Rocket Mortgage Picks & Final Reflections from the U.S. Open with Eric Patterson
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Try it for a week. Let us prove it to you. All right. Coming up on this podcast, we are bringing on my guy, Eric Patterson from the score to talk about an article that he wrote on Rory McIlroy on Rory's decision to not speak to the media, to not play basketball.

In the travel or something I've been thinking about a little bit over the past week and a half or so, I'm still pretty mixed on some of those decisions, but it was good to talk to somebody that dove into it a little bit more, wrote a great piece on it, and shared some solid counter arguments. So we talk about that. We talk about...

All right, Eric Patterson is joining me. It's been a while, man. How's it going? I just kind of asked you what's new. I know you got a recent change in your life.

child, a two-month-old at home. What's going on in the work life, your relationship to golf these days? Happy and excited to catch up with you, man. Yeah, man. It's been a while. I think the last time we talked, you were maybe replacing me and or heading out of the job at the score. So it's

It's been like three years since you went down there. A job that you got me, by the way. Yeah. I did. Yeah. I helped you get it. But I think in hindsight, it's probably best that you didn't stick there for very long because you're obviously flourishing now. And sometimes you got to learn what you don't want to do by doing it and figuring that stuff out. So yeah, it's been a while, but thanks for having me. Yeah. I'm excited to chat. Maybe not too much Rocket Mortgage, but maybe a little bit at the end. A little bit. Yeah. No, it's a good stepping stone for me. Yeah.

I would agree with that. I think I was better suited for probably a more creative position where I could be a little bit more opinionated, but it seems actually like...

They're kind of letting you do that now. Yeah, there's been, there's been some changes at the top. So, um, they're trying to get more, yeah, opinion, but like you said, that, that article I came out with last week about Rory is pretty much all opinion based. So they're trying to dabble their toes into that and figured, um, I'm kind of the one that's going to be doing it. So yeah, I'm excited to get back into writing about golf, less kind of day-to-day news grind and more

analysis, opinions, you know, hit on the big, big topics here and there, but not like, you know, I'm not, I'm not a

alerting every Thursday round, you know, recaps and stuff anymore. So it's kind of a nice balance. Yeah. I would, I would have stayed if I was able to write a long form pieces on Rory. Um, that's, that's way more my area of expertise than, uh, sending out a news award on a low score. So I apologize. Bad timing there. I apologize for that. No,

not at all. It, again, it, it was a, a good stepping stone in, in my career. And I'm always grateful for, for the process, right? It like, you need some of those experiences sometimes to figure out what you do and don't want to do and what you're actually best at. And it, it all worked out for me and, and for you as well in the end. So always grateful for the opportunity and, and,

Grateful for the friendship that we were able to build a little bit through that. So talk to me a little bit about that piece. I read it. I messaged you after because I was thinking a lot about Rory in the week's kind of

after what happened at the U S open. And I thought that you put some things into perspective that I hadn't really thought about in terms of my initial gut reaction. So what was kind of the, the idea for, for writing about Rory in that way, and maybe summarize a little bit of your ideas for some of the listeners that haven't been able to check it out yet.

Yeah, I mean, I mean, we all saw what happened to Rory on the course and then in the aftermath at the US Open where he bolted out of there, he spun his tires, he looked pissed off. People were calling him a sore loser, bad sportsmanship. You know, he didn't shake Bryson's hand. And then he bailed on the Travelers, which I think everyone in the world expected, except I guess still people figured they're going to get mad about him because, like, you know, it's it was a signature event and he's the one pushing for these tournaments and

And then he's like bailing on the sponsors and the fans who paid for tickets. And I just felt like,

Maybe I'm just a big softie. I felt like he was getting piled on a lot just for some of the decisions he made, you know, in those few days after. And I just kind of came to his defense. I'm not trying to be like, I never thought I'd be like a Rory fanboy, but I just kind of gave him a little bit of grace and got to put myself in his shoes, trying to, you know, what's going on in Rory's head. I just, I felt like the kind of the backlash to what

how he was acting was a little overblown. Um, cause I, I truthfully didn't think he did a ton wrong. He probably could have handled himself a bit better. Um, and, and I guess it depends on how you think people are those, these guys in the, in the moment should treat media. Um, I don't know what your opinion is on that, but, um, yeah, I just kind of came to his defense for, for not shaking Bryson's hand, which I think is absurd for skipping the media and then for bailing on the travelers. I just, um,

All those decisions were refined by me, and I'm excited. I can't wait for the next Rory Press conference we get because I think it's going to be very enlightening. Did you have more of an issue? Because there's a couple things there. I think people are mad about three separate things. I think they're mad about the fact that he didn't shake Bryson's hand, which is

Actually, like incredibly customary like that, that actually in terms of if we're talking about athletes responsibility, that got really straw manned by the fact that like there is a picture of Bryson congratulating Xander at the PGA, but that is not like typically a thing.

In the history of golf, like if you start talking about like Tiger Woods and a lot of golf duels over the course of history. So there's there's that piece. There is the not speaking to media. And then there is the skipping the travelers.

What did you have the least versus most problem with of those three things? There's always a backlash. The backlash generally swings too far in terms of the pendulum, but I may be a little bit more in the middle in terms of thinking some of that was fair on one of the three issues that I just laid out. Yeah. I mean, I think...

what I would have liked him to do a bit different is probably speak to the media, even if it's one question. Maybe he doesn't even field questions. He just talks about how he's feeling. The thing I had the least issue with

The handshake thing to me just blows my mind that anyone would get rattled at him for not seeking Bryson out to shake his hand. I mean, if he played with him and he didn't shake his hand, that's where this is a story. Yeah, they weren't even in the same group. I think it would have... I'm not going to say that just because there wasn't a historical precedent of that in the past that it isn't something that players should do going forward. Like, I do...

I do think that's cool when, when players go out of their way to do that. But in terms of like knocking him for not doing that, it's, that's just not like a thing in golf historically.

It's happened, but it's not... I feel like Fowler set the precedent here, and then he's the one who just lingers around and says congrats to everyone. I think Sergio was the guy actually to do it for Bryson. Maybe I didn't look close enough after the final putt is dropped, but I only think Sergio was there to congratulate Bryson. Tiger never did it, and Rory can't win in that situation either because if Rory was...

You know, there would be people saying, trust me, I know this is being a Rory fan and experiencing all levels of the discourse. If Rory was hanging out by that 18th green and like giving Bryson a huge hug, there would be people saying, well, this is why Rory never wins. He doesn't have that dog in him. Yeah, he's yeah. Yeah. So anyway, that that was a bit of a no win situation for him.

Yeah. What's your take on the media, though? Because like for me, that's the only one where I could see it's it would have been cool if he answered some questions. But also, I completely understand him not wanting to talk in the heat of the moment, probably say stuff that's either not that, you know, insightful. He's probably just going to be pissed off the entire time and want to get out of there or just, you know, he's just angry and he's going to say something he regrets without much thought. So I just...

I know there's a lot of people who hold these guys to a standard, and I'm not one who's been at these events trying to get questions and write stories where you need a quote from Rory McIlroy. I think Shane Ryan wrote a piece about tracking Rory the entire day, and he said it would have been nice to get a quote, but his story, you've got to base your story on not having a quote, so he was even prepared for Rory to not talk. So I just...

That's one where I'm fine with him not speaking. Although I get that, you know, people want him to talk. It's kind of one of those where I'm on one side of the fence, but I do understand the other side. Yeah, I did. And

Yeah, I am a huge Rory fan. And I did have a bit of a problem with this and was pretty, pretty tough. I didn't like tweet about it or anything, but just when people asked me my opinion in group chats, how I felt about it, I absolutely was on the side. I mean, the one that I have more of a problem with, which we'll get to next is the travelers. I did wish he spoke. And, and, and I'll tell you why I do think there actually is.

a lot more of a historical president for that in terms of what your job requirements are speaking to the media. That's just your job as a sportsman. And you go back like Mito Pereira, who basically got electrocuted the 18th hole at Southern Hills and blew the PGA championship. And, and that guy is a,

about as irrelevant as it gets these days, right? Like that, that was really it for him. He actually, he took the time to, to talk to the media. I mean, uh, uh, John Vanderbilt, Greg Norman, like all those examples that people still Mickelson, Phil Mickelson gave the, the kind of iconic quote after bullying wing foot in no sex. I'm such an idiot. And I do think that getting that as a time capsule, I think, uh,

Would have been would have been nice for context. I say that, like, again, kind of as a fan understanding that it's almost a little bit like masochistic. Right. Like, it's like you want it's like.

watching Rory go up there and field questions after he just got his heart torn out, it's like torture porn a little bit, right? Yeah. I understand that argument in a certain sense, but Phil Mickelson saying,

I'm such an idiot after blowing wing foot in 06 is like one of the most memorable sound bites in golf history. And as a fan, I kind of wish that we got something like that raw. And in the moment with Rory, I think that

What happens and how Rory speaks about what happened at Pinehurst? He's going to have had an incredibly long time to think about it. It's going to be incredibly well curated. I mean, he is going to have gone through 15 different therapy sessions with Bob Rotella on that day when we finally get to hear how he feels about that. And as a golf fan,

I kind of wish that we got the raw emotion in that moment. Is that fair? It's that's that's yeah, it's completely fair. And that's the one where I said, I understand the other side. The raw emotion for me is like, you know, it's the tire spin. It's the feeling out of there and making people kind of flee the scene.

I'm okay with it. Again, I'm okay with him not speaking. I'm excited to see what he has to say. I guess it'll probably be at the Scottish Open, and he knows he's going to get asked about it. So I hope that the European media doesn't go easy on him just because he's kind of one of their own. So hopefully they kind of put him through the ringer there and maybe ask why he didn't speak to the media. But again, the story is about Bryson. It shouldn't really be about Rory skipping media. I'm fine with him.

Peeling out of there, the Netflix crew is right around. We're going to get some pretty raw, I would say, video of that. It's a good point. And you don't really know. Those guys were right up his ass as he put his bag into the car. They could have been stalking him for the last, I don't know, 20 minutes, 30 minutes. It just seems...

Like he had enough and he just wanted out of there. So I just completely, I'm fine with it. You know, I I'm excited to watch that Netflix episode. That's for sure. Uh, the travelers piece too. Again, I had a little bit more of a problem with you probably than this. And I say this as a huge Rory fan, but, uh,

I mean, part of the reason why the schedule, I think a lot of us as golf fans have a lot of confusion as to why the schedule was the way that it was in terms of the placement of the signature events, in terms of the format of the signature events. My understanding from the people that I've talked to, I've got like a little bit of inside info on this. I don't think it's like

Abnormally a tremendous amount more inside info than the public has at this point. My understanding is that like Rory was a major piece in making a lot of those decisions about the signature model and the current PGA tour schedule that we have and that a lot of the.

better and bigger players were pushing pretty hard for stacking it in a way. Right. So like putting these signature events around major championships and then allowing them to take two weeks off. Right. I think logically as fans, one of the things I've said is like,

Hey, the Memorial is a great event. Like it's one of the best events, standalone events that the PGA tour has. I don't want to be neck deep in Pinehurst preview content at the week of the Memorial. I think that that's doing a tournament like the Memorial a disservice. And similarly, a tournament like the travelers, which is,

I don't love the golf course or anything, but it's an incredibly well attended tournament in terms of like the fan engagement. It's probably the closest thing that the PGA tour has to the waste management. I mean, I'm in the Northeast. People really show out for Hartford, um,

New York city is very underserved in terms of golf on the PGA tour. And this is the best it has. And like Rory being there for the travelers after he was one of the big people that said, this is how things should be. Um, I was a little disappointed in, in that decision. Yeah. No, I,

I'm like a little surprised and maybe you've heard some other people that I obviously don't have any connections with, but like, I'm just surprised that he would be the one begging for them to be after a major because historically in his entire career, he's pretty much never played the week after a major. I think I counted four times.

um, before the signature and elevated, uh, events, you know, kind of got implemented. So four times since 2010, that's a lot of majors where he's just passed on the week following. One of them was like, I think one of them was at the Irish open and then there's a couple of travelers in there. So it's play, huh? Yeah. So, uh,

his whole career he's kind of kind of been someone to take this week off so i get him i get why guys want to stack them so they can kind of gear up and just focus on for you know two three weeks at a time rory had been playing i think it would have been his fourth week in a row yeah because he played he played canada and memorial um i mean and then he played like i think he played the team event he played the zurich like he's just been playing a lot and it seemed like

I don't know. Again, it's a complete understandable decision for me for him to like to skip this. I don't know. People be like, oh, well, he bailed on the heart, the Arbor town after he missed the cut at the masters and kind of like sulky old Rory just wants time off. So it's just like, he does clearly doesn't care about skipping these events. Like he doesn't care the backlash he's going to get for, for missing them. Um, so, um,

For some reason, part of me thinks that he's almost against having the signature events the week after, but I could be wrong there. No, and to your point, I'm not sitting here saying that Rory was banging his hands on the table being the one that says, we need to have these signature events the week after a major. Historically, to your point,

him not playing a lot of golf the week before the major or the week after a major, that could have just been one of the concessions that he made in the entire conversation and debate about the schedule. But he willingly signed up

and advocated for the schedule that we were left with whether the fact that there's a signature event the week after a major was his favorite part of the new schedule or his least favorite part of the new schedule he kind of knew what he was signing up for and i i do think that the way that the pga tour is formulated right now with the schedule i i think it is

a massive, massive shame that like the Northeast has become this underserved golf community in terms of professional golf. When, as you saw at the travelers, I had a lot of friends attend both on, on the fan side and, and the media side. That's a, that's a really big event for them as, as it stands now, we don't, we don't have a major, we even had a major, we had the closest thing was, um,

Oak Hill in Rochester last year. And it just, it's not a golf year where the biggest city in the country has the opportunity to drive, to see professional golf. So, you know, I, I would have, I would have liked to see him there, but the other key pieces, as you outlined in your article is that if we're doing kind of a checks and balances of, uh,

What players have done for the PGA tour versus what players have done to maybe hurt the PGA tour. Rory could probably skip the next 25 signature events and he'd still be the leader in the clubhouse in terms of like what he's given up for that tour, relatively speaking, compared to other players.

Yeah, there's, I think when he withdrew, people were pissed. And I said that I was like, it's just a tough crowd. It's like, he's never going to be able to please everyone. I think Jay Monahan came out and said, I mean, he rarely ever speaks. So he did say that, you know, he understood why Rory was skipping it. So, I mean, he's obviously not going to publicly bash Roy McIlroy. Yeah, of course he did. And he's trying to mend or, you know,

salvage whatever relationship they do have after he's made him, you know, Rory is whipping boy for three, two, three years. But yeah, it's,

i'd argue i just i i don't think there needs to be singer event events after i think i saw a tweet saying like it was like 11 o'clock uh thursday or friday one of those days and the back nine at tpc river highlands was just completely dead and there was just no vibe and it's like usually it's like there's just golfers everywhere and there's there's i guess fans spread out across that entire property and it just didn't seem like

uh, the same event, but obviously that changes come Sunday. And there's, I guess the entire weekend when you get Scotty and the boys in the mix, but it just, the tournament was so good before a signature status. And, um, I just don't think it needs the, uh, you know, the 70 man, no cut field, but that's, I guess another topic. Well, I completely agree with that too. And one of the things I talked about earlier in the week is, you know, I don't really understand the, um,

I know that I suppose even though the last thing that PGA Tour decision makers deserve at this point is the benefit of the doubt, I know that they've came to these decisions for a reason. And there is the case that I think a lot of people miss in terms of the heritage, for example, being the week after the Masters event.

That tournament does really well from a number standpoint in terms of its viewership numbers, because there are a lot of casual fans that get invested in golf for the masters and they want to try and squeeze every last ounce of that, that they can. So there are a lot of,

people that will watch the heritage because it's the week after the masters that normally wouldn't watch the heritage if it was another spot in the schedule. My counterpoint to that would be is that a lot of these tournaments, and I know that we fall more into the rabid fan than the casual fan. A lot of these tournaments, I think,

lose a little bit of their luster when they're in either directly proceeding or directly following up a major, right? Like I think the Travelers,

is a great standalone event where the story of that week should be the travelers. And I think a lot of people during travelers this week are still left picking up the pieces from the U S open. Same deal with the point that I made earlier about the Memorial, where in terms of like what people are talking about, a lot of the focus now has shifted already to what's going to happen at Pinehurst. Whereas now, uh,

And again, I know they do this for the reason I'm sure that the players like this, but now, and I guess this will transition us to talking about the rocket mortgage, but we have two weeks in a row that are just really sleepy. And to me, like rocket mortgage is the perfect thing to have the week after a major wet people exhale for a little bit. And then the competitive starvation model, like I know for me,

Even after I'm completely worn out of doing 15 podcasts for the U S open and watching 10 hours of golf a day, I like to take a couple of days to exhale. And then, you know, five, six days later, like I'm, I'm ready to go. I'm ready to dive back in. I'm ready to sit back down on my couch on a Sunday and watch an exciting golf tournament. And the way that they have it now is like,

I didn't get jacked up at all about the, the travelers because I was still reeling from the U S open. And now I'm like, okay, I'm kind of ready to get into golf again. And we get two weeks of, you know, Tom Kim at 12 to one. Yeah. I guess the argument, I was just thinking like,

i gauge a lot of um you know general sports golf fandom based on a couple group chats and like everyone just watches golf on sundays like that's yeah we're sickos we're the ones watching you know thursday morning first t-ball and figuring out if you know the guys are the guys we've picked or are feeling it for the week or not but like for the most part guys people are just watching you know late saturday and then sunday so they do have that

kind of decompression few days and take their mind off it yeah it sucks when you got to make content for and try to get up for it um uh but yeah we're in the we're in the sleepy season now um this is completely uh two two weeks off before we head overseas so i'm i would like to see if it was yeah the rocket mortgage mortgage this week have another

elevated event you know this this week as in you know then you know i've got two weeks off head over the scottish open and whatnot it's just i need the week off i think the players need the week off i'm stunned that freaking shuffler won the guy said he was burnt out at the u.s open he was completely gassed he's thinking about changing his entire schedule he goes out and wins again it's just it's insane what that what he continues to do um someone i can't get right this year uh

The only time I had a bet on was at the U S open. I took him at one and done it as well. I think I took him in one and done at the Houston and he had like four wins surrounding the second place. So just completely can't get that dude. Right. But just an unbelievable run. Just to put a bow, something I was thinking about just briefly while you're talking about just to put a bow on like the, the schedule and the signature of that model.

Do you have any insights in terms of like whatever you feel comfortable answering here, but like in terms of your work at the score, do you have like a, a pretty good sense in terms of the times and the patterns that it seems like are the best times that people are interested in golf? Because again, I keep like wanting to give the PGA tour the benefit of the doubt in terms of some of their scheduling stuff. But, and in terms of like,

Their decision for these no signature, the signature event to be no cut events and the golf tournaments that they choose to be signature events. It just feels like there's been so much bungling and mismanagement in terms of what we are choosing to be signature events. When these signature events are like, I think of the travelers is like the perfect event that doesn't need to be signature, right?

It's almost like the Phoenix Open in the Northeast. You don't need the Phoenix Open to be signature. People are still going to show up for that one. You don't have to force the best players to play that one. In fact, some of the most fun memories at the Travelers are when it's won by less heralded players. Do you think that, I guess, do you have any insight in terms of like,

what it seems like fans are really getting up for and what matters to them in terms of the regular week-to-week stuff on the PGA Tour versus the majors? I wish I had a lot. I mean, I can go back to my sports betting days. That's a good way I feel like to... Oh, yeah, in terms of handle, yeah. The judge is based on, yeah, handle and the number of bets. It's the majors and it's nothing else, truthfully. Everything else is pretty much...

you get your diehard group of, of betters and people who pay attention week in and week out, but the, the general public, it's, it's pretty much majors only. Um,

And like for the score, I'm based in Canada, cold climate, you know, having all these events in February, March, we're not even close to thinking about, I mean, a lot of North America is not even close to thinking about playing golf yet. And it just, I'd rather see tournaments when there's, you know, when I can kind of play golf, like, you know, I go out Sunday morning, play around, come back and watch the final round. That's kind of what I like to do. I'm not dying. Well, I,

I am dying to watch golf in January and February, but like I know a lot of people are focused on other sports. So

if I would ever make a change to the PGA tour, it'd be like, you know, move the PGA back to August or something. Move, extend the season back to August. You open up, open up more, better venues if you have it. Yeah. I think that's right up in your, your alley too. Like, yeah, it just seems like the season's almost over in a few weeks, which is wild. Like the season for me ends kind of at the open championship because the FedEx cup playoffs just fails to, fails to really deliver the competitive juices for me. So it's just like,

The season's coming to an end already. It's crazy that it's already winding down. This is the shortest amount of time this year in particular. I know we've had a similar schedule the last couple of years, but this year specifically is just based on the dates, the closest that the majors have been together.

And I don't love that. I like the, again, the competitive starvation of like, oh man, I'm really itching for another major as opposed to, wow, I can't believe we already have a major right there ready for us. I agree. I would have extended, I would have extended out major season into August. The other piece of that too, is it now it feels like if you're playing great and

Scott is probably not the best example of this because what he's doing feels pretty generational at the moment, but

how close the majors are together right now, it feels more like you can kind of just get hot and pick a couple of them off if you're playing well. Like it's, we're really talking about getting hot during a three month period of stretch. Um, where as opposed to the difference between the masters in the past and the PGA, when it was middle of end of August was more like almost five and a half months, um,

Yeah. I mean, yeah, you could, you could make arguments that PGA should be in like the fall or something and really extend it out. But I don't think that'll ever happen. I know football season ruins everything, but yeah, it's, it's, it's jammed up. You know, it's the masters comes up so quickly and then it's already, it's over in a short order. But I think like my, my only pitch would be like turn may into like some kind of elevated event run where you have like three bangers in a row and

leading up to the masters, get the players. The players is when March kind of kick it off. Then I don't know. It just, I feel like the schedule needs to do something. It's going to come eventually once these tours figure out, uh, uh, some kind of new schedule, but yeah, it's a long way off. Yeah. But, uh, who knows when that day will be until then, uh, all we are left doing is, uh, picking up the pieces at the rocket mortgage. So, uh, any takes on, uh,

how you're breaking down this golf course, your thoughts on the event, any strategy, far reaching, um, broader stuff before we get in on Detroit golf club, uh, or, or your strategy for this event before we get into some of the players.

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This course doesn't overly do it for me. I think you succinctly said it in your pod that I listened to overnight. Feeding my child was, you know, it's just like cool course, but it doesn't really do anything for the players. The trouble is just launch it over the trouble or it just doesn't present much of a test. I think, you know, it's very similar last week. You're going to have a minus 20 underscore winning this thing. Putting contest. Yeah. Yeah. It's just,

That's another thing like the not to go back to the travelers, but it's just such a drastic change from watching these U.S. Open guys, them grinding at the U.S. Open where, you know, bogey or doubles available on every hole, no matter where they are in the course. There's a double waiting. And then you go to play the TPC River Highlands and it's like they got to really screw up the entire hole for them to make a bogey. It just it's just a birdie fest. And it's.

It's only one way and you just got to keep packing, you know, racking up the birdies for anything to, for anything to matter. It's just such a drastic change between the two, two courses, two tournaments. Uh, it's almost like they're playing a different sport, but yeah, you're preaching to the choir, man. That's all my, yeah, that's all my bad. Been. Yeah. For this, for this week though. Yeah. I think everyone's kind of on very similar people. Um,

I couldn't believe people were going to, or I couldn't believe Maverick McNeely's odds at the Canadian Open. But he's continued to prove me wrong. And now we're at an event where, you know, it feels like the field's a lot weaker and he's about the same odds, even though he's playing equally as good. I think he came like top 10 in Canada. He was good in Canada. Yeah. Yeah. Like that was a field with Rory and some other top end players. This field's without those. I don't think he could put Cam Young or Tom Kim into like Rory's territory or anywhere close. So yeah.

um, that was like the first name and guys of that ilk, uh, where it's just wedges and putting anytime I think of like Bo Hosler as a potential chance to win a tournament. It's like, it's really not for me to be honest. I'm, uh, I'm on the same page, uh, with you as Mavis, as you probably know from listening to the podcast. I just think that my number suggests that he's like pound for pound. One of the best putters on the PGA tour right now. And I think that this over any other, uh,

Maybe over any other golf course on the PGA Tour, given how high the greens and regulation percentage here and the historical precedent that you have for like, this is just not an event where you can even remotely get by with substandard to average putting. And I think that's been one of the.

a little bit of the misnomer in terms of like, I think a lot of people are going to say, oh, this is a, a bombers only golf course. And, and not that, not that math can't hit it out there off the tee. He, he hits it pretty far himself. But you look at like all of the bombers that we think about, like,

that have played well here in the past year, Bryson's your Matt Wolf's your Taylor Pendrous, your Cameron Young's like all those, all those guys like putted better than they drove it. Like, yes,

driving opened up some very easy pathways to them to have some success. But there's just no way to win this golf tournament without a super scorching hot putter. And there's very few people in this field that I'd rather go to battle with in a putting contest than Matt McNeely. Yeah. You mentioned Pendrith as someone who's got that

Bomb it out there. I like him a lot this week as well. Yeah. I just don't, you know, I just don't see him as like a two time, two time, two months. It just doesn't seem like that's going to happen. Um, and you, and you're kind of, you talking about guys being able to spike is probably why I'm not on Keith Mitchell either. It just,

I know he's getting talked up a bunch. He's hitting his irons extremely well, ball striking it, but you've got to gain five, six strokes putting or something of that effect. I just don't see it from him consistently enough. He could probably be top 20 here, no problem, but in terms of winning, I just don't see it. The next guy that I liked

And I actually just saw a tweet that he had eye surgery. So I'm kind of bummed about that is Ben Griffin. Yeah, this I mean, I paid very close attention to Canadian Open and he came second there. And it's kind of a similar style tournament wedges and putting.

So I do like Ben Griffin. I wish he didn't have eye surgery and now he's trying to adjust to playing with sunglasses on. So I admittedly went to go look at the cash out, but I got 55. So I'll just bite the bullet there because I think that he's one of these guys who can pop with his wedges and his putting. Yeah, I completely agree. One of the better putters in this field. That performance in Canada impressed me as well. And I do think there are a lot of

I think that Hamilton is a way better golf course than Detroit Golf Club, and I think that it's a way better test than Detroit Golf Club, too, in terms of like there are some.

significant elevation changes on that golf course some you would know better than anyone some real challenge and intrigue around the green some real slopes to those greens and detroit golf club does have that it's it's on a much more flat piece of property and banal peach property there was a lot more severity to the green complexes at hamilton but in terms of like the

tree-lined bank grass, Parklands, shorter golf course,

Kind of got to stay out of the rough, but some of the longer players can cut a lot of those corners and old driver. And it really just comes down to how many putts you're making inside 15 feet. I think there are certainly a lot of similarities there as well. So with you on the Ben Griffin call, the other guy that I would mention in that range is Davis Thompson, 40-1.

He's playing some great golf this year. He just came off a top 10 at Pinehurst, which again, I wouldn't use that as like that's going to be super indicative of the shots that he's going to have to hit at Detroit Golf Club, which is the way that I kind of look at it. It is, you know, if you played well at Pinehurst, you could only view that as a positive because that is going to

just completely, you got to show up for work for that one. Like that's going to completely expose you if you're not playing good golf. And then if you didn't play well at Pioneer, I can put, I can forgive that a little bit, but I just think he's a real guy. I think he's a real player. He's got a lot of upside with his irons.

He has that ability with the flat stick too. Like he's had a couple of those performances where he can really get hot on the green. So Davis Thompson, Matt McNeely, Andy, I was looking at to kind of the middle range that I was going for. And then, then it's kind of bombs away from me at a, at a hundred plus.

Yeah, I bet Thompson at the Canadian Open, so kind of in the same line of thinking. How did he play it in Canada? I don't think it was good. Let me just pull that out because I think I unstarred him rather quickly. He missed the cut. He lost four strokes putting, so that'll quickly eject you. But yeah, I mean, he came 17th at the Schwab Open.

27th Memorial. Yeah, I like Davis. I don't think I can fire this week again, but completely understand that one. Yeah, I don't know if you want to dive into the bombs without... Do you think the Cam Young dilemma? I just want to touch on that quickly because guys shot 59 last week, continued to play well on Sunday. Is he ever going to win a tournament? If it is, it's got to be something like this, right? I think he's playing the John Deere too. I could be wrong, but like...

I know you're probably like, he's going to separate himself at a kind of a ball striking paradise. You know me too well. Yeah, that's it. I guess he's the, the playing field is probably just too level for him here. Wouldn't you say?

I would err on the belief that Cam Young is actually just as likely to win a golf tournament. I don't think he's just as likely to win a golf tournament in a harder field than he is an easier field. It just so happens that I think he's more likely to win a golf tournament on a harder golf course than he is an easier golf course, and most of the hard golf courses attract better fields.

So, listen, I'm not going to be on Cam Young this week as an outright. I think sometimes you need to view some of these golfers like it's the stock market, right? And you are essentially buying Cam Young at his absolute high point after he just did

incredibly flashy thing with a 59 on Saturday at the Travelers. And now a guy that most people were saying was completely broken, who's had one good weekend in two months. I don't know if I would be lining up to bet him at this short odds, but

So I, I, I won't be there as an outright, but to answer your earlier question about whether I think Cam Young will win on the PGA tour, zero down in my mind, zero down in my mind that he will. Yeah. A matter of when, but yeah. Yeah. I just, I just don't know. I don't think I'll be on it regardless, unless he gets into like the 50 to 60 to one territory and showing decent form. As a good strategy on a lot of these guys, like I think that it's definitely by. Yeah. Yeah.

I'll give you, yeah, you could say I definitely listened to your preview pod. I'll let you take the Chandler Phillips discussion and run with that. But the only thing I'll throw out, and it's way down there, is Zach Blair, because I think this is a...

The kind of course that I, if I'm going to play someone at 400 to one, it's going to be Zach Blair. Maybe a better top 20 bet, but back to back top 25s, I believe the Canadian Open, the US Open, like you said, playing well at the US Open is a good, at a course, you know, he has zero business competing at the US Open, just given how short he hits it. So give me a shorter course where you wedge it and putt it. I think Zach Blair is,

I mean, we're, we're talking mega bomb there, but yeah, yeah, no. And, and I, I did talk about that a little bit too, in my preview about how, um, there's been a little bit of a misnomer that you need to be a bomber at this course when distance is really like way more of a luxury than a necessity. This is actually one of the few golf courses on tour. That's probably going to be

the least penal for shorter and inaccurate players. You can make up a lot of ground on the longer players if you are a good putter, which Zach Blair is. I like that call. With Zach Blair, the only thing that I worry about is, is this guy more focused on golf course development than he is being a professional competitive golfer? He seems to be in a bit of a play well, but yeah. I consume all the tree farm content.

Um, it looks like he did a bang up job with tree farm. That's a golf course. I'm, I'm very keenly excited to check out hopefully in the next couple of years. Um, but I always just wonder if he's at a stage in his life where he's more focused on, you know, the interesting like counterpoint to that is, um,

Zach Blair's an architecture nut like myself. And it's funny because this is going to prove the exact opposite of what I just attempted to argue. But last year at the Traveler, Zach Blair finished runner-up in his signature event. I don't know if you remember that, but he talked about how

He went out to all of these amazing golf courses in the Northeast, the week of the traveler, you know, the golf courses I'm obsessed with, like your, your Fisher's islands and your friar's head and your national golf lengths of America. And he got really inspired by,

playing those architectural masterpieces. And then he went out and finished runner up in his signature about, which I still think is like his best finish to date on the PGA tour. So who knows Detroit golf cuts, a good golf course. I'm sure that the Donald Ross architecture may, may stimulate him a little bit.

Um, he, uh, before, sorry to cut you off before the Canadian open, I saw you as ever the Toronto hunt club, which is, or Toronto golf club, which is phenomenal. Have you heard much about that? I have a, I have a, a friend of a friend who was talking that place up to me as like Toronto golf clubs really, really good. I don't, I don't know much about it. I haven't read much about it, but it's supposed to be phenomenal.

I've only seen pictures, obviously one of these exclusive private clubs that I think the membership says by invite only. So I'll probably never see it in person, but you know, I think it's a Harry Colt. So one of those.

Historical guys showed up and designed it for some rich people in Toronto, but that's the type of stuff that you're referring to with Zach. He just kind of gets giddy for these architectural courses. But yeah, Toronto's got some good courses. They're obviously uber private, but yeah.

Whenever you get out there, it's a, it's a no, no, I know it's, it's on my list to get out there and play some more golf in Canada. Um, okay. Yeah. Chandler Phillips. We'll close on that one. I just love the way that he's hitting his irons and putting right now. He's got back to back top 12 finishes at colonial.

And at Hamilton, he and both of the ways that he did it was through approach play and putting. I think that's the main formula here this week. I don't think that you have to worry about much short game on this golf course. I think that if you are a short and inaccurate driver, you can actually get bailed out a ton if you are a good wedge player and if you are a great putter. And those are the two things that

Chandler Phillips is completely excelling at right now. So I bet I'm at 120 to one first thing this morning. It's been nice being back on the East coast where I can legally make bets myself instead of hitting up Brian Kirshner at, at 8 AM on a Monday morning to play some bets for me. But anyone else you want to talk about in the, at the bottom of the board for, for rocket? It's kind of in the, the Chandler range is the only guy that,

I just bet in a little bit on talent and upside and it's Daniel burger. I think that he showed some flashes at the us open.

He's not putting a great that could just be. Yeah, couldn't couldn't tell you why. I forget what is his injury? Is it back or is it wrist? It's something. But if it's back, maybe it's probably why he's maybe not putting it well, but historically a solid putter. So I don't like overly concerned there. But yeah, he's a 90 to 180 to one in a field of, you know, scrubs. If there's a couple of years ago, he's probably one of the favorites. So, yeah, I'll take a risk on the upside there.

Um, all right, man. So, uh, any, so you're, you're under a different, you're not doing much of the, the trading or the, or the gaming or the sports buck stuff for them anymore. You're more, more in chart. You're more back in the content game, huh? Yeah. Yeah. I got out of the, uh, the trading for, uh, it's been about a year now. So, um, that was a complete grind. If you ever, anyone wants to ask me questions about what it's like to be a sports trader, I can definitely answer them, but it's, uh,

Yeah, a grind that I wouldn't recommend on a lot of people, but definitely a fun experience. And you learn a shit ton when you're on the other side of the, I guess, the counter, taking the bets instead of the ones placing it. But yeah, back in the content streets, writing golf, writing betting content for the score, having fun doing it. But yeah, back where I belong.

Do you find that, um, last question, then we'll get you out of here. I know you got to get a newborn at home that may need some attention. It's nice. It's nice to get away for were people beating golf. Like where was that a compared to other sports? Like, was that a market that you guys saw a ton of sharp action on? Were, were you guys ever worried about, were there a bunch of guys that were beating your golf odds pretty consistently or compared to other sports? Was that kind of a,

Kind of a big, big winner for the sports book. It depends. I think you win in the majors and then you hold on for the other events. So yeah, in a way- When you say you win, you mean the sports book? Sports book wins, yeah. But that's just public money versus sharper money on weeks like this where obviously the limits will be lower for-

for tournaments of this stature. Um, but it's definitely, I'll say it's definitely beatable if you know where you're looking at the right spots. Top 40. Yeah. Top 40, top 20 is those types of market head to heads. Um,

You can catch sportsbooks, Sleep at the Wheel, when it's live or when you're at new courses. When your information is obviously better than theirs, you're probably in a good spot. I love when they went to Hamilton. That was an opportunity, I think, where you could make some money betting. I've been looking into the...

the player totals with birdies and pars and bogeys um you know last week at the us open i just continually bet scotty scheffler pars and i think he went over four for four um it's just stuff like that where these newer markets that these books are offering um if you react quicker to the courses they're playing or the form these guys are in i think you can definitely definitely win um but yeah golf is definitely one of the softer sports i would say at a sports book

All right, man. Anything you got, anything you got going on specifically at the score you, you got to plug this week? I don't truthfully. Yeah. I wish I did, but again, how many of those Rory Rory think pieces do you think you'll be able to, to bang out a year? You think you'll do a couple of major post games? I don't get, I don't want to be the pom-pom boy for Rory, but yeah, I'll be, no, no, no, no. I, sorry. I shouldn't have even included Rory in that. I mean,

In general, like that type of opinionated writing. Yeah, I, I, I'm probably going to get the, uh, I'm still slowly getting back into golf writing. Hopefully. Yeah. One a week, maybe one every other week, uh, depending on what's going on in the world of golf. Uh, I got a few ideas in the hopper.

you know, waiting for, waiting for this live agreement or PIF agreement to drop and see what the fallout from that is. Sure. There'll be nothing to write about there. Yeah. And that's probably part of the, uh, what's going to be, um, crafted there, but yeah, it's, uh, I'm excited to get back and kind of in the, in the thought lab and start spewing some of my opinions that people can either agree with or disagree with. It's a, it's a fun time.

Awesome, man. And I'm sure the people that disagree will, uh, will be very, yeah, I got, yeah, I went, I dabbled into the comment section on the Rory pieces. It was a good one. They were asking if Rory's mom wrote the article, which I laughed at, um, I called a douche bag, like five comments in, which was, uh, it's just a warm welcome to the golf writing streets. Welcome. Yeah. The water's warm. Yeah. I'm happy to be back pleasing the people. Um, all right, Eric, it was good to see you, man. We'll do it again soon.

Appreciate it, dude. All right. That's it for the podcast. Special thanks to Eric. Special thanks to Rumpier Sports. Special thanks to The Rabbit Hole. And we will be back on this podcast feed next week talking some John Deere. No Sunday pod, but we'll be back on the feed Monday or Tuesday. So until then, best of luck with your bets this week, and we will see you next time. Cheers.

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