In this episode, Jake and Luke delve into a dramatic week both on and off the golf course. They discuss the attempted assassination that shocked world politics, Trump’s swift return to the golf course, Bob McIntyre’s controversial Scottish Open victory, and Stephanie Kyriacou’s near-win at the Evian Championship. The episode also covers the LIV Andalucia results, including Sergio Garcia’s playoff win and Anibarn Lahiri’s sickening finish. The duo offers insights and predictions for the upcoming Open Championship at Royal Troon, featuring notable mentions of players like Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, and Bryson DeChambeau.
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Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:19 Trump’s return to the Golf Course
01:13 Scottish Open Recap
03:01 Controversial Relief for Bobby Mac
05:58 Adam Scott’s Performance and Reflections
10:53 LIV Golf Highlights
17:19 Evian Championship Recap
20:18 Preview of The Open at Royal Troon
21:57 Tiger Woods and Retirement Speculations
31:41 Ryder Cup and Keegan Bradley’s Comments
33:20 Richard Bland and Senior Open
35:25 Conclusion and Upcoming Events
Transcript
Welcome to another episode. As always, I have Luke with me. Luke and he's been a massive week, not just on the golf course, but off.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:that's right, Jake. world politics almost turned on its head or has been really turned on its head by an attempted assassination and, some narrow misses for two Aussies over the weekend as well. So lots to unpack.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:an assassination attempt doesn't stop, one particular golfer from getting back out on the course, does it?
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:No, former president Trump, amazing story in the sense that firstly he survived such a tragic incident, terrible incident, but, no sooner was he released from hospital that he was on his way to Trump Bedminster in, in New Jersey for a quick sleep and then hitting the course the next day.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:I think there was a story from a caddy who At one particular point, maybe he had like a 20 footer or something and hold it. And I think his comment was he doesn't miss.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:And I saw reports also that he had, fans and supporters, follow him for a few holes, which you think you'd be a bit, twitchy and nervous with people, following you around, given what had unfolded only a matter of hours earlier, but, incredible story all around.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:we won't get too bogged down on the politics here
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:No.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:let's go quickly around the ground. So we had the Scottish open one by Bob McIntyre in relatively controversial circumstances. Sergio Garcia was the winner at, Livander and Alicia, with the fireballs taking out the team comp in, both in playoffs. over on the LPGA, the Evian championship was won by, Furu over Stephanie, Kiriakou?
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:Stiff Kiriakou,
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:that was one. she was pretty close there for, from an Aussie perspective,
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:very close and she looks so good under pressure. I was amazed about how composed she was because this was her first time in real contention in a major so close to getting the job done and, an amazing run home from the Japanese player to just pip Steph at the post.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:looking at the Scottish Open firsts, Bobby Mac got it done, last year we saw he was beaten out by McElroy and he's done the opposite this year, didn't he?
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:He did. So he avenged that loss from last year. And, this is now Bobby's second win of the year and his second national open of the year as well after taking out the Canadian. dripped in a 22 foot putt on the last to make birdie and snatch it away from Scotty by one shot. really was working hard to get there, wasn't it? credit to Bobby, I think he was four under through his final five holes or thereabouts and really put the foot down when it mattered on Sunday.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:You certainly did in front of a pretty big crowd. that's a couple of years in a row, the, that venue is a great, particularly the 18th there. they've created a really good cauldron of, for the crowd. Haven't they, around the 18th at this Renaissance
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:great environment for, that tournament and even more so with, Bobby being the hometown heroes. So he was able to give them all a big cheer and lots to, be happy about, but where was, what were your take or what was your take on the relief that he was given there on 16?
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:Hate to see it. I really don't like seeing it, I think we've discussed it a little bit, the rules of the rules, there was a rules official there. Who gave him that? So there's not much you can do about it outside of changing the rules. maybe it's a question of, and again, I'm not going to put any professional golfer up to this, but maybe as an amateur, you'd touch it and think, Oh, I'm not even going to ask my playing partners here. I'm just going to play it. Couldn't have, you could have not asked the question whether or not he should have gotten relief, but, it's professional. They're paying for a lot of money. Now there's a lot at stake, so I have no problems with that. Don't like seeing it, it's one of those rules of the golf and he used it well.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:I guess for those that may not have seen it, he'd tugged his tee shot into the thick hay on the par 5 16th and, took a pretty violent practice swing into, the tall fescue, which, was hip height. We're talking some really serious stuff. based on the practice swing, you think he would have been lucky to advance the ball sort of 50 or 60 meters at best. interestingly in the practice swing, he took a massive clump of fescue with him, which was hanging off the end of the club. And then when he went to stand, To address his ball for the proper shot, he noticed that, there was a sprinkler head underneath his metal spikes. And there's some controversy and some questions over whether, he should have been able to get relief if it was, in fact, The practice swing that cleared the fescue that allowed his foot to then step on the sprinkler head, which was the subject of the free relief. also some question marks about whether if you are given relief that you should then have to recreate the lie that you would have otherwise have had. What are your sort of thoughts on that?
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:It would, it all makes sense. It's talking about the, the free drop zones and, trying to replicate the RNA does at the open and, put the free drop zones in really poor spots. it would make sense that you have to drop in a similar condition That's all these little things we can change and argue and comment on.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:And look, golf can be a game of luck at times, can't it? And you've got to take your good breaks with your bad breaks. and I think that's probably the key point here is that, Bobby still hit the shot, right? 247 yards to the flag. and he rifled an iron in there to six feet and rolled the putt in for eagle. So it wasn't just that drop. and I think Scotty was quite magnanimous in, in defeat as he always is. he's very classy, when things don't go his way. We've seen that before, certainly after the 2012, open loss. Bobby still got the job done. super disappointing for Scotty, who was on the verge of breaking a four year drought, since the 2020 Genesis Open. Of course, as Aussies, we would have loved to have seen that and as a lifelong Adam Scott tragic, I was certainly hoping for it, but not to be.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:Yeah. And they've both had the 67s in the final round. that wasn't stolen from Adam. going into the last thinking that, you had to make Eagle to get into a playoff would have been probably not what he was thinking. Really. He did everything he had to Scotty.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:exactly right. so I saw Luke Elvey tweet out that maybe the golfing gods are, keeping in mind for this coming week. So we'll wait and see.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:it's good to see him in form. he's been a really good. Lynx golfer in the past. So it's great to see that he's in form from an Aussie perspective.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:surprises me that he has performed in these linksy style courses because I feel like one of his weaknesses is grinding to get up and down. and as we know with the greens and the runoff areas on the links courses, your short game has to be, in really tip, top shape to be able to get up and down and make those clutch pass saves in order to keep the momentum going throughout your round. And I don't feel like that's necessarily Scottie's strong point. He's obviously an elite ball striker and Tito Green has been very much a strength of his. And in more recent years, we've certainly seen his lag putting and middle distance putting be exceptional. But those sort of, four to eight footers for par is probably where he has been at his weakest. And you get a lot of these four to eight footers for par on the Lynx soil courses. So a bit of an anomaly for me as an observer, but, it's all ahead of him, at Troon in the coming week.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:It is maybe getting that, from that lag putting perspective, getting the putter in his hand a lot more around the green sort of that sort of short game a little bit as
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:that's a good point.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:it's great seeing him in form. Aaron Rye is another one has, he's been continuing his runner form. he picked up a spot in the open with his performance for the finishing T4. So it's good to see him. He was at the time, the lowest ranked golfer without a spot in the open. So now it drops all the way down to a Carlos Ortiz, who was we've pretty much everyone now who should be in the open is in there.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:Yeah. two gloves, Roy competing three or four weeks straight now. So I'm sure that's had you excited. and, me not
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:Now, one that we need to really discuss, Ludwig. He fell away in that final round with a three over par,
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:He did and similar to what we saw at Pinehurst, going into sort of the final round with a lead, I think it was two shot lead this time round and not able to get it done having slept on the 54 hole lead. Starting to ask a few question marks about Sunday's performance and are there a few, demons starting to creep in, a bit of scar tissue to build up. I did hear a stat earlier today that I think, his worst performance in, the six out of the last seven cuts he's made has come in the final round. maybe you should go to live, just play three rounds.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:that's probably what it is. And also don't forget the Masters, the exact same thing happened in the Masters. So he was, he was the last of the contenders over Scotty. So I think it took him until the 11th when he dropped one in the water, I think on the 11th. The theme to fall out of contention really there, but, certainly a trend that I wouldn't say it's worrying just yet, but it's interesting certainly and something to keep an eye on. he's so young, not necessarily in age, but in terms of, being a pro, I think he's 29. 29 ish events in as a pro and he's won twice already. So we're up to close to a win rate of about 7%, which is pretty solid still. maybe it's too early to start ringing the alarm bells, but certainly something to monitor.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:I agree with that. I think it's a trend. It's not something that's set in stone. he does look amazing on course. He just looks unflappable so often. and I think he's going to have the. Mental skills over time. As you say, he's still quite young in his professional career I don't expect to see it continuing to be a problem, but is raising a few eyebrows.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:Rory McIlroy had a T4 there. He looked a little bit off, but certainly doing enough rack up those T10s Colin Morikawa. I think is another one that I've got eyes on. he's having a. Sensational year, having one or anything at the moment. But, he will again be coming into the next week one to keep an eye on. and the other one really, from my perspective, there was a really strong fun around from Wyndham Clark.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:62 in that final round from Clark. we know that, he's got major championship pedigree winning last year's U. S. Open He hits it long and can go low, so we'll definitely be catching a few people's eyes with that performance on Sunday at, Renaissance Club.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:let's jump across to the live results. got it done. it wasn't without controversy there with Lahiri missing that two footer, to seal the win.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:devastating for Anaban, really, and had the Had a great opportunity to really put golf up in headlights with one of the biggest populations of the world, if not the, the biggest in India. I think that would have gone nuts over his win. certainly a growing interest in the sport in India and, going in with a four shot lead, he was really well placed to be able to do that. But he looked very shaky with the putter in that final round, and it eventually came home to roost, as you say, missed a two footer on the 18th to fall back into a playoff with Sergio. And interestingly, that missed putt also dropped the Crushers back into, a playoff with the Fireballs. And both Annabarne and the Fireballs to be pushing it uphill. Against the Spanish crowd at Valderrama there to try and win in a playoff. And of course, they came up short.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:That's a, that immediate scar tissue missing. he looked like he was done after the 18th, didn't even consider putting any money on him for the playoff because yeah, he looked like he was done after that, but missing that
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:he looked cooked. I felt he looked cooked standing over that putt too. and so it was tough to watch. Tough scene for Annabarne and as you say the form for both, crushes and Annabarne in the playoff never really gave it a shot, did they?
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:no,
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:even though it did go to two holes, I think he had double on the second hole and, Sergio only had to make an easy two putt par.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:Miss that sort of come back or out of the bunker. it was a four or five footer, but, it gave Sergio an easy win in the end, which is, probably in terms of scripting results for this particular live event, this is probably the Second best outcome outside of, Rahm winning, but to have the fireballs and Serge to win there, after that's his third playoff, I think on live and his first win. So it's great. And probably Serge is unlucky to not be in the open and to rack up his hundredth major. the field for the open next week is already at 162, 163. So they're already oversubscribed there. I didn't expect to see the invitation. He probably well would have been deserved though.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:his form has been great and, he's re enlivened some of his form from earlier on in his career. he was making some comments on social media just about how he's grinding really hard at the moment and he's working as hard as he ever has. because he knows that he'll get left behind if he doesn't. interesting to see the work ethic there. and coming from seven shots back is a pretty incredible, achievement on his home ground or his home territory there. And it really couldn't have been scripted too much better for the Spanish, given what else happened over the weekend with The Euro soccer win and also Alcarez taking out Wimbledon. So it was a big week for the Spanish and, congrats to them.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:They were dominant across the sporting world. Now, some other notables, Hatton with a third. So after his winning, a couple of weeks ago, Cam Smith in T6, which is probably a good result for Cam given the fact that Valderrama is such a driving test.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:Difficult course. And I agree with your comments there that, T6. was a good outcome for him. He was making a bit of a charge there at times throughout the course of the tournament. But again, as we've been seeing from Cam, too many bogeys, too many mistakes, at inopportune times, which pushes him back down the rung and then he's got to really grind hard to make more birdies to pick that up, but I would say that he's probably trending better than what we've seen him, so far this year. So interesting, to see how he goes at times. at Troon in the coming week.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:what do you think of Valderrama as a course and the crowd?
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:starting with the crowd, I was probably expecting a bigger crowd to be honest. I thought it might be a real bumper crowd like what we saw in Adelaide and rivaling Adelaide as an, probably the hallmark event on the live schedule. But that wasn't what I observed. It's a bit hard to cherry pick images to know what it was really like. But if you think about the playoff, at Adelaide and the scenes that we saw there on the 18th hole, didn't really have that same feel being replicated, at Valderrama during their playoff.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:I probably agree. I was expecting it to be quite a big sort of attended, event, but, Valderrama is located down far South in Spain. So it's a very much a resort destination. the course is not a resort course, but, you're smack banging in the middle of a little holiday. zone down there. So you're a long way out of the major city. So it would be interesting to see, the turnout, if it was close to Madrid or Barcelona, but, yeah, I think maybe possibly why we haven't seen the attendance as big as what we saw in Adelaide.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:And then in terms of the course, I really liked that the course played tough. it's a good change up to what we've been accustomed to seeing on most of the major pro tours where it's a birdie fest week in and week out. And so I think there were nine players that finished under par, in regulation, which created some interest. It was a solid test for the guys without being, crazy difficult. I'd just like to see more of that. we may have the opportunity to see that, at JCB and Marido, depending on how they're set up and it will be, an interesting sort of experiment on those two new courses in the LIV schedule.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:I think, obviously like people are saying that, the wind was the biggest dictator of it being hard, but the course was still pretty firm, which we they have control over that if that was a PGA tour event, it would have been absolutely drenched and you would have been dealing with dartboard greens, and the same with fairways. the wind would have played a part, but, I think, They're doing a good job live of setting up the courses to not be as, gettable as what we're seeing often on the PGA tour.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:you could tell by the color of some of the greens and fairways at Valderrama that it hadn't been drenched with water and that it was certainly getting a bit of that, dry and crispiness to it.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:anything else from Liv?
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:No, nothing more from Liv. I think, worthwhile having a bit of a chat now about Evian.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:Steph Kiarke, she looked really good throughout the entire week. there were some stages in that final round where she fell off one or two shots, from, I think at the time it was, Lauren Coghlan, she dropped a shot or two back. I thought, Ooh, it'd be interesting to see how she performs here, but she, got herself back up into at least the co lead. she did really well and was really just overrun by someone in a hot streak.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:That's right, you, Kiriaku and Koglan definitely looked the most likely to get it done, those two, and, Ayaka came from the clouds, really. She sunk some really long bombs, which were very improbable putts to make. One of them was like straight downhill, Credit to her for doing that. And then coming into the 18th, she eagled 18, but her second shot in just barely got over the water, but ended up in a really good spot. Could easily, dunked itself in the water. And Steph's a major champion, after she goes on to make birdie on 18. a very topsy turvy event. pretty interesting watching to be honest, and, despite the loss, I think Steph's will take a lot of confidence out of that, and hopefully we see that, play out in the remainder of the LPGA Tour, season.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:seeing her putt on the 18th for Eagle, I felt oh, she's making this.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:I think particularly after it just snuck over. And, she was on, as you say, that hot streak and sometimes that just happens. I think back to the 2011 Masters where both Scotty and Jason Day got overrun by Charles Swartzall who birdied the last four holes at Augusta. those hot streaks can really catch other players, unaware. And that's what happened here.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:That's, as, McElroy mentioned in a press conference, I think it was at the, Scottish, he was talking about, the fact that he still felt that the 22 open burnt more than, Pinehurst did,
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:Interesting.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:interesting because I would have thought the opposite there because we had, as you say, that hot finishing Smith, run him down, run down that three shot lead with a back nine 30. I would have thought that would have burnt less than, giving away pinehurst, but, Yeah, there you go. the Aussies at Evian, five of the six other Aussies made the cut, with Naveed missing, but no one really threatening outside of, Kiriaki was a
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:No, Steph was really the only one that had a chance and solid finishes for most of the others, apart from a couple of missed putts. and then, we saw Nellie coming fresh off her dog bite.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:dog.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:Her dog bite return netting a T26, we'll see how she goes from here for the rest of the season recovering from that dog bite.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:I'll tell you what, she, maybe doesn't have that dog in her like Trump does because she hasn't continued on her strong form after that dog bite.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:Vicious dog.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:Oh, all let's turn to this week and really, the one event that matters is the open, how the Royal Troon, again, this is the first last being in 2016, which where we saw Stenson beat Mickelson in what was, if not the top, it was probably in the top two open victories.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:That's right, so I think the 10th time that Troon is going to host the Open this year, and you make a great point there about the Stenson Mikkelson duel, and Stenson having to shoot 63 in that final round to win it, pretty incredible, pretty incredible tournament that one. We know that there's the signature hole at Troon, the postage stamp, and, it's accompanied by the coffin bunker, the notorious coffin bunker. So it would be great to see that short par three, which, Can be pretty innocuous if you hit it on the green, but of course that's a big if, so no doubt we'll see a bit of carnage on the postage stamp over the course of, the four days at Troon and, notoriously difficult back nine too at Troon for the players to have to navigate around.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:So we saw the majority of players. played this week. probably the most notable that didn't was Scotty Scheffler. he played up at Trump,
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:Turnberry.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:With, Turnberry with, was it Sam Burns? So I think he played with.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:I don't know who he played with, but I heard that he shot 62 or something off the tips, at Turnberry. coming off, a decent break for Scottie, probably the longest break we've seen from Scottie for a while. if that's true, then he's going to be coming in with some pretty impressive form.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:The other one that's in incredible form, Tiger Woods. getting a lot of, a lot of, a lot of media coverage early in the week.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:I heard he successfully played a practice round. no, it's getting pretty tiresome. people still talking about whether he's going to bag another major. there's just no chance in my view that he can ever bag another major and probably never another win. Because he's not playing. He's not getting the reps in and we've talked about it before. he can't walk four rounds of golf without his injuries, significantly hampering him. And this is no discredit or criticism of Tiger. It's just a physical reality of where he's at now. But, continuing to see people pose those questions on social media or even in the media is just ridiculous.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:I'll tell you one person who doesn't think he's got any chance. That's Colin Montgomery
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:Yep,
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:said he should retire.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:that's right. Yeah, Colin asked, whether we were at the point where Tiger should consider retiring. And I think his response was, aren't we already past that point? Monty out there, giving it in the, terms.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:I slightly ironic that a 60 odd year old telling Tiger who should be retired from event that he's playing in.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:that's true. And I think he got ratioed, on social media as a result, but, he's probably not saying anything that most of us haven't been thinking.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:Nah, he's not. Hey, I, Ranky, I shared something on social today. the current, ranks of the last 10 open winners or the champion golfers of the year. looking back, Stinson's now ranked roughly 212, going all the way back to 2014, the golfer who won that year is still ranked third in the world.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:Who is that?
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:that is Rory McIlroy.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:Wow.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:that was his last win, I think, wasn't it?
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:Yeah, that's true. Last major win
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:It's incredible. It shows, Tiger esque in terms of consistency and longevity, isn't it?
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:and it's one of the things that you just have to take your hat off to Rory about, his ability to be competitive at the very top echelon of golf consistently over a decade plus. it's not something that many golfers have ever been able to do for various reasons. but he continues to be one of the sort of top three golfers, in the world year upon year. And even though he hasn't got a major victory in over a decade, he still won plenty of big boy tournaments and has turned up plenty of times in the majors.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:I know we say no, but he has to continue to him in as a bit, one of the favorites. He has to be, he's too competitive in pretty much everything to write him off.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:you can't write him off, especially over in the United Kingdom. there's just such groundswell of support from, the Irish and Europeans to really will him on to that next major. we see that in some of the, Sky Sports Media, who are fanboys more than they are reporting journos. but riding that wave of support can certainly lift you to the next level. And when you've got the game that Rory's got already, that can be a pretty potent combination. I expect we'll see him there or thereabouts again this coming week. at the open it's just a matter of whether, he can get it done in those, key moments.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:Scotty, you think he's the legitimate favorite?
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:it's going to be hard to gauge, given he is coming off a break. he's just shown an incredible ability to pick up where he's left off each time that there's been some sort of disruption or some sort of break to schedule programming. I do think he probably still comes in as a legitimate favorite. I wouldn't be taking him at 5. I think that's ridiculously short money. and, there's just no value in that given the field of a hundred and sixty odd, but I think he is the deserving favourite nonetheless.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:How about, of Colin and Bryson at the moment, roughly the same in, from a betting market perspective, should Bryson be a little bit shorter? Do you reckon he's getting the respect he deserves,
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:Off the back of his major performances this year, you would have to say he should be shorter than Colin and that's not to say that Colin can't win. We know he's won the Open before and he has been in very good form and certainly has caught my eye. but Bryson has shown this year that he is focused on majors and he's putting his money where his mouth is when it comes time to playing in these big time tournaments.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:particularly playing, or winning at Pinehurst as well, because, the conditions were Lynx ish in terms of really firm green, shortly mown dairies around the green complexes. while he might not have form on Lynx courses, he's got form in that sort of style of golf.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:That's true, and I think Pinehurst will be giving him a world of confidence as he heads to Troon this week. So I think Bryson is one to definitely keep a lookout for. Xander, is the other one, of course, who's been in very good form this year, he's already won one major and I would put him in that bracket with Rory and Bryson.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:let's have a look at a couple of others. So we spoke a little bit about Cam Smith, hard to place exactly where he's for him. Is he, it looks like it's still a little bit of a mixed bag in terms of what we're going to get. I think we can. Safely says that he's that dog in him is going to mean that he will be up towards the top of the leaderboard. I don't think we're going to see him finish below, say the top 20, but whether or not he can contend right at the very pointy end of the leaderboard, I'm not sure.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:I think everything's got to come together for Cam in the one week for him to really contend here and the struggles that he's, had so far this year would need to evaporate. In order for him to be a legitimate chance, as we talked about earlier in the pod, he's probably trending the right way, but whether it's trending enough, for him to be part of the mix on Sunday remains to be seen. I put, Cam in the same bucket as Victor Hovland, both of them. And if they did win, you wouldn't be hugely surprised, but you're probably not thinking they're in that top bracket of contenders at the moment. But certainly I think we'll be fan favourites, and people will be pretty keen to see both of them do well.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:Are we putting Bobby Mac into that upper echelon or is he still a dark horse? Would we say having won a couple of times in the last month or so?
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:His form would suggest he probably should be in that upper echelon. I just can't bring myself to have him there in the major yet. he'll probably make me eat my words now, off the back of that. But I think he's still more in the dark horse, arena and the betting markets would agree with that.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:from a lift perspective, so we've got, the Shambo, we spoke a little bit about, cam Smith. I guess the other couple of major guys would be. So we've got Ramm, and then Hatton.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:right, and I think Hatton, could give it a real shake, he's been in solid form, he's definitely trending nicely, and he'd love to take out one of these, big tournaments, these majors, in homish conditions, shall we say.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:And Ram's still, he's another top 10 on Liv, but he just seems to be just, I don't know, doing enough just to. Doing enough to get into that top 10, but not enough to win a tournament.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:I keep saying that it's only a matter of time before it clicks for Rambo. I hope he proves me right sooner rather than later. I am surprised that we haven't seen him, take out a win so far, but I still feel like it's coming. Whether it'll be in a major, and this week, I'm not so sure. I think, He's still got a little bit of way to go before he's right there, at the very top of his game, but, I just would never back against the big Spanish bull.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:No, absolutely not. any sort of anyone else there taking your interests, any long shots?
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:No, I think they're the main ones that, I expect to be in and around the mix, in the coming week. It's just going to be a really great watch. I think it's going to be a good test of Lynx Golf. It'll be great to see how it challenges some of these guys from the PGA Tour. I like seeing how the best guys from the PGA Tour are able to adapt their games to these different conditions and how quickly they can do it. It just shows at the very top. How good they really are and the all round skills that these guys have got is quite amazing.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:Yeah, it certainly is. I think, I was hoping to see Scotty compete, at the Scottish prior to teeing it up at the open. it looks like he's gotten out there and gotten time to adjust a little bit. So it'd be interesting to see how he goes. I dunno, I would have loved to have seen a little bit of a form from him in an event prior to that he's the favorite.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:it is hard to gauge given the break that he's had. it may well do him just the world of good because he had been playing so much and he'd had so many things going on with the baby and the arrest and whatnot. He definitely needed a break and he might come back, fresher and stronger than ever.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:Now, since our last week's episode, Keegan Bradley had his press conference. I think probably of note out of that conference was the fact that, he said he's going to go with the best It doesn't care where he plays or where they play.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:a pretty mature response from Keegan in my view. That's what you want to hear from the captain. we've talked before on the pod about how the majors and the Ryder Cup, should be above the fray and above the politics of what's going on within the respective tours. And that seems to be the approach that Keegan, wants to take. and I think it shows a little bit of, desire and maybe even desperation from the Americans that they really want to make sure that they win this next Ryder Cup. And so if you're going to give yourself the best chance, you've got to pick the 12 best players, no matter where they're playing. I did the fact that he said, if it gets lineball and I've got to go and see people, out on the live tour and actually watch them play live, I'm prepared to do that. That's exactly what you want to see from a captain that's got the best interests of the heart and the country at stake,
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:that certainly was, I wonder if that extends to vice captains because they use fairly close to Phil, it would be interesting to see Phil back involved with the team.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:wouldn't it? I just don't know whether that would be a bridge too far, but I guess he's applying the no politics rule to the players and, If he thinks that Phil is the best man for a vice captain job, maybe he will, consider Phil to do that. So that's a really interesting question and will be, one that we'd like to watch play out actually.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:did you see the scenes in the streets of Spain, the big homecoming from Richard Bland?
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:No, I missed it. It was more blandemonium, was it?
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:there was, he had the arrival party, all set up for him at live. And he looked like a rock star turning up.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:have we got, any more word on whether, he's a chance at the senior open or not for Carnoustie?
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:No, so he's not. and the reason being that he, didn't pay his fines for the European tour. the senior open is co sanctioned or co run by the RNA and the European tour. So he's not allowed to play because the Europeans who are co sanctioners of it.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:Wow, so that
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:crazy is
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:made the decision. but if he paid the fines he could play?
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:he could.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:Interesting.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:that's interesting that the RNA, is probably the most conservative out of the four majors. you would have liked to have seen them put a little bit more pressure on maybe the Europeans who are in get to play. They're get the hottest senior golfer in the world, at least with an invitation. That's, yeah, that's, that's interesting also that the European sewer has that co sanctioning versus, I don't think they do have that in the open championship
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:No. and it's bizarre, isn't it? if you are the owner of these majors and you're an organizer of the majors, you just want the best players, don't you? And you can't dispute that he's been the best, senior player in terms of those major championships so far this year. That's just, odd decision making, in my view, but I am surprised that Liv may not have stepped in to pay those fines as we've talked about previously.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:they did for whoever wanted them paid, but there was a group of them who just didn't like Blandy, obviously being one of them. I think Lee Westwood was another. they just didn't want them paid.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:on principle, maybe.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:Yep. Correct. we've seen Peters and a few of the others that have been playing, Pat Reid is another one, who have played in European tour events because they were, I think they accepted the payment from Lyft, but it's an interesting one because I don't think they've, the tour hasn't handled it very well in terms of how they've handed out the, out and the amounts of those fines to particular
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:No, it's messy, isn't it?
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:I think that's probably it we've got, a really good, solid week of golf coming up.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:Yeah, looking forward to it. kicks off Thursday, afternoon in Australia here. I think around 2 or 3 p. m. we'll be settling in certainly for a few days of fantastic golf. Maybe not as much golf as what there was last weekend, but still plenty to dive into, that's for sure.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:Yeah, there was a lot, it was everywhere, wasn't it? It was, that Sunday night to watch the LPGA, the Scottish and live at once.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:Yeah, it was fast and furious. it'll be good just to be able to focus on one tournament, this coming week.
jake-hower_1_07-16-2024_124049:thank you for tuning in, Luke. Good to speak to you and we'll speak again next week.
squadcaster-i24i_1_07-16-2024_124104:Likewise.
