Downrange: A No Laying Up Podcast

Crash Course Podcast

No Laying Up Podcast

TrapDraw Podcast

Live from the Kill House

Look at KVV – he’s the captain now! Or at least for the next few weeks. Call him our editorial director, designated survivor, whatever you want – but he’s leading the charge. For this week, he’s joined by Shane Bacon to unpack all the golf world buzz possible, and it starts right with the Sony Open and the Dubai Invitational.

(3:00) At the Sony Open, the leaderboard became a pileup – ultimately, a three-way playoff between Grayson Murray, Byeong Hun An and Keegan Bradley resulted in Murray winning with a birdie on the first extra hole. KVV and Bacon dig into the polarizing figure that is Murray, and the origins of his turnaround. Does his evolution signal something bigger in the context of identifying who’s who and story-building on the PGA Tour? Bacon encourages everyone to take inventory of the self-reflection Murray used.

(19:30) Noted Keegan Bradley stan KVV comes forward in mourning of some bad golf down the stretch, and gains an ally in Shane Bacon. They also sing praises for Byeong Hun An, who might be the only 1-iron player on Tour – but fell victim to a missed putt. Hun An has dealt with his own adversity – coming off of a suspension from the Tour after testing positive for “PEDs” – aka, a little cough syrup.

A questionable TIO ruling, where Carl Yuan clearly hit his ball OB, but was ruled to be in the grandstands? A lapse of judgment, but why anyone didn’t object to this questionable ruling remains a mystery. 

Perhaps there should be a rules official in the booth.

 The fourth round of the 2024 Sony Open was the day the term “virtually certain” was born – or not, according to the Rules of Golf, pointed out by Kyle Porter. That said, Bacon notes Yuan is one of the more entertaining players to watch on tour – in play and demeanor.


(45:00) Reacting to Gary Woodland’s vulnerable interview, where he revealed how grateful he was to be playing after the removal of his brain tumor.

(48:30) Tommy-lad sneaks past Rory with a birdie on the final hole to claim his 7th DP World Tour victory at the Dubai Invitational! No, TC didn’t fly across the ocean for this one, but he might as well have made a celebratory pit stop. Fleetwood entered the final round with a one-shot lead with Rory as his biggest threat. Instead, two clutch birdies down the stretch and Rory unraveling paved the way for the Englishman.

Bacon points out that in the history of Fleetwoods wins, this is among one of the most legitimate – considering Tommy hasn’t had to beat a ton of Rory McIlroys! The duo then engages the amount of crossover between the Cowboys and Rory, and their respective fanbases.

(1:03:00) The duo talka through Martin Slumbers’ tenure – credit to Geoff Shackelford’s list on the Quadrilateral – and react to his departure.

But that’s not the first hot topic departure — Keith Pelley is out as the DP World Tour commissioner, en route to becoming the president/CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. Was he bouncing because of all of the potential merger drama? If so, who could blame him?

(1:12:20) Keith Weyand became Golf’s Most Hated for the week after taking a sponsor’s exemption at the Dubai Invitational and finishing…72 shots back.

(1:19:00) Tiger and Nike break up after 27 years. The duo reminisce on the iconic marketing moments.

(1:25:50) The two close the show answering one question: What does “GOAT” mean to you? Are we as appreciative as we could be over what we’ve experienced in the modern era of GOATs – Belichick, LeBron, Tiger, Saban, Serena – to name a few.

The main squad might be away for Tourist Sauce, but we’ve still got plenty of content coming your way — stay tuned for a fun narrative storytelling podcast coming up from KVV (hint: one of his favorite impressions to do), a Brian Harman interview and more!


Is reserved for the very end. I often think about the end of the GOAT era and how much it represents a lot of my own childhood, something I also took for granted! Seeing these GOATs off as an adult, I have a deeper appreciation for the memories they contributed to and what they represent in our culture.


Exists in the same spot as best take. KVV dashing all the hopes and dreams of delulu golf fans hoping every rising amateur star is the next Tiger. Including me.


(32:30) “They’re ‘virtually certain’ that the ball has gone into the grandstand and disappeared.” -KVV


(59:30) KVV: “I had several Cowboys fans in my DMs saying, ‘Man, you don’t get it, this year is different, you’re completely wrong!’ and literally after the game they were like, ‘I’m sorry, I take it all back. This is rock bottom. We are f***ed.”

Shane Bacon: “I almost think the comp is Cowboys fans and Rory fans.”

Geoff Shackelford’s piece on Martin Slumbers

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A fresh, funny discussion of all things golf from the guys at No Laying Up. Episodes air twice a week and topics include tournament recaps, interviews, deep dive player profiles, golf travel, and more.

781 - Sony & Dubai Recap with KVV and Shane Bacon

Golf course architect Beau Welling joins the pod to talk through his design career which began under Tom Fazio and how his business made it through the financial crisis of the late 2000s. Plus, we detail his views on the current golf boom and how much of a role the pandemic played in the rise in golf participation. We also cover his work at the new Omni Frisco PGA Resort, working with Tiger Woods on some of his design projects, designing short courses, his thoughts as an architect on the distance debate and a ton more.

780 - Beau Welling

(0:00) Randy needs more plums! Or do we need a little more Chris Kirk? Chris Kirk opens up the season with a win at The Sentry in typical Chris Kirk fashion by narrowly avoiding a playoff with Sahith Theegala after birdieing the 17th hole for a score of…29-under.

Is low scoring a problem with this venue? Soly contests otherwise, adding that it feed to his golf nerd-ism. D.J. wholeheartedly believes uninvited resort guest Rahm would have blown the doors off of the field. Maybe THAT’s why he had to go to LIV.


Other Kapalua reactions follow, including Randy declaring that each member of the squad could par the 18th to hold on for a DUB.

(36:00) Is Scottie gonna stop living in denial of his putting demons? Are WE in denial of his improvement?

According to Data King Soly, Scottie has only lost strokes on the green in 3 out of his past 25 tournaments.

(40:00) Unpacking Kevin Kisner’s broadcast debut and how insightful and personable he was. Lots of great anecdotes feat. Homa and Cantlay. We want more Kisner!


(49:35) More thoughts and context on Rahm hanging around in Maui. Maybe he didn’t want to waste the money, but uh, didn’t this guy just sign his soul – I mean, athletic ability in exchange for exorbitant wealth?

(53:00) The guys collectively cringe at Jason Day’s newest fits…


(56:30) Discussing the audacity of Jordan Spieth to wear a very visible collar.


(59:30) D.J. explains the bootcampish rookie orientation the PGA Tour players endured, which involved flying to Honolulu, the location of the Sony, before many had to Monday qualify to get into that same event the next day. Mandatory good luck luaus are a thing, I guess.

(1:04:35) Debuting the SERVPro Mulligan segment, where we catch up on some mea culpas. Soly offers an apology on not seeking further context on Rory’s LIV comments, Neil on Clarence Thomas, Randy on Jordan Love and an NLU archival apology from D.J.

for the Happy Hour 2023 superlative showcase, 

reveals his own: the Bad Milk Award, the Fredo Award, the Prestige Worldwide Award, Worst Commercial of the Year, the Garbage Plate and What the Hell is Happening. He also offers his own 2024 predictions.


(59:30) The vocal mules are ignoring the bigger issues: Mandatory rookie luaus. Come on. A consensus, but D.J. is the one to bring it up in the first place – awarded to him.

I’m not going to bat for Malbon, because I think Jason Day’s fit was fairly egregious. However – I’m all for mixing the streetwear into golf vibe. The IYKYK of it is simply not…boasting the fact that you are being a superduper edgelord or whatever, which is probably what turns you all off! D.J. led the charge here, despite the consensus, so it goes to him.

(14:00) “Very much enjoyed that his kids are named Foster, Sawyer and Wilder. Those are peak Georgia names. Neil, maybe some future Marist school. They scream SAEs at UGA.” -Randy


(55:20) “I measure the passage of time by how old Dash Day looks.” -Soly

(1:15:50) “Chez – I can’t believe that he signed mule letter. Can’t believe he would let me down like that. Broke my heart. -Neil

(2:50) High Noon is back for another year with Live from the Killhouse! We greatly appreciate their support – and their seltzers. Find 

 at your local convenience or liquor store or 

(28:15) 41 of 59 players in The Sentry played the #1 ball in golf. Visit 

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(1:04:35) SERVPro is the #1 choice in cleanup and restoration – and they do construction, too! Visit SERVPRO.com or call 1-800-SERVPRO today!

779 - Sentry Recap

We're back with new shows in the new year, kicking off our first "Happy Hour" presented by High Noon as we debrief on a Twitter spat with Brandel, hand out some more superlatives from 2023, revisit our 2023 predictions, make our predictions for 2024, catch up on Rory's interview, and of course, try to remember who won PGA Tour events in 2023.

778 - Sentry Happy Hour Preview

It's time to say cheers to ten great years of No Laying Up -- and what could be better than a history lesson? Just HOW did the golf group chat start?

Below, you'll find a breakdown of all the funny, cringe and endearing memories that make up the past decade of No Laying Up. I recommend listening to the podcast alongside it - their storytelling brings it all to life!

(4:45) College dorm neighbors TC and Soly at the Miami University of Ohio became fast friends after discovering a mutual love for the Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf and NCAA Football series. TC and Randy become fraternity brothers, with the budding golf fandoms slowly blooming. Learn about Soly's Y2K fashion statements, bad GPAs, the birth of the Tron Carter and Big Randy monikers - and how the aliases became necessary.

(21:30) January 2014 births the No Laying Up website. He and his roommate Matt McClure embark on coding the first No Laying Up website. Neil penned the very first post on the website, 

The PGA Tour was quite taken by the #takes being delivered by the No Laying Up Twitter account, but there was one employee in particular who had done so in admiration: D.J. Piehowski. He remained in their orbit for some time.

 Rising journalism star Neil Schuster flexes his interview skills at the infamous 

The guys get credentialed at a PGA Tour event, and the first podcast is released. Topics include 20-minute tirades about Matt Kuchar (if you can believe), top five PGA Tour events, one PGA Tour course outside of Augusta, next big Americans to win a major.

The day the NLU 40-email-long merch chain began.

, which Soly describes as NLU's "big break."

 and rub the media rights folks in Ponte Vedra the wrong way.

Justin Thomas comes on the podcast with a sleep-deprived Soly.

Other notable early guests: Shane Bacon, Kyle Porter, Kevin Van Valkenburg, Adam Sarson, Shane Ryan and Ashley Mayo.

(1:06:55) D.J., Soly and KVV meet for the first time at The Open in St. Andrews. Around the same time, the Tiger Tinder 

D.J. makes a sneaky podcast appearance after the Masters to talk about Spieth's collapse.

D.J. fixes spike marks at JFK, documents it on Vine (RIP) and wins the first #TourSauce in the wild competition.

Charles Howell approaches Soly and praises NLU at Memorial. Rory references NLU Twitter.

Rory taunts Soly at the Ryder Cup, which leads to 

his very first appearance on the podcast.

Somewhere around this time, Cody is introduced to the NLU content verse while deployed in Syria.

 The golf blog, "No Laying It Up," breaks the news that 

Soly and TC venture to Northwest England and initiated discussions about making NLU a full-time thing.

Soly submits his letter of resignation from KPMG.

The "Stand Up to Tron" movement begins on Twitter. The guys get invited to The Players.

In that same week, Soly stays in the locker room at Firestone GC.

Golf Adjacent, AKA, the Strapped prequel, 

Soly embarks on a short-lived journey to the Asian swing.

Killhouse lease begins, with Randy and Soly as its first occupants. As of December 31st, 2023, the Killhouse is no longer - but a deeper dive of the origins story of the Killhouse 

The Refuge message board is born, all derived from the creative genius of Big Randy.

Neil, armed with a t-shirt cannon, is nearly arrested outside of the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

, which proves to be quite the journey. Some insight into D.J.'s process, too.

 Randy gets backed down by Rickie Fowler at North Berwick.

 Elie Socks Day inspires looser sock decorum.

after a deep brainstorming sesh in the Native Sun grocery store bar.

The gang tapes a podcast with Max Homa that was never actually documented. The second take, recorded immediately after, 

There is also a deleted TrapDraw, No. 16, that airs out a lot of PGA Tour tea from a former PGA Tour employee.

The Strapped boys get caught playing a semi-public court.

777 - 10 Year Oral History

Our annual holiday tradition returns with a medley of clips from our 2023 podcasts. Thanks for supporting what we do at No Laying Up, and we hope you enjoy reliving some of our favorite moments from the past year. Guests featured on this episode include:

Jon Rahm, Lee Trevino, Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth, Max Homa, Will Zalatoris, Steph Curry, Lilia Vu, Padraig Harrington, Hunter Mahan and more.

776 - 2023 Holiday Medley

It’s the final Sunday recap pod of the year?! In the 2023 golf year, we can never be sure. KVV and D.J join Soly to talk more about the framework agreement, where the PGA Tour has gone wrong, PNC and superlatives.

(4:15) On the first day of PIFmas, my true love gave to me…a partridge in a private equity tree?

Per ESPN: “A multibillion-dollar deal between a group of well-known U.S. sports team owners and the PGA Tour is imminent, as the tour still hopes to reach a similar agreement with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.”

The trio reacted to what could come out of “PGA Tour Enterprises” and their potential collaboration with PIF. Could this win the good graces of the membership again? HOW much is going to be infused into it? KVV reveals his golf bureaucracy fatigue and asks that you wake him up when the majors are back.

How much better is it gonna get? Let’s hope we can enjoy golf for competition’s sake again. Or could there be some three-dimensional chess going on?

(17:00) Soly gives a pop quiz on the past few years’ worth of decisions the PGA Tour has made to get us to this point, featuring: PIP, PGL, designated events, Big Jay overstaying his welcome and other indiscretions. What coulda, shoulda, and woulda happened!

(1:04:45) Reactions to Jon Rahm’s public self-imposing of his NDA from his new job, the mule uprising (broken by someone by the name of TronCarterNLU on Twitter…), NBC eyeing Geoff Ogilvy and the Kisner signing.

(1:07:00) PNC Championship. TC, absent from the show, relayed his fury re: the winner playing from the up tees. Does the PNC solely exist for Charlie content? Probably. But it’s fun.

Q-School was rained out over the weekend, so there was a Monday finish. Here are your five PGA Tour qualifiers: Harrison Endycott, Trace Crowe, Blaine Hale Jr., Raul Pereda, Hayden Springer.


(1:13:15) It’s time for NLU superlatives! The guys declare: Favorite Shot IRL, “This Moment Should Have Been A Bigger Deal,” Mule of the Year, Bleakest Moment of the Year, The Disappearing Ink Award, Pro Golf Shot of the Year, Best Picture (Favorite Tournament), Person of the Year,

Thanks for all of the support all year long. To further support our efforts, you can leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify – or you can join the Nest, 

I deeply resonate with KVV’s merger/framework agreement/LIV/PIF/PGA Tour/acronyms fatigue. In some weird alternate universe where golf is the sport of the youths, there’s a TikTok edit of Jay Monahan pressers and speaking engagements with flashy transitions over Taylor Swift’s Anti-Hero. I’d probably be a little less tired if we were having that much fun with it. Instead, we’re all just suffering watch man-babies lawyer up and keep secrets. There are soap opera plots spicier than this.


 goes to KVV. This was a tough decision, as it was a four-way tie between TC, Soly, Randy and KVV. For the tiebreaker, I asked each of them individually what their least favorite holiday song was and why. KVV not only managed to share the same hatesong as me, but perfectly encapsulated why it sucks: 

“I have to go with Simply Having A Wonderful Christmas Time by Paul McCartney.

The why: It represents Paul in his most simplistic maudlin era, when he wasn’t even trying complex themes in his music, he was just making happy gibberish. Lennon was writing Merry Christmas War Is Over and belting his brains out, and Paul was writing music that felt like it should have Muppets dancing around to it in a video. At his corniest, Paul is a writer of children’s birthday party soundtracks.”


(1:07:10) I feel personally attacked for feeling kind of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ on Geoff Ogilvy and Kevin Kisner. My Gen Z is showing. I’m sorry. I’ll give all of you the worst take because I’m lukewarm on all of it. However, I am open to it. And if you need any further proof that I’m Gen Z – I don’t have a better solution.


(1:38:00) Comparing Blockie to Jar Jar Binks is a low blow, D.J. Jar Jar didn’t chase clout. The clout chased him. Meesa offended!


 is Soly, who built up a very early lead in the early days of show notes and led with 5. KVV assembled a fairly consistent campaign but ultimately ended up one worst take shy of taking home the award.

 after ripping her lightning-in-a-bottle-like ascent to the top of the leaderboard at the U.S. Women’s Open. The commitment to the in-person apology was truly noteworthy.

(1:13:00) “I weep for the brands. What about the brands?” -KVV

“No one’s thinking about the brands.” -D.J.

(1:15:00) “I gotta give Tron another shoutout: how he continues to have his Forrest Gump-ian presence in seemingly every storyline in golf. The Ludvig stuff, the Scheffler stuff is great – he went and played golf with Spencer Levin last week, his childhood hero! If Spencer comes and gets his PGA Tour card fresh off the heels of that, you gotta hand it to him.” -D.J.


(1:25:30) “My Bleakest Moment of the Year was when they had the flash mob at LIV London.

I rewatched it today, because I really couldn’t believe that it was real, that it wasn’t from 2005. The song for the flash mob is “Party Rockers in the House Tonight” (Party Rock Anthem), which is perfect. All the fans are just standing with their arms crossed. It reminded me of that scene in Mean Girls where they start grinding when they do the Jingle Bell Rock and all the teachers are just like, ‘Oh my God.’” -KVV

PGA Tour, U.S. sports team owners group nearing deal

Rahm is under ‘very strict instructions not to do public events’

Rank-and-file players hire lawyer to demand information from PGA Tour on outside investors

NBC eyes Geoff Ogilvy for analyst role to replace Paul Azinger

(1:10) Thanks to our friends at Titleist – who have recruited TC’s beloved rookie Ludvig! We also did a big staff-wide WITB video this past week – 

(53:30) Shoutout to Rhoback – in case you needed another reminder of how great the performance hoodies are! Pair them up with the Rhoback five-pocket pants and load up on all of the gear in time for the holiday season. Use 

code “NLU” to get 20 % off through the end of this week.

775 - PNC Recap

Randy, TC, Cody and Jordan are back with part two of our LPGA 2023 recap. In this episode, we discuss the past twelve months on an individual basis for some of the biggest names in the women's game including Nelly Korda, Linn Grant, Rose Zhang, Leona Maguire and more.

(Editor's note: You'll find a thorough discussion on Lilia Vu's year i

n part one of our LPGA 2023 recap podcast

From there, we delve into the off-course news (51:40) of potential Saudi PIF investment into the women's game and take stock of year two for LPGA  commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan.

774 - 2023 LPGA Season Review Part Two

It's time to put a bow on the 2023 LPGA season as Randy, Tron, Cody and Jordan gather to recap the last twelve months in women's professional golf. In part one, we relive the ascension of Lilia Vu whose two major wins catapulted her to the top spot in the world rankings, relive our most notable moments of 2023 (20:55), review our predictions from the start of the year that came true and those that most certainly did not (52:05), and take stock of the notable changes in the top ten over the course of the season (1:04:30).

Stay tuned for part 2 of our discussion on Thursday which delves into the potential Saudi-PIF involvement in the women's game, a review of 2023 from some of the biggest names on the LPGA tour, and a review of the first year in charge for LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan.

773 - 2023 LPGA Season Review Part One

Viral sensation KVV joins the pod after his SCATHING column where he threw his hands up in the air and questioned the sanity of anyone who continues to call themselves a golf fan!


a great column and you should check it out.

News broke out just as the guys hit record that the PGA Tour Player Advisory Board has selected an outside investment group, SSG (Strategic Sports Group) – a Boston-heavy contingent of private equity.


Soly declares none of it means anything to him if it doesn’t involve the best players in the world playing together on a regular basis. What could it mean for golf, globally? How will the interests of ALL of these investors, plus PIF, align? How much closer is Yasir to his Augusta National membership?


(19:00) Jason Day and Lydia Ko take the Grant Thornton Invitational title at 26-under par…in an event that should have probably gotten a lot more buzz. Probably doesn’t help that it’s the second LPGA event at the same course in the past two weeks, says Tron. But there’s probably a lot more that could be done to boost the profile of the event – such as a better time of year, a more accessible location, an exciting course, etc.


(24:40) Rory is officially back on Twitter and dishing out clapbacks, strays, things of that nature.

The LIV Golf Promotions ended with Kalle Samooja, Kieran Vincent and Jinichiro Kozuma earning LIV membership. Some additional reactions to the Jon Rahm to LIV announcement, but the crew took a dive last week when the news broke 

Soly asks: What is stopping a wave of guys from going to LIV for one year?


(36:00) KVV suggests the extremely depressing possibility that all of the charities the PGA Tour works with will arguably suffer the most, prompting a larger discussion about how the PGA Tour’s tournament sponsors might be feeling right now.


(32:20) I think it’s safe to say we rooted for Ohtani’s deal – whatever it looked like – because he is someone who sincerely plays for the love of their respective sport. He is asking his employer 

to withhold most of his paycheck for the betterment of the company.

Also, Shohei Ohtani, who has the makings of a GOAT, is justifiably worth $700M. If an alien invasion took place and said invaders specifically asked for an explainer on major sports contracts, Jon Rahm to LIV would have them stumped – who, BTW, had quite the grin on his face talking about how “nice” the money was on McAfee! Just a lot of two-faced behavior here.


 Seasons greetings: I will spare everyone a bad take nomination this week.


KVV jumping in to say: Apologies to the mules who might be appalled Tron won’t be taken to task for saying we should consider mercifully euthanizing mules.


"I'm sure Twitter will be sending me a check any moment now for the eleven cents I have generated for the platform." -KVV

(34:00) “Having Rory acting like a real human being again on Twitter, that’s why I liked Rory in the first place.” -TC

(39:16) KVV: If you wanna win that money, play better.


Tron: Nate Lashley’s gonna show up at your doorstep tonight.

Halfway through there’s an interview with Martin Slumbers and Mike Whan, discussing the rollback and how the two governing bodies arrived at the decision.


Here’s a sneak peek at their conversation… (answers edited for clarity and conciseness).

I'll start with this one with you Martin. You guys are two different people. You represent two different bodies. I'm curious if we could get a little insight into your guys' process. Are there examples you can give us of areas where maybe you two have disagreed or your teams have disagreed? How have you worked out internally? I struggle to believe that you guys have been a hundred percent aligned in every step of the process. But I'm wondering if you could give us a little bit of an insight into how your guys' internal processes worked on that front.

 You're absolutely right. We've not agreed on everything, but we have agreed on the final outcome. We both have some very talented scientists and engineers who work in our equipment standards who have been doing it this for a long, long time. The way it's really worked between Mike and I is we knew what we were trying to get to, which is: Do we make a change in regulation around golf balls? And if we don't make a change, what are our options? And he and I would talk a lot – I would talk less than Mike – but we would talk a lot around kind of the, the sort of the, the higher level things and then work with us, our teams to answer specific questions.

And we went back to the engineers, the clever guys. They joke around equipment regulation isn't rocket science, but it does help. But our head of regulation, equipment regulation used to work for NASA. These guys, they go back and they come back to us and say, Martin, you're wrong. You need to go and tell Mike he's on the wrong path. And he would call me and say, my guys are telling me that you are wrong, Martin. We looked at hundreds and hundreds of different options. It's been an incredibly challenging period of time and we've iteratively worked from our thinking and then using our scientists and engineers come to a logical, sensible, simple answer.


(1:42:10) Lastly, listen to a reading of KVV’s column, “Jon Rahm, The Rollback and an Entire Reevaluation.”

PGA Tour: PGA Tour Policy Board picks SSG

Gabby Herzig: ‘Moving the Needle:’ The Grant Thornton Invitational Delivered As a Cross-Tour Collaboration

 Eamon Lynch: Jon Rahm’s greed isn’t the PGA Tour’s biggest problem. It’s the guys who want Saudi-sized money for staying.

 (1:50) Thanks to our friends at Footjoy for keeping us dressed in the best cold-weather gear. As the day evolves, you can evolve with it. Check out their Thermo Series line 

772 - Grant Thornton Recap, PGA Tour Investment News + Mike Whan & Martin Slumbers Interview

We rallied the crew to go live shortly after Jon Rahm officially announced that he would be joining LIV Golf. We talk about today's announcement, what it means, the ridiculous letterman jacket, how this all likely gets resolved, and where we go from here.

771 - Jon Rahm to LIV

Soly, DJ and Tron gather for our midweek pod fresh off the USGA / R&A announcement of a rollback of the golf ball beginning for pro golfers in 2028 and in 2030 for the recreational golfer. 

We offer our initial reaction to the announcement as well as some other reactions from around the game of golf, plus a look back to how we arrived at the announcement - particularly in light of the rejected Model Local Rule bifurcation proposal from earlier this year. We also sift through the various opposing points of contention around today's announcement, the responses from other organizations in pro golf, and much more.

770 - The Rollback 

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!


 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.


 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!


 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.

 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 

 on the pending rollback. They tease a few here.

 Reacting to the new LIV schedule, and Jay Monahan pulling up to the DealBook Summit (for why?) 

 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.

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?

 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 

Lots of awesome anecdotes from one of golf’s GOATs, and a GOAT storyteller.

 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 

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.


 TC, to quote Mean Girls: “Stop trying to make LIV Free Agency happen.”

 “We’re relying on some deep state, Chris Broussard ass sources.” -Neil

 “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

“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


Link to Golf Digest story by Mike Stachura.

 A shoutout to our friends at Titleist, who equipped Scottie Scheffler to his Hero World Challenge victory. 

 featuring Scheffler, Jordan Spieth and Soly.

No Laying Up

No Laying Up Podcast

781 - Sony & Dubai Recap with KVV and Shane Bacon

780 - Beau Welling

779 - Sentry Recap

778 - Sentry Happy Hour Preview

777 - 10 Year Oral History

776 - 2023 Holiday Medley

775 - PNC Recap

774 - 2023 LPGA Season Review Part Two

773 - 2023 LPGA Season Review Part One

772 - Grant Thornton Recap, PGA Tour Investment News + Mike Whan & Martin Slumbers Interview

771 - Jon Rahm to LIV

770 - The Rollback

769 - Hero Recap

768 - Lee Trevino

767 - Hunter Mahan

766 - Ludvig, TGL Roof Collapses, Rory Leaves the Board, RSM Classic

765 - LPGA Check-In

764 - Michael Kim