Welcome to No Strokes. Scott Kitun and Joe Koziol kick off the debut episode with a full 2026 Masters preview—breaking down Augusta conditions, weather, player trends, betting strategy, DFS/one-and-done picks, sleepers, fades, and their favorite outright winners for golf’s biggest week. Plus, the guys introduce the vision behind No Strokes and the tech-powered platform built to modernize golf handicapping.
Scott Kitun (00:04.148)
All right. I got to upgrade for streaming quality here soon. All right. All right. Venmo Joe. It's been a little bit. Welcome back. We're back. We're back in a different way. We're back with a brand new show. got we got what is it? We got called up. We did a few segments. We had a good time. I had a good time. We we picked a few pretty I think pretty good winners. That's a nod to you. You
Venmo Joe (00:12.913)
We're back. We're back, baby. We're back.
Scott Kitun (00:32.684)
You left off last introducing me to Maverick McNeely, who's won me money time and time again. But we were noticed by local sports blog hero, Chris Burhans, founder of Sports Mockery. For those of you who are in Chicago, you know Sports Mockery. If you're not, maybe you don't, but you will very soon. Invited us to do their first ever golf podcast. And I'm honored to have them select me of all people, which is just...
fucking asinine. But I've tabbed you, Joe, my friend, to come in and try to keep the wheels on the street. You have brought a ton of knowledge to me when it comes to how I look at the gambling side, the predicting, handicapping. You were the first person I talked to who actually started talking about the course before the players. And so we're going to have a whole lot of fun. This show is not just a podcast, though, Joe.
Venmo Joe (01:04.295)
You
Scott Kitun (01:32.366)
You will go to no strokes pod.com and you will find access to a tour level intelligence platform, which we have brought out for the masters. Thank you to our tech friends at Sports Magra for building that tool every single week. We will be introducing the tournament like you've never seen it before. Technology.
Interlate with analysis, interlate with real people who play golf, live golf, talk golf and have fun. This is your boy's podcast for real. And so I cannot wait to get started.
Venmo Joe (02:06.95)
The platform is amazing, but you've kind of taken away my excuses for bad picks now because you've given me so much data that I got no excuse now.
Scott Kitun (02:14.002)
what I have not. I have not. No, no, this platform is trained on you. You are a part of this platform. That's why it's going to lose. No, that's why it's going to win. No, this is this is how shit is done in 2026. This is a modern golf podcast. That's what I'll tell you. But you can't go forward until you go backwards. So what I want to do is I want to start of a show kind of where we stand. We're about to head into major season. This is my favorite time. We are
Venmo Joe (02:22.49)
Well, that's dangerous. That's dangerous.
Scott Kitun (02:43.578)
I'm kind of done with baseball. I don't know why. I know it's sad. Don't listen to that if you're sports mogul fan. To me, I'm down to be 42 in May, got kids. I am down to Super Bowl football season. I got March Madness. I got NBA playoffs. I got the World Series. That's kind of it. And then it's golf, golf, golf. So to me, entering major season is like this is the summer. It's every Friday with my guys playing golf. Tonight, I'm capping off our winter sim league.
Hopefully we're in second place now. I hope to leave in a different place though. We have a lot of points to gain on. But we kind of started talking about the show a couple months ago and we started tracking what that would look like. And I think it's worth revisiting because you and I are both in a couple of DFS leagues. We are in a couple of one and dons. You picked up a win at the players. I picked up a runner up in that same players.
I've got a couple other firsts, you've got a couple first runners up. I'm in, I think, fifth place in our one and done. And almost all of that is as a result of what you and I started a year ago talking about how we look at how we look at who's going to win. It's a different way to look at it. And so where are you at on things? How are you doing as far as your picks, your attorneys? What's what's the cards looking like for you? How do you feel about the golf season so far?
Venmo Joe (04:08.28)
I think the golf season has been great, right? You have gotten guys that...
have finally kind of gotten over the finish line after, you know, either not getting wins or not having wins for a couple of years. Right. You saw Cam Young, um, get his biggest win of his career at the player's championship. That player's final nine was unbelievable. Right. When you look at Ludwig, the robot going from unstoppable to flaring out two shots. Unfortunately, I had a, uh, a Maddie Fitz live ticket at 65 to one that I sweated out and lost.
on the 18th hole, you've got Cam Young peaking at the right time. And then the next week Fitzpatrick, right? He's runner up at the players. He wins the Valspar. What I've enjoyed is that you've had parity this year, right? You haven't had Scotty or Rory winning a majority of the the tournaments leading into the greatest week on the golf calendar, the Masters week. So I look at going into the first major here is that you don't have one of the top guys just come
Scorched Earth, like having won three of the first seven or eight tournaments, I think it's as wide open as it's been in probably the last five or six years. Not to say that one of those two top guys aren't gonna be there, but instead of having five or six guys that you think can win the biggest tournament in golf, I think you have more like 15 to 20 guys, which I love from a betting value standpoint and just a pure golf entertainment perspective.
Scott Kitun (05:43.256)
We need the drama. The live PGA drama, think, has pretty much played its course. I don't think there's that much there anymore. It's done. You know, it's funny though. You say we've got this parody. We did not start the season this way. Scottie came out. We were talking Tiger-esque Scottie. He wins. He's kicking ass. Then he starts having the, like, Thursday yips. And, you know, then he's got the kid. Someone probably should text the wife on when Nookie Night should be. It's not hard to look back in the calendar. It's April every year.
Venmo Joe (05:47.533)
It has.
Venmo Joe (06:02.501)
Yeah.
Venmo Joe (06:09.254)
Yeah, like Scotty, having those kids be born like in October and November, right? Like what are you doing here, buddy?
Scott Kitun (06:12.712)
keeps keeps kind of running into dude
Scott Kitun (06:19.85)
Or maybe she's getting it all the time and it just ain't, hey, you know, let a player play. All I know is it has surprised me that he got over it. And I guess we all have our opinions on it. I do think he actually kind of got over the yips, his ability to close escrow on Sunday and really bring it back to like the leaderboard 15-20, even though he'd be almost near cut line. I think he realized he was gonna miss either one or more tournaments because of the pregnancy.
Venmo Joe (06:25.614)
You
Scott Kitun (06:49.878)
And I think he just was like, all right, I don't give a shit. I'm going to bail here and go work on my game and kind of deep, deep cleanse. I, I think he's going to come in really, really hot, which we'll, we'll talk about this a little bit later in the show as we actually cap the masters. But one of the things that you mentioned that I think is important is like, have really fought. mean, this is post tiger era has really fought to find like, who are your heroes? We tried to do this. Like the, what was the, the banana boat for some that they had the spring break picture of Justin Thomas and Fowler and these guys all on the
and then Spieth and those guys hanging out on the banana.
Venmo Joe (07:20.07)
don't forget Smiley Kaufman in that foursome. Good ol' Smiley Kaufman. The one and only master's appearance, Smiley Kaufman.
Scott Kitun (07:24.044)
Well, yeah, well, this could hold, but the problem is, my God, they just, they haven't lived up and it's really hard. How do you live up to that? It's like trying to replace Jordan. You we put all these people together, it just didn't work. The reality is it actually did something that really was not covered. And I hope we talk more about it, but like we have got a deeper feel.
of guys that have very different stories, stories that we haven't tried to sell before. The Gary Woodland thing, the PTSD story, when, I mean, it's just an epic story. The collapses that are like not really collapses, they're just really tough breaks in some cases, some cases collapse, but tough breaks. You've got so much talent.
Venmo Joe (07:59.205)
Unreal.
Venmo Joe (08:06.406)
I know you like your boy Shane Lowry, but that was a collapse, right? There's been some Sunday collapses, and that was one of
Scott Kitun (08:12.506)
that's a.
Scott Kitun (08:17.966)
It's a storyline that makes you feel like every one of the players who's like tier two good is capable of shuffling and winning and shuffling and losing. And it just seems like the way that we win and lose in this tour today is entertaining as hell. it, you know, we look at the Bridgman win. There's a handful of these where you look and you're like five stroke lead.
Venmo Joe (08:31.031)
Absolutely.
Scott Kitun (08:45.586)
snore, no point in watching Sunday. And before you know it, it's like the last hole, the last 30 minutes. And it's like a one putt away from winning and losing. And it's been like that almost every single week. And we're going to bring that into the Masters. But the thing about the Masters, it's different than all the other tournaments we're going to talk about, is the Masters brings its own baggage. And the reality is, it is nearly improbable that there's a repeat winner. I forget the last time before Tiger, it's like,
It's been a long time. rarely happens. I think the oddsmakers and put it like 6 % that Rory actually can repeat. Schaeffler's coming in. He's Scottie Schaeffler. So who knows? I put money on him. But it's not normal that the prohibitive fate hasn't played in four weeks or whatever. It hasn't picked up since the last time he had a hard time getting across the cut line to start. Like it's been, you know, it's not like a normal way to come in. So that kind of makes him not necessarily the lead dog. And then you've got
all these guys who have won over the last decade, like you said before, 12 to 15 people in the sort of gallery of players. And it's really hard to pick. And you've got this sort of live part where Kepka's back and Patrick Reed is so much of a favorite right now, nine plus 9,000, whatever he is. I don't even know what to say. Like that's usually the kind of underdog pick. Now we got him like as everybody's pick. So it's setting up for a crazy, crazy mass.
Venmo Joe (10:08.91)
Yeah, he's getting a little too love for my liking. Not that the data doesn't back it up, but when you're making bats, yes, you want to make bats on...
Scott Kitun (10:15.064)
Time to fade.
Venmo Joe (10:22.266)
guys that you think can win the tournament or top five, top 10, wherever you do it. But you also want someone that you enjoy rooting for. Patrick Reed's just not a guy I can root for. I don't want to be sweating out a Sunday golf bet with Patrick Reed. I want to be cheering against him versus wanting him to cash me a ticket. And I can see why people want to bet him this week. It's just, he's that unlikable for me.
Scott Kitun (10:50.606)
I hate him. He has always been my master's pick. But the thing is, he is usually like the fifth or sixth of my pool draft. Like you get him at like $6,500, $7,000, something like that, not nine. And you know, like, let's make the case. Like I think he's incredibly overrated, which is insane because he's a legit contender in my mind. Like I would pick him if it weren't for the fact that everyone's picking him, I would pick him like I always do. And he always...
Venmo Joe (10:52.388)
Hahaha!
Venmo Joe (11:02.97)
Yeah, now he's got a height, yeah. Yeah.
Scott Kitun (11:20.558)
pretty much never disappoints. And like, look at the bull case. This dude won Dubai, won Qatar. He's second in Bahrain. He's been on the DP World Tour win. He's runner up. He's been all over the place. And of course he's won the Masters. He's got the skillset that is like the perfect bag for the Masters. And yet he's got the most punchable face. like, he's like, normally he runs under the radar as like the bad guy. And yet he's taken selfies. Dude.
Venmo Joe (11:46.406)
Don't sugarcoat it Scotty. Don't sugarcoat it Scotty. I love it.
Scott Kitun (11:50.306)
He took a picture of himself coming on a PJ. That's just not like he, I'm just saying guys who start believing their own hype usually shit their pants. And that's, I don't want it to happen because I probably will put or have put money on him, but I don't love it because it's, it's really hard to take a guy who is that unlikable and make him a favorite. I don't know. Like it's just very difficult for me to, yeah, I don't.
Venmo Joe (12:12.888)
I mean, you laid out that you laid out the case for why people are circling him, right? He's one. like the biggest thing, right, is that he's got
flexibility now, right? He's like quote unquote a free agent. He's been playing on the DP World Tour. He left live, right? He left the four, the, you know, the esteemed four aces. I don't know how they'll ever be the same again without Pat Reed. The thing that concerns me, it's with a lot of the golfers that are coming into the Masters is there was a stat that like 11 of the last 13 Masters winners played at least one of the two events leading up to the Masters, right? Like in one of those two weeks,
played. A lot of these guys have taken three to four weeks off, Patrick Reed included. He has not played in a month and yes, you could say you can make the case of, well, what did he spend? He spent that month prepping for Augusta, so he's going to be primed to do it. There's the other side of the coin where he hasn't been in a competitive tournament in a month and even the tournaments that he has played in 2026 has not had the best fields. The DP World Tour, I think it's got one guy or two guys
Scott Kitun (12:55.854)
That's what saying,
Scott Kitun (13:19.883)
No, come on.
Venmo Joe (13:21.344)
that have qualified for the Masters, like, so he's taking a, you know, a step up in competition and he hasn't played in a month. So, he'll be one of the guys that I fade gladly.
Scott Kitun (13:34.676)
I actually have money on him, that's fine. Not gladly, it's just a ritual. He almost never fails for me. I will say this, and I'm pretty clear, I don't like the guy. We're gonna have him on this show sometime, I promise you that much. dude, we're gonna make it.
Venmo Joe (13:47.526)
Yeah, I'm sure, I'm sure. I'm sure his wife is going to allow him to come on this show.
Scott Kitun (13:54.188)
Hey, you know what? I got ghost Twitter accounts too. I can play that shit. It's fine. I got me and KD, me and KD. Scott Catoons mom on Twitter. Scott Catoons mom on Twitter. No, but the thing is, I do think that there are certain players that just, and he, I do believe is one of them because he's, this is not me saying this. Like he has always had issues with.
Venmo Joe (13:57.671)
Yeah, you got the burners. think they've got a stable of burners.
Scott Kitun (14:18.83)
playing with people, playing partners, people playing with him and not liking him. Even teammates, the college thing, it was a whole deal. He's not a guy who I think really gives much of a shit about what the people playing next to him are watching him think. And so I would say the exact opposite of a Dustin Johnson. That's a guy who when people are watching him, if they don't like how he looks or does something, I think it bothers him. I think that's why when he goes and live, he just sort of disappears and it doesn't matter. I think that's what bothered John Rahm is that...
he wasn't getting attention and he's kind of figured that out in his head now. like Patrick Reed doesn't care. Masters is one of, it's like the one time a year you get to walk the red carpet and people remember your name. The one time he shows up and all the people who he doesn't like have to shake his fucking hand because he's got a green jacket. And I think it matters. So I think a guy like that can show up anytime.
Venmo Joe (15:04.964)
Yeah, it's hey, you know what? It's the it's the one time a year he actually gets invited to a dinner, so I know it's a special week for him.
Scott Kitun (15:12.748)
Well, it sounds like it's a good dinner. Well, since we're talking about Augusta, why don't we pivot to this? Because I actually think this is one of my favorite parts of this show and we couldn't do it without our friends at Fried Egg. Shout out to Aidy Johnson. Love what Fried Egg does. So I'm just going to pull their information and they do such a great job covering courses. You should check out Fried Egg if you haven't. They are live at Augusta right now. They are posting all of the conditions. I've got whole by whole updates.
Venmo Joe (15:31.643)
Yeah.
Scott Kitun (15:40.886)
of holes to look out for, holes that are playing different than normal. I don't want to a ton of time on a joke, but I do think it's worth mentioning because it, in my opinion, and this is the greatest test of all to our little technology background intelligence system we built, because things change in real time. You said at the top of the show, a lot of times you come into a show, you talk about Thursday and it's all bets off. Up until Thursday and now it's off. Well, we've got a couple things going on.
We've got a weather condition that looks like it's basically gonna be just perfect, windy, dry, fast. So if you're a person who has a heavy putter, who has a hard time trajectory and flighting balls in with wedges, your distance guys, Sam Burns, some of these guys who can smoke the ball, they have an advantage off the tee, but they do not have an advantage on approach. And if you do not put on approach and Augusta, your ass is gone.
Venmo Joe (16:16.165)
Yeah.
Scott Kitun (16:37.614)
And if you look at like Bryce and DeChambeau, you you can get away with like not a great putting week. You cannot get away with having 40 and 50 foot putts all week. You got to be making two putts inside of 20 feet, not praying for two putts inside of 30 or 40 feet. If that's where you are, one, you won't score and two, that's over in my opinion. like what we're looking for just to set this up, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, we're through it now, 73, 66. When tee off time kicks off, it's going to be 69 degrees.
It'll be 74 on Friday, 0 % rain. We are talking Augusta at its fastest. The scores will be, I think the scores will, well, potentially they could be lower than ever, but I actually don't think they're going to be. I think you're gonna have a clean week of play. Anyone who knows the course has a huge advantage, as always, but I think this opens the door for the people who maybe don't know the course as well, because they have.
Venmo Joe (17:10.171)
Thank God.
Scott Kitun (17:33.858)
they have the ability to play fast. And I think that's a little different nuance than we're used to.
Venmo Joe (17:40.527)
Yeah, agreed. But I think, you know, the the tough part with the newcomers, right? Like you said it. Augusta is always extremely firm and fast, I think even more so this week with the great weather forecast that you just laid out. you've got the bent grass.
at Augusta, right? So that that's the first pure bet grass set up that the PGA Tour players see on the calendar, right? So what that means, right? And this is what the pros and the caddies say most complex and nuanced greens to read. So, yes, there there is some advantage to the playing conditions. If you haven't been on those greens, like in competition, like I just think you've got to have the course experience or at least you have to have a caddy
that's got that course experience because they are gonna be complex, nuanced screens to read. So first off, you gotta get the read right and then you've gotta get the speed right and you've gotta barely touch these bots.
Scott Kitun (18:42.35)
I agree with you. think more what I'm getting at is the, anyone who's won the Masters, I think has a totally different advantage. If you've played the Masters, I'm thinking of Siwoo Kim, four or five cuts made, knows how to manufacture his top 20s, knows what he's doing. He would be disadvantaged on a slower course play because there's bombers who are just gonna grip and rip.
Venmo Joe (18:57.157)
Yeah.
Scott Kitun (19:10.24)
And if it's fast and downhill, grip and rip doesn't really matter anymore. It's all about ball striking and approach and not being a bad putter. like being a great putter makes this incredibly, know, good ball striker, great putter, huge advantage. If you're just a so-so putter, you're just not a terrible putter. So like that's where Shaw-Flee to me is super interesting this week as well. Like he can be a decent putter. He can also be just atrocious, but he's a great ball striker. So I think that the course in general is,
Venmo Joe (19:14.852)
Yeah, because you're going to you're right.
Venmo Joe (19:37.124)
Yeah.
Scott Kitun (19:40.251)
Setting us up a little different than normal. There's no weather wild card. We've had a lot
Venmo Joe (19:42.087)
And we've talked about this, right? And you've hit on it. What you're looking at with the great platform that our friends at Sports Mockery has put together. Hone in on shots gained approach.
in particular from 150 to 200 yards because what Augusta has is they've got a lot of long par fours, right? So you're going to have that 150 to 200 yards out. Look who gains shots there. That's who you should start your card around. Yes, you've got to get off the tee. Yes, you've got to have good shots around the green and putting, but it's that 150 to 200 yards on those 10 par fours that are going to make or break the winner this week.
Scott Kitun (20:29.538)
Yeah, I mean, look, I think, why don't we talk about a couple of these holes? Obviously, we always talk about as they make their way around the turn to get some tough holes. Juniper number six, I think this is the biggest surprise. This is what the guys at Fried Egg found. The drop from the tee to green is more severe than the tee even shows. They feel like it's gotten to a point where it's severely downhill. So now you're heading into a very contoured green, very hard to land on a normal day, let alone a dry day. I think that's gonna put a ton of pressure.
I think that's a hole that I look out for for all these guys. You can be even par, know, plus one, negative one, negative two, getting into six. Whether six is a bogey or a birdie for you, I think is the dictator of whether or not you're gonna be able to get through 12 and be in contention. And as we know, if you can't get through 12 and 13 heading into the final stretch, like at least at even par, you have almost no chance. And I think it brings in, you know, another one.
Holly 18, the Friday's big take on this, thought was interesting. They actually said the whole kind of stinks. A few of the positions around the green were not in like the like not the greatest position for approach. Modern distances mean players will barely hit the club anyway. So like unless you literally clip the side of the green or clip a tree or something that kicks you into a basically unplayable or unfair area, not much can go wrong, which kind of takes away from the anticlimactic part. I'm wondering.
Venmo Joe (21:30.626)
Hahahaha!
Venmo Joe (21:52.39)
Hmm.
Scott Kitun (21:54.766)
This is like conspiracy Scott over here. I'm wondering if that is because we've seen there's some outcomes that in the last few years that have kind of come down to that hole that we don't want to see someone fall in their face. I don't know. It was interesting to me that they painted it like it let up a little bit.
Venmo Joe (22:08.93)
I listen, listen, if you that that that's a driver hole, right? So to say it's kind of like a nothing hole, you're you're taking out the fact that that's the most narrow tee shot that those players see all day. And when you've got the pressure coming down on Sunday, yeah, if you hit a great drive, right? More likely than not, you've you've got an easy par unless you're Rory McIlroy last year who had
125 yards in and pulled it into the bunker. But I've seen Scotty in those trees before. I've seen a lot of guys have their rounds derailed before Sunday driving the ball on 18. Right. So if you drive the ball great there, yeah, you're probably going to make a birdie or par. But to say that that's just a given. mean, I've looking at that hole on TV, that drive scares the shit out of me. Like it looks terrifying.
Scott Kitun (22:46.185)
yeah.
Scott Kitun (23:04.331)
Right, well according to these guys and their drones, they feel like the hole is not playing as hard as it has in the past, whether it's distance or whatnot. I don't know, the hole that I have my eye on, this is my betters hole. For those listening who partake. 15, always a toughie. But with the weather as it is, and the bombers being pulled out of the bomber advantage, so to speak.
It kind of allows for anyone to go for it in two, not anyone, but like lot of the players on tour are going for this in two. And my prediction, and we haven't even talked about the players yet, but my prediction, an Adam Scott type coming into here with a nice shot at eagle, a 23 footer left to right, sinks an eagle. I think the winner of this tournament, person, whether they win or not, or the person who's gonna be the kind of the pole leader most of the week.
is gonna be the person who gets the first eagle or the first two days of eagle on that hole. And if you're a person playing it for birdie and par, I think that's gonna be really tough. So like that's one of the holes that I'm looking at.
Venmo Joe (24:07.63)
Yeah, you're gonna you're gonna you're gonna be giving a shot. You're gonna be giving a shot up to the guys that are going to attack it. Can I just say that I love that you mentioned Adam Scott? We are on the same page, so I can't wait to get to our our picks because.
He is a guy that I have circled that I think can be this year's Justin Rose, as far as an older guy that you've kind of forgotten about that all of a sudden you look up on Thursday and you're like, wait, why didn't I think of Adam Scott? The guy's five under and has got the prettiest swing in all of golf.
Scott Kitun (24:30.456)
Yes.
Scott Kitun (24:39.886)
And now with, we won't get into Tiger, that's been spoken about. But now with Tiger, you know, not around for a little while, let's say. I feel like Adam Scott's the new spokesperson of the PGA. He's the most likable guy, he's got beautiful swing, he's still competitive. He's like, he's giving me, I turned 42 in May, he's giving me the hope of an older guy now. He's increased his swing speed, which is just insane. And I absolutely love it. You said talking about players, why don't we transition to that? This is what the show's really about.
Venmo Joe (25:00.772)
Yeah.
Scott Kitun (25:07.704)
Cap in the lines. I'm gonna read these off to you. These were as of I believe yesterday, so if they're outdated by the time you guys listen to this on Wednesday. Let me start from the top. Plus 500 odds, Scotty Scheffler down the line, John Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Rory McIlroy plus 1200, Ludwig Cyborg plus 1400, my guy, my fellow Callaway TCB raw playing fellow.
Venmo Joe (25:26.96)
Hahahaha!
Scott Kitun (25:32.512)
Xander Shafly who I actually do have some money because I just love him. wanted to win so badly. Plus 16, Mattridge Patrick, fellow Wildcat, Chicago zone. That's one of my sleeper picks even though he's highly rated. I just think he's got the game. He's a tough bastard, which I love. And then Tommy Fleetwood, we could talk about that. Justin Rose and we've already spent more than enough time on Patrick Reed who's at plus 35 on this. So let's take the top first.
We already kind of talked about the fact that Scheffler's coming in different, but you mentioned a lot of these guys are coming in without having played in two, three, four weeks. So that's not different. I don't think the kid thing matters. So long as he doesn't get pulled over and put in jail, I think he's fine. Ram, there is a lot of talk about Ram. I feel like that's the...
Venmo Joe (26:17.734)
Yeah, he's getting so much love coming into this. Yeah. I mean...
Scott Kitun (26:22.199)
Is it too much?
I currently have him in our, your, your daily fantasy. have him as my first, so I don't like that. I don't like that. I don't want to hear that.
Venmo Joe (26:28.602)
Yeah, keep him in there. Keep him in there. Keep him in there, buddy.
Listen, John Rahm is a top three player in the world. My issue is ever since he's gone to live, you've not seen it translate to major success. So to me, I need to see it before I say, Hey, out of that top tier group, that's the guy that I'm going to back completely understand why people have him slot it is, one of the guys that they've circled as a favorite at Augusta. mean, he's one year before he's gotten insane amount of talent. He's still only one once.
I think on live, think Bryson has beat him twice. Our friend Anthony Kim dog walked him in Adelaide on the back nine. AK baby. It's good.
Scott Kitun (27:12.628)
AK, man, I love AK. That story is the best. I love it. He we will get on this show, I guarantee you that. I have a couple of little DMs back and forth with him and he's just like the coolest dude of all time. So we're gonna get him on the show someday. I wanna bounce around a little bit with these players. like Rory, we're kind of capped it. mean, there's nothing you can't say. He obviously can win any time, any place. I don't doubt that. He's now got the whole, know, he's got, won all the majors. I just think it's really difficult.
Venmo Joe (27:24.262)
That would be awesome.
Scott Kitun (27:40.696)
for a guy to come back and win back to back. I think it's difficult even for a guy as good as Rory McRory, but specifically more Rory here. We've got the back thing going on. That's a question about Morikawa. That's probably why you don't see him on here. And in general, I think we've covered it. Oberg, Cyborg, Cyberg, I love, I love this dude's game. I think if he win, if he were to win it, I wouldn't be surprised. I wouldn't be surprised to see him in the final one or two guys the last hour on Sunday.
I just don't, it's, whenever he does turn it on and wins, he'll win a shit ton in a row. But until then, it's still this sort of like, you know, it's just, yeah, it's the same thing that gets me with Shofley. Same thing with Shofley, can he play on Sunday? He's won, I know he's won, yes.
Venmo Joe (28:18.032)
Can he close? Can he close? That's the question. Yeah, well, Shofley, but...
But Shafly's won two majors, right? He's won two majors, but that was the question mark on him. And I think Ludwig is now in that in that same vein as Xander was before he got over the hump. Ludwig is the one of those guys, right? When you saw him at the players on Friday and I was watching him and like when he gets in a groove, you're like, how does this guy ever lose a golf tournament? Like he just, when he has it going, it looks so effortless. It looks like he's just going to birdie every hole and like, and yeah, and like to be honest,
Scott Kitun (28:35.682)
Yes.
Scott Kitun (28:52.738)
Vintage Hovland is what it looks like. They're like twins.
Venmo Joe (28:55.88)
watching him when you've got a ticket on another guy when he's rolling it like that and playing you're just like you just feel defeated
But then Saturday the players comes around and he doesn't give the tournament up but he kind of gets stuck in neutral and then Sunday kind of same thing that front nine I think he played it even par he was given you know Fitz Fitzy and Cam Young I think gained two or three strokes on him on the front nine but he still had the lead and then you get to to the back nine pressure at
at Sawgrass and all that robotic kind of like smooth easy swing all of a sudden kind of abandoned him a little bit and he pushed it out right into the water on 11 and then sent it into the water again on 12.
The Augusta obviously fits his eye, right? think he was the top debutant two years ago, finished solo second, I think he was tied for second last year until he blew up on hole 18. I will not rule him out. He's not a guy that I'm fading this week. It's still one of those things though where, can he close it on Sunday? I do think his first big win is gonna come at Augusta. And I wouldn't be surprised if it's this year.
Scott Kitun (30:10.99)
keeping receipts on that.
Venmo Joe (30:14.238)
He's a guy I feel comfortable putting in my my foxhole from a pick standpoint, cuz he's gonna be in it. He might not win it, but I don't think he's gonna be a guy where you're looking at it Friday afternoon and being like, I can't believe I picked him. I think he'll be around on Sunday. It comes down to that pressure on the back nine.
Scott Kitun (30:33.058)
Yeah, no, I totally agree. And it's like, as we look through this, mean, Justin Rose is another example of this where he has got the Adam Scott, you mentioned that before. He's a player who I think could be plus two after Friday and you're just not talking about him. He ends up in the top 50 and that's just what it is. Or he could literally just be like plus, know, negative three every single day and he's like in the top 10 and just sort of sneaks in, or he could win it. I don't think he's going to, but he has that sort of sneaky game that just keeps running. I would love him to, I would love him to.
Venmo Joe (30:57.558)
please let it win it, Scott. Let it win it. So I got. So I bet Justin Rose.
Scott Kitun (31:03.575)
I just don't think you will.
Venmo Joe (31:05.23)
I bet Justin Rosen, I think you're aware of this. Thursday night after his first round at Torrey Pines, he just had that like look where he's going to run away with the tournament. He does run away with that tournament. He wins by seven shots. I think he breaks the course record. I got him at 60 to one back in January. Those odds have now been cut in half, but. You know, it just depends. Are you going to get the you going to get the Rose that you saw at Torrey Pines or Augusta last year or to your point?
Scott Kitun (31:12.706)
Yeah.
Venmo Joe (31:35.197)
like he has had some inconsistent play over the years. I just think that something like just like Ludwig, right? Like Augusta fits Justin Rose, right? He's had the he's been runner up three times, always the bridesmaid, never the bride. I just I don't know that that to me would be my favorite storyline is if Justin Rose finally got that green jacket. And I and I hope he does it in a playoff because he has lost two playoffs at Augusta, first to Sergio.
2017 then to Rory last year I want him to get that green jacket that's my that's my favorite pick that's my favorite storyline of Masters 26
Scott Kitun (32:17.806)
I can't get, I can't hate that. just, it's so, he's such an interesting player. Like I can't think of a comp for him. I was trying to think of like NBA comps or just anything like that. a guy who's won majors, who's been a player, he's what 45, something like that. He like, he just, he's a ho-hum. He wins and you're just sort of like, ah, that guy again. It's like, he's just stacking, stacking trophies. Just, and it's been his whole career. He's...
Venmo Joe (32:33.754)
Yeah.
Venmo Joe (32:40.09)
Yeah, like he's still around. He's still around. Yeah.
Scott Kitun (32:46.23)
He's Ed Harris of movies is what he is. He's a guy who like is like on the cusp of winning Oscars, wins a couple, gets nominated. Fucking 15 years, he looks exact same. And you're just like, duh, still Justin Rose in here.
Venmo Joe (32:55.854)
I was going to say like that he's like the one guy his hair gets better as he gets older. It's like it's unbelievable. Like, well, I guess that's what money that's what that's what money buys.
Scott Kitun (33:04.042)
to some of the best of us. I have no money, but I got beautiful head of hair going. No, it's, I love that storyline. I would love to see it. I think we topped this off by, you know, it would be quite historical, frankly, for Shofley, or sorry, for Sheffler-Rory to win. It'd be the first time both Tiger stats since 05 that the top two co-favorites win. It would be the first time of a back-to-back since 0102 Tiger. So like, I just think what we're really looking at is that list that you just kind of read through.
There are though, I think a few under the radar picks here. And when I say this, I'm not just talking about betting. I'm talking about entertainment. I think that one of the coolest stories of this, I would say season so far to me is the introduction to players and this is the future. This is why the field's so deep. Introduction to guys like Jacob Bridgman. I didn't, I watched golf a lot. I didn't know who that guy was. And his game, dude.
Venmo Joe (33:36.592)
thousand percent.
Venmo Joe (33:57.924)
You and me both.
Scott Kitun (34:00.446)
I love watching his game. That dude doesn't give a shit. He just puts it out and just lets it roll. And so like looking at a guy like him, he's what, plus 6,500, that is probably unlikely to win, but like he's got tons of game. I don't think he cares who he's playing against. You know, it's kind like the Pearson dude on non-masters. It's just very interesting.
Venmo Joe (34:21.99)
I had him, him, him winning at RIV, right in LA, one of the toughest courses on the PGA tour year in and year out.
There's really no comps to Augusta, but if you were to comp it, Riviera is one of them. And what he was able to do that Sunday where he had a big lead and he was, he was playing very conservative, but you know, Rory didn't go away and he had to make a big putt on 18 with, you know, the sponsor of the tournament, Tiger Woods, like over his shoulder, like a knee knocker, five footer, and he buried it. Right. So I, I definitely think he's pressure tested. It's just the fact that he hasn't played here, right. Which is going to be, you know,
Scott Kitun (35:02.946)
Yep. It probably excludes him from winning, frankly.
Venmo Joe (35:04.044)
Which is the concern which is probably? It's probably why you're seeing the number that you're seeing right like if this was his second or third Masters And he's coming off of winning the Genesis at RIV He's the number is cut in half at least, I like him. I like his game a lot
Scott Kitun (35:19.468)
Well, look, we've handicapped this course, the players, the weather, the whole thing, I think, as much as you can. So let's start getting into the picks and pools here. We're gonna do all of our fans a favor and give them some good ones. Normally, I would tell you do whatever I don't say or do whatever, don't do whatever I say, both. This year, I'm on a bit of a heater though. I am on a bit of a heater. you know, we're gonna track our pick as a show going forward. We got practice rounds, we got our reps in.
Venmo Joe (35:34.79)
You're kind of on a heater though Scotty, you're kind of on a heater.
Scott Kitun (35:49.454)
pre-major season. Major season starts now. From now on, this show has an official pick. That official pick, by the way, will be Venmo Joe's pick. Venmo Joe is gonna be the person who locks him in for us. But we'll talk through it a little bit. I wanna help our friends out with the one and done strategy. If you're an idiot like me, you played Scheffler early and I got a ton of shit for it. And now it's like, well, I kinda got, I got a win. I did, but it was a little, it was a little, it was a little win. But.
Venmo Joe (36:10.071)
Yeah, but you got the win with him. You got the win at American Express with him. Yeah.
Scott Kitun (36:17.358)
Now, like he started to play kind of average. I was like, well, maybe it wasn't the worst thing. And so I've got a lot of guys that I call horses for courses. I have a lot of that lined up for the rest of the season. So I expect to do well. And I don't assume that all one and done strategic players are necessarily thinking that far ahead, but let's just assume that you are looking at your board. What do you think is the strategy for this tournament? Is it just?
Like if you've got Shuffler or you've got one of the top three, you pick it or you go with a top five approach and just be in the combo.
Venmo Joe (36:47.462)
I think, yeah, this is the biggest individual payout, right? In our one and done, and I'm sure in a lot of one and done's, it's based on cash, right? So you should pick your top guy.
Scott Kitun (36:59.308)
Right.
Scott Kitun (37:03.438)
Is that why I picked Patrick Reed in my one and done?
Venmo Joe (37:08.132)
With that said, if Rory and Scotty and the top guys are gone, I mean, this is always a perfect opportunity for the live guys because you only get four opportunities to utilize them, right? So an opportunity to potentially look at Ram or Bryce in there.
Scott Kitun (37:18.478)
I'm gonna push back on you, Joe.
I'm pushing back on you that I think that you, when you start the year on your one and done, you want to have your big horses available for the masters and for all the majors. But I think that when you look at what we've talked about today, like I don't necessarily think that using, if you have them available still, Scheffler or Rory is a good grab here. I would save Rory for like the British or Scheffler when you see a little bit more.
unless you truly think he's gonna win this year, which I mean, he might be the bad example because he's so far and away better than people and he's coming back on unknown. That's true. That Shetler may be a bad example of this. Yeah. I don't know. just, think that it's shaping up to be very difficult for those guys. I'm a numbers person. So when I see it, it's like I, for me personally, this would be my approach. I'm looking for guys who I expect to see in the top five who have every bit the chance to win. If Ram is there,
Venmo Joe (37:51.322)
He wins at the courses that he's won at. I hear you. There's parody that hasn't existed here.
Scott Kitun (38:14.914)
and that's what you've got on the table. Like maybe you take that. I wouldn't like reach and try to pick someone who's gonna be an outlier win. I think that's a recipe for disaster. But if you go with, you know, several of the names we talked about, I really think that if they land on the top five, you've done yourself no disservice in your one and done it. If you pull out and win, you know, you're probably leading your one and done at the end of it. And then if you're so ballsy as to leave Rory or even Scotty off of your pick, you now have two very likely potential major winners for your next
three majors coming down the pipe, in which case that is game over on your one and done. So if you are in that position, kudos to you.
Venmo Joe (38:50.79)
that's probably why you're doing better than the one and done than me. What I would say is pick the guy you think that is going to win, right? Like that if you've got him available, the guy that you've handicapped that you think is going to win, that should be your one and done. I think based on everything that we've talked about, like if I had my pick of all of the top guys and I'll give you more dark horse picks. If I had my picks of all the top guys.
Scott Kitun (38:57.388)
a little bit. Yeah.
Scott Kitun (39:16.354)
Yeah. Who's your one, this right now, one and done for the show. This is official, one and done for the show. We're fresh right now.
Venmo Joe (39:21.54)
Well, this isn't who I would use in the one and done, but my pick to win the Masters is Justin Rose. That's who I'm riding with. That's not who I would pick in one and done. Who I would pick in one and done is Ludwig, right? Just based on what we talked about, right? Like I think his floor is...
Scott Kitun (39:37.23)
Yeah. Well, but see, he fits into my top five thing, right? Because that's a guy who we expect to see on Saturday and Sunday floating around. If 15 goes right, Ludwig's walking away with a jacket. And if 15 goes wrong or he boils up on 18.
Venmo Joe (39:42.54)
Exactly, exactly, exactly.
Venmo Joe (39:50.575)
Like you had his floor, his floor is so much his floor, him and Scotty's floor, think are the highest of everyone, right? Cause like, I just don't see them not being top 10, top 15. And that's what you want in the one done. You want a chance to win, but even if you're not going to win, you're still going to cash a big payout.
Scott Kitun (39:57.122)
Yeah. Yes.
Scott Kitun (40:10.114)
Yep. No, I totally agree with you. DFS. So in general, this is something that like you and I both have had a pretty successful season on and making pool picks. I think this is something that people do not well. Like if I'm talking to my golf friends, I don't think that they do this very well because they usually pick based on either what they just saw on ESPN, which is just a terrible disaster. But also, there's this like, you know, we had the beginning of the season where Shetland was too expensive.
So if you made Scheffler's bet, was basically Scheffler and then whatever you could cobble together. This tournament, as you set us up at the top of the show, is wide open. So how would you recommend people make their picks? How would you pick your, I'm not gonna ask you how you picked yours, because we're not locked in yet, but.
Venmo Joe (40:56.014)
Well, yeah, because we're going to have listeners that are in our DraftKings pool. So we got to be a little bit careful. My strat... My strat...
Scott Kitun (41:02.988)
Yeah, we all get to pick the same. not gonna pick. They don't have the balls to pick my sixth.
Venmo Joe (41:07.782)
My strategy is I usually don't tend to go to like the top three to five highest salary guys. Cause to your point on Scheffler, like they just take up such a big percentage of your salary cap that I, your, team just, you've got two or three guys that you don't feel comfortable with. So I, I always get comfortable kind of, I mean, I'll pull it up right now. I get comfortable in that like 9,500 to 8,500 range and just try to pick as many of those players that I really like heading into the tournament.
as possible and try to avoid having, you know, a 6,000 salary guy who most more likely than not is going to miss the cut. What you're trying to do in the DFS lineup, you want you want to get every guy past the cut, right? That's that's how you're going to generate points. And then you hope one of the two guys that you picked are flirting with the with the title on Sunday. But if you lose two of your six, it's over. It doesn't matter if you've got a really good top heavy lineup. Having those two guys miss is
is gonna prevent you from winning. just don't spend it all on Scheffler, Rory, Rom, Bryson, like get to that 9,500 to 8,500 range. Try to get three or four guys there and then dip down to seven to 7,500.
Scott Kitun (42:24.494)
This is advice coming from a guy who on the players had four of his six picks in the top five of the tournament. That was, that was watching you from the pool in Austin just going this son of a bitch, like unbelievable.
Venmo Joe (42:30.488)
It was pretty good. I was afraid.
I don't know, had Fitzy, had Cam, had Ludwig. was easy picking there, man. It was easy picking there. I'm looking at the salaries now like Adam Scott, who we both like, $7,200. He's going to be in the lineup.
Scott Kitun (42:39.81)
Yeah, I'm all do that was that was house cleaning. Yeah. So you're Yeah.
Scott Kitun (42:53.55)
Can't beat it, yeah. Russell Henry also, Henley, he does well at the Masters all the time and he was, I thought he was 78, 76, he's low.
Venmo Joe (43:02.852)
Yeah, I think he's had, I don't know if he's had some injury, like he's missed a couple tournaments, but yeah, he usually, he doesn't win majors, but he definitely shows up. He kind of flirts in that, you know, he's in.
Scott Kitun (43:12.12)
He's your cup maker.
Venmo Joe (43:13.764)
Yeah, he's your cut maker. like the lefties this week too, right? Lefty golfers have historically thrived at Augusta with the natural fade they've got. So I'd pick between Oshke and Big Bob, right? Those two, Big Bob almost won on Sunday. I actually liked that he didn't win on Sunday going into the Masters. That's a guy that's continued to show up in the majors the last couple of years. Almost won the US Open last year, has won the Scottish Open like
beat Rory head to head in the Scottish Open. Like he's a big game player. He's played in the Ryder Cup, very high on Big Bob McIntyre. then, know, Batia won Arnold. Yeah, won the API at Bay Hill. He's got Max Homas, old caddy, Joe Griner, who, you Max Homas had success here. I think it's good because Homas had success at Augusta, right? He's top three a couple of years ago. He's a...
Scott Kitun (43:54.104)
Yeah. He's a dog, Robert.
Scott Kitun (44:03.95)
Is that good or bad?
Scott Kitun (44:08.652)
No, he is. No, you're right about
Venmo Joe (44:12.388)
He's a beloved caddy. I, you know, all those Ashkay I think is like 7,800, if I'm looking at that right now. Big Bob is 8,600. So that's right in that range that I was talking about. And if you're going that approach, I think you get a much more well-rounded lineup. You're just hoping that, you know, Scotty and Rory don't win.
Scott Kitun (44:33.716)
I'm not worried about that, which is gonna be something I'm gonna probably eat my words on. One word, one name we've not said the entire time he's mentioning is Hideki. It's interesting that he has not gotten any, he's not yet coming in hot, but he's not like cold exactly. And he's a winner. He's a guy, you know, I don't know. That's one that is interesting. I'm not betting on that, but I do think that he's kind of flying under the radar, which I like.
Venmo Joe (44:43.554)
and
Scott Kitun (44:58.424)
person who almost certainly won't win that I want so badly to break out is Minmoo Lee. I love his game so much. I love that dude got to play. I told you the story. I got the I got to play the chef for a hole at Rich Harvest Farms and took my ball from him, which is one of my greatest stories. I just needed to break out for it. Masters is tough though. That's a tough one for him, but I do think that he's he's just got such a tool bag. God is he good.
Venmo Joe (45:03.514)
Yeah, me too. Let him cook. Let him cook, Scotty. Let him cook, Scotty.
Venmo Joe (45:12.133)
Yes.
Venmo Joe (45:21.348)
He's got the game. He's definitely got the game. There's no doubt about that. He's definitely got the game.
Scott Kitun (45:28.014)
The last one I'm gonna put out here and we talked briefly is Fleetwood. It's a hard one, but if you're an odds maker, if you're picking for money, he's pretty good as far as value there. He's obviously an incredible player. It's just, he had the FedEx and that's the thing. There's a lot of shed tears.
Venmo Joe (45:46.757)
He's gonna try his hardest. He's gonna try his hardest.
Scott Kitun (45:51.303)
Haha, aren't we all? Isn't that what we all do this?
Venmo Joe (45:54.135)
Listen, dude, I love Tommy Fleetwood. My cousin, Cale, got me on Fleetwood years ago. He's obsessed. He's lost probably $10,000 betting on Tommy Fleetwood. I can't do it. My advice on Tommy Fleetwood, top five, top 10. Don't bet him to win. Until he is proven that he can win an actual event, like the tour championship with 30 people, yeah, it was great. That's not winning.
Scott Kitun (46:05.709)
Real man.
Scott Kitun (46:13.068)
Yeah, always.
Venmo Joe (46:24.038)
at Augusta that's not winning a major, that's not winning the players. I got to see it before I believe it and you know I'll take I'll cash the money at top five or top ten, stay away from a winning ticket on Tommy.
Scott Kitun (46:38.334)
I am going to save my prediction market rant for our next episode, but I'm just going to tell people who are not on the Robin Hood, Kelsey train like I am Fleetwood is a dream. He is a short gate. He's the short master. I can buy him at a great low rate and then watch him get into contention and watch all the idiots bet him up and then just short sell the shit on him because I know where I'm going to find him on Sunday right where I got him at two cents.
Venmo Joe (47:03.29)
That's smart.
Scott Kitun (47:07.084)
That's what's gonna happen. I love the man. He's gonna peak. I'm call right now. He's gonna peak at around 45 to 50 cents, 51 cents if he gets to the top five at the end of Saturday. By the end of Sunday, he will be at one cents. I'm telling you right now and I love the guy and I wanna see him win. That's my wallet talking right now. That's my wallet talking. Joe.
Venmo Joe (47:08.495)
You
Venmo Joe (47:20.486)
And you're selling that contract at what point? What are you selling that contract at?
Scott Kitun (47:30.96)
I'm gonna buy and sell multiple times. I'm gonna get, probably gonna get him around 30.
Venmo Joe (47:33.71)
No, but in that scenario, right, if you've got Tommy and he gets up to like 50 cent, when are you selling him?
Scott Kitun (47:38.83)
So unfortunately, you can only choose to the baseline for those of you who aren't, like it's different for different sites, probably markets a little different. I use Robinhood for the most part. It will basically tell you the floor. So if he's being bought at 40 cents, he's probably a limit sold at 38 or 37 or whatever minus fees. So you've got to kind of figure out like, did I buy him at three cents?
to either win or you do in top five. So now I'm buying it like 10 11 cents or seven cents, probably more like six or seven cents. If he gets to 45 cents, I'm selling it when I sell it 42. If I do not believe that he's going to stay in the top five into Sunday, then I get out there. If he's in the top five at the turn on Sunday, he's going to be like 60 cents at 60 cents. Legit. I might just sell. I would probably sell it even if he wins. I mean, if he wins, obviously, you know, shit happens, but it's
Venmo Joe (48:04.761)
I gotcha.
Venmo Joe (48:28.486)
Yeah, sorry. We're going to need a whole, like, I need an education on the predictions market. And you'll give that to our audience because, you know.
Scott Kitun (48:36.268)
I will bring it to it.
It's the investors take on gambling and it seems wholly illegal, for right now it's still alive. So we'll talk more about that in the future. I just think it's an interesting topic, but either way, Joe, it was a blast to have you back. Congratulations to you and to me and to us on getting this show elevated into, I think another stratosphere. wasn't sure if we were gonna, what we were gonna do. We were just dicking around doing clips and people seemed to like it. I wanna thank Chris and Sports Mockery team for giving us the opportunity.
Venmo Joe (49:08.61)
Absolutely.
Scott Kitun (49:09.55)
for building an incredible tech platform. They're launching their brand new site in the coming week or so here. It's gonna be sick. You're gonna be able to play GM on Chicago sports teams, helping you with your fantasy picks. In-depth coverage, they launched a new Bears podcast with Jerry Azuma. He's now under the Sports Mockery handle. And in general, you go to nostrokespod.com or Sports Mockery, you can find their Masters Pro Edition. It's a platform that we built.
that allows you to tap into all the things that Joe and I were talking about, visually see it, play picks, and here's a little wink, a wink and a gun. There's a section in the bottom of that that is just a joy to play, and I'll leave it at that. But I highly recommend people check it out. I hope you follow us on all the socials, at No Strokes Pod, and you can always find me at Katune, and now you can find Joe at VenmoJoe on the IG. My guy, thank you so much for taking the time.
Venmo Joe (50:05.582)
Hey man, always a blast, dude. Looking forward to taking it to Masters with you this week and winning some money for our audience. Great to be back, my friend. See ya, buddy.
Scott Kitun (50:11.47)
Yes, sir.
I think that's the move. Let's go. Have a good Masters. Have a week. See ya.