John Swantek visits with 36-year old PGA TOUR rookie Rob Oppenheim and PGATOUR.COM fantasy insider Rob Bolton discusses the Valero Texas Open.
Talk of the TOUR Golf Podcast
PGA TOUR rookie Rob Oppenheim and fantasy insider Rob Bolton
[MUSIC PLAYING] Welcome to the Talk of the Tour podcast Wednesday, April 20. I'm John Swantek. Coming up, Rob Oppenheim, a career journeyman who's finally made it to the PGA Tour about 15 years into trying, people, for his late arriving rookie season. Real good story. He's playing in San Antonio this week. Rob Bolton, the fantasy insider, by the way, also hops in break down the power rankings for the Volero Texas Open. This week's Tour Stop. That's for all you degenerate gamers out there. You can now here download the Talk of the Tour podcast by visiting PGA Tour.com/podcasts. You can access the show there, also our other audio programming via iTunes, TuneIn, and Stitcher. Just head to PGA Tour.com/podcasts and subscribe today. For every Jordan Speed, Tiger Woods, Rory McElroy, the players at the absolute top level of the game, there are hundreds and hundreds of golf professionals who are toiling in relative obscurity and anonymity, just chasing the dream, hoping to make it to the PGA Tour someday. Our guest here certainly falls into that category. He's made it to the big show. He was a 36-year-old and was the subject of a nice piece of work by Sean Martin on PGA Tour.com entitled the 36-year-old rookie. A pleasure to welcome Rob Oppenheim to the podcast. Rob, thanks for some time, man. How are you? Yeah, I'm good. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. Did you ever imagine, when you first started out in this game, that you would be the subject of an exhaustive career profile piece like this one? You know, I'm glad I finally happened. I got to the Tour. But yes, I've been working hard for a long time. And yes, it's nice to find me with the right breaks and the right things happening to finally get my card. It's been, you know, I've been at this for a long time and to finally get here is exciting. But, you know, I'm here in Bloor playing this week. Yeah. I've been the last three weeks off. It's kind of nice to get back to playing again. A lot of rain down there this week, by the way, isn't there? Yeah, it's a great golf course. And, you know, of course, rain is really wild. You leave with the rain. It's playing still not to stop. And you have a great course. So, you know, looking forward to the week. Do you think yours is an important story to tell because of, you know, what I mentioned already, because there are so many men and women who are trying to do exactly what you've been able to do and sometimes find it difficult to hang in there. Will they find some inspiration in your story? Ah, you know, it's a good question. I hope so. I mean, I think it's, you know, it just shows-- that feels great about golf, you know, compared to some of the other sports. You know, you can be a rookie at 36 years old, whereas, you know, most of the other sports, that's not really possible. You know, you can't, you know, either get drafted in baseball or it really may be NBA or anything like that at 36. And, you know, if it was also, if golf is, you know, if you shoot the scores, they can't really stop you. And, you know, that's the thing that-- there's plenty of opportunities, you know, just try to qualify for the years to open. Anyone can-- not anyone but anyone with a low handicap can sign up for that and get a chance to play against the best players in the world. So, I think that's what's always kept me going. Just the belief and the hope and believing myself to someday, you know, keep working hard. And, you know, and I obviously got a long way to go, but, you know, I'm still at 36, I still feel like I'm improving. And, you know, that is what's great about Special Golf. You know, at 36, I feel like I'm at the peak. I'm not really at-- I'm not the back end of my career. I feel like I'm improving. You know, there's, you know, room for improvement. Yeah, that's a great analogy to other sports because, yeah, you certainly, you know, wouldn't get drafted in professional golf as you would in other sports. And, I mean, think about just the odds stacked against you and the guys that try to Monday qualify from week to week. You know, explain to people listening how that works because they'll see four Monday qualifiers that make it into a PGA Tour event, Rob, like this week's event in the Valero. Right. And they may wonder how that works. So, talk about the numbers, what it costs to try and-- and for spot and how many guys you're generally up against. You know, it's tough. It's different each week, you know, depending on the event, you know, especially the ones in Florida. You know, the Florida swing is very difficult because there's so many guys living there. And guys like myself who have a Tour card can't get in those weeks because there's so many guys playing there. So, you know, luckily, if you have your card, it's free. But if you don't, it's $400. You know, there's four spots for, you know, anywhere from, you know, it's a full field, 150 guys or so, 156 guys. And you pretty much, you know, with all this, you know, your job that you play practice round, you get all ready, and you go out and you make a double or float you in the first hole, and you can almost go home. You say, "It's one of those days," right? You know, you need to shoot, you know, post or flawless round. You need to shoot 50, 65, 64 on a pretty challenging golf course. So, it's a challenge, but, you know, it's kind of like everything else because, you know, if you do shoot the scores, you can get in and you get a chance to play. So, you know, everyone gives it a chance. And, you know, I probably tried, you know, a handful this year, you know, I haven't gotten in, I've gone out and tried, I'm unfortunately haven't come through any of them. But, you know, you got to do it as part of professional golf, and, you know, you know, the other stack against you, but it's, you know, it's definitely part of it. And it's like you said, it's expensive, you know. You get somewhere, you know, especially if you don't have cards, $400, hotel, practice round, caddy, all the above, and then you go home with, there's no guarantees. So, it's tough, it is tough, but, like I said, you got to do it. You know, you went to Rollins College outside of Orlando, Division II School, grew up in New England. And, to my understanding, Rob, they were the only school that gave you a look for golf, is that right? You know, going up in Boston, I didn't have much of a resume, I didn't play, you know, any really national, big-time junior event, so I didn't have anything to show, but I just played, you know, high school, master's tied to a golf, which doesn't, you know, translate to, to a million dollars just. So, you know, my father went there, I had some friends that played in the baseball team, so I went to visit them, and, you know, in a school where I felt like I could play right away, you know, I could go play in one weather, and, you know, worked out perfect for me, I was able to play. You know, that was, once I started playing golf all year, you know, I noticed some improvement, and that's kind of where I started to really, you know, take golf seriously. In 1999, I guess that was your freshman year at Rollins, and you played in the USM out in Pebble Beach that year, didn't you, what an experience that was. - Yeah, that was great, you know, and I, so that was after my freshman year, after full year of playing, you know, I've never, you know, I'd always, up in Boston, you know, you play, you know, I'd play golf in the fall, and I'd pass away, baseball in the spring, and then you'd kind of maybe play a little bit of baseball, and then now it's, once I went to school, I found it played golf all year round, and, you know, I noticed a lot of improvement, and just playing all that. And I think the other sports helped, you know, but then I finally focused through it on golf, and, yeah, you know, it was finally nice to go off on Pierce, amateur and play piece, and then it started getting on a bigger stage, which was exciting. - There were some really good players in that USM. Adam Scott, Charles Howell, Jonathan Bird, were among those that you outlasted to advance to the round of 16. You also played with Johnny Miller's son, Todd. I remember when he was in that USM in '99 that year. Johnny, actually, Catty for Todd that day you were out there, didn't he? - Yeah, that was a lot of fun. Yeah, he was, you know, we were picking his brain after some stories, and he was great, right? I've been a Johnny Miller, I've never spent, and, you know, that was a lot of fun. You know, my brother, Catty, for me, so, you know, we've got some pictures, and, you know, out of the week that, you know, no matter what happened, that was one of, still one of the highlights of my golf and career. - David Gossett, right? Didn't Gossett win the USM that year? - David Gossett won, correct. - Wow, and that's an interesting tie-in to this conversation, because here's a guy, Rob, that was a camp-miss prospect, right? Out of the University of Texas wins the USM. He shot 59 at Q school one year. He won early in his PGA tour career, and he has not been heard from in several years, and here you are, representing, you know, sort of hundreds of players who have told the same story, you know, lacking the natural gifts that a young player like David Gossett had, you probably admit, and still at it, and still chasing the dream, and making it to the tour after 13 years. It's a crazy game, isn't it? - It really is. You know, and it's such a fine line between, you know, playing great golf, and, you know, obviously confidence and belief is so much, you know, I'm not sure, you know, I don't know David too. I know he's a good guy, and I'm not sure what's been struggling with him, but it's just such a fine line, you know, between playing good and making loseable confidence, or sometimes some stuff off the course, kind of factored golf. I mean, it's, you know, I've been fortunate to have, you know, supportive wife, you know, friends and family, my parents, and everyone who's kind of kept me going along this way, this journey for as long as I have, I think that's important, you know, to try and do it by yourself, and to travel the main tours, and the web, and all these years. If you don't have a good support team, it's not easy, and you know, I've been fortunate with that. So, I mean, even though golf and individual sport, it, you know, everyone kind of has their own team, or kind of creates your team that, you know, 'cause you need that in, you know, under the sport, you have a pretty positive one, which is good. - Yeah, people who follow the game now, they hear these stories of this traveling entourage that is with these players at the top level, and they have swing instructors, and short game coaches, and sports psychologists, and fitness gurus. I mean, during the days where you're playing more than a hundred mini tour events a year, you're talking about a very select group of family and friends that are there in the trenches with you. Those are the people that are there during the dark times, right? - No question, I mean, it's, you're understood, right? It's not the people that are there, and I'm not saying that other people are there looking to get something off of you, but these are the people that, no question, were there with me through the, you know, times like you said, much of the dark times, but yeah, the times were struggling, and yeah, I mean, they believing in pushing me and keep giving me the confidence to keep going, and, you know, there's no question, it's easy to get down or, you know, stop believing or doubting yourself, and whether, especially as you get older, and, you know, without those people, there's no question, I wouldn't be still like that, so I can't thank them enough. - How many miles did you put on that old Honda Accord barnstorming around the country? - More than a hundred events a year, is that accurate? - Well, you know, when I'm in Orlando, we would, there's this tour called the Moonlight Tour, and, you know, they'd play four or five days a week, they'll play just the one day event, sometimes two, but, you know, I wasn't really a member at anywhere, so I would just play, so I would just play tournament after tournament, tournament, and then I'd go up to, you know, Boston in the summer and I'd play, the state opens there, I'd play the Canadian Tour. You know, so I'd never really been a guy to, almost all my playing was, turn of the call, I really played a lot, and I played everywhere I could. There were times when I would try a nationwide qualifier, and, or at least it was a nationwide tour web.com now. - Right, right. - And I would, you know, miss the qualifier, and then from there I'd go right to a Hooters tour event. I mean, I was, I played, you know, it's what I love to do, and especially when I was, you know, single without kids, it was easy to do, that's all I needed to do, you know, I just wanted to, I would go down and map my whole schedule, I would look at every tour possible, and just kind of plug in every mini tour, and there used to be a lot more, I feel like, now you could do that. Now they have the Latin American Tour and the Canadian Tour, so kind of guys have kind of focused more on that, because now that's the way to play yourself onto the web.com back then. You couldn't play yourself onto the web, so you kind of had to, you know, play as much as you could, make as much money as do it, and you could get better and get ready for Q-School. So everything was really based on that fall of Q-School, where now it's, it's better, I think it's better now, you can kind of, there's definitely an avenue to get to the web, and then away from the web to get to the tour. So I think it's a good progression, you know, it used to be when I was at it, it was so much focus on Q-School, and there's no question that put a lot of pressure on myself during those times to really get through that second stage and get staff, and I had a difficult time doing that until, you know, finally 2009, I was able to get through that, you know, get through that hurdle, which is a big one. - Yeah, you played with Ricky Fowler that year, at the '09 school, didn't you? - Yeah, that was fun, I mean, he saw the talent he had there, you know, we were prepared to get a last few days. He got his tour card, I got my full web card, and, you know, he didn't look back really since then, but you could see the talent in his game then, you know, he was, you know, played with confidence, was fearless, throw the great, shipped in part of the great, I mean, he was, you could see, you know, he had, he had the game at that point, and, you know, it's pretty clear what he had done since then. - I would imagine during those years, banging around on the mini tours, a lot of guys were sort of running in the same circles, and, you know, although it wasn't glamorous, certainly you're in an old used car, banging around the country, and you're staying in cheap motels, probably three, four to a room, in many instances, but there had to be some sort of a mentality that you're all kind of in it together, and even though it was rough, it must have been somewhat of a bonding experience with the other guys. - Any sense to that, any truth to that? - Oh, completely, you know, there's no question playing the PGA tour is, you know, the dream comes true, but when I played the Canadian tour and the New England tour, I was playing the state open, was traveling with the guys. I mean, you could argue that's almost, I almost had more, let's say it was more, it's different. It was definitely different when we had a blast. I mean, it was, yeah, I mean, it was not many warriors just trying to get better golf, competing against each other. It was fun, and it was definitely a lot of fun. And like you said, it is different out here where a variety is good, and there's definitely friends, but it's, you're definitely leaning on each other more at that level than up here, kind of, like you said, guys kind of have their own entourage to an extent. And, but it's good, I mean, it's definitely, it's very different, no question. And, you know, I think that when you're playing for this kind of money, it allows you to, the luxury is to do different things, and, you know, bring your own friends and have your own team to, for that matter, where the other way you're trying to do every dollar you can. And, like you said, it's, it's different, but they're both, you know, I love playing golf, professional golf, and whether it was the many tours or here, I mean, it's, I think you gotta love doing it to do as long as I have, and then, you know, without the immediate success. - Give me a story, relate a story, from like an obscure town or a city during your, your mini tour days, that would give people listening a sense of how far removed it is from, from life on the PGA tour. The days that you're really struggling back in the day. - Ah, you got me on the spot. (laughing) - You know, down to your last 20 bucks in the bank account kind of a story. - You know, I have a point of work, you know, at least when I was playing the main tours, I think, you know, I was playing well enough, or I wasn't, I was never just a point of worry, you know, I see some guys that were there absolutely, if they don't play well this week, they're hanging up. I was never on a thread with like that, where I couldn't, I couldn't keep playing, I couldn't paint a build this bad. But which, which was nice, and that's, you know, and that's part of, you know, having a supportive family, and I had some guys that kind of helped me out right away. Gave you, you know, some friends from Boston. But yeah, I mean, you know, just staying at, you know, like you said, the three guys, the four guys to a room, and private housing, we had some pretty good stories with state, you know, but it was fun, you know, that was always the people that we met when you're doing that, we would stay with, when I played the games, where we would have, you know, a lot of the tournaments offered private housing, so we would stay with a family two or three of us, and, you know, that's one of the great things about professional golfers, people have met throughout my travel to different cities, and still keep in touch with today with your email, or text message and call, or when I'm back with the city, you know, stay in touch, so it's, that's been, you know, as far as pulling golf is great, that also the people I've met along the way, it's been, you know, from all different levels, it's been, has been great, and, you know, a story like this comes out, and it's pretty, it's pretty nice, and I'm willing to be the people that come out and reach out to me, and the text message I received, it's pretty nice. - You know, it's easy to have belief in yourself when you finally made it, but it's during those early days where you really have to take a hard look in the mirror, I would think, Rob, to take a deep look inside yourself, and determine if you really got what it takes here, or you don't? - No question, I mean, it was tough for me last year, you know, I was, looked like I was gonna get my scorecard last year, and then, you know, I missed my final lap event, and finished 26th on my list, so, you know, all year, or towards the second half of the year, it looked like I was gonna finally get to the tour after running for you, and then after that to come short, and, you know, I think that was one of the toughest weeks, I had a week off at them, I had to play off the four events, and that week off, it was, you know, it was like I blew it, I, you know, I can't believe that I had such a good opportunity just to, I played up, I made the kind of last of that, I would've, you know, got my card, and, you know, and that was a tough time, but, you know, I think my family, and your sort of friends, and still stay positive, you know, that I knew I still had an opportunity to do it with four more events, and, you know, worked hard, and put my head down, and, you know, like you said, I could've either, I could've quit, but, you know, I knew I still had a chance, and that's what's great about golf is, there's so many opportunities, you know, I helped to play well this week and go out, but if I don't, I got into all of them next week, and there's always, you know, there's definitely always opportunities if you shoot the scores, and, you know, to finally play pretty well on the playoffs, and then, you know, for the things that happened, the way they happened was I looked at goal, making a bogey on his last goal for me to make it by 101, but it's just amazing how it turned out. - Yeah, I want to hear that story again, right? Every time I read it, I still can't believe it. I mean, I'm going to assume that people kind of know what happened at the web.com tour championship last year, but it was a crazy series of events that unfolded for you to get your PGA tour card. - Yeah. - Just tell the story, 'cause I can't do it justice, and we'll kind of fill in the cash for people if we need to. - Okay, well, yeah, you said, you know, that phase 26 of the regular season was really different, but that's the worst spot on the tour. I mean, it's a good year, but it's as close as you come without not getting it. So then, a way of the playoffs. And played solid, made all the cuts. And then, finally, the fourth event, you know, I've had a good last phase shot, 67, and it looked like I was kind of being just short, and I remember I was after the round with my wife and my daughter at the time. We didn't have our son yet, and we were eating, and, you know, it just looked like too many things had to happen. I just looked like I was gonna come up short again. - This is Webdale Cup. - This is Webdale Cup. - It's your championship at TPC Sawgrass last fall, right? - Correct. - Yep. - Okay. - And, you know, so we just left, you know, we said, hey, you know, people were talking to us, but, you know, saying thanks, and there's nothing worse than watching golf or coverage, and eating bad things for happen for me to do well. You know, someone's got to make a blow, and you're some of this, there's nothing fun about watching for that. So we just like, you know, let's just go home. It did look like it was gonna happen, and my daughter, we wanted to get her home, driving back to Orlando from Jacksonville. So we start driving, and I want to stop at a gas station to fill up before we get on the road again, 95 South, and, you know, I looked at my phone one more time, and I see that, you know, I knew Lucas Club was on 18, and I knew if he did bogey, I would move up to T-12. - Right. - At the T-13, but I didn't know how much money I was made. You know, obviously, you don't know how much, that's gonna affect the money, but I knew it would have helped me. And, you know, next thing you know, I see is in the fairway, you know, watching on my phone as we're at the gas station, and then next, you know, we're playing the phone is a lot smaller than obviously a lot of coverage. - Right. - And my phone, I get a text message, yes, congrats, blah, blah, blah, but, you know, just bam, and then I'll send Tommy Sheridan to worksfortheweb.com, call me. - Yeah. - Get yourself back here. - So we, you know, you're in. And I just, I mean, it was pretty emotional at the time, you know, my wife and I are there, and we just sit there, like, I'm like, wasting, you know, probably what happened. - Wow. - And she just, yeah, she hugged me and, you know, we were in a gas station talking people, but I'm not sure what people thought when they saw it, but now they didn't know what was going on. It was, yeah, it was exciting. I mean, it was emotional, just amazing. And it just shows you the fine line between, you know, if he makes par there, I'm back to playing the web. I mean, am I any better player or worse player? You know, I'm no different, but, you know, now I get a full card versus that. So, and it just shows that the web.com is so competitive. I mean, there's so many good players out there. You know, you look at already what guys have done on the PGA Tour so far. It's, it's just, there's just too many players, and then not enough spaces. So it's, but yeah, that was exciting to get the card. - You literally had to turn around, jump back on 95 or four, wherever you were in Florida, and get back to the sawgrass for the, the card ceremony at the end of the year. - What was the reaction of the, of the players when you got back? And did you run into Lucas Glover, by the way? - Not there, no, he wasn't there. But I did, you know, the first of the night, went over it. - Thanks. (laughing) - Yeah, exactly. It was, yeah, he couldn't have been nice. And we actually got paired together earlier this year. So, which was nice. But, yeah, it's amazing how someone like that, it doesn't affect him one bit, but changed my whole life. And, but yeah, I went back, went to the card ceremony. We, we went out that night. You know, we had an orientation the next two days. - Right. - So I wasn't able to get back and, you know, see some friends and family and stuff like that. But, you know, it was, it was great. I mean, it was something that, you know, all that work to put in and come so close to the regular season and to finally, to make it that way in the playoffs was a, it was, yeah, I mean, the emotional, the ups and downs and the stress I went through that. And back in the year, I don't think a lot of people or anything like that. You know, I think that actually helped me, you know, at first played the first few events on the tour, people actually over there versus the Fed. And I really, I've never felt, I, you know, when I went through that playoffs, that was, that was pressure. I mean, you're playing for, you know, coming down the stretch, that's a, I was really happy the way I played in the playoffs, I shot 67 the last day. And whether I made it or not, I was happy the way I performed, you know, with that kind of pressure on me, whereas the playoff, the final event missing the cut, I didn't really feel like I handled that very well. And, you know, after going through all that, being the guy in the bubble, once I got to playing some tour events, I really felt like that helped me feel comfortable in knowing that, going through that, that, that's pressure, you know, when you're playing for a million to dollars, and it's a different, you're playing through your life, kind of, on the other side. So it, it was, I feel like that's helped me out a lot. - You made it by 101 bucks more than Eric Axley. You finished 50th on the final priority rankings, Ax was 51st. Have you, the cross paths with him, by the way, had any exchanges with him? - No, I haven't, I haven't seen him at all. I mean, he was in passing from a distance, you know, and you feel bad, I don't even know what to say. - Yeah, 'cause you've been there. - Yeah, I've been there. It's just a hard, it's just part of golf, you know. I mean, it's, you know, some guys, some guys in this sport, you know, it's just like all that happens. You know, it's, it's unfortunate, but yeah, I mean, it's a tough, that's, that's the tough thing about golf, you know, we, we are, for the most part, you become friends with a lot of these guys, just some of your best friends. And, but you're competing each other each and every week. So, that's a tough thing, you know, I mean, I think, you know, you off the course and, you know, you're a dirty course, it's friendly, but at the same time, we're definitely, you're competing. And, you know, it's, yeah, it's tough. - When you, when you started this journey, let's pick it up after college, I guess, which was probably 13, 14 years ago. Obviously, you knew it was gonna be really hard work, and you were committed to putting that work in. But I'm wondering if there was sort of an end game on the horizon, a long-term vision that you may have had, Rob, where you said, okay, at a certain point, whether it's an age in my life, or a point in my career, or a number in my bank account, whatever, we got to have a plan B in place here, because this game is gonna, it's gonna drive me away at some point. Was there that plan that was in place? - You know, it was real, I guess it's been such a progression for me at work, you know, from a high school, didn't really want to be to school and play there. And then I finally got better and better, and had a good seeing year was, you know, a play of the year division, too. So I was like, you know what, I'll turn pro, I want to try to keep playing. And I kept playing, and I slowly kept getting better, but, you know, wasn't getting it. So there was really no, it was just, it's been such a slow progression, but I've always felt like I've been improving that I've kind of, you know, but it was never quite like, oh, I'm definitely going to be a professional. And then I played well my senior year, and I was like, that was kind of the next step. And then, you know, I've been playing professional for, you know, that many years. There was a time in 2008 and '09, I was pretty, I was struggling, you know, it was kind of the point where, you know, I remember financially at that point it was difficult. And then I finally got on the web.com, which was in 2009, and that was kind of a big breakthrough for me. But what's tough about that is where, you know, you get on there, and by no means are you rich. You know, that's a tough story. I remember, you know, after having a couple of years in 2008 and '09, you know, I didn't have too much, you know, I was struggling a little bit, and I finally got on the web, and our first few events were in Australia and New Zealand. And I mean, I was like, oh, I got to pay you a couple thousand dollars for flights, you know, it was going to cost me, you know, four to five thousand dollars just for the couple of the two weeks there. And luckily our friend put some, you know, guys together, we had a little dinner up in Boston. And, you know, they raised some money for me to go on that. So even though I got out there, it wasn't like finding me that, you know, I admitted it. I still had a lot of work to do, and financially, by no means any guarantees. And, you know, I'm just talking about that tour. Yeah. You know, you get your web card, there's no, I mean, that tour is really tough to make money up. So competitive, if the person just aren't that thing, and the travel expenses are high. And, but, you know, I was there, I kept, I finished in the 40, you know, I kept grinding out there and had pretty solid years kept my card, but I had one more point. All right, I didn't keep my card, and it was about three years ago. And then, you know, I remember I had to play a couple of maintenance and was struggling there. Or, you know, I made a cup, but I really felt poor the money wasn't. Now I'm married with a kids' cup. When I was single, I never really had any, you know, I was just playing golf, I was loving it. Sure. Most enjoyable thing, I could, you know, I wouldn't want to do it. You know, when you have a family, I think that's when I started going back to the main tours, was very difficult. Leaving home, not making money. That's difficult to do. Playing at that, you know, and at my age, you know, and, then I found, you know, I Monday qualified for web and finished sports and kind of propelled me to keep going. And then I got my full card and, you know, that last year, you know, so it's been, it's been up and down journey, but, you know, I wouldn't say there's a point where it's funny. Whenever things got low, something, it almost kind of got me to work and refocus, work hard. And, you know, fortunately, something good would happen to keep me propelled, to keep me going. You've got real little kids. I think they're three in five months right now. Correct, yeah. Okay. Yeah, it's a fun time. So, yeah, you're in the trenches, you and your wife, believe me. It's been a while since I've been there, but I remember. So, your son and daughter down the road, they come to you. They say, you know what, I like this game. I'm pretty good at it. I want to play in college. And I think I'm good enough to play professionally. What are you going to say to them? What's the message you're going to convey? Yeah, I mean, I would, you know, if that's your dream, and that's what they, I would support them longer. But then, you know, I think that, you know, my father and my parents support me. I think that's part of the reason why I still have been doing it. I mean, they've given me every, believe me, and that's what I wanted to do. And I wasn't completely, you know, I think they need to be realistic, you know, and it's a dream. And they have a passion, they're working hard towards it. I think it's something that you got to give a chance for. I mean, it's not, it's not the easiest life. You know, I think it's, sometimes it's maybe made up to be more glamorous than it really is. You know, living out of a suitcase and in hotels, even on a PGA tour, if it's not the, you know, the travel and the hotel life can get old. But, you know, I'd be closely supportive. And, you know, who knows, I'm definitely already got my kids in clubs. I'm not going to push golf, but I hope they do play, and I hope they do something that we can share together. But, you know, I'm definitely, I love sports, and I encourage them to play off sports. I think it's great. You learn a lot, playing different sports, and different, you know, of all parts of life. I think, you know, sports are, it's a great thing for, and it keeps giving down trouble, I'll take a little bit. Yeah, I'm definitely encouraging to get into my activities. Well, if they need a little dose of reality, they're certainly going to get it from Dan through the years. Rob, great story. Thanks for sharing it with us today. Play well in San Antonio, and good luck the rest of the way here this season. All right, thanks for having me. Rob Oppenheim, currently 161st on the FedEx Cup Points list. Looking to crack that top 125, make it to the playoffs. That's the goal, obviously. But something tells me, I'm convinced if he doesn't do that, and loses his PGA Tour card, this guy ain't giving up. In fact, this guy might never walk away from the game. We wish him the very best this week at the Valero Texas Open, and we will remind you that you can watch exclusive featured group coverage from TPC San Antonio on PGA Tour.com on Thursday and Friday morning, starting at 8.30 a.m. Eastern Time. You can look for, among others, Phil Mickelson, Zach Johnson, Brooks Kepka, Billy Horschel, and defending champion Jimmy Walker, all part of our exclusive featured group coverage on PGA Tour Live. And it looks like we're going to get some weather in San Antonio this week. That's not good news, because this is a really hard course to begin with, so it's going to be more of a challenge for these players, as we welcome in the fantasy insider from PGA Tour.com, Rob Bolton breaking down the power rankings. But first, how about a moment of silence for the late Nilt Pappas, who has left this world after a massing 209 wins during his years as a pitcher with the Orioles, the Reds, your cubbies for a brief spell. Back in the day, big fella, when starting pitchers were horses, and unless their arm was falling out of its socket, they were pretty much going to go out every four days and give you nine innings, weren't they? Yeah, before science got involved, right? You Pappas, he was just before my time, I have other memories of him, as he visited Rick Lee and part of the whole Cubs family, but from what I understand, he pretty much had a bit of a career resurgence when he finished his career with the Cubs and threw an O'Hitter and came within that one at bat of a perfect game. And saw his, you know, his perfect game was the right. I mean, people would always refer to him, much like do the 72 dolphins with the undefeated record, and the reason those guys are still relevant. Pappas's note hitter was relevant for 40 years. Well, what, 35 years or so until Carlos and Brono was the next cup to do so in '08. And then was the last note hitter, Rick Lee Field, until Cole Hamels last year. So Pappas got to enjoy that run for a while. Didn't necessarily have the easiest life, but no one does. And forever remembered as a great cup pitcher. Is it Brono? That was a no hitter for Zabrano? Was it a perfect game in '08? I don't remember. Yeah, that was the one where Houston couldn't play at home. So they played the neutral side of Miller Park in the walk. Oh, right. Through the no hitter, not a perfect game. Yeah, I don't know how many games, Zabrano pitched without a walk. That would be a terrific record if you looked it up. Yeah, and he had some epic dugout meltdowns through the years too. Oh, he's wildly entertaining. All right, let's get to the golf here. As I mentioned, they got some weather down there. And the Wednesday Pro-M was interrupted. And it looks like there might be a few dicey days during the week. Kind of like what we saw at the Masters, I guess, Rob and the RBC Heritage as well. It may be three tough days and one scoreable day. So these guys are going to have to get after this course, which was outside of the majors the hardest course on tour last season, wasn't it? Yeah, I don't know whose idea it was to play golf outside. It's funny, but I think people want to get their hands around that neck. Yeah, the weather, I mean, you just got to have all the support in the world for the people in Texas and certainly over in Houston. And it's just such a mess to put it mildly. And this golf course has been OK, though. The only thing that is a little bit different this year, and actually, it's a lot different, I mean, when you get to the talent level of appreciate tour professionals. And Mike McAllister wrote about this yesterday on the website. And that's the fact that the warm weather in the winter, the warm winter didn't give an opportunity to oversee. So the rough isn't as gnarly and it's down. So this course should play easier. In fact, longer hitters should have a better time. So now we're looking at a track where it may play completely different than it has. Even last year, winter averaged over two and a half strokes over par. Now, a very windy opening round led to that scoring average. And we're all sorts of records and a lot of research involved that I broke down into the power rankings that you can go read. But proximity to the whole was the longest on tour. It was second lowest greens of regulation. And then it was also the hardest part, the hardest golf course to score in the par five. And, you know, we're talking about a course that's under 74-35, not bad. But when the wind's blowing and the greens are tough to hit, you can't score very well. You're going to have to survive. And that's what Jimmy Walker did last year, one of only two under par. We'll talk about Walker, under par in every round. We'll talk about Walker in a minute. But again, I think anybody that was there last year is going to have to simply forget about it and take the course on for what it gives you this year. Okay, so you mentioned some longer hitters are going to be a factor here this week. Let's hit the top five. JB Holmes, he would fall into the category of longer hitters, had a good showing at the Masters a couple of weeks ago, didn't he? Yeah, tied for four after sitting out as title defense in Houston with what was reported to be a shoulder injury. What's interesting is that, you know, he's spent in the power rankings, but now since the report on how the course is going to set up, kind of low, given the fact that he's been playing well, it really kind of for the last 12 months or so. This is his fifth appearance in San Antonio. It was a couple of top 15s, but those are back when the course first hosted 2010 and 11. But inside 175 yards and proximity to the hole in six different splits, his first second, sixth, eighth, 17, 38. I mean, he's just terrific inside that range. And that's where this course needs to be tackled. And so that's why he's as high as fifth with the rough down, long hitters should thrive. And I like his chances even a little bit more since the power rankings published on Monday. You got your boy Matt Coocher at number four. It seems like a quiet season for Coocher. I guess that's because of the highly consistent standard that he said over the last half dozen years or so. 11th on the tour in adjusted scoring. That surprised me a little bit. Yeah, you're right, though, about 2016. He has six top 25s. And since the Sony top 15s in every other start. And so now we're sort of on the tied for ninth last week. So now we're on the downside, I guess, of that particular pattern. But he survived the round robin of the match play. T24 at the matches. I mean, he's doing what Matt Coocher does. He's just not inside the top 10 every week, like just a few years ago, a couple of years ago. Loves tighter tracks. That's why the scoring matters. That's why he's elevated in the power ranking, because he's such a good scorer. He's 35th in both or 34th in both stroke schemes stats this year. It's also four four in this tracks. When he hasn't appeared, he's set out the first couple. And four four for the T4 here in 2014. And the other three are top 25s. So very simply, he should be on every short list for every one and daughter, as long as it's available to you. Yeah, I'm leaning towards Zach Johnson for one and done. He's won here a couple times. It was a different course. It was at Lock & Sarah, which was a pretty easy track through the years. He played poorly last Sunday at Harvard time, which surprised me, because that's his kind of layout, his kind of fit. He shot 78 on Sunday. And what was the best scoring day of the week, which was kind of weird. I think he's just a kind of player up to me that maybe likes things a little tougher. Conditions, golf courses, all of it. He may get that this week. You know, it's interesting. When he was outside my power rank, he didn't crack the feature, ended up being in my wild card. Quite a bit of criticism for that. It was cool on him. Now, that was because he had only two top 35 finishes in 11 appearances. Sure enough, he closed with that 77, finished high for 33rd, for what is this third best finish on that golf course, where you'd expect him to play a lot better. So he kind of fulfilled that mild expectation. Now I'm on board again, because he's gone T6, T20, and the last two starts here, respectively. Also makes sense because of his ability to dissect the golf course. He's proven it twice. And I'm especially with his iron type for 17th and proximity to the whole. We could go on about a stat. However, in terms of a one and done, he makes it really easy for us to want it, because either you're looking at the Dean and the Luca at Colonial, or the John Deere classic, which is this year played opposite the Olympics. So if you don't want to wait, just in case he doesn't make the Olympic team, you know, I would assume he'll play the John Deere because that's home game. But there's reason that he may not play it this year because of scheduling. So then you're looking at Colonial as the spot where you have to play him. That's it. That's where he makes sense. This week, not as much. Look at Kuchar and another guy we're going to talk about here in a second. Okay, that would be Jimmy Walker, your defending champion. Sometimes when you play in your hometown, you feel a little bit more pressure. I don't know what it is. It has a different effect on different players. They're more comfortable in their hometown. That was the case for Walker last year when he finally broke through and won here. And no reason to think that he's not going to put up a stout title defense this week, is there? You know what? In terms of the pressure, you've been covering this lot longer than I have. And I have yet to hear or read about anybody who has cited that as his sort of crutch in terms of, "Hey, if I don't play well, I'm just more pressured to perform in front of the home crowd." What I've seen is just the distractions. You know, there's more people out. They've got to get ticket, the whole thing. Walker hosted family from Kansas and Austin last year at his house. He commuted every day. He built a bike for one of his kids last week during the tournament. Ended up winning by four. I mean, it was just the perfect mix of everything that anybody would ever want for the Valero Texas Open. And he's back to defend this year. He's actually not the guy that I was pointing to for one and done, but I wouldn't rule it out either. He's a defending champ. If you have a provision where you can't burn one, it's still hang on to it. Time for third news debut here back in 2006. But then it took him some time to really sort of embrace how challenging this course is. And that's not unusual for a new course over time as it matures. This season, he's 10 for 11. Naturally, he's only miscutted Riviera, which is his favorite golf course. Otherwise, three top 10s and another three top 25 strong statistically. And very worthy of number two spot in the power rankings. The home game in his sense or in his context actually helped him a lot last year. Charlie Hoffman is the man riding the converging trends this week. Good flash of recent form and pretty reliable record here through the years, isn't it? Sure, Noel Brainer, you know, keep it simple, silly, one and done selection. It's interesting, though, because so much fewer over his recent inability to close, you know, he led Houston after both the first and second rounds, ended up tying for 33rd. He co-led RBC last week, ended up tied for 14th. Stuck a T29 at the Masters in between. These are not bad performance. Right. It's just that he's front-weighted, you know, and front-loaded, and a lot of gamers just get frustrated with that, and they don't have the patience to kind of hang out. Well, now this is when you want to jump in. He's third in all-time earnings at TBC San Antonio, has a T2, a T3, 2T11s, and 2T13s, and that's it. That's every edition. He's under par in 17 of his 24 rounds here. That's hard to do, and guess what? He's been under par in every single one of the final rounds on this course. His actual scoring average of 70.71 is easily the best. If anyone who's made several starts here, very simply, he's my one and done for all of those reasons. Yeah, and that was the tone of the reader feedback, certainly on PGA TOUR.com. There were a couple of cracks about this being a 36-hole event, and if that was the case, maybe Charlie should be your pick. And 205th on TOUR and final round scoring at 74.70. But certainly, Charlie Halton makes a lot of sense. He's atop the power rankings for Rob Bolton this week. For a further explanation, we send you to PGA TOUR.com. Or Twitter at Rob Bolton Golf. Thanks, Big Philip. Enjoyed as always. Stay here. I'll talk to you next week. And that will do it for the Talk of the TOUR podcast. Hope you dug it. I want to thank my guests Rob Bolton and Rob Oppenheim. I'm sorry Rob Lowe was not available. You can now hear and download the Talk of the TOUR podcast by visiting PGA TOUR.com/podcasts, and you can access the show and our other programming as well. iTunes, TuneIn, and Stitcher. Lots of ways to get to it. Just head to PGA TOUR.com/podcasts and subscribe today. The next pod scheduled for this Friday, April 22nd. I'm John Swanson. Thanks for listening. Being part of the show as always. And I chose our closing zen quote today in honor of Rob Oppenheim. Remember, one day in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful. Think about it people. I'll talk to you on Friday.