Apple Podcasts: NLU Podcast, Episode 794: Genesis Recap
Spotify: NLU Podcast, Episode 794: Genesis Recap
What went down:
HIDEKI MATSUYAMA WINS THE GENESIS INVITATIONAL WITH A FINAL ROUND 62
(3:00) A trio of Soly, Public Defender Randy and KVV form to dissect a dramatic week at Riviera.
If anyone was watching Wyndham closely at Pebble Beach, it was Hideki, who nearly set a course record of his own at the final round of the Genesis. He started the day six shots back and won by 3 – but how?! A final round 62 with three straight opening birdies and a back nine 30 did it. According to datagolf, beloved Masters champion Hideki fell to World No. 63. What a comeback!
(11:00) Even so, this week didn’t save the PGA Tour’s anticlimactic start to the year. Soly officially adds himself to the list of people who yearn for Jon Rahm and other energizing LIV defectors.
The West Coast swing is over, and it’s hard to feel like it catalyzed much of the PGA Tour season. The stars haven’t won and the mules are running rampant.
(16:00) Randy’s Valentine, Willy Z, and fellow back injury sufferer was Hideki’s greatest challenger. The guys get into a conversation about what makes Will Zalatoris’ game so captivating – and Randy relates to Willy Z’s putting struggles.
Since we’re all rallying behind Willy Z, why do we gravitate toward certain players. Is it all off the course? Is it all game? Body language?
(27:00) Hot take time: Willy Z is winning a major this year! -Soly (Quick, everyone, bookmark this!)
Emo Patrick Cantlay is insufferable. And he’s slow. And he played like garbage. This is the best way I can sum up KVV’s rant. We know he can be pensive! It’d be nice to see more of that.
(50:00) Scottie is cooked until the putting is fixed. This is slowly becoming the most frustrating in golf. The “I can fix” him reaction from Soly and frustration from Soly just feels like a bad relationship. It’s time to start seeing other golfers, Soly. What happened to your Valentine, Sahith?
(1:00:00) Did Tiger Woods “I can’t go out, I’m sick” his way out of the Genesis Invitational? Seems legit, but also, there’s every reason to feel like it wasn’t either.
Where does he go from now and between the Masters? He DID say he’d play once a month, after all.
(1:10:00) Let’s talk about the Spieth DQ. Is it valid? Should players be responsible for keeping their own scores? Uh, yeah. There’s A LOT of deliberation and down-time between shots.
Where Spieth went wrong is there was a reported discrepancy between Spieth and Tom Kim’s cards. Spieth allegedly had the runs, so he ran signed and ran off.
Other items from Riviera: The fourth hole stinks. Public defender Randy steps in once again to argue that it’s fine.
Viewership is proving fragmentation has adversely affected public interest. The Tour is trying its best, and the public indifference to golf on the CW is obvious. Sigh.
CBS has another good week – shoutout to the graphics and interesting camera angles from the week! Yes, we’re still getting used to the lack of a coverage gap.
(1:40:00) Viktor, step up! Let the answer to his short-game woes go but has struggled to get it going this year.
KVV notes that sure, Viktor might wait to peak at the right time, but he’s too young to save his good play exclusively for the majors.
(1:46:00) OTHER HEADLINES: SUSPICIOUS CAT BEHAVIOR, TAVATANAKIT WINS
- David Puig won on the Asian Tour to grab a spot in the Open Championship. If you remember, Puig was an Arizona State two-time All-American who left to LIV after his junior year.
- The LPGA returns for its first Asia Swing in a few weeks.
- The Phoenix Open is conducting an operational audit.
- Oh yeah, before we forget: The Cat and Gary Woodland peeped into JT’s bag to figure out what he was hitting. The Cat signals that JT’s hitting an 8-iron from Gary Woodland. You’re allowed to check inside of someone’s a bag, but are you allowed to communicate that to a playing partner?
(1:53:00) Soly previews his week at the Gasparilla Invitational and provides an update on his game! We’ll be releasing another film room following his adventure.
Best take: (11:00) I’m on board with the bad start take, which isn’t a fresh one – Neil mentioned this last week. This week didn’t hurt the Tour, sure – there was plenty of drama and a Masters champion won. However, allow me to take the underwhelming start thought a bit further.
What if the mule uprising is the result of some well-calculated uh, bad luck? Scottie is still at war with his putter. Rory is fairly absent in PGA Tour success. Viktor is not one. Yeah, mhm, Tiger has the flu. Spieth knows the rules. Don’t you find all of this fairly…suspicious? ESPECIALLY after their big threatening mule letter? Think about it and get back to me.
Worst take: Randy, you’re super brave for playing public defender but there’s simply no reason why a golfer, who has few fight or flight moments in 18 holes of golf, shouldn’t be able to maintain their score – especially on the highest levels of professional golf where 99 % of players are using caddies, and have few responsibilities on them.
Mea culpas: (1:23:00) This is a great place to immortalize our SERVPRO Mea Culpa segment!
Soly: Accepts responsibility for jinxing Spieth, Max Homa, and Willy Z on Twitter. Sent all the positive vibes out there only for each of these three to come crashing down in his own unfortunate way.
Randy: Would like a mulligan on selecting the people’s choice of a winner, instead of listening to his heart: Willy Z.
KVV: Erroneously said Congressional had hosted its first major in 1997 in the 1997 Majors pod. Congressional’s first major was *NOT* in 1997! It hosted the U.S. Open in 1964.
Quotables:
(33:30) “Give me five minutes and he (Scottie) could be the best putter in the world.” -Soly
(1:04:00) Soly: How did ambulance 69 pull up for Cat?
Randy: There’s things that tell me there is a higher power – somebody is looking down and laughing.
(1:52:00) “If I catch a competitor looking at my bag, I might fight them! I’m tired of all these guys being buddy-buddy all the time.” -Randy
Referenced works: (1:49:00) Hideki’s caddie, Shota, found in another epic post-final round scene from kclairerogers
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