John Swantek visits with Bryson DeChambeau on the week of his pro debut, Rob Bolton from PGATOUR.COM and James Hobbs - the college golf coach of Masters champion Danny Willett, who coached the Englishman at Jacksonville State.
Talk of the TOUR Golf Podcast
Bryson DeChambeau and James Hobbs, college coach of Masters champ Danny Willett
[MUSIC PLAYING] Hey, and welcome to the Talkin' to a Podcast Wednesday, April 13th. I'm John Swanson. Got some fun guests lined up for you today, kids. James Hobbs, college golf coach for the Masters Champion, Danny Willett at a small school in Alabama. We were able to run down the coach. He will join us shortly. Bryson de Shambo, low amateur at the Masters, making his pro debut in Hilton Head this week. We had a quick chat from Harbor Town and Rob Bolton from PGA2R.com, the fantasy insider, breaking down the RBC heritage. A reminder, you can find the talk of the tour podcast during the week, a few times, in fact, most weeks, by going to PGA2R.com/podcasts. That is the landing page for lots of our audio content. You can access it there via iTunes, TuneIn, and Stitcher. So head to PGA2R.com/podcasts and subscribe today. The number of American golf fans who were hoping Danny Willett won the Masters and not Jordan Speed was probably a pretty small number. I would include our first guest in that category, certainly. And he probably knows a lot of the other folks who were rooting for Danny Willett on Sunday at the Masters as well. James Hobbs is the head golf coach at Jacksonville State in Alabama. He's the man who recruited and coached your Masters Champion, Danny Willett, about a decade ago. Coach Hobbs, thank you. For some time today, I'm sure it's been a crazy week. Your phone's been ringing off the hook, I bet. It's been crazy, John, we've talked to-- I can't tell you the number of newspapers we've talked to and television networks. And we've talked to the big DC. We've talked to people internationally. So it's been a while, three days. But it's been a very satisfying time for me because Danny brings no great notoriety to not only JSU, but our men's golf team. And so we're just real about what he accomplished over the weekend. And he's got to put a stamp on our university that will probably never go away. Where were you watching the tournament and who were you watching with? Well, I had a team that was playing in a men's team. I was playing in a tournament up in Nashville, Tennessee at the Hermitage Golf Club. And so we were playing the practice round on Sunday. So I got my team started. And I really didn't have a team plan. I had four individuals. And after I got them started, I went back to the clubhouse to try to get in and watch as much as I could. And Danny was midway through his fun nine. And so basically, I'm just in the little snack or clubhouse. And there's all kind of people around me. And I have some coaches that were there watching it as well that knew that Danny had played at JSU. So they knew that I had a lot of writing. And but there were a few people in the room that were watching it with me that they had no clue who I was or the fact that I had been associated with Danny. And then I just stayed very quiet and low-key as much as I could. And then when we make the turn, and Danny's made two birdies on the front. And I'm thinking, OK, we're in good spot. We had already moved up on the way to board the second. But Jordan was playing so well. I mean, he made four birdies in a row coming down the front nine. And I'm thinking, man, he's just going to close this thing out. And so all I'm hoping for at that point in time is I'm not wishing any bad luck on anybody. But I'm just hoping Danny can hang on and have a good strong finish. And I'm thinking that's the best thing that can happen for us and for him. And then suddenly things just quickly changed. And when they changed, he suddenly in the lead. But I think sometimes in any kind of golf event, such as where there's so much pressure on players, I think sometimes it's much easier to be coming from behind than it is being in the lead. And so I can understand the significance of what happened to Jordan's speed. And I think sometimes when you have a big, big lead, you have a tendency to just kind of back off a little bit. And you get a little bit guarded of the lead. And you're not playing the same way, they got you the lead. That was certainly the first glimpse that a lot of American golf fans had of Danny Willard and in a very big moment, Coach. But there was something in his eyes. And anyone who watched the final round of the Masters saw that. He looked like he had things very much under control, technically and emotionally. Was there a spark there that you recognized from a decade ago? Oh, yeah, you know, that's the one thing about Danny when he arrived on my campus. He had such a different type of personal confidence in his ability, and what he could do, what he could accomplish. And I've seen that look before. And I've seen him win after on this before when he was a collegiate golfer. And when he got that look, he was so focused. And he had all his emotions under check. And you could just see that in his eye and for the last five holes that he played. You could almost-- you were sitting there waiting, OK, we can't make a mistake. We can't make a mistake. But you could not ever imagine that Danny ever thought that he was going to make a mistake by looking at his eyes and his demeanor and the way he approached the game from that point. You made the trip over on Wednesday, about 3 and 1/2 hours from the campus there in Alabama to Augusta National. You got to spend some time with Danny. What was his mood like? What was his mindset? What was the vibe like? Was there anything swing-related in coach that he wanted to discuss with you? No, no, no. No, I went over basically. And I just enjoyed spending a little bit of time with Danny. And you know, the interesting thing about the time that I spent with him, it was more talk about his new baby and how Nicole's wife was doing and how he was doing, you know, you go through-- when you bring-- when you get birth to a new baby and you become a father for the first time, that's a life event, that's a life-changing event. And so I just chatted with him about how it went, how he was handling it, and how everything was at home. And then, you know, we talked a little bit about golf. And I said, you know, how are you doing? He said, well, really haven't had a whole lot of chance to think about golf with Nicole fixing to have a baby. And I didn't know whether I was going to be here or not based on the baby coming early. And he said, when the baby came early, maybe this is not going to be in play. So really, you know, I think that's probably the best situation for Danny, because before he got here, I don't think he really spent much time thinking about playing in the Masters. And so he gets here and suddenly you're out trying to get prepared to play. And so, you know, I think he just basically relied on his past experience. And, you know, last year in the Major's, Danny played very well in four majors. He made the cut in all four. And then at the British Open a year ago, he was basically in a very talented leaderboard there until he hit the ball out of bounds on 14. I think he probably had a chance to look over the last day on the last group. So Danny had experienced that before. And I think he just relied on past experience there. As a Division One head coach in the United States, what is the recruiting pipeline to a prospect outside the US? How do you come in and touch with a kid like Danny? Well, how did that happen for you a decade ago? Well, I had a recruiting service over in England that sent me a call me or sent me an email. I'm not exactly sure. But they said we got a young man over here, 17 years old. He's looking to come to the States. And at this point in time, it was pretty early in our summer. And most of the college programs here, we've done our recruiting and everything's wrapped up. But it just so happened that year, I had a little bit of aid money left. And so I said, well, give me his name and let me contact him. So I just made contact with him. I made contact with his dad, his dad's a minister. And his dad basically was doing what a lot of parents would do that he wanted Danny in the right environment. And he wanted Danny coming from a religious home. He wanted him in an area where there was not a lot of bad things happening. And my towns in small town, we were moved to 1,000 in population. Our town was about 8,500. So he felt like this would be a great place for him, not only to go to school, but it would be a great place for him to come and avoid any of the troubles that a big city might oftentimes afford. He strikes me as the kind of kid at the time who would carry himself with a lot of humility. What was the acceptance like from his American teammates? Well, he's really just the opposite. He had a very brass personality. He was a very fun-loving guy. He was constantly jabbering back and forth with my American guys about which was the biggest and most important major of all time. And it was always the open. That was his words. He never used the British open. He always talked sometimes with an open. And I got a kid from Georgia named Brian Rosier. And he says, "Act where Georgia, and he says, "No, Danny, you don't understand the masters. That's the biggest and most important masters." And so it was a constant quarrel in our band between the Americans and Danny, which major had the most significance. So for Danny now to have one of his first major at Augusta National, that's very ironic in my eyes. But Danny was the type person when he walked into a ring. Everybody paid attention to Danny because he had one personality. He was such a fun-loving guy. And with just all of Danny, he was just, you know, and when Danny left, we all really wanted to cry. He was only there for two years. He was the Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year in '06. And in '07, he won medalist honors at the conference championship coach. And this is one, maybe you got a glimpse of this kid's medal. He was five shots down to Scott Stolench. He was a three-time PGA tour champion. And your boy ran him down from medalist honors. Did he ran him down? And, you know, at the time, we were playing on a very difficult golf course, a particular country club in particular, Kentucky. It has three of three, or four of the hardest part three we've ever played on in a conference championship and discuss some great quality holes. And Danny just went about his business over the last nine holes. And, you know, we weren't playing with Tennessee Tech and Scott Stolench. So he was in the group in front of us. So we don't know really how Scott's doing other than the fact that we know that he's got a big lead. And, but Danny just, you know, he just went about his business on the back nine. And he hit shots and made some birdies. And then basically, Scott ran into some misfortune. And we get to the clubhouse and Danny's on his last hole. And my sports information guy comes up and says, "Hey, Danny's leading." And I'm like, "No, no way, Danny's leading." Scott Stolench is going to win this tournament. And he said, "No, no, Danny's winning." So, pardon me, I just was amazed by that. But that kind of tells you what kind of player Danny was going to do. He had that ability to focus in on what was at hand and what he needed to do. And that's what he did Sunday. He just basically focused in on Danny Willett. And he was, I don't think you get concerned about what anybody else is doing at that moment. You just go dig your thing. And Danny had unique abilities to do that. His scoring average was the second best in Gamecock's history. He won three times during his two years there. What were the conversations like after a couple of years, Coach, when it was quite apparent that he was moving on? It was going to be difficult to convince him to stay, wasn't it? Well, yeah. You know, what happened was that Danny, after his sophomore season, Danny goes home that summer and just has a fabulous season. He wins two big tournaments over there. And it may have even won three. And he won one by like 10 shots. And suddenly, you know, he was highly ranked at the time. But his ranking just went down, down, down. And, you know, then the next thing you know, he's the number two ranked amateur in all the amateur of God. Yeah. And he gets elected late that year for the Ryder Cup in 2007. He comes back to Scoob to start his junior year. He goes back to the Ryder Cup. And Walker Cup. Walker Cup. Walker Cup, excuse me. He plays in the Walker Cup. And he comes back and he says, "Coach, I'm going back and I'm going to play amateur golf for a year and I'm going to turn pro." And what could you say? You know, he's ready to do that. And you just say, "Okay, Danny, go have at it." And, you know, we didn't want to lose you. Yeah. But he was the best thing for Danny. You know, coaches are so invested in their kids in all sports. And you've been there how long now, Coach? You got the men's and women's team. Yeah, I've been at JSU since 1977. Oh, my God. Recently, I was a basketball coach. And then I took over golf in 1983. And I've been coaching men's golf since '83. Okay. And I started the women's program in '95. So we double up here and, of course, we're small schools. So that happens in our situation. And I've got a great assistant coach now. And so, you know, I'm able to manage both teams. And you basically, you take your recruiting skills from one sport to another sport. And you try to sell something that's important. And what I try to sell here is a university that's a fine university. It's a good academic school. You can get a good degree here, but at the same time for an international guy, such as Danny, I'm trying to offer him a good platform where he can launch his career. I'm giving him good weather. I'm going to give him a 30-something rounds of golf a year. I play on the World High School of Sports and Silver Lakes, which is a Robert Crenshaw and golf trail course. It's about 50 minutes from my campus. So, you know, we're going to give you everything that you need. And plus, the school offers and puts up no barriers to an international kid. And so, Danny, not only did he enjoy the golf side of JSU, but I think Danny would tell you right now that he really enjoyed the school side of JSU and the social side of JSU. It's just a good place for Danny. What a monumental opportunity, coach, for the golf program, to leverage this moment going forward here when recruiting these kids. Yeah, you know, when you go out and you go to an international player and you begin to try to sell your school, we've got something now that a lot of schools will never have. And we've got a bona fide master's champion who wore our colors and carried our bag and played our golf course. And so, we have something to offer now. And we can offer that individual the same thing that we offer. Danny, hey, here's your chance. Okay, you come and take advantage of it and you can make it whatever you want it to be. But we'll give you everything that you need to do what Danny will it has done. So it's something that Danny has allowed us to do. These kids become almost an extension of your family. That you probably think of all of them as your own through the years. And coaches have a very rare gift and a knack for identifying something special in all of their athletes through the years. But there's always a kid here and there that's a little bit different, a little bit unique and stands apart for the rest. And that had to be Danny well at on some level. What was it? It was his great personality and his great drive. I mean, he had this deep-rooted drive and focus on what he intended to do with his life. And it was evident from the moment that he arrived on my campus as a 17-year-old boy and as he matured physically, you know, he knew, he knew that, look, I've done this, this and this and I've worked hard to do this. And I know I can go out and do this at this level. And I don't think there was any doubt in Danny's mind, Sunday, that he could win a major championship. I don't think it was any doubt in Danny's mind 10 years ago that he could go out and win a major championship. He just had that mindset. And when you see guys that accomplished what Danny was able to do Sunday, they have to have something unique in their personality and in their work ethic and in their drive. And that was Danny Willard. Well, I'm sure you had something to do with cultivating this greatness that appears to be on the horizon for Danny. Well, where does he go from here? What do you see from him? How does he handle all this and how does he take the next step and maintain this level that he's arrived at? What do you think? Well, I think that I think, first of all, I think given birth to a child, changes his entire life and that makes him a different type of person. Suddenly, you don't have to worry only about a wife now, but you've got to worry about a wife and a child. I think that will rearrange his priorities to a larger extent. And I think that will, I think by winning a major championship gives you, it just opens the door for the belief that I've won one. And I've won one in a great fashion and now I can go out and I'm going to, I can put myself in contention in any major and I can win any major. And so I think it just kind of puts his career in a different zone. Yeah, he could be a really special player. He really could be a very special player because one of the things that makes that true is the fact that he has terrific off-skills but he has a great mentality for those skills and now he has a great belief mechanism to carry that even into greater and more special things. How's your season going, by the way? How did the Vette Nashville earlier this weekend come? We played as individuals. I had a couple of guys playing good. My season is going pretty good and you know, this is just going to kind of put a cap on. Because you know, I got guys everywhere we go now. They're going to be identified with Danny Willett. Yeah. And they're going to say, hey Danny Willett played there. So it means so much to me and to our program and to our athletes here and to our universities. It's just no way that I can measure it in words as to the significance of what Danny accomplished. You can tell a prospect without a guarantee. You may not win the Masters someday if you come here and play college golf but you might. You may. Yeah, you certainly may. That's correct. Coach, thank you so much. Hey, John, it's been great. I'll enjoy on our chat. I have as well. Best of luck with the rest of the season and your recruiting. Thanks so much. Thank you very much. You have a good day. My thanks to the Jacksonville State golf coach James Hobbs. Started as the basketball coach and it was such a small school that it was sort of a, hey, which might be in the golf coach kind of a deal and here he is more than 40 years later. Amazing. He saw something special in Danny Willett, didn't he? A decade ago at this small school in Alabama, now we have all witnessed it as well for the Masters champion. We also witnessed at the Masters a spark of what could be another special career on a very promising young player. And our next guest is just the fifth player in history to win the NCAA championship and the U.S. amateur in the same season. Was the low amateur at the Masters last week at Augusta National and is a newly minted touring professional. Bryce into Shambo. How does that sound? Sounds pretty good. Thanks for having me on. I really appreciate it. My pleasure. How's the week going in Hilton Head? What's the vibe been like for you? Does it feel any different? Well, the fun still came up today and yesterday. So it's just another day, but it's quite fun being able to say I'm professional and playing at the great venue like the RBC Heritage. It's pretty incredible. Who's locker next to you? What's the setup for you there? I'm sorry, I said again. Who's locker are you next to? What's the setup for you there? Oh, well, they're all alphabetical and I don't really know who exactly I'm what locker I'm actually in, but it's a pretty sweet place. And they just renovated the clubhouse I think this year. So it's all new and fresh and all the players are pretty happy about the changes. What was the Masters experience like? And I'm sure this is the 100th time you've been asked this this week, Bryce, and put it into words for us. Well, to finish off my amateur career as an amateur at the Masters is quite special to be the low am and making that putt on 18 having that ball actually roll down the hill from the top of the ridge after a minute and a half of waiting. Getting up to the green, fixing that pitch mark and now that ball go down was something crazy. And then me to actually make that putt to finish off my amateur career was something special and some I'll never forget. What an honor it is to be the low amateur at I guess the national. Yeah, but something tells me you were looking to get more out of the week. Certainly it was a thrill to play at Augusta. But then you played very well and you're right in the conversation on Saturday. When did you get a sense like, you know what, I may just have a chance to contend here. Well, I always knew that I would have a good chance just playing my best golf. And I was I was playing my best golf going into the second round and unfortunately had a little slip up on on 18. But other than that right after 15 after I got to 400. It seemed clear to me that I could easily do it. I just had to stay with it and keep it in good shots. And unfortunately my back kind of gave out a little bit. You know, just not because I didn't have as much rest as I would have liked to have had going into the week. But again, that's a great learning experience. And I knew I had had a chance after 15. But ultimately it didn't work out for me. I hope I have some more chances down the road. What was it like stepping into Butler Cabin being there for that ceremony on Sunday evening, along with Danny Willett, the champion and Jordan Speed, the defending champion. You know, it was incredible obviously, but it made me really want to be sitting in that next that chair next to me next year. So you turn professional. You've got is it seven exemptions you're going to burn? Tell me the game plan going forward here. Yeah, I've got seven exemptions. Don't exactly know all of them just yet. I know I'm playing next week. And then Wells Fargo, Byron Colonial, a few others as well. And then I have a couple invitationals of Memorial and the Quicken Loans. So it's a total of nine, I believe, so far. And that's really all I can accept as being an on VGH, I remember. Well, and this is very doable. I mean, look at Jordan Speed for inspiration and what he was able to do with limited stars pricing in 2020-2012. No, it definitely is a great inspiration. And to play with him, I got to see him perform and play at a high level. Like he has been these past couple years is incredibly inspirational. I know that because he can do it, I can definitely do it. You have to go out there and play some great golf. You know, I saw these numbers this morning. I don't know if you were aware of this. Tiger, when he played at Augusta, as an amateur in '95, had rounds of '72, '72, '77, and '72. Did those numbers sound familiar to you? Very familiar. I actually was made aware of that yesterday as well. And I couldn't believe it when I thought. I don't know what to make of it. Maybe it's just a crazy coincidence, but I'm not trying to say anything on that. But I will say that it is special to share that with Mr. Woods. You know, much has been made of your unusual style. And I'm wondering, as you look at this and you see young boys and girls who are maybe serious about playing the game, and they watch Bryce and DeChambeau, and they say, "You know what, that's a little unusual, but it works for him. I might be willing to give it a chance." Is that something that sounds pretty cool to you? Absolutely. I think it's more important that we grow the game of golf. It's not just about people copying me. It's about finding their way and understanding how they play the best golf that they can play. And if I accomplish that, that's all I'm looking to do. But again, it is pretty cool to see kids wearing hats out there and showing some support. I find great interest in that, and I look forward to giving back to the game like people have in the past, like Mr. Palmer and others as well. Last thing I want to ask you because I saw your dad at the Masters. He's on dialysis, he's been battling diabetes for more than 20 years, and he was there for your final appearance at Augusta National as an amateur. That must have been a wildly meaningful week for you. Yeah, no doubt. You know, it tears me up a little bit to talk about that. But again, at the same time, it was incredible experience. He's always wanted to see me play in a big stage event. And he was finally able to get to Augusta and make it there, which was a miracle in itself, especially after all the surgeries he's gone through. He's had to happen in the past. But for him to be there on the first tee watching me, that first tee shot, I couldn't have drawn it up any better. You know, you're dealing with a lot these days and you're doing it with great poise and composure. It's been fun to watch you do it and we're really excited to see you launch your professional career this week at Harvard Town. Thanks so much, Bryson, for the time and good luck, go get him, man. Thank you very much. I appreciate the time. See you guys. That was fun. It was a brief chat. They were running Bryson all over the place in Hilton Head Island this week. We appreciate just a few moments of his time. Hope he plays well. Best of luck. As he makes his pro debut Thursday, he's off the first tee there at Harvard Town, golf links at 1.30 Eastern last group of the day. So he'll be catching a piece of golf channels, television coverage, certainly. And also the PGA Tour radio live play by play coverage on SiriusXM. And by the way, you can catch exclusive featured group coverage as well. The opening round of the event in Hilton Head. I'm PGA Tour live, the RBC Heritage. We'll get things pranked up Thursday morning at 7.30 a.m. Eastern time. First postmasters stop on the PGA Tour, the low country of South Carolina. Hilton Head Island for the RBC Heritage at Harvard Town, golf links. And it's a completely renovated course. We'll get into all that with PGA Tour.com's fantasy inside of Rob Bolson, who managed to avoid a trip to the disabled list last week. How you feel, my man? Better? Well, I feel great. Thank you. I always feel bad because this is an audio segment and a man. I wasn't really necessarily on top of my game last week. But with your professional patience and willing to sustain a friendship, I really do enjoy this time and the opportunity to speak about golf with you. But I'm feeling great and looking forward to another tournament ready to get back to work. You need to bounce back medically and fantasy-wise, because I'm going to remind you and everyone listening that Ricky Fowler was at top of your panel rankings for the Masters last week. That didn't go so well for you, did it? Oh man, you know, it's funny, normally I'm hammered by gamers. But they were hit too, and normally I'm the one to blame. But I don't know if there's a sea chains out there, but the condolences were overwhelming. Because they saw Fowler just crash and burn. And I know that there wasn't even a close call. So sometimes that's easier to take than missing a four-footer for power to make the cut. I love everything about this tournament this week. It's such a diversion from what we just saw last week at the Masters, which was just a bubbling cauldron of intensity. Everything about the low country is laid back. I think the players appreciate it. I think it brings out the best of them, frankly. And we've seen that a lot through the years. And it's a great golf course. It's old school. There's not many left, like Harbor Town. And it will challenge these players at just over 7,000 yards, Rob. And maybe more so this year, because we've got a completely transformed and reconstructed golf course to deal with, don't we? Yeah, they've renovated it. You know, that's kind of a recurring theme we've seen over the last month or so. And it was closed for a few months after last year's edition, it was planned. They laid out some Tif Eagle Bermuda on the greens, although the course has had that particular strain of grass since 2001. This is a new, these are new grains, pure and simple. Some of them have been, you know, modified a little bit. But the bigger changes are elsewhere on the course, in terms of from a ball striking standpoint, the fifth fairway, for example, to par five, it's been moved 15 yards to the left. It's a little bit elevated. That's going to be a new target. The greens or the other is a fairway bunker at 16 that has some green, you know, a grass, island grass areas. So that'll, that'll increase the premium to find that fairway, even though that's always sort of the deal here. But overall, Harbor Town sort of needed it. It played it easiest last year, Swanee in the history. Since data was first recorded in '83 at the 70.49, it's a par 71. It doesn't sound too easy, but this course, you know, you have to be able to golf your ball here. Yeah, the green, go ahead. I'm sorry. Really good field too. And the greens are going to be a challenge because they're completely different. And they're tiny. That's been the challenge at Harbor Town through the years, right? Absolutely. Yeah, the 3700 square feet. Last year's field averaged 61.21% in greens and regulation. That's the highest since data was recorded in '92. But from a per round standpoint, that's just a couple of clicks south of 11 greens and regulation per round. And that was 10th lowest of all courses last year. So we're talking about a place where even though scoring was at its lowest and greens and regulation was at its highest, it's very relative. You still have to be precise in an approach. You don't have to bomb it here. It's the shortest course in terms of distance of all drives, all last season, all the previous season. You have to be able to dial in your approaches. And if you miss, you have to be able to scramble. This is one of those courses where you can do that. But you have to manage your misses. And that's why veterans tend to succeed at this point. Yeah. And there's a veteran influence, certainly in the power rankings in your top five. As they meet the challenge of this, Pete died design. He always makes you think. And this was the first golf course that Jack Nicklaus first worked on as a designer, sort of cutting his teeth in the design business, shoulder to shoulder with Pete died when this opened back in the late 1960s. Graham McDowell at number five. Talk about the experience that's requisite for contending at Harvard Town. He knows he's a past winner here, Rob. Yeah, that's the key point too, is that a lot of these guys will get some of that benefit of the doubt. They're, you know, Jim Furek is the defending champion. He would be all everything at Harvard Town, all-time money leader, two-time winner, two-time runner-up. The gap that Furek owns over number two in all-time earnings, who is Davis Love III, is larger than Love's gap over the guy who ranks eighth all-time Carl Peterson in terms of earnings. So, if Furek, you know, in terms of defending champions, he's a huge avoid, even though he was on site this week. He's going to miss him, you know, playing it simple. That'll give one of these other guys an opportunity. McDowell, the 2013 champ, T23, T26, since, you know, he's not jumping off the page. And a lot of these guys are not necessarily pure number ones, like Furek would probably be if he was healthy. But, again, McDowell gets some of that benefit of the doubt, and he's been playing well where it's made sense in the last few months. One of my Acoba, again, at the Ball Striker's track, third at Seaside, or another one, where you need to be able to find the short rest. And then, fifth, the P.J. National for the Honda Classic and other track, we know you've got to keep your ball in play. So, it makes sense again this week. You mentioned Sea Island, Georgia. Kevin Kissner won that week. I've got the kids in a one-and-done that I'm in. Like him this week, he checks in at four in your rankings, having come within a whisker of winning here at Harvard Town last year. Yeah, I think with Mark Edelman and our one-and-done that we run on Wednesdays, that said that, you know, he's had Kissner a circle for this tournament all season. And it makes sense, you know. I wish he was coming in, Kissner. I'm talking about a little more form. He's been misfiring for about three months now. But he was last year when he arrived at this track, and no one really kind of knew who he was yet. He always struck me as a guy who was terrific around the greens. We talked about it before. He's really risen his ball striking to the level of, you know, world class. And so that he can combine it all in this track, why he's number four in the power rankings, why I wouldn't talk you out of him in a one-and-done. I think he'll probably be the most popular one-and-done this week, because gamers won't want to burn somebody, maybe a little more notable, a little more valuable down the road. His playoff loss here last year was the first of three. On the season, statistically, I mentioned it before. He's basically nailed across the board. Seventh and fairway, he had 41st and stroke-scained putting. Sixteenth and adjusted scoring. He led the tour in the all-around for a while. Now he's third, and he's tied for fifth and par four scoring. That's 80 everywhere, but especially on a par 71. Brent Snedeker is in good form. His last two showings at the match play and at the Masters, both top 10s. His record here is not as good as I thought it was, because he is a past champion, but that was sort of the only real flash there for Snedeker at Harvard time through the years, wasn't it? Yeah, that's a great point. Same thing with Zach Johnson, who didn't even get, you know, cracked my power ranking. Johnson's my wild card in the fantasy insider column. I think a lot of people would expect a guy like that, a guy like Snedeker to have about a record. Now obviously, Sned's won here five years ago. He's never had another top 15, though. He's perfect sense as a myth to cut. Tied for 26th last year, which doesn't sound impressive, but he opened with a 77. This course is the kind of sneaky that always seems to win, even the last year scoring average was a record low and Brian Gay, won by 10 once with a 264. That's going to happen. You're going to have a guy, because you guys are that good. Again, one of the reasons why I'm bullish on Snedeker. You know, he also rebounded from the rib injuries to sort of survive the match, the pool play at the match played in T10 last week. Another guy, statistically strong like Kessner, who should come at Harvard town, not only with the experience, but from a number of different angles from an execution standpoint. Brian Gay, won by 10. I forgot about that. I mean, and not an explosive player, and he won by 10 that year. So certainly Jason Day is the kind of guy who has the firepower to win by 10. He's second year rankings. He's the headliner in the field this week. He was sort of on the fringe of contention all week at the Masters. Never really got it going. And he hasn't played here in a few years, has he? No, in fact, you know, the T30 a couple of years ago, and his personal best is the T9 five years ago at Harvard town. It's still a little strange to realize that, you know, he's played the tournament four times, and that was already five years ago. And he's still in his mid-20s. You know, if I'm being sort of, if I'm acquiescing to the overall, assumption of who would be the best, the most likely to win this tournament, you know, Day would be the guy. Top rank all for big fish, smaller pound, that whole thing. The T10 at the Masters. One is previous, two starts. However, if I'm staying true to what I do for a living, he doesn't deserve to be number one, because he does his experience here. It's just not strong enough. It's not consistently strong enough either. Although he's fourth in stroke scene, putting in 23rd in adjusted scoring, going on and on about the stats, number, you know, but number one in the world, and two wins recently is all people really need to hear. What I find interesting is that Day's weakness is basically off the T, and he's actually get this two hundred and fifth in proximity to the hole on the PGH1, that's fifth or fourth from worst among all golfers. So the next time you hear somebody say, you know, talk about the importance of proximity to the hole, including from me, you might want to ignore it because Day's two hundred and fifth. However, small greens benefit, poor potters, his short game is outstanding. That's one of the reasons why I love them this week. People reading the rankings would probably say, and I'm sure they have said, many weeks, you know, why isn't Jason Day at the top? You've been very patient in sort of explaining the formula that you arrive at when you put these rankings together, and I could tell sometimes that you're ready to bang your head against the wall with some of these people. But, you know, it's a little bit different. It's not just the best player in the field and then staggering down from one to ten. You know, and that's why I love having this opportunity to speak with you, because they can extrapolate a little more on some of the things that go into it. Obviously, I go into detail in the discussion, throwing people at specific questions or, you know, the challenge of ranking or something like that, and it gives me an opportunity, you know, that there's only so much room on the internet to explain something before you lose people's attention. So, you want to kind of get in and get out, but I appreciate that because, yeah, I think all of these guys, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's a core specific, it's field specific, weather specific, you know, form, history. It all plays a role. It's not like day 30 second, and, you know, I'm going to give a nod to a, to a guy that deserves it this week. And you get to use words like acquiesce and extrapolate as you have today. Very impressive. Those both cost me $9. Paul Casey, sneaky tie for fourth at Augusta, huh? And feeling better, I had a little stomach illness he was, he was dealing with, but he's the man atop the rankings this week. You know, a 67 on Sunday, he went, he opened with 69. So, he was already in the mix, and then it went 77-74. Everybody was playing poorly, the course won with the win. But for all of the people that want to say, it was a backdoor T4, kind of like Matt Coocher had a backdoor T25 at the match. Listen, these guys could have folded and went home. You know, Casey probably knew at some, at some point he wasn't going to win this tournament, and before the final round. And that he still went, ran through the tape to post the number. Obviously, he's making good money with the T4 and FedEx Cup points. And he's chasing the rider, or not a rider cup at the Olympics. And, you know, his focus is really singular this year. Get a hand to the guy. Now, in this field this week, he basically eclipses his day by a nose, and from my standpoint, like another guy consistently strong and late, despite a stomach illness recently. Seventh of the row, T9 at Bay Hill, and then last week's T4. He's three for three at Hilton, had no worse than the T22. And then T18 in his last start two years ago. So, some experience, you know, consistency is what it's all about sometimes. And, you know, although he has only three stars, that's enough to know how to get around this place. And, you know, toss on his current form, and the fact that he's also very balanced across the board. 21st in the all-around ranking, and that could go on. Confidence is highest in cases this week. I know you have Kissner in your one and done, but I'm taking Paul Kissner. Cubs have lost one game on the season as we record this. I'm not going to lie to you, I'm going to be very petty about this. I'm glad you were there in Arizona the night that they lost. You got to see it. So aggravating, too. Yeah, I'm still getting used to the fan that, you know, the Diamondbacks have the youngest fan base along with the Del the Rays, and have any major league baseball team. Oh, wow. And they're still kind of learning how to digest the baseball game in my sort of traditional, purest, wiggly field, you know, perspective. Yeah. So, it's tough for me to see them do the wave. It's tough for me to see them clap when the Cubs are batting. It's just a very different experience. So, it's a little aggravating for me to attend the game, although the people are outstanding. It's just different, you know. And then, but then to see them actually win the game on a walk-off. Oh, yeah. That's where it just, that's just, that's just great. That's just twisting it a little bit too much. Your boys are slugging, though. I would not worry too much about the offense. Even with the Schwarber banked out. That was, that was ugly, man. He can, he could swing the bat. He wasn't much in left field, but he's a bat that will be missed, I think. Yeah, okay. I won't worry. But to be at the only game they lost, that hurt. I hope they get to another game at some point this year. You know, I'm still waiting for that invitation from somebody I know to, to bring me to a playoff game. I don't know if that's ever going to happen. But, uh, you're enjoying a long season. I hope it's a really long summer in a good way. At Rob Holton Golf, follow him on Twitter. Check out all the fine work at PGA2R.com. This week's RBC Heritage, and every week here on the Talk of the Tour podcast. Thank you, big fellow. Enjoyed it. Stay in here. I'll talk to you next week. And that will do it for the Talk of the Tour podcast today. Hope you dug it. And enjoy the conversations with all of our guests. James Hobbs, the college golf coach for the Masters Champion, Danny Willett. Pricing to Shambo. Pro debut this week for the kid at the RBC Heritage. And Rob Bolton for his weekly tournament breakdown of the power rankings, as always. You can find the Talk of the Tour podcast during the week by going to PGA2R.com/podcasts, the landing page for all of our audio content. You can access it there via iTunes, tune in, and Stitcher. So head to PGA2R.com/podcasts and subscribe today. The next pod is scheduled for this Friday, April 15th, where our guests will be the newly announced captains for the 2017 President's Cup. Nick Price and Steve Swicker on the next Talk of the Tour. I'm John Spontec. Thanks for listening, being a part of the show. And remember, let go of the need to control the outcome. Trust the process. Trust your intuition. Trust yourself. Think about it, people. I'll talk to you on Friday. [BLANK_AUDIO]