What went down: Look out everyone – here comes substitute teacher Neil! A trio of Big Randy, KVV, and Neil form to chat mostly about golf all the way across the world.
(3:55) A sign of life from Collin Morikawa, who won the ZoZo Championship after going two years without a win. Morikawa won by a significant margin, carding a bogey-free 7-under 63. But uh, what does ZoZo do? Neil reveals they are an e-commerce company based out of Japan.
Randy’s excited about a Collin win, but meanwhile, KVV is struggling to root for Collin. When it comes to golf, there are aspects of Collin’s game that are outstanding – so why isn’t he winning more? Seems like the change to the pencil grip has finally paid off.
The guys debate the success of various professional golfers and the success with their signature grips.
(17:00) How good of a Settlers of Catan player is Collin Morikawa?
(22:00) Once again, trying to understand the fall series and what it means to its competitors.
(27:40) Neil, KVV and Randy decide if they are buying/selling Collin in 2024. What does his legacy mean re: him vs. Viktor, his long-term projections and how far his iron play can actually take him. They then dive into some other big-name Fall series guys who chased down Morikawa, including Eric Cole, Beau Hossler and Justin Suh.
(44:30) In a bit of a throwback to one of her biggest career highlights, Minjee Lee defeated Alison Lee in a playoff at the BMW Ladies Championship (Hint: She did so to win the U.S. Girls’ Junior in 2012). Randy leads the breakdown, and notes Minjee has joined some elite company in becoming a two-time winner this season: Lilia Vu and Celine Boutier (3), and Jin Young Ko and Ruoning Yin (2).
Minjee’s win serves as a nice reminder of just how on top of the professional game she remains – as KVV points out, she led pro golf last year in strokes gained in every distance against any player on the PGA Tour last year.
(50:00) Is a Lydia Ko revival in the works? In collecting her first top-ten since the start of her 2023 season, she may need to string a few good weeks in order to make the Tour Championship – an event where she is the defending champion. There are three more events until the season finale – and it should be pretty interesting to see who locks up a spot in the event.
Randy goes down the leaderboard and extends his well wishes to the family of Kevin McAlpine, who suddenly passed away this weekend. He was the previous caddie for Lexi Thompson and former husband of Anna Nordqvist. Nordqvist WD’d from the event.
(55:50) Bienvenido a Miami! The LIV Team Championship. Note: The guys recorded this before the conclusion of play.
I’m not even gonna lie, I genuinely had no idea how this event even worked, but thanks to Neil, I am a much more educated golf fan. But there was a stroke play finale on Sunday where all 48 players were counting scores toward their respective remaining teams. However, only four teams advanced from the semifinals and were competing for the $14M top prize: Crushers GC, Torque, 4 Aces and RangeGoats GC. I just learned three of those existed today.
Crushers GC, led by Bryson DeChambeau, ultimately came out on top – congrats to KVV for making the right pick.
Randy doesn’t like the try-hard LIV vibe. Neil roasts the fashion, and how one can actually enjoy a LIV broadcast…if anyone knows, please let me know.
(1:04:50) Maybe we won’t see the framework agreement go through this year, but could we see some more players jumping to LIV? But also, is anyone watching this?
Check out the No Laying Up Pro Shop! Big restock on the ladies collection. There’s plenty of fun fall collections out, including the FootJoy Fall Collection and No Laying Up x Holderness and Bourne.
Best take: (1:14:00) Randy, I am also professional golf fatigued. Aside from the LPGA – which probably deserves a schedule re-do – I’m struggling to care that much about professional golf. Can I miss it a little? Please!!!
Worst take: (1:01:00) The pop of color argument is valid, but I’m not sure DJ leaving Adidas makes him, in the words of ASAP Rocky, a “fashion killa.” Feels like he’s still somewhat in his comfort zone. Not really the best source of fashion inspo here, Neil.
Quotables:
(1:01:20) “A lot of these guys are dressing like clowns with these crew socks. And the logos? I can’t believe we’re still going with the clip art stuff. It’s unbelievable.” -Neil
(1:13:20) “There just seems to be such a disconnect between them wanting to make golf this cool hip thing and me thinking ‘Guys, golf is never gonna be cool – it’s just not that cool!’” -Randy
Down the leaderboard
BMW Championship:
Some positive momentum from…
- Angel Yin (4th) who is fresh off of her first career LPGA victory
- Atthaya Thitikul (T5) who bounced back from a tough summer, notches her second top-five in a row
- NLU Young Hitter Lauren Coughlin (T10) sits just outside the top 60
- Perrine Delacour goes 66-66: “I believe we call that the Mackenzie Hughes.” -Randy
- Sung-Hyun Park – the 2017 Player of the Year – a T16 is her best finish all year.
Referenced works:
(44:30) Will Haskett: Minjee Lee 2022 GOAT iron play stat
Ads: (2:05) Thanks to our friends over at FootJoy. You know the benefit of having FootJoy on your feet, but with the Thermoseries layering system, you can golf in more conditions to extend your season. Visit the FootJoy website to check out the collection.
(43:00) Shoutout to our friends at Precision Pro – who exclusively carry the No Laying Up rangefinder carrying case! Don’t wait – visit the Precision Pro website and save 20 % off your order using the code “NoLayingUp”.