What went down: You thought the 2-hour winter recap was an isolated incident? Joke’s on you. An exhausted Soly recruits the Schuster brothers to dive into the past two *busy* weeks of golf!
(3:20) Anyone checked in on Jon Rahm…who is rumored to be OTW to LIV? Soly runs through some quotes from Jon Rahm throughout the year denying any desire to join LIV. Is he allowed to change his mind? Where would the rationale come from, if he did? All is quiet on the Spanish front, it seems.
(24:40) Have you been approached by a mule petitioner in Ponte Vedra? A group of anonymous PGA Tour players have been circulating a letter pressuring the PGA Tour leadership to discuss a handful of mule-relevant topics, including FedExCup point distribution between full-field vs. signature events, signature events, PIP and more.
Insert entitled mule tirade. Chris Stroud, seemingly the mouthpiece, sounds off/justifies entering a LIV qualifier. Play better??? This is already a bottom-heavy tour!
(36:50) Discussing the PIP results and the Nate Lashley Instagram rant. A quick reminder on the PIP metrics. Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler are not among the most recognizable players? Whatever you say.
Speaking of labor strike pro golf culture, a review of the perks of playing a designated event. Yes, the top guys get more bathrooms.
(49:00) You get a rollback, you get a rollback, you get a rollback, EVERYBODY GETS A ROLLBACK! Allegedly! And Rory chimes in on Twitter?
Could it be a better skill test for the game? The guys are tempted to take a deep dive, but a future pod will address all their thoughts on the pending rollback. They tease a few here.
(1:05:20) Reacting to the new LIV schedule, and Jay Monahan pulling up to the DealBook Summit (for why?) Don’t you have a few fires to put out?
(1:15:25) Finally, some pro golf talk! Scottie Scheffler emerges from hibernation, donned in his best Jon Rahm cosplay to beat the winter blues with a runaway victory at the Hero World Challenge. He cruised to a dub after a bogey-free 68.
Do we like watching Scottie play yet?
And oh, the Tiger in the room. Did we like what we saw? IS he back? What are we looking for at this point, from a playing career perspective?
Willy Z makes an appearance, too.
(1:27:25) Going into the Morikawa two-stroke penalty after Matthew Fitzpatrick spoke up about Morikawa’s caddie taking some NOTES!
Phil Mickelson liking and unliking LIV bot tweets talking about Tiger taking steroids. Oops.
Joaquin hellolongtimenosee Niemann wins the Australian Open in a playoff.
TC dishes some LIV free agency takes. Because they exist.
If you like more #fun 2-hour content, check out the interview Soly did with Lee Trevino! Lots of awesome anecdotes from one of golf’s GOATs, and a GOAT storyteller.
Some upcoming content including a WITB, TrapDraws, new merch drops?!
Best take: (49:00) I think we’re all in agreement, so I’ll just chime in here. This rollback is not life or death. There are people smarter than you, I and all of us combined who have determined we can’t go on like this. I’m sorry if you are losing eight yards. You will still probably win the club championship.
“I hit it the furthest out of all my friends” “I just wanna see bombs—” This is why everyone hates our sport. We are crying about a golf ball.
If you put golf in a classroom filled with other sports, golf is the student that reminds the teacher there was supposed to be a quiz five minutes before class ends.
Worst take: (1:36:40) TC, to quote Mean Girls: “Stop trying to make LIV Free Agency happen.”
Quotables:
(4:10) “We’re relying on some deep state, Chris Broussard ass sources.” -Neil
(30:28) “These guys continue to be incredibly tone-deaf in everything that they’re saying with a complete lack of recognition of where the value is driven. You wanna unionize? Good f****ing luck unionizing without the support of Rory McIlroy and the top guys that have been trying to negotiate a very decent deal to keep you guys getting paid.” -An excerpt of a cant-miss Soly rant
(1:02:54) “Some guy was in my replies today (asking) ‘What am I gonna do with all these golf balls?’ Are you stockpiling golf balls for the apocalypse?” -TC
Referenced works: (24:40) Golf Channel: Chris Stroud going off on the PGA Tour.
(49:00) Link to Golf Digest story by Mike Stachura. Rory supporting the rollback tweet.
(1:01:00) Soly’s recommended reading of the USGA Distance Insight report.
Ads: (1:30) A shoutout to our friends at Titleist, who equipped Scottie Scheffler to his Hero World Challenge victory. Check out the new Chip-Off video featuring Scheffler, Jordan Spieth and Soly.
(22:50) Add the Rapsodo MLM2PRO to your holiday wishlist. Get ready for the holiday season by gifting a loved one or yourself an incredible launch monitor and simulator.
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