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Welcome to a major championship edition of the smiley show. And the only thing that I regret to inform you is that we are not together in the same place this week. The first time this year in 2024 that we're not doing that, but that's okay. That's a good point. Yeah. No, it's a real shame. And you know what? There are a lot of reasons why it bums me out, but the biggest one is the one that's sitting on your head right now, because I would be merging so hard if I was there with you. And that is might be the first shot that I buy. That is a slick lid right there, buddy. Thank you. Yeah, light blue rope hat for those that aren't watching on YouTube. Rept it out there on the golf course today. Felt pretty confident in it. And yeah, it's a good looking hat. It was on my bed when I got here. And so I look out the window and see the flags flying of the Open Championship. I mean, it's a beautiful day. This is, you can't beat, can't beat this spot. Cannot beat it. I was just there very recently in Scotland in the same hotel you're staying in now. So shout out to the Marine Hotel Royal Troom. And the place we got to start this episode actually smiley is another big shout out, another big thanks to our partner, Wear SPF for presenting this show. And here's the fun sort of angle we're taking on it this week is in setting up the sort of sponsorship, we learned something for the first time. We learned that if you go to your weather app on your phone, anyone has an iPhone and probably a Droid, Android, whatever else as well, you can go to your weather app and you can find the UV index. And so when you go and you look at that UV index, if you're anywhere three or above on that index, you should be putting sunscreen on. And the reason this is applicable is like I was just in Scotland and there are a lot of days that are that were overcast and it looked a lot like what it looks like right outside right now, Royal Troom. And I maybe did not reapply as much as I needed to and was a little bit worse for the wear. So this is a great reminder as part of this partnership that even if it is overcast, you got to put sunscreen on and smiley. It looks like that's going to be sort of the story of at least Thursday and Friday at Troom. Maybe a little bit overcast, but the UV index is going to be, I think, four on Thursday and up to six on Friday. So got to make sure you put your Wear SPF on this week. Yeah. I mean, I think the one thing that I picked up on just learning about skincare when it comes to protecting your skin with sunscreen with SPF. I always wondered, "When it ain't sunny out, do I need to wear sunscreen?" Because it's pretty natural to not want to wear sunscreen when the sun isn't out. But like you're talking about, you're able to kind of check how bad the UV light is that day if it's four, if it's six, you're still definitely, you could definitely get some sunburns and lose some hydration. Even on a day like today, I don't think I had one water out there as well. So if you put some sunscreen on like I did, you actually get some hydration from the sunscreen. So that's an added benefit from using it, applying regularly. So a couple of different times today, even though it wasn't sunny, I was wathering up a little bit, making sure that I wasn't walking off the golf course looking like a lobster. Yes. That is key. That was our big learn last week is that in wearing sunscreen, it keeps you from getting dehydrated. This week's big learn. Go check that UV index in your weather app and your phone to make sure that if it's three or above, you're applying sunscreen, even if it doesn't look like the sun is peeking out outside. So in that process, if you're looking for some sunscreen, you can go to wear SPF.com and use the code smiley50, which is SMY LIE50. That's buy one, get one on any of their products. We also talked last week about the sunscreen mooches, get a spray bottle for you, get a spray bottle for your buddies going to ask to use it, get some sticks, whatever it is, make sure you're reapplying out there in the course. And especially when you're home watching the open this week, it's a little overcast. It's like it's a good reminder, but you always put on sunscreen. And you know, it's kind of nice to when you're not playing golf and you're just out here commentating, writing notes, getting ready for the open championship, is I don't have to worry about, you know, I can put the sunscreen on my hands and lather it up. And I'm not saying SPF's sunscreen is the sticky kind to where, you know, you feel like you're going to lose your grip because it's not there's plenty worse brands that feels like, Oh, this is a little slick. But it is nice to not have to worry about, you know, just kind of rubbing it in. There's there's a way to do it. You're not doing the seal hands. You know, I mean, that that's the kind of that's kind of what you want to avoid. You can you can just go right on the hands. Yeah, if you're watching on YouTube, that's the way I do it. I'll spray and then, you know, try to rub it in so you don't, you know, you don't, you don't want to, you don't want to have these bad boys, right, holding the golf club. Or you just hope that your cat, you really kind of water that towel down nice and good and just get in there and just, you know, rub it down and they're clean it off. But yes, it's, it's whatever. However you do it, make sure you do do it because sun care is really important. And again, go to where SPF dot com and use the code smiley 50 for buy one, get one. So that is our little, you know, where SPF primer for the week and very appreciative to them for presenting the show. And you know, we'll get a little further into the show into into that weather report that we mentioned and how it's going to impact both sides of the draw, maybe which guys you should be playing or shouldn't be playing, you know, based on how that weather's going to shake out those first two days. But before we do that, smiley, I wanted to rewind button a little bit because you played in one open championship in 2016. It was right here right outside your window at royal trune. And so I'd love to, I want to get a little bit of your, your perspective on what it was like when you played it and what you saw when you're out there today. But first, I'd like to kind of throw some fun facts at the audience. So smiley was shot 72 76 fish six over missed the cut by two shots cut line was was four over. But you'd be quite a few people, buddy. You'd be you'd be Louie who stays in by six shots. You'd be Matt Fitzpatrick by five shots. You'd be Billy Horshel by four shots. He had the dreaded 67 85, which looked a lot like my gin handicapped page after going to Scotland a couple weeks ago. You'd be John Daly by three shots. You'd be Hideki Matsuyama by two shots. And you beat Shane Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood, and cold nose by a shot. So listen, be cold. Listen, it wasn't all bad in 2016. Of course, want to make the cut, but you, you beat some notable names. So I just tell me about your memories that week playing in this tournament, playing the postage stamp and the wave where you got the tough win and everything else. What was it like playing in that open? Well, I don't know how many I missed the cut by, but I do, I missed a cut by two. Are you able to pull up my front nine scoring stats? Or is that how far, how far deep are you in there? Because I remember playing the back nine incredibly well in the front nine, very poor. And the front nine is not that difficult, really not that hard after going out and watching today. And the back nine could not have been more like, I, I can't believe how hard this back nine is. If this wind like we have out of the Northwest was here all week was here. It would be insane watching these guys play in it, but it's going to be a Southwest win, which makes it a little easier. As far as the direction of the win, the guys will have it a little bit of a break on the back nine. But it is such a fun golf course, one that I really do think tests every single aspect of your game with the ball striking. It's something I think as we go on in this episode, you're going to start to hear the one and done picks and the guys that were picking this week, I think you'll see us kind of lean to those ball striking stats. And after being out there today, that's, that just kind of confirmed, you know, that half the golf course, it really feels like you got to be a very good middle to long iron player, where the front nine of the golf course, you have to be very intelligent and where you position your golf ball and be very solid with your wedges and take advantage of par fives. So it's, it's a really odd mix because most of the time in an 18 hole round, you know, you have hard holes mixed with easy holes and you have different wind directions, golf course going different directions. This course, you know, the first seven holes all go the same way, same wind direction, very similar type holes, not long, a lot of wedges. And then you flip around play the post the champ, which is a diabolical hole can be at least, can be very easy. And then you get to nine, 10, it just, it doesn't stop. Like you can get on bogey trains out there so quickly on the back nine, you can make up, I mean, just huge numbers on the 11th hole. There's a couple other holes too, like 13 is ridiculously hard, 15 so hard. And the part threes 14 and 17 are just insane. So I definitely want to get into more into depth. I can go whole by whole, but this is, this is one I'm really excited about. This is a great way to end this major season, you know, Valhalla was just kind of a, you know, just a waste as far as being able to test the best guys this week, you're going to see, you're going to see the best come to the top, the sweeter board. So at your open 2016, a trune, you played the back nine, even par over two days. In fact, if you'd not doubled the 18th hole on the first round, you would have played it too under and played so good on the back, you came back and you birdied 18 in the, in the, the second round to, to get you a little closer to that cut line. So it was, it was the front nine that really kind of did you some damage there. Uh, so I made a triple, I think. Yes. Let's see here. Let me go around too. Yes. You tripled. You tripled the postage. But in the damn right bunker. And, and I looked at it today too, because I got into that bunker and hit a shot because it's, you get in there and it's deep. And the reason why the postage stamp is hard is because that bunker is not green side on the right. Like it's not up against the right side of the green. So you can't, you can't chunk and run anything. If you hit anything chunky, it's coming back to you. So you have to hit it, you have to clip it perfectly and you have to hit it, you know, in a seven yard gap. And if you don't pull it off and you hit it thin, you're on the other side, then you're going to be going back the other way. So that's, that's why it's hard because you have to commit so much to the shot and being able to hit it precisely in that little distance, which is not a difficult shot. But when you get in there in the tournament, all you're thinking about is don't screw this up. And it's a virtual impossibility. If the wind is up, like it was for you, where you talked about hitting a seven iron in the morning wave and Phil Niggleson having a gap wedge in the afternoon wave. And so that can really play a huge difference. And so we are going to get into that weather. Now you mentioned Valhalla and the PGA Championship earlier this year and the scoring. And if you went back and you looked at the very top of that 2016 Open Championship leaderboard, you might think, Oh, we're in for another scoring fest. That is not the case. You know, it is an really interesting study in major championship history to go back and look at that year where Henry Stinson wins at 20 under Bill Mickelson, Bill Mickelson finishes second at 17 under and talks about how Stundi was, he'd never played that good and not won a tournament ever before in his life. And third place in the beef flight was JB Holmes at 600. And so I mean, just mind blowing stuff from Henrik and Phil at the top of that leaderboard that week. I think it's interesting looking at what they did well and how they got to the top of the leaderboard. Famously, Henrik Stinson hit that three wood off the tee and was incredibly accurate with that and then played, you know, hit his long arms phenomenally well all week long. And so in looking at that and trying to construct a profile for who we think is going to succeed this week. So he let the field that week with 25 birdies and an eagle made seven bogeys, no doubles. Phil at 17 under made 19 birdies also made an eagle, four bogeys, no doubles. And then he go to JB who is six under four bogeys and three doubles. So, you know, effectively, you know, mathematically, that's, it's 10 doubles. So it feels like a week where, man, driving accuracy is going to get rewarded a lot. And then precision with the approach game is going to get rewarded a lot because to your point, if you if you miss those greens and you end up with some of those pop bunkers, that's where you start bringing those big, big numbers into play. And Royal Trune is similar to like Royal St. George's. And that the that the pop bunkers are are a big, big problem from the from the fairway. If you if you drive it in one of these fairway bunkers, it's you're not going to be able to get to the green. There's not one fairway bunker that I saw that allows you the opportunity to advance it onto the green. So the whole week, it's all about being comfortable about knowing the rollouts of how far your ball is going to be rolling on the ground. So the first soul today, I was talking to John Ellis, he said he was watching Zander's group play the first hole first two holes. And Zander is hitting five iron, both into the bunker on one and two. So the ball in the morning was already rolling out. And that's something that I picked up on with it, the fairways, although it's been a wet season, the fairways are firm, and especially downwind, really firm. And I'm looking at the the book here. And it's 254 yards to that first fairway bunker on one, five iron is getting there. Today down off the right, 252 to that same bunker on two, one, two and three are very similar starts. And five iron's were getting there. So it's a golf course that I thought Adam Scott today, watching him on the back. And I need said of something that was so intelligent, he said, you know, I like to get to open championships 10 days early. So I came, you know, before the Scottish to play to get comfortable with the golf course, because I feel like if you're looking at the yardage book at an open championship, like you're, you're not doing it right, like you need to have the feel and understanding of the golf course and how it plays, which is why he's been so successful in open championships. And maybe, maybe because he just understands how the golf course is going to react in different conditions. And last thing I'll leave you with in that on that topic is that we had a really interesting conversation with Jack Nicholas at the Memorial Championship during a TV break, this extra to make for great TV. And one of our analysts, I can't remember who it was asked. Jack, if he, how he prepared for the major championships, like what was your plan that you put together? And he said, well, I didn't put a plan together. And like, I kind of was on the golf course just walking aimlessly, because I wasn't in the booth. And then Jack goes on this just storytelling about how he would the open championships would get there, you know, a week and a half in advance and just play golf didn't necessarily put a plan together. All he did was just go and play the golf course in different conditions so that when he went out and played during the tournament, he was just able to feel like it was, you know, of course, that he was comfortable with and that he could just react and know what the ball was going to do on the ground, which kind of just echoes what Adam Scott just said about, hey, the artist book is great to look at and you need to use it, but also like you need to have a general feel of how this golf course is going to play. That is the thing that, again, in my very, very limited experience playing golf and overseas, specifically Scotland, that delighted me the most is how much the ground game comes in a play, you know, and you're early on the trip and your caddies is giving you a number and then handing you a nine iron and you're like, did you read this thing upside down? Or do you mean to hand you a six iron? It says like, no, you hit it right there and that thing's going to hit roll and roll and roll. And so the firmness of those courses, you know, is unbelievable. And then when you when you mix in elements like the wind, I mean, it's just it's amazing the different types of shots that are needed to kind of succeed on these sort of venues. So I think that, you know, a guy that, of course, off the tee, if you can be precise and find fairways and avoid, you know, hazards for sure. And then also kind of, you know, approaching greens, you know, precision and be creative too, you know, it's really not that tricky on the front nine. With the irons that you're hitting, it's, you know, we're talking with how firm it is. We're talking about five four words. These guys are hitting a lot on the front nine. I mean, that that's simple shots for these guys getting the fairways. You're someone on the tee right here. Just just to be clear, right off the tee fours and four and five irons fine. And then you're wedge. Yeah. That's how short the front nine can play. I had heard that Bryson had driven on the first, second, third, and the seventh greens. Wow. So we're, I mean, if you want to factor that into your Bryson this week, he's wow. And I'll give you the numbers on this because the first hole, the first hole is a 366 yard par four. Today was down off the right. And it's a perfect driver for Bryson there. So like first hole, he's able to drive the green second hole, 389. And that one's, I don't, I don't really know how we did it there because there's like three pop bunkers that sit 36 yards away, which you would imagine like 345 covered down off the right. I mean, he's got to get like a one bounce over those bunkers, you would think, because that's, that's pretty insane. But maybe you can do it. And then the third hole, he drove it, but also Ludwig Oberg told me today he drove it on the front of the third green. And this is a hole that has a little burn that runs through the middle of the fairway at about 281 to it. The cover on the left side's probably 290. And if you do carry it, you could see the whiteness in the ground. Like the fairway just looks like it's good about and be firm. So if you cover it, it's going to have good, I mean, it's 64 yards from the end of the burn to the green. It's, it's easily getting that. So if you cover it, as Ludwig told me he did today, he said, yeah, it rolled up right on the front of the green. So we're, we're, it's, it's such an interesting golf course, because if you play it aggressively and you pull it off, you have easy opportunities to chip up and make early birdies. And if if you look at the totals, like you talked about with Henrik Stenson making 25 birdies, I do think the birdie total you're going to need this week to win is in the 20s. Like you're going to have to make 20 birdies this week to win the golf tournament. So you're going to have to, you're going to have to have days in which you have a hot putter on the front nine. And then days in which you just ball strike the crap out of it on the back to where you, you know, you go shoot a two or three under on the back, which is really pristine ball striking. But avoiding the big number on the back nine is going to be the key. So it's interesting in hearing you talk about that sort of risk reward trade off of, you know, hey, guys that are aggressive and pull it off, you know, can make the numbers they need to make to really distance themselves from the rest of the field. So much of that to me is weather dependent, right? Because if you're, you know, if it's now wind, you obviously can do a lot more in terms of carry, you know, numbers and reaching it from the greens and giving yourselves, you know, scoring clubs or even, you know, having a putter in your hand on par four is that change the complexion of the tournament. But if that wind switches, it's a completely different ball game. And so I've got the forecast. I'm looking at, oh, it's okay. That's because I'm looking at the forecast right now for, for, well, let's start with Thursday. And so I'm seeing south to southeast winds that you seem south to southeast. Yeah, that's what if you're starting at seven a.m. It's south southeast and then it's all south the rest of the day. And it's, it's like, well, guess what it was today was northwest. So that was down off the right. So one today, that's, that's in off the right at like one o'clock, which is, makes the back nine play easier. And it makes the front play. It just forces your hand on the front nine, basically to, to lay up. Yeah. And I mean, I'm just so curious to see, because in terms of the numbers, like you're seeing winds that should be between eight to 12 mile per hour, but gusts up to like 30 miles an hour on, and this is on Thursday. And then there's, it looks like rain is in between 70 to 80 percent chance on Thursday. There, the rain chance on Friday is a lot lower. It's between 10 and 20 percent. But the wind is still there. Maybe not as strong as Thursday. It's, it's, you know, saying the consistent will be between six to 10 miles per hour. And then gusts will get up to about 27 miles per hour. But the wind direction, same sort of thing. We're seeing some, some south to start the day and then going south, southwest, and then later in the evening back to south. And so, you know, is it, it does, again, it emphasizes the point you're making about Jack Nicholas, where especially here at the open championship, you can't show up with the game plan because the game plan for the North winds is a lot different from the South wind. So you kind of noted there on the front, not how that changes things. I mean, does that change? If you're seeing guys today hitting four and five irons, like, is that driver in hand? If the wind's going south, or is it still the way it's going to run on the ground, it's still going to be an iron or driving iron or something like that in hand off the tee. It's, it's going to turn into the front nine playing much softer than it normally would. The back nine, you're so accustomed, or excuse me, the front nine, you're so accustomed to winning wedge shots at the front of the green. And a lot of times, front pins, you're landing a 10 yard short of the green. So it, it, it turns it a little bit more into the ball flying towards the hole and the ball stopping quicker. So the wedge and approach shots become arguably easier to get closer to the holes in which they tuck it on the corners, which they can do on the first couple holes. Like they can hide these pins behind pot bunkers, which I think is the risk reward factor in hitting driver when it's downwind on those holes. But if it's right to left or in on the first couple holes or the first seven holes, I think it kind of gives you an opportunity to play aggressively. And the ball might instead of rolling out 60 yards, maybe driver is because it's in an in off the right win is only rolling 10 to 15 yards. So it makes that area in which, you know, you're worried about a 60 yard area as far as just where you land it and where the ball finishes rolling. So the 60 yards actually, it's a lot smaller of an area than you would realize when, when it gets downwind. But if it's in off the right now, that ball is not going to roll out as much. You can play it aggressively and give yourself shorter distances to the hole and, and, and a golf ball that actually will be a little bit more receptive into the screens. And then the controversy on the, on the back nine, more left or right wins, maybe a touchdown at times instead of today. It was in off the left and I'm Adam Scott on 10 hit six iron on the 11th hole. He hit a three art. No, excuse me, a two iron, the 12th hole. He hit a wedge 13 for 14, three iron 15, three iron 16, three iron 17. Oh, no, 16 is a par five 17 was at 70 was a three on then 18. Like I'm, like a middle eye, just insane. How hard that Northwest wind is. 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It is the headline from all this for me is man, this is going to be a fun week to watch. Because there's no like standard. This is the way it's going to play. There's no like this is clearly the guy that's going to benefit. It's going to be whoever figures out a way to golf their ball the best in a lot of changing conditions and in a very unique sort of venue. And that's why link style golf so great. I'm going to walk you through the 15th hole. Okay, please. And I'll pull up the book because I think it's it's a perfect illustration of of what these guys are facing off the tee. And if you could see that clearly. Okay. Yeah. Can you kind of see that clearly? Yeah, I can see that. Yeah. So the bunkers up on the right. You see those bunkers, the carry number is the red number. So that that red number on the right is looks to be the first one is 267 carry that the second was 290 yards carry. Okay. And the wind, let's say it's a south southwest wind straight off the left. So now like today, like you couldn't even it was a northwest wind today, which was brutal. Are you telling me it's a it's a left-to-right wind that could gust up to 30 miles an hour? Yes. Can we shut this record off right now? Can I go like taste some anti-anxiety mess? Exactly. But the options that it's given you now with a 290 yard cover in a left to right when like you actually have an opportunity to blast it over those right bunkers where you can aim up the left and just say eliminate the left side. Let's go hit him in the right junk and go and find it. Now there's there's certain areas of the golf course in which you got to know this is the areas that the fescue is up. And I think a lot of the players kind of know which sides that is like 13, for instance, Adam was telling me that the right side is much worse than the left. Like they're they kind of know which sides to favor as far as the fescue goes. But it's just so interesting because if you played today, you could psych yourself out pretty bad knowing that maybe the 15th hole if he had a good drive and it's a little down off the left like a south west wind, you're going to be looking at wedges and nine irons in the back nine, which is totally what these guys have not played this week, which I think will I think this wind that you're talking about will bunch out bunch up scoring. I think it's I think it's a scoring wind that it's not going to separate quite as much. I think you'll see not as many big numbers because although if it's a super gusty, maybe that will will get the numbers up a little bit. But I think that Northwest wind is much more difficult and you would see plenty more guys really struggling that when I think you'll see I think you'll see a lot of guys kind of be in that couple under two, three under range in that first round and kind of continue to see that thing bunch up as the weekend progresses. Yeah, I just jumped ahead to Saturday and Sunday out of curiosity and it looks like the wind will get a little more of the way of West wind, especially as we move into Sunday, but largely it's going to be that kind of south southwest wind and the speed should be just about the same. You're looking at it like anywhere from six to eight, which is not a ton of wind for your sort of steady wind and then gusts that are actually looks like Saturday, the gusts only get up to 20 miles an hour, which isn't crazy for Scotland. And then Sunday they're back up in that like mid to high 20s range with a little bit stronger. So yeah, and then moving sort of west. So it should, you know, if that wind holds and scoring stays bunched, you know, that should make for at least an entertaining open championship at the very least. So from there, Smiley, you know, as we've kind of done for these majors, you know, we've kind of started with maybe three big names that have the largest sort of storylines around them, discuss those three, and then we've kind of moved into the rest of the field and of course, our one and done pick. So the three that I'd love to kind of start with and have a bigger conversation about are Scotty Rory and John Rob for very different reasons. And so let's just kind of start with Scotty, the odds on favorite. He is plus 450, which is 92. You know, Rory is the next shortest odds on the board of plus 850. But Scotty's form coming in T eight of the PGA T two at the Schwab, one at the Memorial T 41 of the US Open and won the travelers. So, you know, it's about it's at this point, it's doubt Scotty at your own risk. I'm curious as to your opinion on Scotty's playing three open championships. And if you're looking at the four majors, it's the one that he's like had relatively the least amount of success in. He's he's had one top 10 and open championship. And his other two finishes are outside the top 20 in those three starts. You compare that to the the Masters, of course, where he's one twice, he's at a top 10, no finish worse than the 19th and five starts at the PGA. He's had two top bives, two top 10s. He has missed the cut there. The US Open two top bives at one top 10 and one miscut and five starts. And so, look, he's only he's only playing three opens. I'm not saying he's he's not, you know, gonna succeed. He can go out and win this year. And then it's a completely different script. But what do you make of Scotty's game we've seen do very well state state side, how that travels across the pond. I mean, it's an it's an automatic top 10. Like I don't I don't see a way in which this golf course doesn't just perfectly suit his game. Really? Because it it you just have to hit it so well and be able to to hold crosswinds, which is I think this week is going to be a lot about holding crosswinds left, right, right to left, because that win that you're talking about is going to be very like tons and tons of crosswinds. And Scotty's so good at doing that. So I'll start there with the ball striking that it's a really good fit. I'm a little concerned about just putting on slower greens and wind. I think that would be something that Kenny Kenny have just be can he be just above average in putting this week, because I could see a world in which the slower greens give him issues and just a little bit more of the bumpiness and not able to hold, you know, 10, 15 foot putts. I could see that being a big part of the storyline with Scotty chef for this week. And if he doesn't win, it's be it's going to be because of the potter because we all know how good of a ball strike is. We know what he's what he's going to show up with. And it's and it feels almost bulletproof that he's going to hit it really well and probably be top three and the ball striking statistics, if not most likely number one. Yeah, so that's kind of where I went land with Scotty. You got to trust that Ted Scott's going to have a good idea of what, you know, to be able to avoid all the bunkers, get the right clubs in his hands. But also we kind of talked a little bit about Scotty and where you worried about his form coming into the week, not playing the Scottish, you know, having some time off. But again, getting here on Saturday, I think kind of falls in line with playing the golf course being comfortable with the conditions and just knowing how it's going to play in the run outs. So that just makes me love Scott even more this week. I think he's I love Scotty to win. Like if you're somebody that that likes to place Scotty bets, I think Scotty's the guy to beat week. The odds obviously show it. It's like, Oh, dude, no way. You're bet you think Scotty's going to win this week. It's it's I just think there's a lot of things lining up that I really like. But if he doesn't win, I think the putter is going to be the reason why because of the soil greens, the bumpiness and the wind. Yeah, at this rate, it's, you know, we do all these shows. We talk about all these players, you know, who could win who could win? And then we just we fast forward to Monday and Scotty's won by four shots. Oh, okay. Yeah, what a shocker once again. So it'll be interesting. I mean, I think that it makes a ton of sense, right? Like this is a guy who has, you know, immense command of his golf ball, you know, can can draw, I can cut it, you know, can do all these sorts of things to kind of play into the wind that this face on shots, man, you can hold shots. Yeah, so it's nobody's better than that. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, and you know, yeah, with a guy like like Ted Scott on his bag, you know, in terms of how they're going to game plan around this course and how that game plan is going to adjust as the conditions adjust, you know, you got to love where he's positioned. Rory, of course, second player on that odds board plus 850 17 to two, his form coming in also in great form, PGA tied for 12th, Canadian open tied for fourth, Memorial tied for 15th, US open, of course, had the famous second place finish. And then Scott has opened most recently tied for fourth with Rory. And I'm going to go in a similar direction in talking about ROM after this is kind of zooming out a little bit, you know, we've we've heard a lot from Rory this year in a lot of different things. We've heard some comments of late where he's been quite introspective on things. If he wins this major, you know, as he's one of the favorites to do, how do you think Rory looks back on these past two years where he's got, you know, he's looking for that fifth major win. He has a near miss at the LACC has a near miss at Pinehurst. There's of course, that wonky miss cut at Augusta in 2023. I mean, of course, anytime you win a major, you celebrate that, it feels like a success. But just given all that he's had to deal with on and off the course in these last two years, you know, what would this win mean to him? And like, what do you think, you know, he's looking back and saying, you know, how it all went for him leading up to this point? I think it's just all about getting in the mix for Rory's because I think any time that, you know, I think about over the last couple of years of him having a legitimate chance, you know, I think about L.A. He was he was right there in L.A. Like a mistake at the 14th hole, making a bogey on that par five was, you know, kind of let Wyndham wimp a little bit to the finish as someone that has not won a major championship and having that extra breathing room, you know, that was a mistake. But I mean, he's played so well over the last couple of years. It's just, it feels like one of these events, everything's going to go his way. And everything was going his way at the US Open. And maybe he's able to draw on the experience of like you and I've talked about of, you know, how well he really did play on Sunday at the US Open. He chipped and putted it tremendously up until, you know, the 16th hole and obviously the 18th hole. But I think that the elements that that it takes to win golf tournaments, it's it's not easy. It's hard to win golf tournaments. You need to put yourself in position. It's not easy to put yourself in a position, but he seems to do it, you know, more often than not. So I would, just looking at the golf course and where his game's at, sure would be surprised to not see, you know, where he's not in the mix come Sunday. I think the parts of his games that I like is that he's able to hit a tee down driver. You know, that shot that he can just stand a little closer to it, bring the flight down and chasing down some fairways with driver. I get a little worried about maybe his iron game and cross wins. I think that would be one of the biggest things I would be like, man, his iron game. If he had to point at something this year that isn't as good as it was last year, at times I felt like his iron game, like in last year's Open Championship, too, he was striping it with his irons last year. Just the putter was went cold. So we'll see if this week he's able to kind of be able to hit those hold shots, which I'm a little concerned about because I've seen him this year kind of get caught between fades and draws and what he sees. And when you throw a bunch of wind, that can cause a little indecision as far as, you know, where your bottom is and what type of shots you want to play because he's felt more comfortable this year hitting higher shots. And not as much with the lower shots. He does a really good job of it with the driver, but that would be my cause of just my concern with Rory this week is how well he can hold cross wins. Can he avoid the bunkers and can the putter, if he does, you know, if he handles those check marks that we just talk about with the ball striking, could he catch a hot putter and do what he did like we saw at the US Open? Yeah, I think back to your conversation with Trevor Emelman in talking about, you know, his performance in majors and his thing was like, hey, you know, at some point, Rory has to want to run into a hot putter and, you know, you flash back to the 2022 Open Championship at St. Andrews, where he doesn't have that. And Kamis Smith is in a group, you know, a group ahead of him with the hot putter and eventually winning that major. And then you think, you know, towards the end of the US Open, we just watched where it wasn't necessarily that he didn't have a hot putter, but he's had a really cold one at the end, a couple of misses cost him that major. So I mean, this week, you know, it's a red basket, you surface that's different from, you know, everything else that they play for the rest of the year, it's a little bit slower. A little bounce here, a little bounce here. So, so we'll see, but I mean, you know, obviously you got to be expect to be in the mix there at the end. And then kind of moving from there to John Ron, which is a guy we talked about every single major this year, and every conversation we have changed is a little bit just reflecting on his year in general. He's now, it's insane to think if someone told me before the year before the live announcement, that John Rahm, the fourth major of the year, his odds to want to be 25 to one, I'd be like, you're insane. Give me that right now. Side unseen. And his form just had a tie for 10th that lives Singapore. Then, or I'm sorry, this is, this is going back five tournaments. He had a tie for 10th at live Singapore. He missed the cut the PGA championship. He withdrew from the lip Houston event and subsequently withdrew from the U.S. Open. And then he was tied for third at live Nashville and tied for 10th, most recently evolved to Rahm at the live event there. So here's, here's just a few stats from our guy, Sean Laurie, just pertaining to John's first season on live. So he's second in individual points right now, but, and he does not have a finish worse than 10th this entire season, but somehow is ninth in individual earnings. And it's an interesting sort of picture because it's best finished. He's never finished better than tied for third on live this season. He's done that three times. Then you look at his major record this year, T 45 at the Masters, miscut the PGA, and of course, withdraws from the U.S. Open. So I think, you know, a lot of information there, but just reflecting on the year he's had, and then also looking at this week and saying, man, how important is a good finish going to be for John Rahm? So we can look back up this year and feel like it wasn't a total loss. Yeah, and that's a guy picked Rahm and my one and done and, and at a Valhalla, just was so confused why, why he played poorly there. I don't know what happened, just didn't have it. Struggled with his ball striking and the potter, he was trying to force it a little bit on Friday and just, and I'm missing the cut, which was just shocking to me, because I really felt like Rahm was going to have a good week. He was leading the tour in birdies, birdies. And like you said, top 10, you're like, you just hadn't, hadn't won yet. I am coming around to Rahm this week, because when I've watched Rahm play in the past, he's an excellent driver of the ball. He's a very good iron player. I just think about the shots on the front nine he's going to have. I think his ability to hit fades up against that right to left wind and in off the right wind, I like him a ton on the front nine. And then when we switch the other way, like, he doesn't typically draw anything off the tee, but he can draw his irons when he needs to. And when I think about just holding a left to right 20 mile an hour crosswind with a five iron, like he can hit that shot. And there's not many guys that can hit that shot and do it both ways. Rahm can hit the shot. So when we talk about what is going to be, you know, the metrics, the key metrics that are, you know, defining guys this week to be successful, it's, it's that can you control your ball and crosswinds and down and off the end of the win and how much control do you really have and, and Rahm does. So if you're somebody that, that wants to buy well in that 25 to one spot with Rahm, I don't hate it because if of the three guys that we just talked about, give me John Rahm every day with the putter on these type of greens because I love the way in which he, he rolls, he gets the ball rolling on the ground quickly. It just looks like it's hunting for the whole. He's not afraid to be aggressive putting on these greens, which last year I thought the biggest mistake for Rory was that he was too conservative on the greens, like was dying balls into the hole. He's always always putting better to me when the ball is, has that momentum rolling into the hole. So if and Rahm always puts that way. So I like Rahm on the greens this week. I think the ball striking, I think if you come around to the fact that you just erase what we've seen for a couple of the majors this year and think, okay, you're going to need somebody who's really gritty, tough, somebody that can ball strike the crap out of it and not afraid to go and make 20 birdies. Dude, John Rahm checks a ton of boxes. Yeah, I mean, he certainly does. And I think it's, I mean, shoot, we just talked about last week coming off the Scottish Open of, you know, you're looking at recent form, you're thinking maybe, you know, why we'd be picking Robert McIntyre and then you get on the back end of the week and you're like, oh, it was so obvious. And this is the same thing for all the reasons you just listed could be, you get to the end of the term and you're like, yeah, clearly one of the most talented players in the world. And everything he here sets up for a guy like him with his mentality and the way he puts and all that to win a major. It's just, it's hard to go all in on a guy that's shown you what he's shown you this season, you know, but maybe that's even more motivation for him, right? Like maybe that's even more motivation for him to like go out and say, I'm not letting this year go to waste. I mean, in some ways, I think that's going to be Rory's story too, is that with all the near misses, he almost feels like he has to go out and make something happen this week. And I, you know, be curious to see how both them respond to that type of pressure. Yeah, no, totally. I think this golf course, like Pinehurst, you know, like Rory was so good about getting up and down around the greens. And like his pitching was fantastic. This, this golf course, when you get into the bunkers, I found it, although the whips to be very intimidating, a lot of guys weren't having very many issues. I know it's a practice round, but guys were able to kind of get it up and down around the greens, even off the greens, there's about three or four holes that come to mind that were very difficult. If you got like the 13th hole is very challenging, but there's some steep banks on some holes, like the the 10th hole that's very challenging. But aside from four or five holes, the shipping around the greens not overly complicated, I think it's not going to be something that's going to win you the golf tournament. It's just something that I think everybody's going to do fairly well. And I think you'll I don't think you'll get tons of separation. And that's excluding the eighth hole, the postage stamp, which is going to have a higher variance. But if you remove that from the variance charts of strokes gained around the green, I think for the most part, it's going to be difficult to gain in that category to win this golf tournament. I think those the key metrics to look at this week are ball striking. And then can you get around in which you're making 10 to 15 footers? Love that. It makes a ton of sense. And I think, you know, we're getting close here to making our one and done picks kind of getting to the guys who really like quick group of names. I'm going to read you coming off that are the group I just did that are all less shorter than 20 to one. So, you know, kind of that next wave of guys were favorites. Sandra Shoffley at 11 to one, Ludwig Oberg 16 to one, Colm or Kawah 16 to one, and Bryson to Shambo 18 to one, all names that make a ton of sense in that range. Of course, Bryson's won a major this year as as Zander, Colm or Kawah has played about as good as you could play this season without winning a major. And Ludwig, you know, a guy who came close to the Masters and, you know, feels like has a game that fits this type of venue. So, so smiley. It's one and done time. I believe it is your pick this week. The update after a lower point week last week, you've got 50 points for your Tom Kim pic. I got a big 2.7 for my men will leave pick here now at 2,930 points. I'm at 4,203. So, we've got and we don't have a ton of this level. We have we have the open, of course, we have the 3M. We got to figure out some system for evaluating medals to points for the Olympics. And then we've got the window and three FedEx Cup playoff events. So with that said, who are as we've done the last few weeks, give me, you know, three names of guys that you'd like that you're not going to pick. And I'll do the same and then give us your open championship one and done pick. Yes, I'm kind of still debating going back and forth waffling, if you will. And I I want to pick something that I think is going to win. And good strategy, which is, well, sometimes I like, I pick a guy thinking that I feel really good about a top 10 if they like somehow sneak out a win the great. But this week, I really want to pick a guy that wins and which is why my recommendations were are going to start with with Tony Fino. I would love to pick that man in my one and done this week and just be able to go out on a limit, say, you know what, one and done Tony fan out, this guy's going to win this week. It's so hard for me to pick this guy to win. Although everything about this golf course, his game checks every single box for me. What are the question marks with Tony? How's the putting? Well, last three weeks, he's been gaining around a stroke in the putting department. How is he? What type of form is he in coming into the week? Well, he's running into three straight top 10s. Well, what are the things that we worry about with Tony? The clutch gene. Is he going to be able to is he going to be able to be in contention and go and win the golf tournament? I don't know. I don't know. That's that's a box I wish I could check because if I could, I would be taking this man right now, no problem because his statistics T to green is specifically approached to the green. He's very similar to John Rahm. I would put him in the same category of when I stand behind them and watch their iron game. It comes out the same window and they're able to work it either left to right or right to left on command with middle and wall guys, which not many guys are able to do. Hardly ever see these guys double cross it and hardly ever see these guys hit the spinning ones. So with that being said, Tony, who's going to be my first recommendation, although gosh, I would love to have picked him for my one and unpick. Okay. And then who else do you have? That's a great question. I don't remember. So why don't you give me, why don't you start with a couple of years? Okay. Very well. Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, the format we've been doing, you know, so that there are three guys that I like a lot, but then I'm not ultimately going to pick. The first is Tyrell Hatton, who is odds are 28 to one right now, major record this year, kind of like so, so T nine at the Masters, which is obviously good, but then a T 63, the PGA and a T 26, the US Open. Can he be able? He did. He did. Yeah, they, they, he actually, he's, he's a permanent T 10 is whoever's in 10th place at Bay Hill, they just, they just also just attached to your hat. And he gets this better. He's a lifetime top 10 at Bay Hill. If you were with us, when we were picking our Bay Hill week, I think I either said I'm picking Tyrell Hatton. And I said with a straight face, you're like, Oh, good pick. Good pick. I mean, it is, it is a great pick. He doesn't even need to tee it up. And he's the great pick at Bay Hill. I mean, they should have like, you know, like some of these courses were like Mary and they got a plaque, you know, for Ben Hogan. They need to have to have a plaque on the leaderboard at Bay Hill for Tyrell Hatton's name, just Otto, Otto Thompson. Reese's peanut butter cups are the greatest, but let me play devil's advocate here. Let's see. So no, that's a good thing. That's definitely not a problem. Reese's, you did it. You stumped this charming devil. Now two pigeons and coach prime bemoaning the fact you can stream direct TV satellite free. Look at these humans watching pro football on direct TV without a satellite dish. I've been watching them watch football for so long. I feel like I could coach like you coach prime. Coaching ain't as easy as finding your games on direct TV. How you gonna be the corner blitz on third and long? I probably just fly over it. Actually, that's pretty good. Stream football without a satellite dish. Visit direct TV.com. Yeah, he, I mean, and also he's playing pretty good on live right now. Just finished third of all the drama this last week and the week before, you know, wins in Nashville. Here at Trune in 2016, he finished time for fifth at four under. I realized that Stinson and, you know, Nicholson were light years away, but still have a group, very one else who played normal human golf. He was right there. I think that, you know, in terms of his stat profile, we're going to need to see maybe a little more T accuracy than we normally see from him. He's not inaccurate, but he's not one of the most accurate. But if you're talking about a guy who who hits his irons, great, and it can avoid some of the danger around the greens, like this is your guy. So I really like Tyro. Also a guy that is, you know, familiar, you know, he's English. He knows this style of golf. Like to me, this all just bonus points in a lot of different categories for Tyro for me. So that's, that's my first guy that that I liked, but that I'm not picking that. Do you want to, do you want to go back and forth and draft this thing? All right. Yeah, there we go. My next one is Shane Lowry. Love that Shane Lowry to me has had a fantastic ball striking year. And when you look at shoot the FedEx cup, you look at the standings, you're like, wow, Shane Lowry, yeah, he's up there after missing it, right? Like a huge bounce back here. Yeah, huge bounce back here had a tremendous beginning of the year. And I just was in all of how well he was hitting his long irons and his mid irons. I'm going to say that as well, like open championship Shane Lowry just seems like, why wouldn't you want to cheer for Shane Lowry in an open? You know, so you have that, like pulling me in that direction of Shane Lowry would love to recommend him to someone here listening and have a celebratory Guinness as you watch Shane Lowry coming up the 18th waving at the fans. You have your, what is he? 40 to one ticket, 50 to one ticket. You're just waving it with a Guinness in your hand. So that, that is what I hope somebody will do is take Shane to win because I would love for Shane to win. And I think he's someone that could have a really good week. I think he's somebody that probably doesn't get talked about enough. He's had a really tremendous year. Like we just spoken about and he's a gritty player that that should play well in open championship style golf. We've seen it at port, port rush and why not hear it? Royal true fellow six on guy bonus points for you there. He is 40 to one. I also forgot to mention Tony Fienau 45 to one. So you give us some good value plays here, smiley. I like this. Five to one. Yeah, man, that is a good number on Tony. So I would have guessed it would have been closer to 30 just with his form this year. I just think about PGA played really well. I can't remember how he played at the Masters, but the PGA like immediately got into the mix and then U.S. Open got in the mix. So I kind of look at guys that have had good major seasons too. Like when you look at the open championship and Tony Fienau has had a great major season. When you and I were looking before this episode started at some various different stat categories and one that we looked at was approach over 200 yards. And Fienau was at the top of that list. And Shane Larry was not far behind since the beginning of this year. So two guys that, you know, depending on how the win switches and it's also, I mean, I'm not saying it's the exact same thing, but you know, kind of to your point, depending on how the win changes, if you are hitting a four iron or a five iron off the tee, which is, you know, similar to a club you're hitting when you're over 200 yards and you're accurate with that, the likelihood is that you're also doing the same thing and trying to find fairways. That's a club you're hitting, you know, when you're teeing it up. So I love both those guys now talking value plays where I'm going next is big value play. Okay, this guy has all the data gut alarm bells going off. He's got is got, you know, just boom, boom, boom flags everywhere. Like this guy is being undervalued. Sepstraka at 101. If you look at his little stat Pentagon profile thing, he pops in the driving accuracy and approach categories in a big, big way. And if you're looking at also, if you use data golf and you go to like that sort of course fit profile, now I will say royal trune is one of the courses where there's not like some huge, like it's not, it's not like being a course fit is like some huge advantage where it is a lot more other places. But if you are looking at that, he's a guy that gets a nice little bump here. Thanks to those two categories. Feels a lot like the profile of work for Henry Stenson in 2016, being accurate and hitting those long irons, great. So Sep is a guy that I know we talked a little bit about him a couple of weeks ago, potentially defending at the John Deere. But he's a guy that like, if you're again, you're filling out a DFS lineup, you're looking for a guy who's got a little more value towards the end of that lineup. I think Sep could be a great fit this week at 101. Yeah, well said. You know how I feel about Sep and in that he's going to contend in a major. This could be a good one. You know, I think left or right wins is going to be the bugaboo for a lot of guys this week. And I really do put an emphasis. Yes, same. I put an emphasis in guys that can move it right to left and Sep can do it off the tee. Shane Maori can do it as well. So I just think that is going to be so important because you can't hit it on the heel. Not a good heel ball week. Sep don't hit it on the heel. So that he's going to be finding some fairways. Can he have a hot week with the pottery where he has a day in which he leads the field in putting for one day? Then I'm all in, dude. I think that's a great, great recommendation. He's going to have to have a really good middle to long-iron week. But I do think that he can drive it well enough to give himself an opportunity to do that. Yeah. Yeah. So that's my second guy. So now let's hear your third guy, Smiley. I'm going to pick a guy who had a really good week last week. And I'm going to take Adam Scott. He's played in so many open championships. I did watch him play today and still in really good form. Good spirits. Energy was up. It didn't seem like he was worn out from competing and being in the thick of things last week in Scotland. So I think Adam's a really good play. And I think he's probably in that 60 to 65 to one range. I'm pretty sure that's where he's at. He's 65 to one. Correct. 65 to one. Also like that Adam off the tee. He moves it right to left and he can hit it well off the tee. And he also just plays with such good feel. And I think his middle to long-iron game has been something that's been so impressive over his entire career. And if he's able just to lock in this weekend with the driver and have just like an all-time driving week in which he still has the speed to swing it in the low 180s. Now in this type of temperatures, the ball speed probably gets knocked down about four or five. But if he's swinging it in the mid 170s and is accurate and you give him an opportunity to be the Adam Scott from the fairway with mid to long irons. And we know the putter he has good weeks with it. In some weeks, he doesn't. But he seems to have that's not going to hold him back from winning this week. I guarantee that. So Adam Scott, that's my last recommendation. I love it. I mean, I think I think there is an element of open championship link style golf where it comes down to, you know, how good are you at thinking, you know, a little bit in a game where you should be like a separate category where it's a guy who has had a ton of experience in high leverage spots and isn't going to get freaked out if the wind changes or if he gets a bad bounce or something like that, just kind of going to kind of find a way to get on with it. I love a guy like that this week. And yeah, to your point, playing good golf right now, right there at the end, you know, maybe the victim of a very fortuitous drop for Bob McIntyre, though, as we said, he's saying, Hey, he's just, he's a tour winner this year. So I love that one. So going my last recommendation guy, not pick guy is a variation on a similar theme to Sepp. Tommy Fleetwood, 22 to one. And I just feel like he is, again, driving accuracy, flusher of the irons, like this guy, you know, English play, you know, understands how to play links golf. Like this guy fits all those molds. It's almost it's almost kind of a blend, honestly, of the teal and the things I love about teal and things I love about Sepp of just the things he does well, and what's required to kind of play well at rural tune this week. My questions are in the same category as yours about Tony Fienau. It's the old the old clutch gene question. Do we have it? Are we ever going to see it? But it seems to me like this guy's won seven times on the European tour. So where would be a better place for him to win? You know, I know, I guess it's not even technically a PGA tour event, but to have a first official PGA tour win, do it in a major, do it here. It would just feel like the right sort of time for him. And he was, people kind of forget that he fell off the pace on Sunday last year, Royal Liverpool, but he was right there. And was one of the guys that was in that group that was closest to Brian Harmon as close as they could have been to Brian Harmon, who eventually runs away with this thing. But a guy that, you know, has gotten close and maybe could do it this week for the first time. Yeah, Tommy really struggled with the putter on the weekend last year at the Open Championship. Him and Rory both were hitting it so well and just putting so bad. And Sep Straka was one of your recommendations. Let's not forget he finished T2 last year at the Open Championship. So if we're looking at a major in which Sep has found himself kind of near the top, Open Championship has been one of them. So that's a good call by you. Take it Sep. Tommy had a great year last year and a Tyro Hatton, I think is a player that reminds me a lot of a Louis Usayzen that, you know, he just finds, he just seems to find himself near the top of the lead early in the week. Like Usayzen used to do in an Open Championship or wherever it was, where he was eventually the winner. It just felt like Usayzen was really good at shooting 600, that first round. If Tyro Hatton can get off to a good start, I think he's a player that could be really good at shooting 3-4 under every round and winning his first major championship. But I will say the only caveat to those three guys is that distance is not there. You kind of valued accuracy over the distance, which I think if we're talking about who else could we have targeted in these conversations, if you wanted to look at a Bryson de Shambo and take the risk that he's going to be able to take advantage and hit drivers. And I don't like it this week because of the potential and accuracies that could lead to big numbers. I think accuracy is probably going to be more valued. So I like the way you're looking at this golf tournament. Now, could it happen in which a guy like Bryson goes and just fires away and bombs away and wins by sex? Sure. But I think you're you're living on the safe side of history with these picks. Yeah, I mean, I think it's if you're trying to kind of piece the puzzle together, so to speak, it's like you either want to be really long to where you have a shorter club in your hand and you can be more accurate that way, or if you're not going to be long, you better be really accurate with a long iron. Or you live in a perfect world where you're Tony Finau, and you do both great. And you do both great. And you know, I want to take Tony. That's why I wanted to take Tony. But I think that, I mean, there are guys like, I mean, I've already used Andrew Shoffley, you know, he's 11 to one. I love Xander this week too, as a guy who is both incredibly accurate with his irons and also has added a ton of speed and a ton of distance in the offseason. So like I wouldn't, I wouldn't tell you to shy away from Xander. Colmore Kawa is another guy who, I mean, again, I've already used Colin at the memorial. I mean, I throw him into the group of guys that I like simply because he's he's a guy that is, I mean, it's not like he's short at all, but he is, you know, he's he's so precise with those long irons and he's a guy who's shown you all season long. He's on the verge of winning him another major. It's just a matter of time. So I think he's a fantastic play as well. But that's why I kind of win the direction. Colin said such a good year. And I've like kind of talked to myself out that he plays just fades and that left to right and left to right wins. Good point. Let's get that the ball in a 20 30 mile an hour win. He's never holding it up against it. So I you just have to aim so far left. Yep. And if you're comfortable with that with, there's just some really, I think, difficult tee shots that don't call for fates. I think they call for draws, but Colin is unbelievable at what he does. He's he knows exactly what his game is. And so I could see both sides of it to where Colin is able to find the middle of the fairways, but just taking different start lines to do it versus like the guys I've been kind of picking or probably aiming more up the the left center of the middle and able to hold these wins, which is I don't think there's a right or wrong answer. It's just, I just keep getting, I know I keep beating the same drum, but like, this is just reminding me of like being in Scotland and your cat. My cat is like, that's your line. I'm like, great. I'm going 30 yards left that line. And then I hit the ball. And it would end up 50 yards past the intended finishing line. I'm like, I don't know where to start this. Like I could just, I could just turn the left and just hit it 90 degrees that way. It'll probably still up on the right side of the target. Unbelievable. But I mean, it's, it just, I think that for me is going to be why watching this week is so cool is just when the elements get that bad. It's like, you have to be so good at controlling your golf ball to play well in this stuff. And it's just, it's just, you know, it's a cliche thing, but it just reminds you how good these guys are to be able to do what they do in these sort of conditions. It's phenomenal. So I think, I think the back nine, if the, if the win was in off the right the whole way, like I would be all in on Colin this week. But because it's going to be left to right. Yeah. I'm just like, yeah, I don't love it. But I'm also cheering for Colin for the smiley show bump. So yeah, I just, I find that I too often on here that I don't provide reasons why guys won't play good. I think I find too much good in, in everybody's game. Positive people smile. We're positive people. And I'm trying to maybe find some some contrarian arguments to some of these players, not to try to put doubt anybody's head that's listening. It's like, Oh man, I was on Colin this whole week. It's like, yeah, it's not that he can't pull the guys played in left to right wind before guys. He knows what he's doing. I just, I just am trying to, to pick guys that are just not having to ride that wind quite as much. No, it's it makes it that does make a ton of sense when put like that. So this takes us to your one and done pick for the 152nd Open Championship. I think I have that right. Yeah, but I'm looking at the flag right now 152nd Open Championship at Royal True. And I could have also just read it on your hat. I could have also read it on my hat. So go to work by me. Who you got this week, Smiley. I am taking a player that who's been in form in all the majors this year. He's a player that can hit it high. Except for one. Okay. I don't know which one it is, but I'll tell you in a second. Oh, I know which one is. I shouldn't have done. Sorry. I jumped the gun a little big son. I know you're taking, but yeah, it's it's it's a it's a pressure point for me. The one he really well. The the player I'm taking is Ludwig Oberg. And I just I just feel like with with Ludwig's game. His ability to remain just cool as a cucumber is a young guy. He's never played an Open Championship before. Like, why am I taking a guy to win an Open Championship who's never played in a in a Lynx Open Championship? I'm sure he's played plenty of Lynx golf, but in a first Open Championship, like, what are you doing here? Well, I just think that we're talking about a superstar. I mean, this guy can hit it so high, so far, and he's accurate. So of the all of the things that we've kind of valued this week, I just love that in looking at his metrics and his driving distance, he's you know, he can gain 10 to 15 yards on on the distance side, but also be gaining on the accuracy side as well. So if you're able to combine just the ability to be long and straight and for a guy that doesn't curve the golf ball that a whole lot, like it's not tons of curve on it. I think the big question mark for me this week is, can he get comfortable with how far the golf ball is going on the ground into the greens? Is he comfortable with holding crosswinds? Can he hit it pin high? Because I think a short game has improved weekend and week out to where I feel like getting up and out out of bunkers is going to be a strength, which I think is a huge metric this week, sand saves. And I just think putting is, I never you never have to worry about with Ludwig it with the putter feels like so all that being said, I think he can be able to play the par five par threes officially the par five is officially and he can go and make 20 birdies. Give me Ludwig Oberg major champion. I love it. Listen, as Ludwig's putter brother, I'm never worried about his putting ever. I am. I think that there are to me, if you're looking at profiles, the he checks all the boxes, right? Like that we're talking about driving accuracy, you know, incredible long iron, you know, player. I mean, at least the profile that I'm kind of talking about on my I'm like, he also checks every single box that I'd be looking for. In some ways, I kind of love that what, you know, the way the Scottish open unfolded for him, where he goes out and he shoots a bunch of mid to low 60s rounds. And then, you know, doesn't play well on Sunday, because in some ways, it's a little bit of a wake up call of, you know, hey, I'm here. I made some mistakes. I get to kind of examine those and kind of figure out how to not make those mistakes. The week it actually does matter more, you know, the the major week. And so I think it's he talked in the, in the lead up this year of, you know, why he changed caddies, he changed caddies to Joe Scott, because he wanted a guy who had had had major experience who'd been in some of these high leverage spots and who would be able to kind of shepherd him through these sort of moments. So he's got that. It's got all the talent in the world. The profile fits the course. I think it's it's a great pick. And you know, he's got to start winning these things at some point. You know, why not now? So yeah, I think it's a great pick. I think it's a great, great thing. And and watching him in the practice round today, just just how helpful Joe Scobvern is. Just the knowledge and and the course management and the strategy that he brings to the table. It's it's it's pretty impressive to watch them work and how Joe is kind of one and two steps of head and just kind of getting Ludwig's brain wrapped around. Hey, with this wind and this pin, this is kind of what we're looking at here. And I was it was really fun to watch them work today and doing that. But I also had a chance to talk to him about the Scottish open about, hey, what happened on the weekend and talking to not only Joe, but his coach Peter Hanson about the weekend. They Joe kind of mentioned that Saturday kind of was smoking mirrors a bit that he just the ball striking wasn't as good as it was Thursday and Friday and that Sunday he said he just didn't have it with the ball striking. I think he said the only at five fairways, he was struggling with a little bit of a left and a right miss, but they were able to figure out what it was looked really good today. And the swing thought that he has to me is is simple. It's not anything that's over complicated. And my only concern about him this week is can he bring is he comfortable bringing the golf ball down when he has to because he is a high ball hitter. Is he okay at times playing extra club and playing a lower shot? That is my only concern other than that. I feel like I have a great pick. Well, that leads nicely into the guy that I'm going to choose. And it's a guy that look with this one and done, there's a lot of different ways to strategize for this sort of thing, but you got to use the big guns at some point. And I'm going to go with Rory this week. You know, plus 850. He's a guy. It's the second shortest odds to win. I don't want to miss the boat on Rory's eventual major wins. So I really feel like this could be the week for that. And I think I mean, it's one of those things where it's it's a it's a clutch gene adjacent conversation. You know, it's a guy that has all the pressure on the world and him to win a major. And we've talked about how it's going to be tough for him to win his his next one is fifth at the Masters for a number of reasons to get that, you know, to finish that career, Grand Slam. So I just like the idea of a of an open championship, you know, something that feels closer to home for him being that sort of break to win and reopening the floodgates for him to go out and win more majors because I think he does have more coming. And, you know, it's it's one of those things where it is a little bit of a gamble based on, you know, the way we're kind of talking about the criteria this week is it's a guy that does like to hit it high. And you noted that, you know, can he kind of lower his trajectory a little bit when he needs to? He clearly has that to your point with that T down driver, at least off the T. But it's a guide that, you know, we've seen make some some big numbers from time to time. And we just opened this whole thing talking about how that's something that in 2016, Henry Stinson and Phil Nicholson did not do. So you know, my worries would be around if he if he does get offline with some some driving stuff and he gets to some bad places, how are we going to manage the rest of the hole from there? But it's a guy that I feel like if he is on, and he is kind of focused and he's playing his a game well, and he's having a lot less club into these greens than the rest of these guys are having. He could post a Stinson-esque number at the end of the week where he just is hitting it close, making a lot of makeable birdies and just kind of rolling away from the rest of the field. So that is why I'm rocking with with Rory this week. And at the US Open, you know, I think he started three shots back from Bryson into that final round give or take. And we all notice the awareness that he had of where Bryson was an entire back nine. And you almost wonder if that was a bit of a hindrance. And he kind of talked about it in his press conference about how he almost was too aware of what was going on. For Rory this week, kind of similar to how Tiger Woods won so many of his major championships is to try to find a way to get out in front. I think for Rory getting in that final group on Sunday and being able to stare down the person this time and be able to kind of, I think, get a little bit more in a relaxed state and focused mindset to be able to dig deep. And he was doing it. It just, I think, the distractions of the US Open, I think led him to just the mental mishaps that he did have down the stretch. So if get off to a hot start, can we avoid that one round where the putter goes completely cold, which has happened at point to the summer. Besides the Wells Fargo, if we can find a Wells Fargo type of week in which we just keep the pedal down, kind of like you're talking about, we could see a Hendrix sense in like week. So good pick. I think there's both question marks for both of our guys, but a lot of check marks too. No, without a doubt. And it's interesting, as Rory is, is nothing if not constantly absorbing information and being aware of being reflective. And so, you know, it's just, you wonder if all the things that have happened to him in these past couple of years and form him to kind of prepare him so that he can have a good week this week. And listen, that's my hope. Fingers crossed with the one and done. You mentioned Tiger. I think this is as good of a place to kind of wrap this episode as any. Did you see his response to Colin Montgomery today? Yeah, that's great. I mean, it's good stuff. It's just, just amazing. Oh, listen, I'm sure Monty is a nice guy, but not a, not a great person to come at when you've not won a major championship. That's just not a, it's a tough scene. So enjoy that. Enjoy that little retort from Tiger. He seemed to enjoy delivering it as well. So, so yeah, that's what we got. Unless you have any sort of final thoughts for this, this Open Championship preview, that's what we got. No, I've, I've, I'm on probably six or seven hours of sleep over the last 48 hours. So, I'm, I'm kind of a rain dead right now. It feels kind of, don't you have a British Airways horror story you want to share with us? Honestly, not really. I don't even want to give me the time of the day. They will not give a time of the day. The, the only thing I'll get is that they have, they've congratulations. You're not on the show. No, fly list. It's now American Airlines, Jeff blew it and, and British Airways. So, we're running out of ways to travel. We're going to have to start traveling via helicopter and or boat. And, and, and I think the last thing maybe is just, you know, any on a little bit of a somber note, but just, you know, rest in peace, your grandfather, and I think, you know, listen, it's, it's been, it's been interesting for both of us to kind of lose a grandfather in these past few weeks and, or the past few months and what that's like. I think a lot of ways is an amazing blessing that we were able to have them around for so long, but an amazing guy, as we've seen, you know, lots of people chime in and comment in response to, to his passing. And so, uh, no, he's in a, in a better place now. So it can take some sort of solace in that. Definitely so. And thank you for saying something. Yeah, he's, he's the, uh, the real, the real coach K. So, uh, I think we'll go down in history as one of the best coach Ks ever do it. Uh, so many memories, uh, with my grandfather and, uh, gonna miss him a lot, but man, he's, he was a one of a kind and, and as I've gotten older, the more I realize I'm, I'm like, I was, I'm so much like him. Just our, it just, whether it's patience level or just how our mannerisms are. Uh, as I kind of realize, uh, there are a lot of similarities between him and I and, uh, definitely a legacy. I'm, um, gonna be telling my kids about for a long time. I love that. And, uh, I, this is, this is appropriate. We're talking about fathers, sons, grandfathers, because my, my son is just beating down the door right now. Hey, buddy. Here. You want to come help me? Welcome to the episode. All right. Here we go. The show buddy. We got that. We're, we're fit. We're going to say goodbye to everybody. We're going to say thanks for watching a listening, everybody. And, and we're going to be back recapping the open championship this week with journals every day. Can we say bye by Walker? No. All right. We tried. Good work, buddy. We'll talk to you on Thursday after the open championship first round. See you then. Reese's peanut butter cups are the greatest, but let me play devil's advocate here. Let's see. So no, that's a good thing. Uh, that's definitely not a problem. Reese's, you did it. You stumped this charming devil. Now two pigeons and coach prime bemoaning the fact you can stream direct TV satellite free. These humans get the biggest college football games on direct TV. And we don't even get a satellite dish. Enough squalke it. It's coach prime. Bring it in. Sure. They can get all that college football without a dish, but you still got your passion, your drive, your resolve, your incredible career as a football icon. No, that's me. Stream the biggest college football games. No satellite dish. Visit directtv.com. [BLANK_AUDIO]
Join Smylie Kaufman live from Royal Troon as he and Charlie Hulme dive deep into the 152nd Open Championship! On this episode of "The Smylie Show," the duo brings you Smylie’s on-site insights, giving you a firsthand look at the action from Scotland.
Key Highlights:
- Smylie shares his personal experiences and memories of playing at Royal Troon.
- In-depth analysis of the players to watch, including Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and Jon Rahm.
- Exclusive tips on how weather conditions might impact the tournament.
- Fun anecdotes and behind-the-scenes stories from Smylie’s time on the course.
- A big shoutout to WearSPF for sponsoring the show and keeping everyone sun-safe - use the code SMYLIE50 now at wearspf.com!
