We're back. We rip the band-aid off the Travelers, where Viktor Hovland buried a seven-footer in the Monday playoff and Scottie Scheffler blinked from four feet — a miss that fuels Scott's biggest call of the year: he's out on Scotty winning a major, and it's not the game, it's the close. Then Who We're Watching: Cam Young's yips, why Hovland is who everyone thinks Ludvig Åberg is, and who breaks through first at The Open. Plus the John Deere card — Blades Brown for a top 20, Tom Kim at 35-1, Denny McCarthy at 62-1, a 225-1 flyer on Karl Vilps, and JT Poston for the one-and-done. Follow the boy on X @kitun, Instagram @kitun and @venmojoe, nostrokespod.com.
Scott Kitun (00:03.482)
Welcome to the No Strokes Podcast. We're back, Joe. Again for more. I was just excited. I was I was just getting ready to do this little work over here. I had
Venmo Joe (00:03.788)
Got it?
Venmo Joe (00:07.502)
We're back baby. Always back.
Scott Kitun (00:16.388)
Had a new Yamata.
Grip to go on the new putter. I don't even not the new putter, this is my old putter.
Venmo Joe (00:22.056)
god. But are are you even gonna I was gonna say, you're not even gonna use the new butter.
Scott Kitun (00:27.02)
No, this, so this is like an OG Yamada. He he just retired. They gave this is the putter. I shit you not. The exact same putter that they gave Obama when he was president and he went to Japan. The guy who makes these is he's pretty much been retired for a while, but he's now fully retired. And I had just hit them like with a congrats, and they were like, do you want a new head cover and and and grip for it? And I was like, Yeah, because I'm sure it's gonna be really hard to like.
Venmo Joe (00:28.492)
Ha ha ha.
Scott Kitun (00:55.044)
Come by when the store is shut down. The guy's like 85. And I went on eBay. I'm not saying I'm gonna sell this Yamata in case there's anyone listening. I'm not gonna sell it. 250 bucks to get this grip, 500 bucks if you want a new new Yamata head cover. Cause they they're just like not, I mean, this putter now probably sells on eBay as is for like $2,800 at least. I didn't pay that. Yeah, I just was like, I mean, they don't.
Venmo Joe (01:17.72)
And they just set that free.
Scott Kitun (01:21.956)
They don't have that many customers over their lifetime. So I I imagine when they see somebody who like hits them up and is like, hey, like, love the putter, have had it for fifteen years. was just curious, you know, congratulations on your great great career. Was curious if there's any like merch and stuff you have left. And they were like, We'll send you a refreshed head cover and grip. And I was like, Fuck yeah. So anyway, fuck yeah, thanks Yamata.
Venmo Joe (01:44.118)
Hey, the the dividend the dividends of No Strokes fame paying off right there.
Scott Kitun (01:48.836)
No strokes. That and I mean the origin story of the Yamata putter is even even better. Like that is the Yamata putter that when the cle when when the the Anaheim Angels signed Tory Hunter, he bought that putter, the one in my hand, literally. He bought that putter, Tory Hunter, and gave it to Richard Brown, who was at the time the general manager of the Angels. And I was out in California, this is probably like 2008.
Venmo Joe (02:05.505)
Yeah.
Scott Kitun (02:18.697)
eight or so and I was playing at I wanna I think I was playing at Torre Pines. I forget you would think you would remember that, but I forget where I was playing. And no, no, it was it was not. It was in Palm Springs I was playing. And I get paired up with this guy completely random and he's we're playing you know three, four holes in and and obviously I noticed it immediately I was like holy shit that's a Yamada putter. At the time Phil Mickelson's Odyssey was rumored to be a Yamada that they had just kind of
You know, clean the put the Odyssey number on it's one of the most sought-after milling and just general like Japanese steel of of all time. It's an elite putter, like I like I was saying, they gave it to Barack Obama when he came came there as a gift. so anyway, I'm I'm like, holy shit, like these putters are like a thousand bucks, which in 2008 might as well be five thousand bucks. And I'm talking about it and talking about it. And he's like, dude, you really like this putter, man. And I was like, I'm sorry, I'm a creep. Yeah, I guess I do. And it turns out,
Venmo Joe (02:49.495)
Put the branding on? Yeah.
Venmo Joe (03:09.453)
Mm-hmm.
Scott Kitun (03:18.849)
He tells me I was the GM, keyword is was the GM of the Angels, the guy who signed Tori Hunter. And he's like, I love Tori as a guy, he's a wonderful guy, great golf guy. He bought me this putter as a gift when we signed him, but the signing was such a fucking disaster that I want nothing to do with this putter. Not to mention, not to mention, I can't make any putts with it. It's yours. And I was like, how much? And he was like, no, no, no, it's yours. I appreciate it. So thank you to that. That's how I got here. Yeah.
Venmo Joe (03:35.713)
Ha ha ha.
Venmo Joe (03:45.165)
Датс амблива це хеллосторі.
Scott Kitun (03:48.355)
Yeah, I've been getting free shit my whole life, Joe.
Venmo Joe (03:52.107)
Was Torrey Hunter that bad on the Angels? I don't remember that, but I guess so.
Scott Kitun (03:55.044)
he was he was, you know what? He so if you're a White Sox fan, you remember Torrey Hunter on the Twins kicking your ass all the time, because he would just do like timing. He was a gold glove center fielder. He moved over, I think, to right or left field at the time there. He was still doing center field, but he batted, if I remember correctly, he had a couple home runs, but he batted like 220. Like in the end, they paid a lot of money for a guy who was post-31, 32-year-old center fielder.
Venmo Joe (04:03.746)
Yeah. A thousand percent.
Scott Kitun (04:23.513)
who wasn't a BA guy to begin with, had some jacks, had some ribies, was timely, but there was a lot of money spent on a guy who pretty much had an OBS that was not worth like nothing. It was nothing. Enough that the fucker gave me a Yamata putter for free. So it couldn't have been that great.
Venmo Joe (04:36.928)
Yeah, yeah. Like that that's pro it sounds like that why that's why he was the former GM because of that signing. So he had to Yeah. He he had to be he had to be rid of that putter. It just reminded him of that over and over.
Scott Kitun (04:43.961)
That's it's kinda what I was kind of kind of what everyone was intimating there. Anyway.
Scott Kitun (04:54.415)
I mean, I wasn't gonna try to talk the guy down, but I'm just gonna last last part of this story. Like the one thing about this putter, it's it's phenom it feels unlike anything. Like you I love mirror wedges, Japanese steel in general. It's very similar, but it doesn't have any markings on it. So if you're not a phenomenal and like this is a putter you don't fuck with. Like I guess if you're super rich, what do you care? But like it doesn't have any markings, so when you set it down, if you're not like a phenomenal putter to begin with, like you're putting kind of blind. So I it
I wasn't gonna tell him that the reason you can't make putts is that.
Venmo Joe (05:23.768)
I I think our I think our li I think our li I think our listeners know that you're not a
Scott Kitun (05:29.827)
I'm a terrible putter. I'm a terrible putter. But we got, you know, we got options. We got the we got the old Scotty Terillion. We got choices here.
Venmo Joe (05:36.071)
you've you've got yeah, you have an addiction to putters.
Scott Kitun (05:39.701)
I I collect putters like like people collect cards and watches and I can't help it, man. I and the funny part is that I'm such a terrible fucking putter that you'd think I would collect something I'm good at, but nope.
Venmo Joe (05:44.93)
Mm-hmm.
Venmo Joe (05:49.167)
It's the it's the qu it's the quest to get better. You can't hate on that. You're just the the quest to to solve the puttig conundrum.
Scott Kitun (05:51.821)
Nope, nope, nope.
Scott Kitun (05:56.001)
I mean it's coming the the
What my wife Jen is in the other room, you probably can hear me. I don't pay for these putters out of my pocket. I use my wedge fund from all of our gambling, which has been pretty good over the last month or so. So it's not coming out of out of the family account.
Venmo Joe (06:11.416)
Could've coulda been coulda been really good if Scotty made a four footer. What a segue. What a segue, buddy. We got we gotta we gotta rip the band aid off. I know I know you don't wanna rip the band-aid off, but we we gotta talk travelers.
Scott Kitun (06:15.775)
Mm.
Лет'слет'сколе.
Look, I actually made money. I made money on the travelers. I would have made real money on the travelers. We'll go down that that hole in a minute. What a fucking great tournament. Everyone's talking about how great it was, but it really was. It was a phenomenal tournament. Every day.
Venmo Joe (06:35.69)
Unreal. It's the best, man.
Venmo Joe (06:42.452)
It's it the the energy there was absolutely phenomenal, right? Like you've got you had the the Norway fans there that really got into it with
with Hovlin, so then it kinda turned into a you know US USA versus versus Norway. I don't know. The d we were texting about it all weekend. It the Travelers just seems to be able to capture magic each year. You know, the last couple of Scotty's been in the playoff two of the last three years, right? Twenty twenty four, he beat Tom Kim. There was something cre I I don't know if you remember that tournament the but there was like something that happened on the eighteenth hole where it was I don't know if a guy like
Scott Kitun (06:54.029)
Your boy Hovland.
Scott Kitun (07:16.59)
I do.
Venmo Joe (07:21.924)
It was like a protester got on the green, and then they had to like delay delay the tournament for like 20 minutes, and then Tom Kim sunk like a 10-foot birdie to bring it to a playoff, and then Scotty eviscerated him. Not like I had a 50-to-one ticket on Tom Kim or anything. last year last year you had Keegan do the birdie Fleetwood bogey so that Keegan took it by one. Poor Tommy, Tommy Ladd just losing in heartbreaking fashion once again, and then
Scott Kitun (07:23.705)
Yeah.
Scott Kitun (07:38.147)
Ha ha ha.
Venmo Joe (07:51.793)
then this year you just had a heavyweight battle between Scotty and Victor. Like it was so much fun. I don't think Scotty had his his A game stuff which like just shows you how good he is because Victor Yeah, but that was it like if you looked at him on s like Saturday and Sunday like
Scott Kitun (08:03.375)
Амініша сиксти.
Venmo Joe (08:10.7)
Think about it. Scotty Scotty went in Scotty went Scotty went into Scotty went into the weekend up two strokes. In the last two years, if he's going into a tournament leading by two, no one is catching him, right? So he did not have his A game stuff on Saturday or Sunday. but hey, either did Victor, right? Like Victor played a phenomenal on Saturday. Sunday he comes out leaking a little bit of oil. Bogey's one, has another bogey on the front nine. So, you know, the lead.
Scott Kitun (08:10.927)
Yeah, it was okay, yeah. Well Sunday Sunday was not and the rain did not help on the the back half.
Scott Kitun (08:24.921)
Tell me about it, Joe. Tell me about it.
Venmo Joe (08:40.624)
Board bunched up a little bit because Victor and Scotty being the final group just weren't running away with it. So it allowed guys like Morikawa to get into the mix, Windham into the mix, Ockey, you know, Batia got back into the mix a little bit, but like at the end of the tournament, it was a two-man race between Hovlin and Scotty, and I just I love seeing kind of like prime Hovlin come back. Like 2023 Hovlin was there this weekend in Connecticut.
It was phenomenal to see. And you know, I was texting with you about it this weekend. He's one of the guys on the tour that can go toe-to-toe with Scotty and actually has beaten Scotty head to head before. the last one that I can remember was 2023 at the BMW at Olympia Fields that you and I were both at. shout out cousin Kale for the tickets. But like, if you remember that Sunday, Hovlin shot a 61 to take out Scotty, and that was like prime Scotty. and here he is again going.
toe to toe with the number one player in the world and
You know, that Monday playoff, right? Scotty stuffs one to three feet and Hovlin has got to follow that up. And Hovlin's like standing right next to Scotty. They almost hit like the exact same drive on eighteen on that playoff hole. and you and I were talking about it on Monday. Like, I think ninety ninety-five percent of the PGA tour pros, if they're in that spot that Hovlin was in and they see the number one player in the world stuff it to three feet, I think they shit down their leg. Hovlin, you know, puts it to seven.
feet, buries the putt, you know, puts all the pressure on Scotty, and you know, Scotty's got a slippery three three or four footer and it slides by and Hovlin takes the title. Just just good golf, good tournament, like so entertaining. I I could watch those two play like match play all day every day.
Scott Kitun (10:33.805)
That sounds like a guy who picked Hovlin. That's what that sounds that's a that's a very Hovlin friendly description.
Venmo Joe (10:37.17)
What I hey man, I haven't I I haven't won in a while, so it was nice.
Scott Kitun (10:41.749)
I I appreciate it. I love it. I mean, and let's get that math out of the way first here. I mean, that was your pick. I told you chalk on Scotty. I didn't make a pick for the winner and make bets until Saturday anyway. So on the picks that we talked about last week, I hit the 20. I picked Akshay in the 20. I picked Fitzpatrick in the 10. I actually had Burns also and Brian Harmon in a 10 bet. They didn't make it, but they got very close. They flirted with it. and then I had my top five was Morikawa. So rocking and rolling.
Venmo Joe (11:05.474)
They did.
Scott Kitun (11:11.149)
Walked into Saturday. Yeah.
Venmo Joe (11:11.372)
I mean the Morakawa I the Murakawa top five for you on Sunday. I mean he shot a what a sixty or sixty one to get that top five. That was unbelievable. Like that it's fun to see like th speaking of Hovlin kinda coming back into form, like it's fun to see Murakawa seem to be back now too, right? Like whatever was going on with his back earlier.
Scott Kitun (11:18.339)
Sixty one. Yeah. Yeah, I was
Venmo Joe (11:31.51)
season. Like I know he won pre-back injury, but like he clearly hasn't been himself the last couple of months. And like so he's rounding into form going into the last major. Hovlin's rounding into form. Scotty still hasn't won a major yet this year. You know he wants to tick one off. I think we're gonna we're gonna be in for a hell of an open championship in a couple weeks.
Scott Kitun (11:54.638)
I'm gonna do this on the show just to do it and then bet against it. But I'm I'm I'm done with Scotty on winning majors this year. I I don't think it's gonna happen. And I and I think I'm not gonna fade him actually. He's like second place in every tournament he plays in. So I'm not fading him. I'm just telling you, I don't think he's gonna do it. And the reason is no, no, but like the putt, the putt on Monday, hold on though, the putt on Monday, it wasn't just a s it was a slippery putt. He saw Hovlin make the fucking putt seven feet further back, four well, five feet further back, but seven feet total. He
Venmo Joe (12:10.978)
Well i but w we gotta give ourselves crap.
Scott Kitun (12:25.889)
In my opinion, I was w I woke up super excited. You and I texted about this. I put money on Hovlin on the morning Sunday when it was cheap. I sold it when he took a one-stroke lead or tied or whatever it was. Then I made the bet on Scotty to win outright Sunday. Well, just to win in general, but win outright. I put it on him after I sold Hovlin, made some money on it, all good. I texted you as they're coming to the end and you're like, stay with Hovlin. They get to a playoff, stay with Hovlin.
And then as soon as we get there, you say you can tell there's rain and there's darkness. We're gonna play Monday. So I I sell my Hovlin, you know, I I kept a hundred of it, but like I sold the hundred, I whatever. I double down on Scotty because it was Monday. Because in my mind, Hovlin is kind of streaky. He's in and he's out, and Scotty's a professional and he's a winner, and he's finally got a chance to win. He comes out, he pipes the fucking drive, he sticks the fucking approach, he walks up to it, everything looks perfectly fine, and then all of a sudden his brain.
Just melted. He looked around, he points at his ball, like maybe it moved. I don't know what happened there. He steps back, he looks at Hovlin, he kind of looking around. I was like, God damn it, he's gonna miss this fucking putt. And as soon as he took the putter head back, I knew he was gonna miss it, and he missed it. And that to me is the same thing I said to you when I saw Cam Young have a weirdo. Well, well, I saw Cam Young have a positive move when he's Yep, Mr. Confidence, and then I saw him have the yip, and I'm like, shit, here we go.
Venmo Joe (13:44.387)
Yeah.
Scott Kitun (13:52.216)
I think that Scotty, it's not nearly like Cam. He's a way better player. But I think that he's in a position where he is not totally, it's not a yips in the game, it's a yips in the close. He right now feels more comfortable chasing. For whatever reason, it takes the pressure off of him. And he'll come into a tournament. He shits the bed Thursday, was the story for half of the season. He comes in and he chases you down, and it's like if he can just one or two more things and you shit the bed, he's gonna win, and then he's probably perfectly fixed.
But until he comes back and wins it, as opposed to you shitting the bed, or until he takes a lead and holds the lead, I think he's not gonna win. I don't I don't think he's gonna win anything. Because I see a guy who's got all the game in the world, who for whatever reason, when it's his chance to shut the door, it's like, it's like in his mind, he's waiting for something weird to happen. And it it's not a game yips thing, it's a closing thing.
Venmo Joe (14:37.762)
Yeah.
Venmo Joe (14:44.962)
Where yeah.
where I would get like where I was trying to say where I would give ourselves credit, we've called this. Like we have said like we're staying away from Scotty and like part of it has been due to the odds are just like absolutely insane. But like I think you and I have acknowledged, yes, he's still the best player in the world, but he's not twenty twenty-four, twenty twenty-five Scotty right now. And we were on that early, right? Where it's just like there there seems to be something missing where again I go back to my point that I made earlier.
Scott Kitun (14:58.583)
Yeah, it's shitty. Yeah.
Venmo Joe (15:18.082)
Scotty from the last two years, if he's winning on Sunday, he's not giving up that lead. He's like, he's gonna go out and shoot like a whole hum fucking 63 or 64 and run away with the tournament. he had every opportunity to run away with the tournament on Sunday when Hovlin was kind of stuck in neutral for the first 10 or 11 holes, and he didn't do it. And I don't know if it's like, yes, part of it's the putting, right? Like you said, there and that was his bugaboo before he, you know, the floodgates opened and he
He's won twenty tournaments. The bugaboo on Scotty was Yeah, he will. It's a blip it's a blip, it's a blip on the radar, but like winning golf tournaments is really hard. And I think we took it a little bit for granted the last two years because Scotty won so many of them. And now you're seeing like, hey, he's still got like ninety-eight percent of like his A game, but like that two percent makes it a little bit harder for him to close and actually win a tournament.
Scott Kitun (15:49.603)
Which is why I know he's gonna be back. This is just a I can't close thing.
Scott Kitun (16:18.187)
All I agree with you. All I will say, and I don't know that I've heard the talking head say any of this. I like this is goodness versus greatness. He had greatness the year that he closed. This is like the Kobe Bryant, Black Mamba, you know, the whole deal. Like, there's a difference between really, really good and could win, and there's a difference between steps on throat will win. And right now he doesn't have steps on throat, will win. And I do not believe for one second it has anything to do with this game because.
For whether whether we're talking about golf or other sports in my entire life, I've never seen someone who can go on a Thursday and shoot a ho hum 70 something and it's not good. And the next day they shoot 61 and they go up eight strokes and they're right back in the fucking lead. And it's like, so wait, yesterday you couldn't chip or putt or drive, but today you're good and then do it three days in a row. Like, nope. It is a forgot how to it like it's almost like he got so used to everyone else just sort of like parting the ways. He's just coming through.
That he kind of forgot how to like wrangle in the last minute. And it's it's not like he forgot how to actually do it, but it's like mentally he's showing up and he's ready to go, but then he has this weird Thursday, or he does well on Thursday, and it's like, okay, now these guys are gonna fall apart and I'm just gonna walk in. And I really do think, you know, this to keep it on golf, we always talk about well, maybe we don't. People say this to me as a lousy putter all the time. You just need to see the ball go in the hole once. So like
Like assholes, they won't give me any gimme's because they think that I really do need to like putt and see a ball go in. And then once I do it, and it helps, I think he needs to s to win a tournament. And the funniest part is the shit that I got from you and everyone else. When I pick Scotty Scheffler in the one and done at the beginning of the year, and it turns out that's his victory.
Venmo Joe (17:45.212)
Venmo Joe (17:58.925)
And that's the that's the only that's the that's the lone victory. That's the lone victory.
Scott Kitun (18:03.875)
Take when you can get man. Either way, it was an an incredible tournament.
Venmo Joe (18:05.59)
Yeah. Hey, before So good. Before we move off the travelers, can we talk about did we jinx Cam Young? Like remember like we had the
Scott Kitun (18:15.991)
No, we told the truth. We told the truth.
Venmo Joe (18:17.74)
No, but remember we had the big four like you saw the yips, right? But before the yip before the yips, remember we had the big four conversation and we're talking about like Cam Young is about to win at least one major and like he's the third or fourth best player in the world. Like ever since he had that yip, that three foot miss, like he has been irrelevant he's basically been irrelevant.
Scott Kitun (18:21.336)
yeah. Yeah.
Scott Kitun (18:35.309)
Yep. It's back to reality.
He's yeah, he's yes, we did. Sorry, Cam. I mean, he had yeah, no, he had the he had the all the game style going on. And you know what the funny thing is, like just to I guess this is why we get in trouble and everyone gets in trouble when you start doing a list. And this is why when we start next season, I wanted to do it this season, but we started at the Masters, so I didn't want to like midway. Next season, we are gonna have the Joe and Scott hierarchy.
Venmo Joe (18:45.102)
Come on the show then. We'll have ya.
Scott Kitun (19:07.137)
And we're gonna move these fuckers up and down. It's not the PGA rankings, it's my my eyes rankings. We're gonna do this next season and track it the whole way. And I will tell you, at one point, we could argue, is it Matt Fitzpatrick? Like if it was me right now making a bet on the next tournament, I'm I'm picking Alex Fitzpatrick. That dude's a top 10 machine this season ever since he got got on tour. But these guys, I guess what we forget, this goes back to the Scotty point. We forget frequently that a guy like that.
neat like if you're putting lights out, you're the best in the world no matter what the rest of your game looks like. And if you look at the the real true best in the world, if he's just so so, he's still like in the top three or four every single tournament. But the guy, the other guy has to literally make every single putt to win or compete, otherwise they're they're irrelevant or they're like top fifteen, top twenty tops. And that's what you're seeing with Cam Young, you're seeing with Fitzpatrick, who's also amazing. And we could have at one point had a conversation. Is it like Scotty?
And then Cam and then Fitzy, like you we could have done that. Yeah.
Venmo Joe (20:07.084)
I mean we did, we did. I mean you would we we clearly denoted that it was still.
Scott Kitun (20:11.075)
We weren't putting I wasn't putting Fitz in the in the top of the the rushmore, but we there was a period this season it looked that way, and then you start to realize, shit, a hot putter just sort of makes everyone look phenomenal. Cam definitely had a yips moment, and I think that he had it again. And all I'm I'm not predicting this because I think Scotty's a different level, but I do think that there was a little something there, and I would keep an eye on it. And the the the last thing I want to pivot over to to the John Deere, which I know you love. I'm gonna say this out loud and
Venmo Joe (20:38.637)
Yeah.
Scott Kitun (20:40.789)
And you watch it coil. I love Hovlin and his ceiling is so insane. You mentioned Morakawa and Fleetwood, and their ceiling is not nearly like that, but their floor I think is so much higher. Every time I watch Hovlin, I just I get the Jordan Spieth like fucking it just the speet this dude thinks he's the greatest player in the room he goes into, every room he goes into, and he probably is when he's all on. When he's not.
Venmo Joe (20:54.818)
yeah.
Scott Kitun (21:10.101)
It looks like you're just like, what is going on? Like he reminds me of Speace so much.
Venmo Joe (21:11.256)
Well that's the that's the that's the agreed. I mean he's always tinkering
he's got a little Bryson in him when you think about it, like with the tinkering and like doing doing the no, I'm not like personality wise. I'm just talking about Victor is a super smart guy and I I think I think his intelligence sometimes actually hurts him because he's like he's thinking through the mechanics and the process of the golf swing too much and like yeah, we've seen him on on the range before with all sorts of different accessories and just like trying to trying to figure out
Scott Kitun (21:21.551)
I won't say that.
Scott Kitun (21:29.486)
He's a mechanic.
Venmo Joe (21:48.733)
the feel that he probably had in 2023 and for whatever reason like he can capture it moments in time but I agree he's just not consistent enough. I'm hopeful that he's got the momentum now because he you know in twenty twenty three he he won a bunch of big tournaments. He closed out winning winning in the playoff, right? won the memorial that year. I think I think he's gonna win the open championship. I think with Scotty being a little down
Scott Kitun (22:15.608)
I love that bet.
Venmo Joe (22:18.536)
Rory just Rory's disappeared, right? Like Rory just he doesn't play the signature events. I don't I don't like him at the open. I think we're gonna get a first time major winner at the at the open at Royal Birddale. I think it's gonna be either it could be my my two, right, are the guys that we keep talking of. I wouldn't joke too much about that. That guy's got serious game, but it's gonna be Sam
Scott Kitun (22:31.373)
Yeah, Alex Fitzpatrick.
Joking.
Scott Kitun (22:39.651)
No, I'm not literally, but I it's he's a top ten there for me anyway.
Venmo Joe (22:43.242)
Sam Burns and Hovlin. One of those guys is gonna break through. and I you know, I had this thought too. I think Hovlin is who everyone thinks Oberg is. Hovlin's the guy. Hovlin Hovlin has won eight tournaments. Hovlin is the European guy that's you know got the looks, got the charisma. He he is actually who people think Ludvig is. Victor's a closer. Victor's a killer. Ludv Ludvig, until further notice, is like way off of that path.
Scott Kitun (22:54.465)
Scott Kitun (23:13.987)
I agree. I I I think that Ludwig is a phenomenal player who, if I was playing a season-long fantasy points game, I want him on my team. Victor's a person who I think you'll see for his whole career. You'll see three, four things at a time that he's hot. When he's hot, I don't think he's a tinker like every other tournament's gonna be like this. I think it's phases. You might get a whole season where he's phenomenal and he's not tinkering, and then he's like, okay, offseason, I want to do this. And that next season he's fucked up and then he'll come back.
Venmo Joe (23:38.53)
That's why that's why I love him at the that's why I love him at the that's why I love him at the open, right? Because it's it's almost not a Yeah.
Scott Kitun (23:43.886)
Agree. That's also why I like watching him. I love players like this, even though they want to make you pull your fucking hair out. I love players like this because deep down I'm a lousy golfer, but I have all these putters and I want to be better. I love to tinker and learn weird things. And when I see guys who are just fucking craftsmen, he's a craftsman. I just I I love watching guys like that play, and he you could see it, I mean you could see it in his disappointment.
When Scotty missed the pot, you could tell he wanted to have more of a match here and it just didn't work out. You can tell he appreciates the sport and the things that go into it at such a high level that the joy in his face is authentic. And that is something in all of sports that is just one rare and two when you find it, you bottle it up. It's the best. It's what makes the travelers so fucking good.
Venmo Joe (24:14.498)
Yeah.
Venmo Joe (24:28.15)
Yeah, and I feel and I and I feel like he's one of those guys that like everyone just seems to love. Like everyone roots for him because of because of I think the journey that he's been on and the fact that he's been top five, top three in the world and then he's gone to the depths of like, you know, being kind of irrelevant in the golf world for a period of time. Yeah.
Scott Kitun (24:33.848)
Yeah.
Scott Kitun (24:46.105)
Dude gets so close to the sun. So close to the sun.
Venmo Joe (24:50.274)
So anyway, I I he if if Victor Hovland is right, I think it's it's good for the game of golf, right? It's like one of the it's like when a big market in baseball or basketball that's been dormant for years, right? Like it's why the Knicks being good is good for the NBA, right? It's like if the Bulls ever get their shit together, which hey by the way, they look like they are, that's good for the NBA, right? It's like these big brands, like when they're good, the sport's healthier and better because of it. I fully feel
Like that with Hovlin. Like if Hovland is right, he's like one of those other superstars that, like, hey, it's not just Scotty, it's not just Rory. It's like, you know, it's a Norwegian guy that is a little bit different, that has got the looks, has got the charisma, has got the game that when he is playing and and hitting on all cylinders, like he's drawing eyeballs to a tournament, and not many guys can do that on the tour.
Scott Kitun (25:44.73)
Agreed. He's a guy who he's the guy who can go out and play and and run it run a six stroke lead. And you're like, damn. Which it's like again, we we probably would continue talking, we'd talk about Wyndham here even more, and that like his putter right now is the Cam Young putter. Like he can't fucking lose right now. It's unreal. all right, we got a couple minutes left here, and then we gotta, you know, go back to making a a true living. So let's talk about let's talk about talk about the John Deere for a minute. I know you love this tournament.
Venmo Joe (25:59.586)
Yeah, he's on he's on fire.
Venmo Joe (26:07.529)
Ha ha ha.
Scott Kitun (26:12.681)
I've always had an affinity for it. Back in the day it was in Wisconsin. I would go see it there when I was in at Marquette and there was like I I would love just what what what am I watching this week? I have paid no attention to it. I'm not gonna lie.
Venmo Joe (26:26.379)
So
John Deere, I mean it's a T PC course. I've actually played it, Deer Run, in Sylvus, Illinois, almost to Iowa. It's it's a really it's a beautiful course. What I like about it is it's historically been kind of a launching pad for for young superstars. Like Speath is one there before, Bryson is one there before. what we're getting is this is probably the best field that we've had at John Deere in a while. Like you've got two guys that are in the top
20 of the world golf rankings ben griffin is the the favorite goddup is is right below him but like what i'm really excited about you've got jackson couven from auburn that this is his first event as a professional right he showed very well at shinnicok i think he tied for for for low i love him i love blades brown who is is basically jackson but like i mean he's 19 i think
Scott Kitun (27:16.207)
I got him for a top twenty this week.
Scott Kitun (27:24.537)
Seventeen or whatever.
Venmo Joe (27:26.927)
at this point but he actually has experience like he's played on he's played PGA tour events he's top 10 in PGA tour events he's played a lot of corn fairy events you can get him at 57 to 1 like just a lot of good young talent that I'm really excited to watch here and I just think there's value in in this tournament because you don't have you don't have the top 10 of the world golf rankings there you don't have Ascoty you don't have Rory you don't have Hovland or Cam or Fitz like it is
A wide open tournament. So, what I would recommend to our listeners and and to you is you know, I think there's probably five or six guys that that you can take flyers on here. couple guys that I like, Tom Kim 35 to 1, solo third at the US Open. I think is is top 15 in his last three events. Kind of like Hovlin, like he was figuring some stuff out. He seems to have right at the ship here. I don't think there's a ton of value at the third.
But I do look I I do look for him to contend. I really like Denny McCarthy. He's been top ten here twice over the last two years. The thing with Denny is can he return to being the best putter in the world, right? That is what kind of gave him a chance. he's yet to win a PGA tour event. He lost to our boy Hovlin at the memorial a couple of years ago.
He's lost in a playoff to Oshkay before. So he can like he can contend in tournaments. He just hasn't won. You're getting him at 62 to 1. and if his putter is on, he clearly likes the course there. He's got great course history. I think there's huge value there. And he played really well at the Travelers. I think he was like top 15. And then for a really, really long shot. I'm going back to my guy, Carl Vilps, the Australian, the guy that.
that we we highlighted for the team event with with Thor. I got him a two hundred and twenty five to one.
Venmo Joe (29:28.843)
He's a guy that's won once. He won the Puerto Rico last year. So when I'm taking long shots, I I do like to look for someone that has has won a tournament, is younger, so you don't have a a huge sample size on it. He hasn't had the best of years, but like the guy's got Uber talent. And if you can sprinkle some dollars there at 225 to one, like, you know, put some beer bunny on that. and hopefully we get a sweat on Sunday with with one of those guys.
Scott Kitun (29:56.058)
Do you always do all of them just for the win? Or do you ever like try to play it out? Like I I do a lot of twenty twenty ten five one and then a couple of ones on the
Venmo Joe (30:00.172)
No, I start I start to I start to
I'm starting to I'm starting to I'm starting to do that finally just because I've you know, like I said last week's show, I'm always the bridesmaid, never the bride. I've had a lot of guys that I've picked outright that have finished second or third. so if I so I if I like if I like a guy, you know usually pick one guy where I'm like, Hey, I'll spread him across the the card, right? A little bit on outright, more on top five, even more on top ten, and then like try to unload on like top twenty.
Scott Kitun (30:16.515)
Right. You gotta have a cover pick.
Venmo Joe (30:33.471)
Like a guy, top 20 is a safe bet, and you know, if it's plus money still on top 20, that's where you can kind of cover your other bets. So that's that's what I've started to do. And then one other guy I like for you that I forgot to mention was Grillo. He's finished second there, two out of the last four years, I believe. and he was at some crazy number when I bet him. I think he was at like 90 to one.
Scott Kitun (30:49.262)
Yeah.
Venmo Joe (30:57.901)
I'm sure those he's now eighty four to one. thirteen to one at top five, six to one on top ten. I would I would definitely sprinkle Grillo.
Scott Kitun (31:10.125)
I like it. What do you think about JT? You think he has a JT Poston? Do you think he has a chance to to do something? I feel like he's been playing pretty well. He's obviously up higher in the odds, but I feel like he's he's been playing really well.
Venmo Joe (31:15.055)
yeah, I mean I I would I was I was actually I was I was actually I was actually on him when he won here.
Four years ago, maybe, because he my my my betting then was I just rode whoever played well in the previous tournament, and I remember that he finished like second at the Travelers, and I was like, he's like fifty to one going to John Deere in like a way worse field. He ran away with that one. I like him. Odds aren't great. and he also had like a an infamous, I think twelve on Sunday. I don't know if you saw that on the par five. He looked
Scott Kitun (31:54.701)
Yeah I did. I saw his name disappear. Saw his name disappear.
Venmo Joe (31:54.762)
Legit shot at twelve. So but he's the dude, he's obviously Uber talented. Yeah, we just saw him shine at the memorial. I do like him, but I I think he's twenty five to one. I'd stay away at that value.
Scott Kitun (32:09.411)
Yeah, it's not great odds, but it it's a pick if you're doing a one and done, I don't mind the pick.
Venmo Joe (32:13.821)
One and done I li I I would I would pick him or Tom Kim for one and done.
Scott Kitun (32:19.693)
Like it. All right, man. Well, I'm I'm excited to watch this with you. This is not a signature event, but it's it's still near and dear to our hearts. And I'll watch it in my John Deere. I like it. All right, buddy. We'll catch up. See ya.
Venmo Joe (32:20.161)
Yeah, posting to twenty seven to one.
Venmo Joe (32:26.77)
It's the fifth the fifth major. The fifth major, Scotty.
Alright buddy.