John Deere Classic, DP World Tour, Asian Tour & More!

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:00:00

Welcome to a wet, windy, cold Melbourne, Luke.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:00:05

thanks Jake. things not too different up here in Brisbane, to be honest. It has been wet and windy and cold, over the last few days. looking forward to some finer weather, that's for sure.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:00:15

I think I've got a couple of months before that happens down here, but, yes, relatively, it wasn't super busy in golf this week. We had some decent results and some Aussies performing quite well. so I guess kicking it off at the John Deere classic, Davis Thompson bet. I'll beat, Michael Thorburnson, who is the PGA tour, you, leader from last year and also Luke Clanton, who's the amateur and is a top 10 in a couple of last events.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:00:39

a little bit of a sleepy week. We knew the John Deere wasn't going to, reach Pinehurst, but, an interesting leaderboard with a couple of decent stories that we can talk about.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:00:51

DP World Tour was won by Ewan Ferguson over, Micheluzzi. So I think we've mentioned him previously. We're a little bit early. but he's starting to find his form and find his feet. And as we said, a few episodes ago, when he gets going, he goes low.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:01:05

we were early adopters on the Micheluzzi train, but it's good to see him on the up he'd be happy with his showing this week over there in Germany.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:01:13

The Asian tour, was a great finish with the Ben Campbell hauling some pots, in those last couple of holes, beating out, John Catlin. So I watched the Sunday night. that was good. So I'm looking forward to discussing that, but let's get stuck straight into the John Deere. So round one sort of started with, I think it was round one was Hayden Springer with a 59, wasn't it?

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:01:31

another one joins the 59 clubs. So I think his round included two eagles and eight birdies, and he shot a remarkable 27 on the front side. really lit the place up. we know that people can go low at the John Deere, I think it might've been ball in hand to, live, clean, replace, which we see far too often on the PGA tour. and of course, another one joining the 59 club only reinforces the debate, around, has technology gone too far do we need to see a rollback of the ball and or the driver?

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:02:06

I was thinking about how we define this now, whether we have to move away from, a set number and maybe look at, under par. So 13 under par is being like the benchmark, but even doing that, the courses, I think what really has to happen the par has to be reset for these guys. And that's the only way it's going to make any sense, because if they're going to continue to dominate these courses, then par is not, 70, it's not 72, it's probably 68 for this particular, it's probably a 66 for these guys at the John Deere.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:02:37

if you have a look at The scores of Davis Thompson, he had 64, you'd be happy to shoot any one of those scores, in one round out of four, let alone, all four in the low sixties, I think you're right, any hole you're hitting driver. Nine iron into just simply can't be a par five,

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:03:00

And we're looking at like Aaron Riles, T7 at 21 under, is pretty good. The same is at four rounds in the sixties at a 63, 65. 66. 69. So it's not a past 70.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:03:11

where are you on the technology debate and the rollback of the ball and or the driver?

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:03:17

I'd like to see it rolled back just to, fall, I like the, it just brings more options into, and I think, from the perspective of. Saving recreational golf. I think it makes a little bit more sense as well because we're building bigger ballparks or they are particularly over in the States, but, we can't reroute existing golf courses and there's lots of pressure on golf courses, reducing their footprint as well. I think it would be smart to limit it, but I don't think it's going to happen.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:03:44

I think the proposal is that the amateur game would stay the same. There'd be no sort of rollback of any of the equipment there. It's more of the professional sense, but, When I last looked at the proposals, it was talking about, a rollback of the ball that would result in a sort of 5 to 10 percent reduction in distances. And I just wonder whether that's just too marginal to really change too much. when they're hitting them 340, and you're taking off 5 percent of that, you still got drives well over 300. and so I don't think it will make that much of a difference, obviously it will make some difference in terms of, instead of hitting driver 9 iron into a par 5, you might be hitting driver 7 iron, but I still don't think driver 7 iron should be par 5 for these guys.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:04:30

I think, yeah, they got to go a little bit further and maybe they've got to limit the driver head size and, maybe look at the smash factors that was part of their sort of regulations for those particular clubs as well.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:04:39

here's a controversial take, maybe the setups need to, be looked at and let's, choose some courses that are a better test of golf and can play firmer and faster and have, no backboarding or limited backboarding, limited TIO relief, stop these pampered Fs from getting, all of the, free relief that, And, let's have some shaved down collection areas around the greens.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:05:05

we're not going to see that on the PGA tour. We've, we've seen obviously the backboarding and the DP world tour is something which is just as bad. Yeah. I don't know what the Liv's doing, but maybe we're gonna have to start our own tour, Lukey.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:05:17

you never know. Although financing would be a challenge, unless you've got Yasser's number. But, but yeah, I think. It's probably a combination of things. I see both sides of the argument here where you've got the likes of the purists arguing for a rollback, to protect traditional architecture, to have courses play the way the original designer, expected them or wanted them to be played. So I certainly can appreciate that argument. but we are, we have been talking a lot about growing the game, the fan base, fan engagement, et cetera. And I think the reality is that the large majority of casual fans that we want to see more engagement of love seeing the ball, Get smashed and go a long way. They love seeing Bryson hit 350 yard drives. They love seeing Rory smoke it a long way down there. I understand both sides of the fence. I a bit of a fence sitter in, in that regard where I, I can empathize with both the arguments. So I'm not really sure where I fall on it for that reason.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:06:24

Let's solve all the problems. we need to relook at the, this putter issue and this anchoring, because that's. It's blatant again, like we've got these guys with the long putters who are clearly performing a lot better with that long putter. they're they're holding it up to their chest. it's anchoring.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:06:39

Who are you calling out specifically? we have seen, as you say, weaker putters transition to the, the longer putter. and they've been successful, so Lucas Glover comes to mind in terms of the success he had in the FedExCup season last year, having transitioned to the longer putter, and as we know, Adam Scott had a great career with a short putter, but no majors, and it after he had transitioned to the longer putter that he secured the Masters, but who specifically are you calling out more

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:07:09

even really it's someone like a Bryson, like who's anchoring against that forearm. and that, that's anchoring. There's no doubt about that as well. they made a big blue when they changed this ruling on the part of it, really, it should have just been the shortest club in the back.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:07:22

that's an easy way to do it. although, I suppose Bryson's putter still would be longer than his driver, right?

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:07:28

It was like 37 inches or something like that in terms of his wedges. cause he's obviously got the seven iron or something. I think, is that maybe, I think that's a better. I don't know, around 37

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:07:38

six iron. I think they're all standard six iron lengths.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:07:41

So he's being shorter than that is still going what's a putter sort of between 34 38, usually, up the forearm, it's probably up to 40,

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:07:49

have you got more of an issue with the Bryson style anchoring as opposed to the Adam Scott or Akshay putting?

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:07:56

I'm okay with the long part of it cause anyone can use it. So I'm okay with the concept of it all like anchoring, I think is a, is an issue. so I think we need to get rid of anchoring Scotty, I've looked at him relatively closely. he doesn't jam it into his chest, but even being able to, or I guess, yeah, There are a few that look like they're touching that chest, even if they're touching the, the shirt, like the floppy shirt, so maybe it's, I don't know, it's just, it just seemed that they've made more, they haven't fixed the problem, they should have just, they needed to think a bit harder about this, I think.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:08:26

I agree. A couple of them fly close to the wind on that issue.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:08:29

The funny thing is like they're able to make the change quickly because they did the Bryce and when he tried to start hitting the sides, that'll remember that

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:08:38

yes,

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:08:38

that'll party.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:08:39

right. So I'd settle

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:08:41

shut that down fast. It was, I guess I would.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:08:46

It's just whether

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:08:47

They can make the

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:08:47

will and the desire.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:08:49

what did you think? to me, Phil Brunson is looking the goods. that's his third pro event. he's got the top two now and, he's got his, obviously he's got his car locked up for next year as well, but, he's got his car through next year in terms of essentially unlimited sponsor exemptions, but, I think he's moved up into around the top 100 of the FedEx car, but if he can get into the top. 50 gets the guaranteed signature events next year.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:09:12

he's certainly one to keep an eye on and starting to make some moves. I know you've got big wraps on him. what. What particularly do you like about his game and what do you think brings out that X factor in him?

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:09:24

what I think it's maybe not so much Thoreburnson himself or in isolation. It's the fact that I've been following Carl, Carl Willips, who's his best friend, played on Stanford with him. so I've been following Carl. On YouTube 13, essentially. And he won everything as a junior. the fact that Theo Bjornsson has been playing a lot with him. so I get to see, I've followed along a lot, seen the results. but, he's obviously he's got that right build, Theo Bjornsson for the modern game. He hits it a long way. he seems to have. I think most importantly, my perspective, he seems to have, his head screwed on. So under pressure, he's really solid. it doesn't seem to get overly phased. And I think to me that's the thing that really makes the very best standout is how they perform under pressure and, he seems to have it.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:10:12

that in Scotty Scheffler, don't you? Amazing composure. Just go back to the PGA Championship where he, got locked up and still was able to come out and compete and possibly would have won that tournament had it not been for Detective Willis. you look at someone like Ludwig Eiberg, who's very young in the game, but has been able to contend in majors, I think because he's got that sort of old head on younger shoulders, or more mature head on younger shoulders, Thorbornson might be another one of that ilk.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:10:42

Luke Clanton is the other one. if he was a pro in these particular events, he would have now secured, an unrestricted. Sponsor exemptions for the rest of the season on the PGA tour. The fact that he's an amateur means that he's not eligible for that. I think that's. Ridiculous.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:10:57

you gotta protect these pros, they're not gonna give up their cards or their positions in fields too easily, cause, they've paid their dues, they've earned their stripes, Jake, come on.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:11:08

they clearly have, but yeah, he, he's performed well, he's performed well the last couple of weeks.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:11:13

so the two pros. Top tens or back to back top tens, last week at the Rocket Mortgage and this week at the John Deere. first amateur to do that since 1958, a great achievement for him. And, starting to get some, turn some heads is Luke Clanton. Ha

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:11:31

That the last amateur to do it was, what was this? The rocket mortgage and the JD or the John Deere classic. The last amateur to do this back to back was, US Open and the Masters.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:11:41

ha! Slight difference in, caliber of event. but a good, a good achievement for Luke, I think particularly given the depths of the fields now and the amount of professionals, that are actually playing in these tournaments. So well done, Luke.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:11:58

the rest of the field really, or that top 10 was dominated by the Americans. So this, I think suits their style of golf. Really Aaron rise, obviously having a great season and performing well again.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:12:09

competed, last week, and also this week, just couldn't go with them on Sunday, when the foot really went to the pedal, from Davis Thompson, but he'll be happy with his form. heading into, the next major.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:12:23

And you saw, did I read something that, Sep Straka didn't stay in the Airbnb this week.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:12:30

a three peaked for the Airbnb, apparently. Lots has made about this on the coverage that this particular Airbnb that Davis Thompson was staying in had been, the residence for the prior two winners, which was Seb Strucker last year and JT Post in the year before. But Sepp this year with a nine month old thought he better not disrupt the remaining house members so he took some accommodation elsewhere and made way for Davis Thompson who has continued on the tradition.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:13:03

he has to speak to Jason day. What he needs to do. He needs to take the motor home and park it in the driveway at that Airbnb.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:13:11

That's exactly right. That's how to do it. Jason Day's got it all sorted.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:13:15

we'll move on to the DP World Tour. I didn't see a lot of the, the DP World Tour, unfortunately. I saw little snippets of, the Michel Uzi's couple of rounds there, but, did you get to watch any of it this week?

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:13:25

No, likewise, not too much live watching, but, yeah. as we've spoken about it was great to see David, rocketing up the leaderboard there in round one and only finishing two shots back. He'd given himself a bit of a roast on social media, a few weeks prior and, he's been able to turn his form around and hopefully this is the starting point for the rest of his season and we can see him rack up a win or two from here.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:13:50

the weekend. He had a couple of, was it either double bogeys or a couple of runs where he had a couple of bogeys and didn't start in the right, but he turned it around. I think it was on the Saturday and then on the Sunday, he turned it around in both cases. So I think that's positive. As we've said previously, he can go really low and, he should be able to pull to, to get rid of those mistakes I'd imagine, out of his game. So it's positive, love to see him win for at some point over the course of the remaining season.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:14:15

Agree with that.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:14:16

Believe players, Reid, Peters and Kymer all had reasonable finishes. the best there was Peters in T9, Reid was T13 and Kymer in T27.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:14:24

they had solid performances without being too brilliant. Kyma on home soil over there probably would have liked to have finished higher than T27. always good to top 10, in terms of Peter's finish there. And I think Pat Reed did poke his head up into the top 10 of the leaderboard there at one stage, but, just fell outside that top 10 by the end of the tournament. Probably just getting reps up, ahead of, the next few weeks, really. Certainly ahead of Liv, in Andalusia this coming week.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:14:55

And the rest of the Aussies weren't very good at all. They all missed the cut, didn't they?

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:14:58

Bloodbath for the Aussies, was pretty ordinary to, to see them all, below the cut line there. Jason Scrivner. Tom Powerhorn, Andrew Martin, Sam Jones, Hayden Barron, all had, difficult weeks.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:15:11

the Asian tour, I think that was probably my favorite event, really the favorite finish. that was, I said, it was really good. Catlin looked like he had it under control and then, Ben Campbell hold that really long one on, I think it was the 18th and then, again, in the play in the playoff and that, that first playoff hole hold apart from off the green as well to come over the top and win that. He has been pretty impressive. Ben Campbell, hasn't he?

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:15:35

I think both him and Catlin have obviously been the, probably the form two players on the Asian tour. and there's lots for them to play for in terms of trying to solidify a more permanent spot on the live rotation. And, they're certainly doing their chances no harm, that's for sure.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:15:53

John Catlin's back on the crushes again this week. yeah, which is great to say he's performed really well in live. but the one thing I'd say it has seemed to be a relatively big step up from the Asian tour to the live events. whenever we see that the live guys go back down and play the Asian tour, they all perform relatively well. It was no different this week, with, Caleb Surat, Chakara, and even, Kazuma. Performing really well in the Asian tour event. And they haven't been able to, a lot of them make that step up when it comes to live, which I think is a, an indication to me that the events that the live events are pretty competitive at that top end.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:16:31

They are, and I think you, you probably have two halves of the lived field, don't you? You have the, say, the top 24, that. often have world class players, littered all the way through it. And then you do have the bottom half, but I wouldn't say that's too dissimilar to what we're seeing on the PGA Tour where we're often talking about PGA Tour A, PGA Tour B, and whether there needs to be some sort of segmentation that happens, at that tour level. So it does go to show just how hard it is to get to that next level where you can't. competitive and then to actually win is another level of gain. you can't underestimate how good these guys are and how hard it is for them to get the job done.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:17:19

The course was also pretty impressive. I didn't see a lot of it prior to the Sunday. but the course giving me with the big gum trees and whatnot, giving me sort of Aussie course vibes.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:17:29

felt the same and, it certainly provided a great setting for that Asian tour event and, I don't know, maybe they are getting Asian, sorry, Australian vibes on the Asian tour because they're looking to bring one of their Q School events down here to Victoria in September.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:17:47

think that'll be, I think it's the third season in a row. They've had a Q School event here. the first was at Rosebud, just maybe a couple hundred or a couple of kilometers from where I am. Yeah, that was the first one. And then it was moved across to Mount Derrimut for at least last year. I'm not sure if it was a year before that as well, but, Yeah, they're obviously also expanding into, into the U S as well with some, some Q's Q schools there. So that tour is really benefiting from the injection that the PIF has, put into the tour, aren't they?

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:18:18

Definitely. So I think there are two events in the U. S. announced and then the remaining five are going to be in Thailand. what can you tell us about, Mount Derrimut? it's a bit of a change from Rosebud, which I understand is a very beautiful and sandbelt like course. what's, Mount Derrimut like?

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:18:36

nothing really at all. It's on that the Western side. So there isn't a lot of great golf. I don't want to get too many. I don't want to get people's noses

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:18:44

You don't want to get too provincial, mate.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:18:46

there's not a lot of great golf out that side until you get getting back down into the ballerine. I think it's a relatively modern sort of, I'm going to say Housing estate style, of course, or housing development style, of course, I don't have much at all on it. I've seen a few sort of photos, or it looks okay, but yeah, it's nothing, it's not finding its way to the top of any lists at all.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:19:08

wonder. How the course selection came about, would be interesting to understand the background, and the criteria for that,

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:19:17

You've got to think it has to be something to do with, probably with access to the airport, to the city, to accommodation down on the peninsula here, where, Yeah, we're, we're a long way and probably even, depending on number of participants, I think, I'm not sure if they've got the two courses over the Rosebud did anyway, but we're a pretty long way down here on the peninsula and there's not a lot of public transport. So it's not an easy spot to get to that. The Muna links was built originally, to essentially house the PGA of Australia and also For as a tournament course, the open course. So the idea was that it was going to be, I think the venue of the Aussie open. And that didn't last long. there's a great sort of training facility down here, which, golf Australia uses every now and then. but it was, they spent a lot of money to build all of this and they quickly realized once they dropped the dollars in that it just wasn't feasible. in terms of the infrastructure, the accommodation, public transport and whatnot.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:20:10

it'd be a good, event to keep an eye on. That's for sure. And a good opportunity for aspiring Aussies to try and get their card.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:20:18

I think it's a really good sort of pathway for these guys now. still close to, you can base themselves in Australia and do some swings up through Asia. It's it's, yeah, it's, I love watching it. It's just falls into really good time zones for us, us Aussies. In terms of watching golf.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:20:33

Yep.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:20:33

Let's switch across to, let's switch across to the events this week. So we've got a big few weeks coming up. we have the Scottish open at Renaissance club. We've got live Andalusia, and the ladies, the Evian championship on the, on the lady side.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:20:47

As you say, at least a big fortnight of golf coming up, with three great events this week and then the open championship next week. co sanctioned event. at Renaissance Club for the Scottish Open and, an A grade field, you'd have to say, including the likes of McElroy, Zander, Hovland, Morikawa, Spieth, JT, etc. yeah. Good to see that there'll be 10 Australians, I think, at least last time I checked the field, there'd be 10 Aussies, teeing it up. Min Wu will be leading the charge. Adam Scott, Cam Davis, and then, a number of them coming across from the DP World Tour, including Mickie Lutze, who should bring in some good forms. I think, this is going to be a great event. It's going Great time for us in Australia as well as you talk about it's night time golf for us to watch. kicking off I think on Thursday afternoon from about 5. 30pm. it'll be some good watching Thursday through Sunday for us.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:21:45

No doubt McElroy will win this one.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:21:47

he's a short price in the betting markets and he is the defending champion. he'll win this one but not next week. Is that what you're saying?

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:21:55

Correct. Yes. He's had a break and that was a great finish last year as well. He was even Bobby McIntyre. Wasn't it the one line was it? I think that McElroy hit into the 18th. Just incredible.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:22:07

it's, and it's produced some really good golf too, this, Scottish, I'm looking forward to it. Although

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:22:12

Renaissance club.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:22:14

was going to say, although it's going to be hard to juggle all the golf, for us Aussies, cause it's all going to be on at the same time.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:22:20

course it is. Of course it is. Yes. And then, Valderrama, I'm going to call it, it's live Andalusia, but, at Valderrama. So I think probably the thing I'm looking forward to most is to see crowds and, the reaction to Ram and the Spanish guys. so that'd be really interesting. the expectation is that it's going to be a big event, but, I think Ram needs a little bit of a sort of. a little bit of an uplift and, maybe this is something hopefully that's going to give him a little kick along into the rest of the remainder of the year. And, so yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing how, the crowd reacts to Rahm and, the course as well.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:22:55

this could be just what Rambo needs, a shot in the arm from the home crowd. I'm thinking that we're going to see an Adelaide style event. So hopefully we're not disappointed in that regard. I think it would be great for Live and for World Golf to see another belter, of an event similar to what we had in Adelaide earlier this year. and it could be the spark that, that really fires Ram up ahead of next week's major as well. If he can get into a groove, play some good golf, that's, that's going to be infectious and might be the momentum he needs.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:23:29

being a tune up for a lot of these guys for the open, it's going to be interesting to watch, Cam who's been a little bit wild with him, particularly the driver. This is going to be a tough track for him if the driver isn't on.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:23:41

definitely be keeping a close eye on Cam, really want to see something, signs of life from him, in terms of competing at that top level and really being a chance of winning his next major. surely he's got more than one in him, but, there's been some worrying signs, I think, throughout this year, unfortunately.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:24:01

Yes, it's hard for me not to say it's fitness. that, 2022 season, he just came into that season looking in tip top shape. And yeah, I haven't seen him in that sort of shape since.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:24:13

No, and he obviously had a big off season back here in Brisbane, he got married, really enjoyed time with family and friends, over that Christmas and New Year period. so hopefully the few weeks they've had off now he's been knuckling down. I do think he will, He'll be pretty disappointed with his results so far this year and I hope we see him turn a corner in the next week or two.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:24:39

the European championship, we touched on it earlier and that's also in France. So as you say, all the events competing against one another. I don't have a lot to contribute to that particular conversation at all. Obviously it would be good to see what Minji does and, Hannah Green in particular as well, the two sort of main Aussie hopes.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:24:57

That's right, hopefully we can see Minji build on the disappointment of missing out at the US Open. and maybe snare one of, one of, or snare this particular event. it'll be interesting to see how Nelly goes, coming back from the dog bite. whether that's got any lasting effects. and then of course you've got Celine Boutier, playing in front of her home crowd, which, is always, a big bonus when it comes to a major. I think there'll be some good golf all round. There'll be a lot of channel surfing, also platform surfing because, Liv will be on a different platform to, what we're going to see the Scottish and the Evian on as well.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:25:36

the open quote,

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:25:37

the Americans having to switch from, NBC to Peacock to Golf Channel.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:25:42

at least we, so we don't have to put up with the ads they do and, KA as a platform, it's expensive, but it's pretty good. You can watch the multi window. So that's, that's good. We were able to put on the events on that and then open another browser window and put on all the, the live stuff as well.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:25:55

I'm still on the Foxtel box, I just flicked between the main feed and the, And the featured groups, which I think is between 503 and 505. but, but yeah, it'll be, certainly a weekend of, channel surfing as we watch three different events all at the same time.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:26:13

I took advantage of the, the KO, the multi screen function, on Sunday night, I had the formula one on and so in the main window, and then I had, the DP world tour and, the Asian tour, sitting on the side. So switching across screens, depending on what action was happening there, but, yeah, I do like that. That's a good thing about KO actually, but as I said, it's pretty expensive. Now the, we had, the open final qualifying, I just, we had a band. So who was the other live guy that got through as Abe and

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:26:40

name just escapes me at the moment.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:26:41

we should know this, you know what we can,

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:26:44

Sergio didn't, and, Yeah, there was a bit of controversy around his failure to qualify. he finished, I think, a couple of shots back, of being able to make a start at the Open. And he was put on the clock. during his qualifying round, and you can see some footage, there was some video footage of the merge of him getting gnarky with one of the officials, complaining that it was actually inadequate crowd control, that led to his slow play, But I did see he, he came out afterwards, and after he failed to qualify with a fairly gracious post on X sort of, thanking the fans for his support, not just, turning out to that qualifying event. And I think there was an unexpected, rush of fans there to actually watch that event, but certainly all of the support he's got from fans in all of the majors. I think he talked about 94 or 95 majors, in his career. it was gracious in failing to qualify, although some might say it was a bit more of the Sergio people expect him, bearing up at an official, during that final round.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:27:53

I saw that little clip. I didn't think much of it. Like he was clearly agitated with the, the Marshall there, but it made complete sense. They're putting him on the clock, for something that he has no control over. It's, they're controlling the crowds. And, I thought potentially just, just was maybe a lack of awareness by the Marshalls to be able to actually do that to that particular, in that instance, when it was clearly outside of the player's control, to the,

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:28:18

as he put on the clock,

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:28:20

but if he's not a Lyft player, they're not having those crowds there, are they?

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:28:23

that's a good

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:28:23

you could be saying that it's a, it's live specific or live related, but I think it's just a, as you say, caught unaware, although the same thing happened last year. so they should have made. those same allowances and he was playing at the exact same venue as last year as well, where this particularly happened, but, yeah, just a lack of awareness, but they seem to have fixed that up for the second round in the afternoon and put on a lot more marshals and I think that's sped up things as well, but yeah, I think for me on X, there was a few sort of snarky replies from, some in the media around, Sergio being, being him, he's his old self and I thought that was pretty poor form.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:28:57

he's an easy target and look, like all of us in our youth, you've done and said things that, you possibly regret later on down the track. I do think Sergio showed a bit more maturity in recent years. and that sort of stuff that has got, the usual suspects in the media hot under the collar Doesn't really, attract much or warrant much attention from my perspective. we need personalities in golf, it creates a point of interest. And, you obviously don't want to see really bad sportsmanship, but, equally, slamming a club into a bunker every now or, or mouthing off at a couple of, chippy fans. It's a bit interesting really, it?

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:29:37

It is. the Aussie Open has got a venue finally.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:29:40

I did see that, and it's a cracking venue too.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:29:43

It is. Yes. going back down to Kingston Heath, with Victoria as the backup. I think it was switched around last time I was down here a couple of years ago. with Victoria being the main host and Kingston Heath playing back up on the Friday, the Thursday, Friday. that's good. Great to see Sandbelt Golf again. I absolutely love watching that. they certainly took their time, didn't they?

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:30:00

to the point where we were worried whether there was going to actually be, an Australian Open. but, fantastic venue at Kingston Heath. one of the best courses in the country, if not the world. It'll put on a great event and it'll be really great to see them, play that testing sort of golf that, that requires a different approach on firm and fast conditions.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:30:24

Is Jason Day gonna play this or is, I think, does that sort of, maybe he's going back to the hero for that one, maybe he's gonna come and play the PGA and head back to the Bahamas.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:30:32

let's hope not. all of the stars are aligning. He is coming back. He said he's coming back. they've put out a cracking course for him to play on. So let's hope he can do that and I hope he can play the PGA up here at Royal Queensland as well,

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:30:49

I think he'll play that, but I have serious doubts whether or not he'll play the, the Aussie Open. I seriously think he will go back and play the Hero World Challenge.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:30:58

which would be very disappointing, but I guess it just depends on what his plans are in terms of length of stay here in Australia. If his kids haven't been here ever, hope that it's going to be a of weeks he'd be here rather than, say, seven days.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:31:13

Hey, did you see the, site I've been working on the last couple of days

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:31:16

so I was going to ask you about that. We, we see, your new Rank Eagle, website, which is providing all the various golf rankings in the one place. So talk us through that.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:31:28

talk us through that? Yes. I it was a little bit bored and wanted something to do. So it sits in my wheelhouse, that sort of play around. I don't know how to code or anything like that, there's a sort of, some tools that allow you to create and put together back end databases, just point and click really. So that's what this is. Yeah, I decided that it would be good to see a lot sort of rankings in the one place. so that was initially what it was. So just, pulling in, the weekly rankings from, four different ranking systems and, now just playing around with it now. And I'm starting to pull in some more information and make use of that particular information. So I just added today, the top 50 players by tour and by country, and top 100. So that was, it's interesting to see that in all on the one page as well. So it's, the OWGR, which we've have said has, been a little bit PGA tour heavy, surprisingly, doesn't, doesn't seem. That doesn't actually display in that top 100. across all the ranking systems, they're sitting at roundabout, that 75 to 80, 85% is PGA tour players. and so the OWGR is a little higher than the others, but it's not a huge amount higher. yeah, I've seen it seems to be that. Every all this, all these systems get the rankings, right? That first roughly top 20, and then they start to diversify from there. at least we're seeing the very top of the, or the very pointy end is probably right, regardless of the system being used.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:32:49

it's interesting. the discussion and the rhetoric a lot on X is that, the OWGR is. Irrelevant or fast becoming irrelevant because it hasn't worked out a way to properly, to properly rank the live players. And I guess that is my sort of take on it as well, without looking at the data, but maybe the data doesn't bear that out, as much as the rhetoric would say. said that, I do think the fact that the OWGR has allowed a vacuum to open up as a result of the, The controversy has given rise to these competing ranking methodologies. And I think that's a good thing because as your site now shows, you've got, different ways that you can look at players, AWGR, data golf, and a couple of others that, that you can look on and compare and contrast.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:33:46

we're even seeing a little bit of uptake with, the Tuga guys or the Tuga rankings being used to put together the live, the qualifying or the Q school for live and some junior events as well. So there is an awareness out there of a lot of these other ranking platforms and, whether or not they start to, Reduce the dominance of the OWGR I'm not sure, but, I don't know at some point. The OWGR just has to start ranking leaf, don't they?

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:34:13

They do, but you have the argument of, why should they conform to live? Live should be conforming to them. I think it's going to require some give and take on both sides, before an agreement's reached. Although, I suspect one of the bargaining chips that Yassir is using in terms of the discussions with PGA tour is that if you want, my money, Liv have to get, we have to sort out the OWGR, and Majors pathways for Liv players.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:34:42

the other breaking news today, I wasn't breaking anymore. It's news from today was that Tiger isn't going to be the Ryder cup captain.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:34:49

No, Keegan Bradley, it, surely this is a, a make good on him not being picked in the Ryder Cup, at, the last, time around, and the spot being given to JT instead. You're welcome.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:35:02

that's pretty crazy. Like he's, what is 38 or 39, I think. and he's still top 20 in the world.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:35:09

I would be offended if I was him because he's probably thinking I want to play, right?

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:35:14

That's crazy. It's crazy.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:35:16

to be a playing captain to pick

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:35:19

we. I'll tell you what would be awesome. If he goes out and just just decides to set the house on fire. It doesn't pick any of them.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:35:26

That boys club, that boys club, I'd be pretty nervous if I was in the boys club because, he may well, seek some retribution. Having said that, I don't get that's the kind of vibe or guy that, that Keegan is, and that he will genuinely try to do the right thing by his country and pick the best team, which of course is going to have to include some live players, isn't it?

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:35:48

you'd think so. Yeah, you would. It has to. Yep. looks like that boys club is slowly being broken up. I saw that, Justin Thomas didn't play in Zach Johnson's charity golf day this year.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:36:00

Ah, surprising that, isn't it? Surprising, so he didn't get to stay in the same house and, shore up his Ryder Cup pick.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:36:07

no, that's, that's pretty funny. Us. Oh, that's actually, watch that. That is going to happen for sure. Isn't it? All right. I think that's a, we've covered everything now. I think next week is going to be the week where we've got a lot to talk about. With all these good events that we hopefully we have some good golf viewing You know, it'd be maybe a little bit lethargic come sort of Monday morning.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:36:31

over the weekend and Sunday night. hopefully we see, a Cam Smith win over in Valderrama and maybe a Min Woo win, at the Scottish.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:36:39

no, it's McElroy that's we want to see McElroy win No,

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:36:47

for the Open next week?

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:36:48

no, we can't we can't keep good we surely can't keep ranking him as he's not a major winner I hope so. I really hope

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:36:58

gonna put egg on one of our faces soon enough, yeah.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:37:02

Like he, yeah, the best player in the world outside of magis.

squadcaster-79hd_1_07-09-2024_121257: 00:37:06

Ah, that's probably a fair point. Anyway, as you say, lots for us to talk about next week with a recap of weekend's results and a preview for the Open. hope everyone enjoys their week and, look forward to getting into it, next week. See ya.

jake-hower_1_07-09-2024_121244: 00:37:19

Great. We'll speak you then.