John Swantek visits with Chris Solomon from No Laying Up to discuss The Masters and make their selections.
Talk of the TOUR Golf Podcast
No Laying Up co-founder and producer Chris Solomon
And welcome to the talk of the tour podcast for Monday, April 4th. I'm John Swanson, my guest coming up momentarily, Chris Solomon from No Land Up. Hopefully I still have a job 45 minutes from now. Keep up with everything happening when, where, how it suits your schedule by accessing this podcast or all of our content. Any of our shows via iTunes, Stitcher or TuneIn. Here's what you do kids, you log on to PGA2.com/podcast. You'll learn more about the latest edition of any of the shows that used to stream live at PGA2R.com. You can listen, download the podcast there. PGA2R.com/podcasts and subscribe today. On the heels of the Shell Houston Open, it is Monday of Master's Week. As we record this, as Jordan Spieth could set to defend his title at Augusta National. Okay, welcoming in my first guest to successfully predicted that, I don't know if Jim Herman win the Shell Houston Open, but it would be a winning score of fourteen under par and he would make his way into the Masters. Chris Solomon from No Land Up. Nice work. You're all over that, weren't you? Yeah, I did. You can definitely go find that tweet on my timeline. It definitely exists out there. You know what, I actually may have accidentally deleted that so the evidence isn't still there. But yeah, I totally, I absolutely called that one. I couldn't see that one coming. I like when these, I like when these stories develop. And Von Taylor won a Pebble Beach for the first time in eleven years on the tour after having no status at all and played his way into the Masters as hometown of Augusta, Georgia, no less. That was cool. And Jim Herman punches the last ticket to Augusta. That's cool. I mean, we've got the usual list of suspects. We're going to contend and win this week, Chris. But I like those stories that develop during the season. Yeah, it seems it's refreshing and everyone kind of dreams, right? We've all done it. Anyone that's actually played golf dreamed of or kind of pictured the scenario where you would come down the stretch and win a PGA Tour event. And you would think it would be this, you know, awesome story, like no name, John Swantec comes out of nowhere to win the tournament. You got, you think the whole crowd's rooting for you. But in reality, the whole crowd's really pulling for the big names, right? I mean, Jim Herman's obviously not a household name. There's probably more people rooting for, you know, the Fowler's and the speeds to make a run out of yesterday that we're truly rooting for him to win. But that doesn't make the story any less compelling or interesting. And, you know, I thought Jason Dunder made some interesting comments on Twitter, you know, during the event and after about saying how ridiculous some of the announcers sounded and that, you know, the players don't view those guys the same way we do his fans, right? They know that Jim Herman can line up any week and, you know, edge out some of the top players in the world and beat them and actually go on to win on the entire tournament. And, you know, it may seem like the situation's too big for him or, you know, it's only natural for a bigger name player to overtake them. But when the players are out there, they don't, I would imagine they don't think about that nearly the same way we do on watching on TV as fans. Yeah. No, I think you're right. And there's a different perception and interpretation for what I feel is two different audiences. You've got casual golf fans that watch the majors four times a year. The players' championship would have you. And then hardcore fans from week to week who understand that the difference between one and a hundred in the World Golf rankings is maybe, maybe a shot a day, right? Oh, yeah, I wouldn't even -- a shot a day makes a difference in the world out of those guys. And, I mean, you're talking about guys that just compete at this level that has become so efficient. You know, the market between -- of all these players is so efficient. And then, if you're giving away a shot a day, that's a difference in being a web.com tour player and a PGA tour player. And yeah, these guys can, you know, obviously, if Jordan Speeth and Jim Herman line it up a hundred times, again, each other's speed is going to win more often than not. It's not like a one versus 16-seat in basketball going against each other. And there's going to be days when Herman beats speed. And it's not an -- it's not really an upset. It's just, you know, it's a lot of averages when it comes to golf. So it is surprising and interesting and fun when those guys do win. There's a reason why it doesn't happen all the time. But, again, there's not that many tour players out there on Monday today that are completely shocked that Jim Herman won this weekend. Speaking of hoops, we've got Nova and Carolina tonight for everything. For all of it, Carolina has been tearing through the brackets. They just destroyed Oklahoma on Saturday night. Who you got tonight? I'll go with North Carolina only based on what you just said because I have not watched any of this tournament. It all happened overnight for me, so I don't get to see any of it. I've never seen -- I've not seen either team play a basketball game this year, but you've made -- you've told me on it right there. All right. Well, tell people what your background is. I mean, most people that follow no laying up closely, you know, understand kind of what your background is and where you work, and I certainly do. But a lot of people may not. So give us a little thumbnail. Okay, yeah. So we started the website, nolaneup.com, about two and a half years ago, a little over two years ago. And, you know, since then, I got an opportunity with my company I work with to do a rotation in Amsterdam. So I moved -- I lived in Chicago for six years. And then October 2014, I moved over to Amsterdam, and I've been there now for about a year and a half working, traveling, and watching golf when I can a lot less frequently these days than it was in the beginning. Yeah. So, yeah, I've been there -- I'll be there for another 15 months or so. I'm actually in Chicago at the moment on a work trip, but, yeah, it's been a blast living over there. And it helps being -- sometimes it does help to be living there as a golf viewer because the golf's on at night and out of the work, and there's more viewable hours whether or not I'm home to actually watch it is one thing, but it actually can be beneficial from a golf fan perspective. So when you move back to the States at another 15 months, will it be to the Columbus area in Ohio where you grew up? No, it'll be in Chicago. Okay. I still work for my company in Chicago, and they've had me basically out on loan to our office in Amsterdam, which is a pretty awesome program, and it's been the experience of a lifetime living over there and traveling to a lot of places I've gotten to go to. But, yeah, I'm still a Chicago employee, and I'll be back here once I come home. How young were you when you went to Mirafield Village for the first time to see the tournament? Oh, it was probably seven or eight years old, I guess. We moved to Columbus, and, yeah, my family lived in Dublin, actually, in Mirafield Village, not on the golf course, but a short bike ride or walk away from the course. So I honestly, John, it spoiled me as a kid, going to that tournament for so many years and not knowing how unique that actual tournament was and how the course was designed. A lot of people give the TPC, the stadium course at Sawgrass, credit for being the first course designed for tournament golf when actually, I think, Mirafield probably beat it by a couple of years as far as designing natural amphitheaters around the greens and viewpoints on all the T-boxes, and you just don't realize how great of a tournament is to attend until I've been to a couple of tournaments in other cities since then, and there's corporate boxes around the T-boxes, and it's not the same viewpoints and view lines, and I never knew how spoiled I was until somewhat recently, and honestly, it's one of my favorite weeks of the year. I'm trying to finagle away. I think I may have done it, and I think I may be able to make it back there for that weekend this year. Oh, this year? I don't think so. I don't think so. I need to be in D.C. that following week. I need to convince a couple people to let me go. Wow. You do that. You do that, because we'll be there for DirecTV, so we will certainly hook up that week. That's one of my favorite weeks of the year. I love that tournament. I love everything about it, the community, Jack Nicklaus's connection to it, obviously. He must have been just a God in the area growing up there as a kid. A legend at Ohio State, and then obviously during his professional years, as the designer of the golf course, the champion there a couple of times, and everything he meant to that community in Columbus. Yeah. I mean, the name is just, I mean, if you said the name Jack around Columbus or around Dublin, you don't need a last name to go with it. Everyone knows exactly what you're talking about, and he's a very friendly guy to it. My mom has got some great stories of, you know, my grandfather back in '86 actually was following him during the final round of the Masters, and he has the ticket from that day, and she got him to sign it one year at the Memorial, and wrote a letter to him after we're thanking him for it, and actually got a correspondence back from Jack acknowledging it. She's like, "I do remember," because she told the story while he was signing it. She's like, "I remember you telling me the story." Who knows if that was actually true, but that's what he told her. Sorry. It was pretty interesting. Oh, yeah. And that's so meaningful this week. We always harken back to what happened in '86, and it was the greatest Masters in the impression of so many people. In fact, golf channel is running, I think, tonight and maybe tomorrow night, '86, once again, I look forward to that. There were so many players in the mix that year. Our mind goes directly to Nicklaus, and just pouring in birdie after birdie on the inward nine, but so many things had to unfold properly before Jack could make his historic run that year. Chris, it was Kite, and it was Norman, and it was Biesteros, and the names are escaping me right now. But there were about six or seven people that had a legitimate chance to win over the last nine to 12 holes on Sunday. Yeah, exactly what you said. When you think back to '86, Masters, you would think of Jack winning, right? That's the anchor point. That's what you start with, and you forget about all the things that had to happen in sequence, like you said, for that, too, unfortunately, for Greg Norman, it's kind of down the list on the heartbreak that he experienced at Augusta, and it made your championships. I mean, when you think of him missing out on Chance at the Green Jacket, that might be the third or fourth Masters that you lift as far as bad breaks or raw, raw deals that he got. Yeah, Sevi, I think it would hit a forward into the water on 15, I think, that was kind of a shocking moment, and I would be interested, and I've heard, actually, the documentary that you're speaking of, actually, it's not necessarily just shot by shot of Nicholas going through it. It kind of sets the scene for the entire day, and how, I mean, just so incredibly improbable that run was, and I think he shot 30 with a bogey on the back. Yes. I mean, it really truly is unprecedented, and not something we're likely to see again. We'd love to see it from Tiger at some point, but, I mean, he's given us a few runs. I think in 11 he made a very interesting run. They sort of resembled that in the slightest bit, but he obviously wasn't able to finish it off, but he'll be missed this week as well, but also his lack of presence there actually kind of gets rid of some of the nonsense that comes with it, and too much attention they get to put on him as well. Yeah, I was going to ask you that. What the tangible impact of Tiger's absence will be, because I think, in general terms, in the landscape of professional golf, we've sort of got past this anticipated post-Tiger apocalypse in the game. I think everybody is comfortable with what we've got right now and who we have carrying the torch. It's a little different at Augusta, maybe not even competitively, Chris, but his aura, I think, is so strong there. Part of that might be missed a little bit this week, I think, anyway. Yeah, and I mean, it's easy to forget, and last year he was in the third-to-last group on Sunday. Yeah. I've got a tweet out there somewhere, I probably should have gone back and deleted it where I boldly declared that he was back, but I think he put an exclamation point in there and said he's back, which, yeah, obviously, what's happened even since last year's match, I think he only had one top ten at the end of the year, but I mean, it's something about him in that place. Going into it, the storyline was that he couldn't hit a chip shot, right, and he grinded for about two months before, you know, he claimed he had over a thousand chips and somehow got himself in playing shape for the Masters, but I don't think anybody could have really effectively predicted, so it is kind of one of those things where if he just showed up this week, I wouldn't have countered anything out, I don't think he would have won, but I wouldn't have been that surprised if he made the cut, but that being said, I don't think he's anywhere near healthy enough to begin considering playing golf, and even though it took him a while to announce that he wasn't in a play, I never seriously thought he would, and he's not getting really any indications on that timeline either, which is worrisome as well. I'm fine with him, sitting back waiting, resting as long as he possibly can, and when he does come back, I want it to be uninterrupted and, you know, the best effort from a physical perspective that we can get from at this point. Last Friday here in the offices of PGA2 Entertainment, there's an internal email that comes out every Friday, and it has the commitment list for the next week's event, and this comes out at five o'clock usually on Friday, and there it is, 91 players in the Masters, and you go down to the W's, there he is, woods, well, this place, man, was, it was like a fire drill. I mean, everyone started going bonkers, and I was like, settled down, people. He's been on the commitment list since 1997, let's just wait an hour, I'm sure there's a statement coming out, but for a while there, it was crazy around here. That announcement had to really come on Friday, right, so he knew he was making everyone wait around their office till eight o'clock, I mean, right, am I off-paced there? No, not entirely, I think, no, not entirely, he was going to wait until the last instance that he possibly could, but that way. Yeah, but I don't understand the purpose behind that, other than to, you know, needle some people a little bit, but I mean, I'm sure he's known for quite some time, and he was not going to be playing in the Masters, but, and he doesn't, to me, Tiger doesn't do a lot of stuff to grab attention, like I would say, maybe like an Ian Poulter might, but we made it pretty long into this conversation without me making Ian Poulter's pretty impressed. So hey, that part was odd to me, and I know there were enough, there were decent people that it took long enough to, they were like, okay, why is it taking this long? The only reason they possibly would is maybe he is actually going to show up at the last minute, but yeah, it was zero percent surprising to see that, see that scroll across the ticker come eight o'clock. Chatting with Chris Solomon from No Laying Up here on the Talk of the Tour podcast, let's talk about the players who are in the field. I'm really fired up about this, and I want to say it feels different than it does every year. I don't know, I can't transport myself back, you know, 52 weeks from now, because I probably felt the same way last year, but it seems like there's so many storylines that are just bubbling, and so many really good, informed players that are viable threats to win this week. Let's begin with the defending champion. Keith had a little bit of a run on Sunday, man, he started pouring in birdies, and I thought, oh, here we go, he got within two, three of the lead before he backed up, but he goes to Augusta looking to become just the fourth player to go back to back, and the guy's gone to one in his first two appearances there. No one has done that, not even Nicholas. I think I declared it last time I was on your show, and I'm going to do it again, I'm sticking with it. George Keith is going to win the 2016 Masters, I think that, you know what, I don't need to justify that. I really don't. I think his record, I got to speak for itself. It was nice to see, I leave even if it was brief, a brief run at it this past week, and I know he didn't finish the way he would have liked to, but I don't put it that much on, you know, I mean, form is important leading up to it, but it's not, you know, I don't think I needed to see him finish top five or anything like that. He was really hot leading into it last year, which obviously helped boost him to that record setting performance, but I think something about getting on those grounds for him, you know, to have played it, your first two starts ever, and to have only been beaten by one guy, you know, who's actually won two of those. There's something about that place for him, and I think he's going back to back. Yeah. He looks a little different this year. He seems to be more easily agitated, and I guess you can explain it by the mere fact that he is the man right now. I mean, he's the guy in the crosshairs. Despite what Jason Day has done over the last few weeks, this beat put together a transformative year in the game's history, and he's going to be perceived in that manner going into the year. He seems to be a little more out of sorts, but he strikes me as the kind of guy, Chris, that just needs to get his nose in the fight and understands the magnitude of certain events in certain moments more specifically. And I'm with you. I got a feeling about him this week. Well, I think, I mean, a lot of change in his life in the last year, you know, and I think I don't know what his world ranking was, he'll be going to the master's last year, but it was not, I don't think it was in the top five, or at least I know it's like the beginning of the year last year, somewhere ranked around ninth player in the world, which was ridiculous for a 21 year old to begin with. But I mean, you think about all the different things that have happened in his life since then. He's won six times, I believe since then, including two majors, was so close to winning the Grand Slam. He was second at the BGA and was a shot out of the playoff at the British. You know, he signed a new deal with coke, he has traveled all over the world playing golf in different countries appearance fees and the spotlight on him is different and everything is different. So when we say he looks a little more agitated, maybe he's just either presented in a different way or, you know, we see a lot more of him now. So maybe we, and maybe we're just a little bit more used to seeing, you know, mannerisms from him and out, outbursts from him and they're starting to add up or more shots are shown on TV. It's hard to say that the attention on him now leading into the Masters is a lot greater than it was before he was a Masters champion, which is to be expected. So I don't, I don't put a whole lot into that. I think he's a, he's an incredibly mature guy for 22 years old. And yeah, I don't, I, I agree that it's something that does seem different with them. But again, it could be just our perception from what we're presented on TV. I don't know what he's serving for the Champions Center, by the way. Do you know what he's serving? I mean, it's got to be like Texas barbecue or something like that. Right. I mean, I don't expect to come up with anything, him to come up with anything too shocking or, or, or too different from that. But I don't know, I don't know what else they eat in Texas, but I'm sure that'll, that'll satisfy those people. Yeah, he is 21. There'll be a keg of Lone Star beer there probably in the Champions Center. Phil Mickelson very rejuvenated this season. He's done everything but when I think Mickelson actually leads the tour and adjusted scoring us all recently, surprised me a little bit, even though he's played exceptionally well this year. He's older than people think and that's not a, that's not a knock on Phil. It's just an observation. He's only a year younger basically than Nicholas was when he won in 86. Something happens to Mickelson when he gets to Augusta every year and I would not be shocked to see him right there yet again Sunday evening. Chris, like he always seems to be. Now you know that though, and I actually talked about this with Shane Bacon on his podcast last week in that, Phil at 45 and most, I don't know if most players has right to say, it's just interesting from Phil's, I guess, physical standpoint. We don't look at Phil as like this physical specimen. He's never been a huge Jim Hogg from what I, from what I can gather, but he doesn't seem to have aged as far as his flexibility really at all and he can still move it out there. There's no distance issues with him. There's relatively little health issues with him. I know he's got arthritis in his hands and he's very quiet about that and for Phil to be quiet about something is actually pretty significant. You don't hear a lot about his health and you just don't think about, I don't think any of his problems in the past couple of years or his lack of winning last couple of years has been necessarily related to his age. I mean, I'm sure it's a contributing factor and if you look at the natural career progression for any athlete and also for golfers, you're not expected to be winning and competing at your very best into your 40s. But I don't think when he lines it up, I don't think guys look at him and are like, oh, old guy next to me. I think they still see Phil Mickelson. It may not be 2006, almost one, three majors in a row Phil Mickelson, but it's still a guy that has been there in so many scenarios. To me, it's more about him putting than anything physical or anything about his golf swing at all and that's where he has trouble when he doesn't have trouble when they're missing six-foot putts, but it's those short putts that tend to undo him at majors. But if he has those working, then nothing either way would surprise me from Phil. He's the second best player of the Tiger Woods generation. Is it by a little or by a lot, do you think? I would say by a lot. Yeah, me too. I think he's one, I think 40 professional PGA Tour events. Is that right? Yeah, me too. Something like that. I hesitated for a second because I think, in general, VJ doesn't get enough, people don't appreciate enough what VJ did during the mid-2000s, mostly because he's VJ and not a very popular player, and I have to look, I don't know how many tournaments VJ wanted. It's certainly not 40 and it's certainly not five majors, but the difference between the five majors and what VJ has two or three. He's got three. He's got three. Phil, the difference between that is huge. There's a reason why there's no active players besides Tiger that have more major wins than Phil. Am I right in saying that? I'm hoping I'm not. Yeah. Yeah. Or he's got four, Phil's got five. Yeah, you got it. I'm sure there wasn't somebody I forgot, but that's a lot of majors. In the same vein, we lose a little perspective on how many majors four is for Rory McElroy at his current age, and it almost seems like it was so long ago that he last won a major. It was four majors ago, so those titles, you know, it's five and the way we look at Phil though, too, it could have been so many more. Wing foot and, you know, even like the 2012 Masters, Phil would tell you he definitely should have won that if he doesn't triple bogey number four on Sunday. So yeah, I'm definitely fine calling him the second best player of the era by a lot, because I think he's probably one of maybe one of the 12 best players of all time. Yeah. It'd be hard to argue with that. I mean, this current generation of fans were kind of swept up in what we've seen for the last decade ago, but there were so many good players from bygone era. I think the game and the tour is a lot deeper now, Chris, from one to a hundred, but for my money, still the Nicholas era with the tail end of Palmer and with Miller and Weiskoff and, let's see, Hale Irwin and Watson, of course, and Billy Casper, who's the most underrated player in the game's history for my money. I think the top 20 was a little deeper, maybe four or five decades ago. Oh, that's interesting. Yeah. You think the top 24 or five years ago was deeper? Yeah, like decades ago, like I think from one to a hundred, the depth of the two or the depth of the game is incredible right now, and it's unparalleled in the game's history where, you know, Jim Herman, who's a really good player, is someone most people don't know about. Can go out and win the shell, Houston open, and get into the Masters. But I think the era of Nicholas and Irwin and Watson and Casper and Palmer and all of those guys, the top 10, 15, 20, I think was stronger historically than the crop we've got now. Not by much, but I think we just, we kind of lose sight of that fact because we're in this generation here. Well, I don't think I necessarily agree with that because I think the reason we ended that, I don't mean it's in any disrespect to the guys, like Wythe Copper, Irwin, some of those guys you named, but they were, I guess the difference between maybe the 20th guy in that time and the 100th guy was a lot bigger than it is currently, I think that's the point you're making. Yeah. But I think that contributed to the way we view a Hail Irwin, I think he's won three majors. Is that right? Hail Irwin? Yeah, all U.S. opens. Three U.S. opens. Yeah. I mean, that don't mean to flight that accomplishment at all, but I think the way, I mean, look at a guy like, even like Furek, right? I mean, he, he's, near the tail end of his career, but and he's probably not going to be the top of the list of all the guys we think of in this era. But I mean, just in the last 20 years or so, we have guys like him, David Tom's, is that a very underrated career, and he's a, a serial layer upper, I guess you could say, so not the top of my fan. It worked. Yeah, we got him a major though. It did. It did. And I mean, even going down the list with guys like Justin Leonard, you know, probably not, can't be spoke of in the same vein that you, that the guys you mentioned, but we're also, how are we going to view Adam Scott in 20 years, or how are we going to view somebody like, um, Podrick Harrington, you know, who's won, who's won three major championships as well. It's kind of, when we, when you're in the middle of it, it's hard to, it's hard to make comparisons as to who those Irwin's and why's cop guys are. But I think, you know, it's even harder for guys in that, in that range. You know, guys around, around 20th in the world now, because not only do you have these amazing young players ahead of you and amazing, you know, even middle-aged players ahead of you, you've also got the guys that, or a hundred that can line up and beat you any day of the week. And a lot of those young, really young guys that aren't, that come out on tour and are, are winning within their first couple of years as well. So, it's almost, it's almost twice as hard, I would say, for guys in that round to really make a name for themselves and be identified in the same way history views the guys you mentioned. Yeah. It, it kind of goes both ways. I, I get your point that definitely fields are way more strong than, but I also agree that, um, some of those guys just behind the big three of like Nicholas Palmer, a player, whatnot, maybe not, maybe don't get quite as much respect as they should have. Yeah. And, and we have the benefit of time to assess those, those careers in, in historical context. And we will, to your point, another 10, 20 years on this current crap and kind of view it from a longer lens. Um, what's your favorite major, by the way, of the four? Do you have one that stands out? Yeah, the masters. It is my favorite week of the year. This is the only week where, like, I, you know, I've had friends that have been like, yeah, I'm going to be, you know, in town this week, I'm like, okay, well, I'm actually, I'm busy. I really can't. I'm not flexible. And I remember last year, I think I missed somebody's going away party, like, on that Friday night of the masters, I know this is going to sound ridiculous, but I can't come to your party. Like, I'm going to be watching the masters. I'm really sorry. So I actually, I block it off on my calendar and like, I, I, if somebody comes up with, you know, plans for, to do something, I'm like, I, I'm unavailable. You cannot reach me during this time. That's the only week of the year I'll do that. That and the writer cup. I actually got a, I got an email today, a bunch of my friends wanted to book a trip to go to October 5th this year and I was like, I'm sorry, it's a writer cup weekend. Any of, any of the other ones will work for me, but I'm not going to write a cup weekend. So yeah, it's, it's easily the masters. Um, it, it kind of, it's, it's, it's, what contributes to it is you have eight month build up to it. It's the excitement of, uh, you know, it's the one you talk about for eight months and it's just so much, some of that golf course and the kind of players that it identifies as the best. It's, it's too much fun. I, I'm so excited for this week. Have you heard my theory about how the major championships are embodied by the four members of the needles? And which is which? Wow. Okay. I'm trying to imagine. I'm not heard it. I want to hear it. I'm trying to imagine in my head, but I say it. All right. Let me lay this on. Pun intended there. By the way, by the way, by being thrown in imagine there. But go ahead. We'll go one at a time here. Okay. The, the masters is Paul McCartney. It's, it's the prettiest. It's, uh, the image that most casual fans have about what this quartet is, um, it's the first one of the years. So it's kind of the front man of the four. How about that? Okay. All right. Uh, the US Open is John Lennon, the, the most complex, the most vexing, uh, the toughest to decipher and comprehend. And the one I think that hardcore golf fans appreciate the most. Okay. I'm, I'm, I'm, you're selling me. Okay. The job here. Open championship is, is Ringo a little different, uh, a little fun, uh, a little quirkier and unpredictable than the others and with the longest longevity because Ringo is, is still with it. Open by virtue of its tradition and all the years it's been in existence. Uh, Ringo star at the British. Okay. I was expecting, I was expecting Ringo to kind of be, because that's the one everyone likes to make fun of. So I figured that was going to be the PGA championship. You can, you threw it a little curveball. I mean, okay. So the PGA, yeah, it's George Harrison, the, the most under appreciated of the four year and a year out through the years, but the one that almost always delivers. Uh, he's not, he's not Eric Clapton, the PGA is not the masters, but he's, he's really damn good as the musician goes. That, all right. You got me on that one. You're right. You're right. The PGA championship does always deliver it. Yeah. It does. It does end up being one of the best tournaments of the year. Um, I'm not sure how the Open championship would feel about getting compared to Ringo, but other, other than that, you got me. You got me. That's, that's well thought through. All right. Good. Uh, winning score this week. I know we got some rain maybe on Thursday and Friday. It seems like we always land between 12 and 1500 here, don't we? Yeah. Um, I'm, I'm actually very, um, I don't want to be nervous. I'm a little bit on edge about what to expect this week from Augusta itself, right? Because what we thought, we all thought would happen last year. They're not going to want that again. They're not going to want, you know, Justin Rose shooting 14 under and not, not really being in contention to win the title. Yeah. So, um, I think you're going to see that sub air cranked up a little bit, greens a little bit more firm. I'll be anxious to hear some reports from the players starting today. Um, I, I'm also curious to know, because they usually keep this stuff very quiet, had they made any changes to the course of the, I'm sure if, if there were significant changes, we would have heard about them by now, but, uh, it doesn't sound like they've added, added T boxes added length or anything around the course, but I just, I'd like to hear from the players. I'll be definitely reading some, uh, some transcripts later to figure out what, uh, what, what to expect this week, because I think that, that'll go into what we're predicting as well. I mean, if, if it's going to be a soft and wet course, I think, uh, you know, people are obviously going to be more drawn to Rory, Rory, uh, making, uh, making a run at it. Well, winning score, I'll say, um, thirteen under one at this year, because I do think that they're going to be a little bit more protective of the thing than they were last year. You know, that sounds about right. Um, how about Rory? I don't know what to expect. And we, we seem to say that often with him, uh, going into these events, um, has played this year. Yeah, it's been, it's been Rory asked, I suppose, it's been, it's been great at times when he's in full flight. It's been a little bit of a mystery, uh, at times. I guess the putting is the key with Mac or whatever. You could say that about anybody, any given week, especially this week at Augusta. Yeah, no, you nailed it and it's kind of, let's see, the opposite of the reason you had me on for me to come on and say, I don't know, I don't really know what to expect from Rory. Um, I'm a huge Rory fan. I really am. Uh, I, I am used to though, his ball striking just being a, uh, something you don't even have to think about. You know, it's, it's always going to be there. It's whether or not he puts, um, the only real question usually is, is his driver, you know, is a, is a plus driver or is his B driver. Cause when the A plus driver comes out and he's in the middle of every fairway 320 yards down and hitting it wedge into every green, he gives himself so many 15 foot putts that he runs into enough of them to be in the top four come Sunday afternoon, no matter what tournament it is. Um, right now it doesn't seem like his long game is clicking at the level that we're used to seeing from him to the point where he's making a lot of critical mistakes and hitting the ball and spots that you just absolutely can't hit it in. Um, it, he was helped out. I didn't watch much of the match play, but I'm guessing, um, those big errors don't hurt you as much match play as they would in stroke. So, uh, I know he made a bunch of double bogeys with the, um, the week before that at Bay Hill that basically cost them from being in contention. So, and Augusta is not exactly the course where you can get away with big misses. I mean, it's not the most demanding course off the tee, but if you're hitting your irons in the wrong spots around the greens, then you can't make putts, you can't make birdies and you're fighting for par's and if you're fighting for par's Augusta, you're not competing for the title. So, I'm actually a lot less worried about his putting. Um, I'm really encouraged by what I've seen, at least in the stats from, since he switched to the left hand low, um, but I don't, he's, he's, the ironic part, he has, he's putting that he's putting a lot better, but he's not hitting the ball as well as he has in the past, but that definitely doesn't mean I don't think he can turn it on for a week. It's just kind of that Rory question mark, I don't know what I'm getting into. Yeah, that's what makes him so fascinating, really, isn't it? Yeah, no, I mean, he is, he's, he's such an underrated, compelling character of the game, right? Because I mean, talking about guys that, you know, we're looking for interesting guys that aren't going to give you the same, you know, well, just take it one shot at a time, we'll see what happens up there. If you really listen to the answers, Rory gives and interviews and I don't, I don't know him personally, but like we, we've exchanged the messages at times, right? And he's one of the most authentic and just like a cool guy. He's just such an, he honestly just truly is a cool guy and it's such an easy guy to root for and he's almost still like kind of the forgotten guy in this group of, you know, top three, four, five players in the game, right? Because, I mean, you know, Ricky Fowler's done a lot of damage in the last year and a half. He hasn't won a major, obviously, but, you know, look, I mean, it's fair because Rory's bred the main over the last, you know, what year, year and a half plus is not match guys like day and speed, but at the same time we, he's still in that conversation that we always have of who's a game is best and he's still the guy that's sitting there and he's won four of these and he's in his, you know, mid to late 20s, so should not be the forgotten about guy. I'm excited. But again, we have so many storylines, like you mentioned, it's, I mean, if he, if he, you know, finished at T-25, we'll just kind of forget about it and move on, right? Because one of those other guys is going to be near the top anyway, so we have a lot to root for and a lot to look forward to this week, no matter what, no matter what happens with Rory. You're right. That's a good work. And he's accountable too. He's had some missteps, you know, like walking off the course with the toothache at the Honda a few years ago, but he's transparent, you know, he, he says, you know, I made a mistake. He's got flaws just like the rest of us and I think people, people dig that. They certainly connect with him in that regard. Jason Day, I don't see any weaknesses, man. I mean, the way his short game bailed him out during the match play, which it has to during a match play environment, I get it, but there's just no stress there. I mean, there's no stress for this man. He's got a great track record at Augusta. Seems to be healthy, although you never know, because he swings so hard if he's going to, you know, snap a vertebrae sometimes. It seems like out there, but everything is sort of converging for him this week. But along with it is going to come enormous pressure, I think, Chris. Yeah. No, I think you meant, as you said, you don't know what the weakness is. I think you mentioned it though. And it is the health. That's the only question mark that comes with Jason Day, really. It almost seems like, and I have nothing to support this, let me warn you, but it almost seems like, like you said, it's all coming together for him at the right time. It seems like too much. And I don't know if it's, I don't necessarily think it'll be pressure that gets to him, but it's almost seems like too easy of a prediction to say that he'll win the match or to be the favorite going into it. I do not disagree with that if you look at what he's done and his track record. I don't know how you come to any other conclusion, to be honest, but it rarely works out just for that number one guy going into Augusta. What he has going for him is he's not commanding the kind of attention that goes into, I guess, like Rory going into it last year, trying to win the Grand Slam, or, you know, if speed was number one in the world coming off, you know, to win this spring, like Day has had, I think there'd be more attention on speed, you know, as the defending champion, you know, can you go back to back? Then there is on Day. He's not, not getting to this favorite spot, but he's kind of, his play over the last month is what's put in there. So it's not the same level of scrutiny and attention to it, but again, it's not a bold prediction to say if the favorite won't win, but it just rarely works. I mean, the odds say he has what, maybe like an 18 to 20 percent chance of winning at best, which is, you know, in that field that means something, but again, no one should be surprised if he doesn't win the match. It's very unfair, standard to hold him to, especially with all the storylines that we have going into it. Yeah, but you're right. His elevated play has made it just a little bit easier, maybe easier is not the right word, but created a little more breathing room with the height machine for some of the other guys. Speed concluded even as the defending champion. I think Day is in the cross-airs this week. That's good news for speed, Rory, Bubba Watson, and his peculiar genius there to go to Adam Scott as well. This guy ripped off the first two legs of the floor to swing, and we're not even talking about him anymore, it seems. That's the Masters, man. This is the greatest tournament. This is why it's the greatest tournament in the world. Look at all the different things you and I can talk about on Monday. We haven't even seen any golf yet. We haven't seen the course yet, nothing, and we could sit here and talk for hours. This is like my third or fourth show of some kind I've done about the Masters. I'm talking about different things every time I go on it. That's what makes this tournament so compelling and so interesting, and we're lucky in that, I'd say, aside from Bubba Watson, the guys that play really well here and are playing great leading into it are all really likable guys, and guys that, honestly, most of the names we've named so far, I could find myself rooting for any of those guys that come different scenarios come Sunday afternoon. There's no one on that. If speed and day are going head to head, I don't know who I'm rooting for among that group. That's why we're in such a great place as golf fans, not only to have such great golf going on, but guys that are very easy to root for in these types of scenarios. Scott is going with Steve Williams this week, right? I should know this. I don't know what Steve is. That's a tough one because his man Dave Clark, that's like Paul to picture, he's got a no hit or going in the bottom of the seventh day. I don't know how you do that, but certainly tactically it makes sense to have Stevie because of all his experience and all his victories with his guys at Augusta through the years. Yeah, no, I have zero problem with him bringing Stevie onto the bag here, and I mean, honestly, it probably was not even a decision if you ask him. I think, in my opinion, and I don't, it depends, on how much of an effect a caddy has on a player, because you can't judge what psychological effect that has on the player. The only tangible thing I would think that matters is reading of the greens, right? And if you listen, I actually read a really great article from Gary Vincickel on golf.com this week about, or last week about Jeff Knox, who is the famous marker at Augusta, the Augusta member who will play with the players if there's an odd number of players in the field on the weekends, and just hearing what they talk about, or what they say about him, about reading the greens. He's not the first person to say this, but you don't read the greens at Augusta National, you remember them. So Stevie has been there for so long, and it goes back to the putt that Adam's gotten made in 2013 to win the Masters. Stevie, you know, I don't remember the details, but Adam said, "I think it's a cup outside, right?" No, it's two cups, and it was two cups, and he made it. That I think can honestly make a difference out of Augusta, and I don't think the Caddy, you know, over the course of a tournament, club selections and shot selections, kind of even the self-out, but if Adam's got a guy that he knows he can rely on to help him read those greens, I think that absolutely can make a difference. It was dark, too, by the way, big difference between one cup out and two cups out in the fading. I mean, that was about to go to Monday. Remember that? Oh, that would have been disaster. Is the Masters ever gone to a Monday? Oh, gosh, not that I can recall. It's... No. I mean, I'm sure it has. I'm sure it has, but not that I can recall if it's off my head. Yeah, not in... I don't know how they would do that with the patrons, and I thought I would say last year I went to the Open Championship last year. That's right. Hooked my flight home at four o'clock on Monday afternoon. I said, "If I'm going to St. Andrews, I'm going to be there on Sunday when they hand out that clear at Jug. Sure enough, I'm on a flight over the North Sea, while they're, you know, going down the back nine on the final round of the Open Championship. So, in the future, I might have to book any flights after majors two days after the tournament." It seems like, I don't know, six or eight guys. Maybe that's a little narrow, a little bit of a myopic view of all this. We haven't mentioned Ricky Fowler, Henry Stenson, the South African Schwarzl, who stays in Brandon Grace, a great major championship season last year. Jimmy Walker, your guy Patrick Reed. I mean, is there anybody sort of, I don't call anybody who's a master's contender an underdog or a sleeper, but is there anything weird that's going to happen this weekend? I see what you're doing here. You're just naming a bunch of names, so that just in case, if, you know, one of those guys wins, you're going to least point back to... Look, we least talked about them there, I get it. Didn't there usually only be always at least one guy that is around, at least, until like Saturday afternoon? I think it was Peter Hanson a few years ago, before he shanked a ball on 12. Charlie Hoffman last year was in the second to last group, or was in the last group with Speed on Saturday, and so there will be one of those guys that pops up. I don't know how you even begin to predict that. I have a futures bet on Branson Attaker that I placed a long time ago. I think at like 50 to one, I don't know what he is now, but I wouldn't be surprised to him around. I don't think that's quite in the same, he's probably a little higher class player than some of the guys that you mentioned there, but I also have a huge... I got Fowler at 25 to one, a ways back as well, which I'm pretty happy with, but yeah, one of those guys will pop up and at least make it interesting, but rarely do you see those guys finish it out all the way through to the green jacket, at least in this day and age. Maybe, you know, 10 years ago, within the last 10 years, we would have seen it maybe in the late 2000s, or even like a guy like Schwartz, who was not the same world class player, we would expect to win the Masters, but I mean, yeah, again, nothing in that category would really surprise me. Let me entrench this visual in your head as I let you go, I do appreciate your time. It was fun. Jordan Speed slipping the green jacket on his good buddy Patrick Reed Sunday evening. Go! Go! Oh man, I'm going to need to put a little more thought into what I think Patrick Reed would do in that green jacket. I don't know if you felt this, actually, the last week, I just did a photo, the cowboy came out with his scripting, right, for the Masters, and I just did a very quick Photoshop and then I put the green jacket on over his Sunday red, and yesterday on the Sky Sports broadcast, one of the Sky Sports announcers had a screen behind him that was walking through Patrick Reed's round, and they popped that graphic on and asked him about it. I mean, that was, I almost retired right then and there from Twitter, like that. I don't know, Patrick Reed talking about me Photoshopping a green jacket on his Sunday red. That was it. That's the best I can do. If the week is already, it's all downhill for the rest of this week. Now you can die in peace, and a lot of people thought that was legit, didn't they? Oh my God. More than you would ever have imagined thought that was legit. I did not think anyone, well, again, a lot of people think that he's a cocky guy and that's probably, that's pretty accurate. I've been making jokes about it for several years now, but I don't get how anyone can look at that and think that he, in his scripting, he would put himself in a green jacket to play the final round to the Masterson, but a shocking amount of people thought that was a real thing that he came out with. Chris Solomon, no laying up at no laying up on Twitter, no laying up.com, it's going with George Speed to go back to back. My pick is Adam Scott for the Masters. We will revisit this. It was fun. I hope we can do this again soon, man. You will. Thank you for wanting. And that will do it for the Talk of the Tour podcast. I'm John Swantek. Thanks again to my guest, Chris Solomon, from no laying up, who dialed back the snark meter for the most part, didn't he? I appreciate that. That would be a different show in a fantasy world where I didn't have my paycheck signed by the PGA Tour. We could do a different show, Talk of the Tour director's cut, maybe, but it was fun and it's obvious, anybody listening, anybody who knows the dude that Chris has some very well thought out, sensible, interesting takes on stuff. He's a type of voice, I think, and offers a type of perspective that we need a little bit more of in this game. A reminder, you can keep up with this podcast and all of our content and access it via iTunes, Stitcher, or tune in. You go to PGA Tour.com/podcasts and you learn more about any of the shows that formerly streamed live at PGA Tour.com, you can listen and download right there. PGA Tour.com/podcasts, subscribe today. Excited about Sir Nick Faldo joining the podcast. We're going to record that on Tuesday, so you'll hear that later this week, six-time major champion, three-time masters champion. Sir Nick Faldo joining the Talk of the Tour podcast. That'll be the next time you hear it. I'm John Swantek. Thanks for listening and remember, fear is a natural reaction to simply moving closer to the truth. Think about it, people. I'll talk to you later this week. (upbeat music)