, he's got a seven stroke lead or five stroke lead after day two. And he's like, well, I might as well win this fucking thing. And it makes no difference to him. I don't think he cares at all. He wore the green jacket to the tennis open. I don't think he's thinking much about anybody right now.
Venmo Joe (54:45.026)
Yeah.
Venmo Joe (54:48.738)
It he's just ri I I feel like he's really tough to predict right now. 'Cause like to your point, he he really hasn't been sharp. He's been I mean, really disappointing since Augusta. Like let's call it what it is, right? Like we haven't seen him much. He's skipped a couple of different signature events and like he's not really been a factor in the majors since then. So I don't know.
Scott Kitun (55:13.036)
I I agree with you. I I know that this is bad, but in my head with Rory, all I got I don't I still think of the Masters as something that he almost pissed away, not something that he grabbed and won, and I'm like, yeah, that's the signature moment. I know it's a grand slam, it's a big deal, and he wrestled the demon that, like, really no one really ever comes back from, which is like blowing it like he did. He almost did, and we expected him to have a hell of a monkey off-the-back rein in 26, and it hasn't happened.
Venmo Joe (55:40.606)
Well, I mean like
Scott Kitun (55:40.836)
And it's not just that, he's looked like he's distracted, his game is kinda I I don't know.
Venmo Joe (55:44.335)
Well what's weird is like so obviously he won Augusta in twenty five and everyone everyone after he won in twenty five was like he's got this monkey off his back. He might now rattle off
Like another major or two in 25. And like he had a disappointing campaign after winning. And like that was, I think everyone like rationalized it and was like, hey, like he completed the career grand slam, exercised the demons at Augusta. Like it's reasonable that he like kind of fell off. But then after he won this year at Augusta, like he he acknowledged that, like, you know, all the adrenaline kind of came out of him last year, and he's like, Hey, that's not gonna be the case this year. It has been, like, he hasn't been.
Scott Kitun (56:26.255)
Well
Venmo Joe (56:26.69)
Able to like capture any momentum coming from winning back to back green jackets. He hasn't.
Scott Kitun (56:33.474)
My like my my I agree with you. My theory in this is is there's a little bit of tiger psychology. Tiger was very different. He always had to reinvent the game to make it harder for himself so he would continually stay chasing the demon. Rory's kind of got the same and this is just my opinion, but like he's got this look of a guy who has figured out how he knows whether he's got it to win or he doesn't. And the very minute that he kind of is like, nope, I tried, I pressed down and it didn't it didn't go, then he checks out. He's not, he does not, he doesn't even give a shit.
And I think he looks at tournaments now, especially after he feels no allegiance to the PGA for the most part. Like I feel like he just like, you guys kind of left me to hang, fuck you guys. So he's not even driven to play in certain tournaments now. It's like, nope, that's not a course that I play well in, so I'm not gonna play in it. That's not a field where I feel like I'm gonna go. Then he plays in a couple tournaments. He'll have a great Thursday. You see him ready to go Friday. He comes out and sputters, then he just checks out. And you literally can see him basically checked out. He's not even doing his normal Rory pouting.
The only thing he's pissing about pissing about is with the people in the gallery. That's the only thing that I've seen him get excited about is like pissing, calling the fat guy in the gallery and whatever else he did. Like, weirdly, to put this to a close with him, I don't actually think of it badly. I think that it sets up for him figuring out. He is figuring out post Rory chasing history. Who is Rory? What do I want to be? And he hasn't quite figured out how to be like.
Can self-motivated to win all the time. Right now it's like I got the check I got. I'm not catching Tigers' wins. I'm not catching Jack's titles. This is where I am. So I'm gonna win the ones that are winnable. And when he comes out, he's like the antithesis of VJ Singh. Like he plays in every fucking thing his whole life. He'll play anything. Rory comes out and he gives it his all for a minute. If he can't get hot, then he's he can't checks out. That's so if he plays well, I think you're gonna see a guy who's who's gonna crush.
Venmo Joe (58:29.126)
Yeah, I mean listen, like he's he's earned the right to play the schedule he wants to play. I mean, I just think is
diehard golf fans, like it's within our right to be disappointed that he's approached his schedule and the way that he's approached it, right? Because the game of golf is better when Rory is in the mix and involved and like, you know, part of a a Sunday at a non major event. And he has chosen to conserve energy and like prep for the majors and like, hey, that's well within his rights. It worked for him at Augusta. It hasn't worked at Shinnecock or Aronomic and we'll see if it works at Royal Burtdale, but I
Scott Kitun (58:40.367)
Yes.
Venmo Joe (59:05.904)
I am happy that we finally get like it it is fun to get another tournament with Rory, Scotty, and Ron. That's not a major. Like that's a lot of fun.
Scott Kitun (59:14.05)
Agreed. I agree. You got two picks to end here. You can pick one of those three or put them in which order they're going finish. And then who's your one and done? Doesn't have to be the top guy, anyone. Who's your one and done pick for for this week's tournament if you had to? Rank the big three in the tournament finish and then who's your one and done?
Venmo Joe (59:31.118)
one one Sure. My one and done is gonna be Marco Peng, like I said. I just I I like his game. I love that he finished second here last year. love that he's trending in the right direct he played well in Germany, beat our boy Brad Dalkey. so I'm gonna go him one and done it ranking ranking the three. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm gonna go
Scott Kitun (59:39.108)
I like that.
Scott Kitun (59:55.706)
Finish, not who there's better the finish.
Venmo Joe (01:00:00.47)
I'll go wrong Rory Scotty.
Scott Kitun (01:00:04.336)
That means Scotty doesn't take a top top two or top thr I guess I he top five, I guess still. They're all in the top five. That would be something.
Venmo Joe (01:00:10.798)
I I just just I Rory Rory has played better at this club than Scotty has and like I I kinda like what you said about you know Rom just being comfortable that this isn't a major and he gets to test himself against the best in the world and it doesn't like not not all not all is on the line here because it's not a major, but I think he's gonna use it as a good measuring stick. So that's why, you know
Scott Kitun (01:00:29.112)
Yeah. I think it's important for him.
Venmo Joe (01:00:40.652)
go into one two three and then you know we'll have the same debate next week going into Royal Burkdale. I I will not have that I will not have that same order, I'll tell you that much.
Scott Kitun (01:00:46.137)
That's a very different debate.
Scott Kitun (01:00:51.189)
Ooh, I like it. He's already been thinking about it. Well yeah, you don't have 'cause Hovlin's not in that three. So
Venmo Joe (01:00:56.281)
Bingo, bingo, bingo. Alright. Into it, buddy. Alright, see you buddy. Bye.
Scott Kitun (01:00:58.254)
My man. Great seeing you as always. Always great to talk some golf. See ya. Bye bye.