Neil, Randy and KVV are back with another Perfect Club edition of the Trap Draw as we look back at the landmark sports documentary "Hoop Dreams". The film - released 30 years ago - profiles Arthur Agee and William Gates and their journey through Chicago high school basketball.

After some self-examination of our own relationships with basketball, we look at the undertaking of the filmmakers and how the project evolved from a planned 30-minute PBS special to the final cut of nearly three hours, why the film resonates three decades after its release, how the culture around high school and college basketball has changed, our favorite scenes from the film and our reflections on the film's impact on the sports documentary genre.

278: 'Hoop Dreams' Perfect Club

Daniel Berger stops by to talk with Soly about his back injury and the road back to reclaiming his physical health and his place in the competitive golf landscape. We also cover his experiences in team competitions, playing money games with tour pros as a high school-aged kid, his mental approach to golf and his injury rehab, the changes on tour while he was away and a ton more.

797 - Daniel Berger

Apple Podcasts: NLU Podcast, Episode 796: Mexico Open Recap

Spotify: NLU Podcast, Episode 796: Mexico Open Recap

Soly, TC, and Neil must have completed their DuoLingo lesson of the day before they hopped on, because they practiced their Spanish game as a greeting! The only thing that would have made this podcast better is if they tried to do the whole episode in Spanish. The best pronunciation goes to the Schuster brother who spent his week in the opposite climate of Vidanta Vallarta…

Jake Knapp wins the Mexico Open for his first career victory


 Soly exposes the scripts we’ve all been fed as PGA Tour propagandists. JK. It’s been a rough go being a fan of men’s professional golf. This is absolutely no shade to Jake Knapp, whose two-shot win at the Mexico Open and infusion of personality was a welcome sight.


Sunday’s final round had Jake Knapp starting out with a four-shot lead over Sami Valimaki before he bogeyed the first and third holes with that quickly vanishing.

Valimaki tied things up with an eagle on the 7th but entered some bogey trouble on the back nine, but Knapp managed to hold on tight despite making just two fairways, going bogey-free to win by two.

Soly was stunned by how surprising Sami Valimaki’s aesthetic was. And of course, by nature of being a Finnish player, TC claims he had him on his shortlist. That said, how do the guys feel about the results of the PGA Tour-DP World Tour alliance so far re: talent promotion?


The guys dig into a great question from LordBenne: “Would Knapp's win (a legitimate accomplishment for a KFT grad) be less derided if the Tour wasn't coming off a hugely underwhelming West Coast swing?”

TC engages in some Big Tone erasure in misremembering last year’s winner but brings up a valid concern about how his contrarian soft spot for opposite field events has slowly eroded. The level of care between weird rules violations, juiceless fields and setups fails to really substantiate the ever so inflated purses.

There was a seemingly erroneous unplayable awarded to Valimaki, whose ball landed in underneath the fence which was still inbounds. He ends up taking a drop on the sand, which was deemed a continuation of the cart path??? The gang (and perhaps the audience) wasn’t sure what to make of it considering S. H. Kim got a free drop from the fence on Friday, but Valimaki had to take an unplayable on Sunday. Thank god there are only millions of dollars at stake!


Lots of free promo for Florida accident attorneys in likening them to new-age rules officials.

In order to make this season of the PGA Tour a little more palatable, the guys turn their attention to (possibly the first time ever) the FedExCup standings.

Other golf news: Masters special invites, Bryson interview, Anthony Kim’s upcoming LIV debut, Patty T wins again

Masters special invites! Now Joaquin Niemann can be happy. Thorbjorn Olesen, Nieman and Ryo Hisatsune will be a part of the field.


 Digesting the Bryson interview and his recent comments about the OWGR…where he falsely claims LIV events fulfill all the criteria and Jerry Foltz says OWGR doesn’t matter? Guess he’s been reading up on some Jung, as he says the “death to egos” needs to occur.

 Anthony Kim will be returning to golf at LIV Jeddah, which could literally mean anything.

 Jon Rahm did a very revealing interview with ESPN’s Marty Smith. He remains pretty forward and just underwhelmed about LIV Golf in general.


 Charlie Woods shot an 86 at the Cognizant Pre-Qualifier…which is to be expected, considering he is literally 15-years-old. What was totally inexcusable was the fan behavior at his qualifier, which according to Emilee Smarr of the Palm Beach Post, 

Darius van Driel wins the Magical Kenya Open. Joe Dean, who was working as a delivery driver, earns a life-changing 200k check.

Patty Tavatanakit wins for the second week in a row, this time earning an LPGA victory at the LPGA Thailand after winning on the LET the week before.

Bronte Law wins the LET Lallya Meryem Cup

The Match, with Rory/Max/Rose/Lexi airs Monday, 2/26!

TC played with THE John Minnium! Soly goes into his past week at the Gasparilla, which we’ll have a FULL recap on in an upcoming Film Room!

June 6th was, essentially, smoke! An announcement of doing the absolute least, in the name of warding off scrutiny. Players have been poached. LIV isn’t going anywhere – and the PGA Tour looks more and more embarrassing.

TC, please! The OWGR does matter! The majors remain the most juiced-up parts of the year! And they’re juicier by the week. Don’t fall for the Bryson/LIV denial. The metrics are questionable, but it’s what we have.

“I wish it was called the BDE qualification system.” -Soly


 This episode was brought to you by our friends over at Titleist. More than 70 percent of competitors on both the PGA TOUR and LPGA this week played a Titleist golf ball. That includes 6 of the top 7 in Mexico, and every player in the top 8 in Thailand.

The overwhelming majority of the world’s best put their trust in the performance, quality and consistency of Titleist. Head over to Titleist.com to start the fitting process and find out which Pro V1 is right for you.

Shoutout to our friends at Holderness & Bourne for keeping us warm for the remainder of winter! But it’s time to look ahead to warmer temperatures – their new Spring 2024 collection just dropped with over 200+ new styles and colors, including a new performance pant called “The Garvey.” Enter code “NLU10” at 

A little house ad action! This podcast is presented by The Nest, which is ramping up its exclusive content! Last week we released an exclusive behind-the-scenes video of Strapped Louisiana. We also just released a February Nest pod where Cody and Neil interview Nest member Pete Couhig the CEO and part owner of League 1 football club Wycombe (pronounced Wick’em) Wanderers. Tourist Sauce BTS stuff is incoming as well!


If you’re not a member of The Nest, visit this page 

 Current Nest members, check out our brand new hub for all Nest-exclusive content 

796 - Mexico Open Recap

TC & Randy are back to chop it up this week! They cover some recent personal travel, discuss what they're watching/eating/listening to, and then dive into the biggest news and sports stories from around the world. Enjoy!

277: TC & Randy Chop Session

As the LPGA Tour's spring Asian swing kicks off in Thailand this week our LPGA pod crew of Randy, Cody and Jordan break down the Tournament of Champions and the Drive On, won by Lydia Ko and Nelly Korda, respectively. Then it's on to LET and the Saudi Ladies International (23:20) where Patty Tavatanakit won with a seven-under final round 65 and offered some candid thoughts on her recent struggles in her post-round interview.

We then look ahead to the weekend in Thailand and some of the notable names in the field (40:30) as well as a look ahead to the latest iteration of The Match involving Lexi Thompson and Rose Zhang. Then, Jordan helps us get up to speed on the latest from the women's amateur golf scene before we close with a look at some of the notable rookies on the LPGA Tour this year (54:20) and some assorted news and notes.

795 - LPGA Check-In

Apple Podcasts: NLU Podcast, Episode 794: Genesis Recap


Spotify: NLU Podcast, Episode 794: Genesis Recap

HIDEKI MATSUYAMA WINS THE GENESIS INVITATIONAL WITH A FINAL ROUND 62

 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!


 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.


 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?

 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.


 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?

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.


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.

and interesting camera angles from the week! Yes, we’re still getting used to the lack of a coverage gap.

 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?

 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.

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.

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.

This is a great place to immortalize our SERVPRO Mea Culpa segment!

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.

Would like a mulligan on selecting the people’s choice of a winner, instead of listening to his heart: Willy Z.


Erroneously said Congressional had hosted its first major in 1997 

 Congressional’s first major was *NOT* in 1997! It hosted the U.S. Open in 1964.


 “Give me five minutes and he (Scottie) could be the best putter in the world.” -Soly

 Soly: How did ambulance 69 pull up for Cat?

There’s things that tell me there is a higher power – somebody is looking down and laughing.

 “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


Hideki’s caddie, Shota, found in another epic post-final round scene from kclairerogers

This live show was brought to you by our good friends at High Noon. Bring the fiesta anywhere you go with the all-new High Noon Tequila Seltzer Fiesta Pack. This variety 8-pack features two new tequila flavors: Blood Orange and Prickly Pear, alongside two tequila favorites, Grapefruit and Lime. All are made with real tequila and real juice, perfect for any fiesta. Find the High Noon Tequila Seltzer Fiesta Pack nearest you at the 

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794 - Genesis Recap

Our #BallKnowers have gathered for a full debrief on Kyle and the 49ers' loss to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. We also break down each of the playoff teams, other notable moments from the past season, the recent coaching moves around the league, and look ahead to the upcoming offseason.

Please note: This episode was recorded late Tuesday night before the tragedy at Wednesday's championship parade in Kansas City and all of us at NLU extend our deepest condolences to those affected by the shooting.

276: The #BallKnowers 2023-24 NFL Season Recap

Back with our second High Noon Happy Hour live show, we preview the week at the Genesis, chat about what makes Riviera special, send some Valentines, make our picks for the week, discuss "Sun Day Red," our expectations for Tiger this week, and everything else you need to get hyped for the best PGA Tour event of the year.

793 - Genesis Happy Hour

Apple Podcasts: NLU Podcast, Episode 792: Billy Horschel

Spotify: NLU Podcast, Episode 792: Billy Horschel

After an eventful weekend in Scottsdale, Billy Horschel returns to the pod to talk through his experience with the crowd at the WM and how the event has changed throughout his career. We also get into the PGA Tour/SSG deal, PIF investment, differing opinions on the road back for LIV players, his interview after shooting 84 at the Memorial last year and a ton more.

Here's a preview of Soly's conversation with Billy...

 June, 2022, you win the Memorial tournament by four strokes, June, 2023, you opened the first round within 84 and you are in tears talking about it to the media after the round. Take us there, take us to that, to that journey and how, how you ended up there and, and, and what unfolded there.

Nothing captures golf better than that. You win by four one year and you're in tears shooting 84 the next year.

 It's a game of golf. I mean it's so crazy. You know, it was weird. I come off '22 having a really good year. Win Memorial, make a Presidents Cup team. I just missed cracking the top 10. A gold mine, crack the top 10, top five. And if one day lo and behold I get the number one, like that's a goal. I'm a perfectionist and I want to get better and I'm always trying to get better. Todd Anderson and myself, we were just looking at some things that we didn't swing it very good at the end of '22. And so we were just trying to make some improvements and we sort of went back to something that we tried to do a few years ago and we felt like we were just in a better position to do it now physically and where the body is.

And I had a better understanding of it. And so for six weeks at home it was really good and I went out to Hawaii the first two weeks and it wasn't so great. And I came back home and worked with TA for a couple weeks and went out to Phoenix and LA and it wasn't really, it just, it just didn't transfer over. And we decided to sort of drop in, go back to what we were doing before, stuff that we've always done. But some of the stuff that we tried to make improvements on.  The new stuff actually transferred over to the old stuff, which was actually a really good thing.

And so I felt like I was doing some right things. But the game, the shots just still weren't turning out the way I wanted them to. You know, make a cut, feel like I get some momentum and then I'll miss a cut next week, which is so weird 'cause my stats guy will tell you I'm around like 85% made cuts in my career. Close to 85 to 90%. So make a cut. Miss a cut. Make a cut. Miss a cut. It was so weird. And then I go to Memorial and what was the before Memorial? Colonial. Yeah. I felt like Colonial wasn't too bad, but like, I played halfway decent at PGA. Just a couple bad shots, just didn't make anything 

Go to Colonial, play okay at Colonial. Felt like I was going in the right direction. Have a decent practice week at Memorial, and then 84. Slap in the face, I mean gut punch, defending champ. Looking forward to trying to play well and having another chance to win. It was just, it was tough. And as I had said in that interview afterward I told my team, like confidence-wise, it wasn't really high. The game didn't feel good, nothing felt great. I was just at one of the lowest confidence points of my career,  the lowest confidence point in my career. And it showed playing a course like Memorial, wanting to have a good showing after winning the tournament the year before, just sort of all came to a head. I didn't have anything in my head about sharing this. It just happened. A question got asked to me, and I just sort of just emotionally couldn't handle what I was wanting to say because I knew I was gonna start just crying just because of where I was emotionally.  I just didn't have it. And it sucks being on a public stage and not having it. And so from there, actually it was one of those things that turned in to be a really good thing. Obviously, people who reached out to me were impressive, but I felt like after sharing that, and it's funny 'cause I shared it with my wife and my family. I shared it with my team. I thought that would sort of get it off my chest, but it wasn't until sharing it with the public that I got it off my chest.


I was like 'Wow, I feel so much more at ease now.' And then from there, the game has started to slowly trend into a better form. Still just a little bit off, but I'm in a lot better place than I was at Memorial, a lot better place I was a year ago and I feel like I'm really close to playing some really good golf. I mean it's funny what this game of golf does to you.

792 - Billy Horschel

Did the WASTE Management Phoenix Open manage to not manage any waste at all?


Sorry, but it reached peak messy this year, and some post-Super Bowl volunteers decided to sit down and talk about it and all the other golf news for this week’s Sunday recap. S/O to the brave Soly, Neil and D.J.

NICK TAYLOR WINS THE WASTE MANAGEMENT PHOENIX OPEN IN A TWO-HOLE PLAYOFF OVER CHARLEY HOFFMAN, LIV LAS VEGAS

 Tournament sponsor darling and heating pad aficionado Charley Hoffman defeats the #oldguy allegations by landing himself in a playoff against BIG playoff guy Nick Taylor. Hoffman’s win percentage was at one point just 8 percent on the back nine — but he was also at one point three shots ahead?!


 Did anyone see Nick Taylor’s drip, re: three stripe life? (I kept thinking he was in slides.) His choice in footwear couldn’t prevent him from losing two strokes off the tee, but it didn’t stop him from shooting 6-under in his final round, either.


 Don’t sir me!!!!!! Old ZJ yells at cloud. Just kidding, it was a group of spectators. But this year in particular, things ran amok – plenty of weather issues, closing off Saturday admission and alcohol sales. The pretends-to-be-shocked-of-it-all is of the PGA Tour, players and decorum freaks alike are hilarious – this tournament has traditionally welcomed chaos!

Is there a world in which we could aptly convey Scottie Scheffler’s batting average? The SG to batting average conversion doesn’t quite match up, though D.J. makes a great analogy after Soly points out how ridiculously good of an iron player Scottie Scheffler is.


Soly declares Scottie possibly the best ball striker we have seen since Tiger!

That front nine almost made us believers, but Scottie’s putting demons caught up with him once again.


 Neil shares a wholesome anecdote in which the boys get #humbled by Charley Hoffman’s Rivian truck. Sahith and Spieth’s Sunday Scaries examination follows.

 Neil points out that parity might be diluting. But the good stories crowd is thriving! But is it the path forward??

We miss the heavyweight LIV guys! But LIV isn’t moving the needle…

Hamsterdam: Kis is a welcome addition who brought a lot of great player insight into the broadcast. What else could the broadcast do? Bring in more former players for featured holes? Sign people to 3-tournament, low-obligation contracts? Something’s gotta revive the coverage.

 Preferred lies discourse means invalidating low scores – of which we had a lot of this week! It’s an asterisk we should be using more often. Where’s the fun in the easy way out? The game should welcome challenges more often.

 D.J. confesses he was excited to watch LIV, but it didn’t deliver! Course, Greg Norman gloating, shotgun start…not showing 2/3 final tee shots from the final group???


Chirpy Rahm tells a fan to turn their phone off while Bad Bunny plays in the background. But is straight up telling anyone with ears money was on his mind?


A number of LIV events either don’t air live in the United States or conflict directly with a big PGA Tour event.


Congrats to all bag chasers! But now the feds want to sniff your bags.

 You get equity, they get equity, I get equity, everybody gets equity? The PGA Tour released its equity breakdown — which is largely dependent on the impact (not just PIP!) of your career. Of course, they don’t get it all at once — but there’s some bags being dealt there, too!

But what can they do with any of this equity? Maybe they should give some thought to maximizing it, too — aka, continuing to find ways to better their product!

OTHER GOLF HEADLINES: CRISTOBAL DEL SOLAR’S 57 ON THE KORN FERRY TOUR, THE GOOD GOOD DESERT CLASSIC, JOHN MINNIUM’S YEAR IN REVIEW

The world was (most likely) introduced to Cristobal Del Solar this past week when he carded the lowest score in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event: a 57!

Good Good teaches us people just wanna see some compelling golf! And might humble the sterile but talented folks.


(1:47:00) Neil devotes a major a shoutout to 

who released his annual Year in Review, which features highlights such as total rounds, lost balls, some career highs.


Total rounds 121.5 with a career high in 77 different courses played

Low score of 75 and high of 97 with 2023 handicap at 7.0

Career low of only 1 36 hole day but 54% of rounds walked and 25% of rounds played alone. Shout out to Brett and Tony, the two most loyal playing partners (36 and 29 rounds respectively)

91 lost balls | 15% more lost balls in 23

108 birdies (.89 birdies per round) and 2 eagles in 2023

Longest stretch without golf (9 days, 3 times in 2023)

Career High 14 Free Rounds: Let’s get JM to 15+ free ones in 2024!

Career high: played golf in 22 different states

TC snuck in a question in the back section: “what was the worst hole you played in 2023? The opener at Lake Geneva-Palmer Course.

Anything jump out?: “For the first time ever, I played a hole in par for the year (18 South at Legends). You wouldn’t think it’d be that hard!”

Other shoutouts go to: Kazuma Kobori, Wenyi Ding, Jim Knous and Bud Cauley.

Be sure to check out our Happy Hour live show previewing the Genesis Invitational on 2/14 at 4PM ET!

D.J. is so real for emphasizing the need for people outside of golfers in these rooms to make golf better. Innovation in golf isn’t limited to the world’s best putters, for lack of better categorization. That’s not asking them to take a backseat, either. There’s gotta be some more sacrifice on their ends, too.

This isn’t a disagreement, as Neil kinda outlined the same point – but the parity conversation leaves me with mixed feelings when I look at it as it applies to other sports. There’s an appreciation for what the Chiefs have managed to do in four years, but there’s always accompanying fatigue. Parity brings some intrigue, but it feels unfocused unless you are super into it. So be tired or all over the place, I guess.

 (On walking with Bubba Watson during the Rickie-Hideki WM Playoff) “This was the year everyone was way out on Bubba…so there’s a little commotion (near the grandstands), but it can’t sustain, so Bubba and I are standing there, and it gets quite and this guy just goes ‘Hey Bubba, ‘F*** You!’” - D.J.


“There’s so many colors on that leaderboard! It’s a sensory blitzkrieg. Shoutout to Brandel.” - Neil

“They're not walking into a room and like dividing up $700 million, $900 million in cash. That's kind of how the early reports made it sound a little bit – was like, Scottie Scheffler, direct deposit, $45 million, $70 million, $80 million.” - D.J. (I’m just picturing Scottie Scheffler opening a vault and drowning)

 This year, we’re celebrating moments of joy brought to you by FootJoy! We’ll be discussing some of our favorite moments in the game everywhere – in a golf world that’s often felt a little less than, we’re gonna spread some positivity.

A little in-house love for the No Laying Up Pro Shop! Is it ever too early for spring? We don’t think so, so we dropped so corduroy rope hats, script hats and a bunch of new polos. Spend $50 on anything at the pro shop and get a FREE NLU towel if you use the code “NLUpod” at checkout. 

 – limit one use per customer and not to be combined with any other discounts.

791 - WM Phoenix Open Recap

Neil and Cody are back from a lengthy travel spell for another edition of The Booth. We recap our travels and the travel habits of the NLU crew, talk through Neil's prep for Dad Life, and take a look at some of our favorite prop bets for the big game on Sunday.

Apple Podcasts: Episode 275: The Booth Vol. 11

275: The Booth Vol. 11

1997 was a transformative year in men's golf. Soly and KVV dive into Tiger's dominant performance at the Masters, what this meant for golf, how it was covered at the time, and how it all happened. We also chat about Ernie Els at Congressional, Justin Leonard at The Open, and Davis Love's triumph at Winged Foot. Come for the results, and stay for the hilarious tidbits uncovered along the way.

Apple Podcasts: NLU Podcast, Episode 791: WM Phoenix Open Recap

Spotify: NLU Podcast, Episode 791: WM Phoenix Open Recap

790 - 1997 Majors Deep Dive

THEY’RE BAAAAAACKKKKKKKKKKK! We bring you a post Tourist Sauce, post Pebble crew of Soly, TC and KVV this Monday, ready to tackle a weather-shortened AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and more stories from the golf week.

Wyndham Clark sets course record 60 in “final round” at Pebble Beach

The trio jumps into Wyndham’s historical round, but first – this is the seventh time Pebble has encountered some chaotic weather at this time of year. Tradition aside, does positioning the West Coast swing at this time make sense? That said, the adjustments to the Pro-Am format in capitalizing on a football-less weekend had the makings of a great week for the PGA Tour – until the inevitable came through.

He vaulted 22 places up the leaderboard on Saturday, which included two eagles. TC says it doesn’t count given that preferred lies were in effect.

They also go into the supposed observation that Wyndham intentionally manipulated the ground for his drop. Pebble’s epically soft greens warrant The Ripper Magoo Invitational title from Soly still applies.

TC calls for everyone to stop using Ludvig’s last name, and notes Ludvig’s improved putting on poa — calls this a “BDE win”...despite finishing second.

(35:40) Discussing Rory’s two-shot penalty over an improper drop rule.


(39:30) Wyndham on why he didn’t go to LIV, and how he didn’t shy away from sharing what his intentions were before and after he made the decision to stay.

(42:30) On the Rory-Spieth exchange: Rory apparently removed himself from group chat of some of the top players and had a one-hour call with Rory McIlroy after he made some comments 

signaling that the PGA Tour inking a deal with the PIF might not be necessary.

 Sounds like the last exec board meeting at Kappa Alpha Golf.


(50:00) Are the players really that committed to putting the fans first? (Props to anyone who joined live on the range Tuesday/Wednesday!) It’s not easy to get a player to sit down for an interview, KVV notes – and there’s a lot of scheduling snafus, issue, etc. but there’s a desperate need to connect the fans more deeply to the players they’re watching on TV.

Soly points out that initiative might not be the only narrow focus for the SSG guys – they might be asset-hunting ex. Pebble Beach, LPGA. There’s a lot more marketability for golf that exists outside of the PGA Tour vacuum.

More Pebble insights: Tom Brady’s Entourage reference (that the guys initially miss) and Soly reviews Neil’s Beluga Big Board.

Niemann wins at Mayakoba, but does LIV really have its moment?

(1:12:00) Joaquin Niemann wins LIV Mayakoba after a, uh, lukewarm thrilling. Since the court of public opinion is second-choicing LIV, the guys got to dive a little deeper – but was this actually an apt replacement? Additive at all? Mayakoba as a venue isn’t super attractive, and despite some of the most needle-moving stars in golf being lured away, it points back to the idea that fragmentation isn’t doing 

(1:29:40) Soly does a great job of ratio’ing the top LIV players to PGA Tour players in the top players in the world 

LIV also announces its “Any Shot, Any Time” feature as a collaboration with Google? Slated to debut this summer. Soly claims he is in wait-and-see mode.

Other golf headlines: Bernhard Langer, Dylan Frittelli

 Bernhard Langer tears his achilles and will miss what was poised to be his final Masters.


Dylan Frittelli wins the Bahrain Championship on the DP World Tour on the brink of a tough year – when he was on the verge of quitting golf altogether.

The guys wrap with some light commentary on the Xander Schauffele and Viktor Hovland withdrawals.


No live show on Super Bowl Sunday, but you can expect a Waste Management to hit your podcast feed by Monday morning.

KVV, I agree. There’s a little too much thirst trapping on the part of LIV in the implicit and explicit validation seeking. If it’s so good, why are the pro-LIV folks so thirsty for our fandom?


I agree with TC’s larger point that LIV should be luring more promising rising college stars – and that they’re a way better ROI – however, throwing a stray at the allegedly fluke-y U.S. Amateur was wrong. You reached and grabbed two fairly fluke-y examples from 2029/21. It’s started to defeat the fluke allegations in the past two years!


(On Neil’s Beluga Big Board) “I don’t even think he knew, either. It was kind of a vibe – if you came by the range and said hello, he probably bumped you up ten spots on the vibe list.” -Soly

“I asked the lady, I said, ‘Hey, is it crazy for me to get two soups?’ And she says ‘No, actually, that’s not crazy at all. Some guy was in here a few weeks ago and he got three soups.’” -TC


 (3:30) This recap is presented by High Noon! Track down the Snowbird pack nearest you on 

 at your local convenience store, or liquor store. You can find all locations at the 

(4:05) This episode is brought to you by our friends at 

the choice of AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am champion Wyndham Clark!


789 - AT&T Pebble Beach & LIV Mayakoba Recap Live Show

We're back and live from the range again at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, chatting with Lucas Glover, Maverick McNealy, tournament director Steve John, Sahith Theegala, and Justin Thomas. The Beluga also gives us big board for the entire tournament, we make some picks, react to the Tour investment announcement, player quotes, and a ton more. Thanks a ton to AT&T for having us out to do a show from the range, it was an absolute blast.

788 - LIVE from the Range at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am

Live from the range at Pebble Beach for the first time, the guys chat about the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, welcome some guests including Kira K. Dixon and Max Homa, chat about their Australia trip, and what they've seen on the range here at Pebble. We'll be back for another live show from Pebble on Wednesday from 11PM ET to 2PM ET.

787 - LIVE from the Range at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am

Matthieu Pavon wins the Farmers Insurance Open

(0:00) Matthieu Pavon won on a Saturday – because he’s just too big for the Grammys and football, duh. KVV is joined by Kyle Porter and Shane Bacon to dig into it all.


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