The Open Championship Recap: Xander’s Victory, Weather Challenges, and Troon Savages the Big Names

Jake Hower: 00:00:00

Welcome back to the show, Luke. How are you?

Luke Manning: 00:00:04

Jake, I'm well exhausted after a big weekend of golf with the Open Championship. Got a couple of rounds in myself. snuck in a fourth in the, comp on Sunday, so pretty happy with that. but nothing in comparison to what we saw at the Open Championship at Troon.

Jake Hower: 00:00:18

it was pretty interesting watching. for us, it's a lot of late nights. there's a few little times throughout all four days where I was dozing a little bit and lost a couple of holes. But, the event was pretty good. We had some great weather and, ended up, a really good result, I think.

Luke Manning: 00:00:34

Yeah, excellent tournament, excellent course, great leaderboard, so plenty for us to unpack today.

Jake Hower: 00:00:41

let's jump straight into it. So I think, obviously, Xander Schofle was our eventual winner. he had, a brilliant back nine was a 31, coming in and just run over everyone. it was quite packed coming down entire round, but Xander just pulled away from them all.

Luke Manning: 00:00:57

Incredible golf from Xander on that back nine. one of the toughest finishing stretches of golf, really, the back nine at Troon and he was able to go four under and just blow the rest of the field away. So incredible golf from him, 65 in the final round, bogey free. you just would not have predicted it given the conditions early on. in the final round, and certainly the commentators weren't predicting that, score at all.

Jake Hower: 00:01:24

was interesting because the forecast I was looking at was always for that wind to die down a little bit. coming into that final day, if any of the early, tea times, which had a bit of weather as well, were to catch, those leaders, because there's so many up around that three under mark they were going to have a really solid round because those last few groups, always going to at least one or two that were going to score well, given the conditions were forecast to drop away a little.

Luke Manning: 00:01:51

it's interesting that didn't necessarily flow through in the commentary team's assessment of what was likely to unfold. I recall the conversations where many of them were saying that, Three under was probably going to be the likely winning score and that there was probably only going to be three to five people left under par at the end of day's play. The scores that we did see from the leading players later in the afternoon on Sunday showed that conditions must have eased up. as I say, Xander 65, 67 from Rose, Horschel and Lawrence 68. those sorts of scores were hard to come by throughout the tournament,

Jake Hower: 00:02:32

They certainly did. And it was all the way down to Scotty Scheffler, who was the first person on the leaderboard that, shot in the seventies.

Luke Manning: 00:02:40

Surprising from the world number one and he definitely him and Zander I think were the two that loomed large on that leaderboard going into Sunday, you just felt that something was going to come from one of them. Scotty had an average week or below average week with the putter and we know that. when the putter fires he wins and when it doesn't he's still there abouts on the leaderboard but he will have been disappointed with his overall performance there given that he'd had himself in position going into Sunday but couldn't get things rolling on the greens.

Jake Hower: 00:03:13

he looked in prime position, until he four putted. and I think that to me has always been with Scotty has always been his Achilles heel, but it looks like it's not a problem that's going to be easily solved. and I think it's going to take a little bit of luck on his side in terms of, performances in the majors and, his putter letting him down. I think looking back on his career, there's a high likelihood that we'll be saying, what if, regardless of how many majors he wins, I think we'll be saying, what if, because that putter is going to hold him back

Luke Manning: 00:03:44

and another big question, for me was what was the penalty for not reaching the red tees on 18? the penalty there? is it more in a major championship? I'd be very interested to see what happened in the, afterwards.

Jake Hower: 00:03:57

Adam Scott performed quite well from an Aussie perspective.

Luke Manning: 00:04:00

I know he played well last week at the Scottish and was trending. we did talk about how maybe the golf guards owed him one, getting pipped at the post last week, and also what we saw happen in 2012, where he let it slip through his fingers. But honestly, I wasn't expecting as good a performance from Scotty. finishing in the top 10, just. Didn't seem like this was a good course fit for him. but he really ground out, a very respectable, finished there in 10th.

Jake Hower: 00:04:31

He certainly did. I guess the big story was really the weather wasn't it early on. if you weren't in that, that late early wave, you were really up against it. it had a big impact on the tournament with, we're seeing so many big names depart at the halfway mark.

Luke Manning: 00:04:48

I think that's right. Aside from Xander's win, the other big storyline was definitely the impact that the weather had, you really got boned if you're on the wrong side of the weather. And I don't know that it was necessarily, early, late, early. It was a bit all over the shop when you got caught there, but it definitely did play a significant role in, Probably one of the most savage cuts I can remember in terms of big names missing out. if you run through the list there, you've got Tiger and Rory, Hovland, Wyndham Clark. he's really fallen off a perch ever since his comments about live, at the Masters this year. Oberg, I was surprised to see. Probably less surprised to see Smithy, not make the cut. Very disappointed, obviously, to see him struggle. Some other names there, Hatton, I really expected him to perform well given his trending form and this would be tough, gritty golf that matches up nicely with Hatton's game and Hatton's personality. So it did really show, how the weather played a significant impact.

Jake Hower: 00:05:53

It really was the weather, like a few of those mistakes like Bryson early looked I guess the other thing is that the not hitting fairways was a, sort of penalty as well. so I think that probably had a little bit to play with it, but seeing so many sort of shoot themselves out of it so quickly. yeah, I think once you get to that position there, the weather, stopped them from catching up again.

Luke Manning: 00:06:13

and you got quite schizophrenic results as well. you look at JT and, he had a 45, but then came home with a wet sail. just shows how unpredictable the weather was. if you got. Into the wrong part of the draw, it really did jam you hard and hence the big list of names that we saw.

Jake Hower: 00:06:32

Yes. Did you see JT's, first tee shot on the final rounds?

Luke Manning: 00:06:35

No, I didn't see.

Jake Hower: 00:06:36

It was ended out in the ocean. I think a dog went and grabbed his ball or probably would have play fetch with it.

Luke Manning: 00:06:44

Golf can do that to you, can't it?

Jake Hower: 00:06:46

That's just you think you're going to, First off, where you stand then.

Luke Manning: 00:06:50

after round one, there looked to be, some signs of life or proof of life from JT. we know how he can be a real shot shaper and a craftsman in difficult conditions and windy conditions. one of the rounds that he had at the PGA Championship, I remember, was just incredible, but, not to be this time around at the Open for JT.

Jake Hower: 00:07:11

Ram was a very good one. I thought he was one that was in the middle of probably some of the worst weather of the entire week. and he managed get through and make the cut. it was as good as I've seen him all year. I don't think I've seen him play better, particularly that front nine on the final day. he had a swagger and I hadn't seen a lot of that at all throughout the course of this year.

Luke Manning: 00:07:30

so T7 from Rambo, do you think that, quells the critics and fends off the, oh, he's gone to live, he's washed?

Jake Hower: 00:07:39

it was certainly a sign of life. and yeah, it's going to be interesting to see how he performs at the next sort of four or five events. So you could probably expect a win or two,

Luke Manning: 00:07:48

I suspect we'll, still see the criticism from those that have been making it. I think those that have been making it, against Rahm probably aren't the most objective of commentators. So it wouldn't surprise me if we still continue to see and hear these snide remarks against him. much the same as we saw some of the commentary team openly trolling Liv, during the tournament coverage, I think we had Laura Davies and Sam Torrance both throwing out some pretty childish and petty comments in my view, feigning no knowledge of or that's not real golf, et cetera. I think it's just time for people to let it go and move on, isn't it?

Jake Hower: 00:08:28

I don't know how you can sit there as a commentator, as a professional like that, and, wants to essentially look like an idiot. to me, I would want to be as researched as possible and as knowledgeable as possible to educate. so just to completely ignore it, like it is so easy to look up results. It's so easy to see how somebody's performing. Even if you don't want to sit and watch it, I can understand that, but just to essentially feign ignorance and just no knowledge of what they're doing on live, I think is, pretty poor form.

Luke Manning: 00:08:56

lazy would be one word to describe it, but deliberately ignorant would be another way of describing it. I think another, one of the commentators was lamenting the fact that they only get to see Rahm and Co. play four times a year. it's just ridiculous, to be hearing these sorts of things from people who are supposed to be professionals. and professionals are able to lift themselves and elevate themselves above the politics to do a professional job. And those things certainly came off, in my view as being very amateurish and very childish.

Jake Hower: 00:09:31

We see it a little bit from the U S, commentators, not necessary, on TV, but, you saw Dan Rappaport essentially, declare, Tristan Lawrence as the biggest outsider to have potentially won the tournament. Like he's a top 100 golfer. He's won four times on a DP world tour. The same thing. If you don't know who he is, that's fine. Before you tweet, jump online, have a little, just do five minutes of research.

Luke Manning: 00:09:54

Exactly.

Jake Hower: 00:09:55

to better inform yourself.

Luke Manning: 00:09:56

Yep, I agree totally.

Jake Hower: 00:09:59

let's have a look at some of the live guys. So we had, 16 in the fields, 17, if he is looking at canter as well. would you include Katlin as one of the 16 golfers?

Luke Manning: 00:10:09

I guess he's a part timer, in terms of crushes, but, I would include him as part of the live contingent given, where he's been in the last few tournaments. so 16. only one made the top 10, which we mentioned WA was Rambo. next best Catlan at 16. Birmingham who did show signs of contending earlier on in the tournament, finished T 19. But I would say overall, Liv would probably be a bit disappointed with the result. The bar is high for them. There's lots of detractors, there's lots of, critique and criticism out there. So they almost need to outperform in order to cut through demonstrate that they've had a good tournament. I think that, it probably, would have underperformed their expectations and their hopes.

Jake Hower: 00:11:00

how would you rate livers in it? as an entirety that they're seasoned in the majors? Yes.

Luke Manning: 00:11:05

Look, probably around par, there's been up and downs throughout the tournaments. Bryson's obviously been a standout for them and others have, weaved their way into the top 10. I think we had one in the top 10 for the US Open, one in the top 10 here. I'd need to go back and check what happened at the PGA and at the Masters. but, I still think there's room for improvement. and I don't think that their performances this year in the majors, will have poured cold water on the detractors that it's not competitive golf and that they're not, battle hardened going into these majors.

Jake Hower: 00:11:45

I'd probably agree with that. I think there haven't been many players in great form all year. so I've had a few of them pop up with some cameos, Neiman, a few of the others as well. But the big guys have not been in brilliant form, but Kepka is probably the biggest worry it looks like that putter is causing him trouble as well. Smitty is also, he reverted back to where he was pre 2022. it doesn't look like, he's as dominant as he was through that 22, 23 season.

Luke Manning: 00:12:13

and the other disappointment for me in the majors has been Neiman. I thought he was really going to give that a shake. and he really has not done a lot in the majors this year. we know he's got incredible game. just hasn't been able to piece it together, in those four big tournaments, unfortunately.

Jake Hower: 00:12:32

I thought it was pretty good, just maybe four holes that cost him. otherwise he would have been really up there competing. And again, it's, if he wasn't a veteran at 25 and, 20 odd appearances or thereabouts in the majors, You would maybe forgive him a little bit, but the fact that he's been in so many, even though he's still so young, yeah, to let big scores, answer the scorecard so regularly over the course of four days, I think

Luke Manning: 00:12:58

I guess if it is a few sort of, blowout holes that have cost him, that's probably easier for him to iron out, definitely below expectation, and hopefully can turn that around next year.

Jake Hower: 00:13:11

what about the numbers getting Guernsey's in the majors to live? Do you think that's there or thereabouts?

Luke Manning: 00:13:17

No, I don't think they've ironed the pathways out, fully yet, and we know, that the OWGR rankings, is not doing what it should be. And so whilst the entry criteria to majors largely uses that as the benchmark and the yardstick, I think we're still going to see an under representation. so I don't think we're quite there yet. Having said that, 16 or 17 out of 50 odd players is probably not a bad number either. but there probably have been some other tournaments where more should have qualified.

Jake Hower: 00:13:56

I think where that sort of 15 to 20 is probably around about the right number, I think it's harder for the younger guys like Pooj, obviously performed very well this year to get into the majors. for some of those younger ones that haven't. Already been ranked high. it's going to be difficult for those guys.

Luke Manning: 00:14:11

like an Ortiz, Mito, those guys,

Jake Hower: 00:14:16

even, Caleb Surratt, almost impossible unless he gets out onto the Asian tour, and even then,

Luke Manning: 00:14:22

it need to win a couple of times, in national series. Yep.

Jake Hower: 00:14:25

I don't think we're missing. Over the course of the four majors. I don't think we really missed anyone really, So you might say Taylor Gooch is unlucky not to get a Guernsey, but his form hasn't really warranted this year. I think you'd be putting him into the majors based on last year's form. And the fact that he, was the live money list leader. wasn't too stressed about not seeing him in the majors. Sergio Garcia could probably play, a case recently with his, relatively warm form. But, again, the same thing there, he went through a qualifying, he had to, which is a bit of a shootout really. So I don't think it's probably right that your top five or so live players have to go through qualifying, but yeah, I think that's, about the number that 15 to 20 live players as a rule. And it's going to be interesting to see what the majors do over the next couple of years, as that number slowly starts to decline, whether or not they fill it up with, some exemptions or whatnot, or some invitations.

Luke Manning: 00:15:21

I just think you need to look at a specific live pathway. and is it, the top 10, top 12, whatever the number actually is, just creating that specific live pathway. if the IWGR is not going to change, Where are we at on the framework agreement or the deal between PGA, and the DP World Tour and the PIF, it's gone very quiet, hasn't it? and so whether the OWGR, is part of any agreement that's reached, who knows? But it just seems like that deal is dead in the water, really.

Jake Hower: 00:15:56

we're going through a bit of a lull even with, player movement as well. We've just really nothing circulating regarding any players coming across. so whether or not we're, a month or two away from that starting up again,

Luke Manning: 00:16:08

It does feel a bit,

Jake Hower: 00:16:09

just.

Luke Manning: 00:16:09

yeah, it does feel a bit stale, doesn't it?

Jake Hower: 00:16:12

That certainly does.

Luke Manning: 00:16:13

Maybe that'll heat up as we go into, the playoffs on the PGA Tour, the FedEx Cup the Live Golf Teams finale is a great event, that's going to be at a great time. Great venue that, will be interesting. So maybe over the coming weeks, things do heat up again, but maybe we're also suffering a bit of post major, flatness.

Jake Hower: 00:16:32

Do you see that Norman was an official invitee and attended.

Luke Manning: 00:16:36

That's right. Official guest of the RNA. so that was good to see and, different to what we've seen in some other events.

Jake Hower: 00:16:46

Who's going to be the biggest, YouTube guest is going to be Greg Norman on Rick Shields channel, or is it going to be Donald Trump on Bryson's channel?

Luke Manning: 00:16:52

I was just seeing that Bryson and DJT will be, hosting or doing a Breaking 50 special on YouTube. I was checking out the footage of Bryson on the range with, the former president sending bombs over the nets and the staff. saying we don't really see that much around here.

Jake Hower: 00:17:15

I'll tell you what, that gives him that immediate advantage of being one of the best players in the world. and then obviously layering over his, 800 or 900, 000 YouTube subscribers. if you were there competing against Bryson in terms of YouTube and like a Rick Shields or one of the good guys, you're at a big disadvantage competing against Bryson.

Luke Manning: 00:17:35

A very big disadvantage, that's for sure.

Jake Hower: 00:17:37

Now that was the, we've seen this year, the majors, the four majors won by Americans, and that was the first time that, the Americans have held all four majors since 1982.

Luke Manning: 00:17:47

clean sweep for the Yanks. the internationals just need to do better, don't they? it's Interesting to see that the American style of golf is translated to all different styles of golf, that we've seen. there's been some change ups, Troon and Pinehurst, this year, less so Valhalla, but some, new questions being posed by these majors, but the Americans were up to it this year and kudos to them.

Jake Hower: 00:18:14

what did you think of, Lowry's outbursts?

Luke Manning: 00:18:17

I thought it was pretty poor. like from our perspective, as fans and as viewers, it was great theater, great drama. I think he was whinging about hitting, driver into one of the par threes. I think that's great to say. and saying that the T's should have been moved forward. I think he was blowing off steam because he'd seen a healthy lead evaporate, and he would have been pretty frustrated. Putting it in the coffin bunker on the postage stamp, 8th hole there, the par 3, very famous par 3, which ended up putting him pretty much in a body bag. He took double there, and then went on to shoot 40 on the back nine. That was really the end of his tournament. so I can understand the frustration, but disagreed with his comments afterwards and didn't think it was a great look.

Jake Hower: 00:19:04

No, he did a little bit of damage to his reputation. I think over the course of the, he looked like early on with the lead and whatever he was, had the crowd behind him, had everyone behind him really, and then, we saw a couple of outbursts on the course and then off the course as well. so he's, Lowry PR has probably taken a little bit of a hit.

Luke Manning: 00:19:20

he was playing up at a cameraman

Jake Hower: 00:19:21

the cameraman was, when you look at the footage, he was down, crouched down on his knee and quite a distance away from him. whether or not he just started clicking before he had impact. But the thing is he was in a deep rough. the grass just caught the shaft. So I just pulled it way left. yeah, it wasn't a great shot or a great outcome for him, but, I'll tell you what, though, that same hole, so he's hit that shot. And I think that they've taken 30 minutes to play that hole, 20 minutes between that shot and the next. yeah. I think that was a little bit ridiculous considering they were just trying to find somewhere to drop someone found his ball in the gorse. And I've taken 20 minutes before he's hit the next shot. I don't understand why it would take so long.

Luke Manning: 00:20:04

just too long. even though it wasn't necessarily a good look for Lowry and he did come off as being a bit of a sook, after a poor back nine there. It's still a bit of personality. It's a bit of drama. It's a bit of interest. So all those things, add to the theatre of golf. So in the end, I guess I'm okay with it, but as you say, probably from a PR perspective, not great for team Lowry.

Jake Hower: 00:20:27

no. Dan Brown, not the Da Vinci code. We've got the other Dan Brown, who's probably maybe needs to look into a partnership with Charlie Hull.

Luke Manning: 00:20:36

the old ripping darts, line came out again. So I think he was caught on camera smoking a cigar and then going over and taking a selfie with, with a fan. So very similar to what we saw from Charlie Hull earlier in the year.

Jake Hower: 00:20:50

Now, Rory, it wasn't great, really. So into that, when he just about, JT being able to work the ball and, has so many different shots in his arsenal is Rory's the opposite.

Luke Manning: 00:21:03

this is the question I've been asking is, has Rory been playing too long on the PGA Tour and now his swing and his game are not fit for conditions that you would think he'd be more accustomed and more attuned to. The high ball flight, when playing Lynx golf can be pretty, detrimental. Has he become, accustomed or acclimatized to the U. S. conditions and now not able to translate to his more historic conditions he might be used to?

Jake Hower: 00:21:33

I think you're right a little bit there. And we also saw there was even missing, a lot of these PGA tour guys are used to, just Bombing it as far down as possible. missing the fairway wasn't a concern, with conditions like we saw at Troon with that rough, it really, stopped a lot of those styles of players. So we saw quite a number of players like Horschel, even like a Russell Henley who are relatively accurate, performing quite well here. that bomb and gouge missing out a little bit. It's interesting to consider, this is one event, it's one event out of, an average of 20, 25 events that these guys play, whether or not they need to change their game or sort of incorporates into their game, their ability to play this one particular event, maybe they don't, maybe they just write it off.

Luke Manning: 00:22:18

Not Bryson, Xander did talk, I think on live about how he felt it was really important to get over and play the Scottish the week before, to get the game dialed in and he was talking about it taking at least a good five days or so for the body to adjust to the time difference and really needed the reps. at the Scottish and then obviously the practice week before the open to be ready for the open tournament proper. So we know that Rory's taken quite a bit of time off since Pinehurst maybe didn't have the same preparation that Xander did. Interesting some comments from Shane Bacon, on X about having a Lynx month, where they play four, Lynx courses over the course of a month, which would be pretty interesting. and I think great watching, but the state that World Golf's in at the moment, you just can't see how that would ever be, capable of coming together much the same as we wish. and lament that there's not an Australian swing, of a global tour where they could come and play two or three weeks in a row down here on some of the best courses in the world. And people know that we have the best courses down here, but it's just so hard to make happen.

Jake Hower: 00:23:35

we had a, the Rolex, the Irish open was the week before the Scottish, the problem we had with it is you'd have players choosing that two weeks out from the open or choosing the Scottish the week prior to the open didn't have many play the three weeks. I think that in itself makes it hard. You're just not going to get golfers come out and play three or four weeks in a row, particularly around a major.

Luke Manning: 00:23:55

and then we had signature events thrown in there as well. it's just very difficult. And so to think that we're going to get coordination between the PGA tour, DP World tour, the majors, such that there's going to be, a Lynx month or a Lynx swing, a four week swing of Lynx golf. unfortunately it's a bridge too far. Great idea, but just not likely to happen.

Jake Hower: 00:24:20

You have noted in here, Bobby Mac, about his dress.

Luke Manning: 00:24:24

is he the worst dressed golfer in the world?

Jake Hower: 00:24:26

I think there's, maybe Hovland's gotta be up there, doesn't he?

Luke Manning: 00:24:29

ha! At least Hovland's got a physique to pull off some of those horrible shirts. Poor old Bobby Mac. he's got the dad bod and the poor dress sense to go.

Jake Hower: 00:24:38

On X, I saw someone, maybe it was Claire Rogers or someone like that sort of compare Adam Scott with a paint swath just a different shade. It looked exactly like him.

Luke Manning: 00:24:50

Scotty in his uniclo gear.

Jake Hower: 00:24:52

there's quite a few pretty poorly dressed golfers on tour.

Luke Manning: 00:24:56

There is some, isn't there? And you wonder what these, apparel, companies are thinking sometimes. Like what you say, some of the stuff that Hovland's gone out in, has been atrocious. But I guess to his credit, he comes out and says, if they're prepared to pay me to wear it, I'll just wear it.

Jake Hower: 00:25:12

we should move on from the open.

Luke Manning: 00:25:14

I think, we talked about, Adam Scott, Jason Day, signs of life from Jason there, disappointing final day for him. I think he, he worked hard to get himself into position going into the final round, but wasn't able to, make much of a charge and probably, would be disappointed In that final round from him and then the other guys, the other Aussies all missed the cut. So we talked about Smithy, unfortunately for Minwoo, had a blowout and not able to make it. And then I don't think we really would have expected much from the youngsters in terms of Elvis Smiley and Jasper Stubbs. I think Jasper might have started with double. So that kind of set the tone, unfortunately, for the youngster, for the rest of the tournament. But, only two Aussies to make the cut. bit of a disappointing run there, even though Scotty did top 10.

Jake Hower: 00:26:02

was actually thinking about Jason Day a little bit and just comparing him with, with Cam Smith. They've both had, purple patches through their careers and Cam's still young enough to have another patch like that. But Jason Day was probably more dominant than what Cam was, through that 2022 season. I'm more disappointed in Cam Smith reverting than I was with Jason. I think with Jason Day, it was clearly injury that had him revert. with Cam, it looks a little bit more self inflicted. I know others saying maybe he's just reverting back to where he actually normally

Luke Manning: 00:26:35

leveling back to his normal status.

Jake Hower: 00:26:38

But for me, I really believe that 22 season was certainly correlated with an increased level of fitness. So I just wonder from my perspective, or not he works hard enough. and so that, from as an outsider with no knowledge of him or his routine or whatever, he just looks like someone who's not living up to his potential.

Luke Manning: 00:27:02

I do think there's some technical aspects though in his swing where he gets stuck at the top there and he's not able to bring it back down and get square at impact. so for me, it's a combination of probably both. I agree with you. He doesn't look as fit as he needs to be. If you look at Adam Scott, or, if you compare to the top guys like a Victor Hovland or the like, those guys, yeah, McElroy, Bryston,

Jake Hower: 00:27:30

early career versus now, like body shape, it's

Luke Manning: 00:27:33

exactly, and even Tiger, like you would say Tiger at almost 50, has, much better fitness and physique than what Cam does. So some work to do for Cam there. we've talked before on this pod about. how I yearn for the 2015 days of Jason Day, as you say, he was so dominant through that stanza of 2015 16. If we were to see that again, we'd be blessed as Aussie golf fans to be able to see it. I just don't feel like it's coming. And I do, injury definitely played a part, but I also think chemistry, is a big thing with these players and the chemistry that he had with Colin Swatton, as both his caddy and coach. I, if you go back and you look at, just how in sync and in tune those guys were, laser focused, it was really a thing of beauty to see. and I just don't feel that when I see Jason play on course anymore. so, I'd love to go back to those days, but I just don't think it's going to happen.

Jake Hower: 00:28:36

No, I think it's passed now, that period was so good, wasn't it?

Luke Manning: 00:28:40

Definitely.

Jake Hower: 00:28:41

we'll move on to next week's events. Just before we do, we have got a alignment across different ranking systems that I cover, with our top three golfers. So they all agree that Scotty's the best with Xander and Rory following.

Luke Manning: 00:28:55

So this is on Rank Eagle

Jake Hower: 00:28:56

It is

Luke Manning: 00:28:58

and, just talk to us how that alignment panned out. This is across what AWGR.

Jake Hower: 00:29:03

a data golf, universal golf rankings, Tuga and, Conrad's rankings all rank them one, two, three in that order.

Luke Manning: 00:29:11

And then how are we going, below, that top three, how much consistency do we see, say in the top 10?

Jake Hower: 00:29:19

Top 10 is very consistent.

Luke Manning: 00:29:21

And then when we get to top 25, top 50.

Jake Hower: 00:29:25

You see it? I think it is, it's fairly accurate. So particularly in that top 20. You see a little bit of variance in around that sort of a hundred to 200 range. and again, towards back end of the systems, depending on how they all, rank golfers. So get a lot of change up around that sort of four, 500 marks. even OWGR, they're not ranking live performances, but they're still pretty accurate. Even though they don't, so yeah, no, that's, they're all very valid, you'd accept any of them really as a ranking except that you probably do need to track the live guys with OWGR, I don't think we'd be looking at any of these other systems if OWGR tracked the live guys.

Luke Manning: 00:30:01

No. And so if people want to dive into the detail and have a look at the sort of comparison across the major ranking scales, where they head to rankeagle. com.

Jake Hower: 00:30:10

there's a few different things there, some comparisons across tours, which are pretty interesting. I think last week there were maybe three or four, DP World tour members inside the top 100. There's a few more this week with the open, but it'll be interesting to see. The fact that, once the cards are handed out for the PGA that is a possibility that. There's no DP World Tour players ranked in the top 100.

Luke Manning: 00:30:34

Crazy.

Jake Hower: 00:30:35

It is crazy.

Luke Manning: 00:30:36

crazy.

Jake Hower: 00:30:37

All right, this week, probably the main event to discuss really is, the JCB, the Live JCB event really, isn't it?

Luke Manning: 00:30:44

Liv returns to the schedule heading to LivUK at JCB Golf and Country Club. Kicks off on Friday, Australian time, 1115 PM. either on seven plus or, on live golf plus app if you're a subscriber, current standing. in terms of the teams, we've got crushes leading in first followed by Legion 13 and Torquay, the Aussie Rippers, just outside of the top three in fourth position but ready to pounce hopefully in the back end of the season. on the individual side, Neiman's leading the individual standings followed by Rambo and Sergio. So the Spaniards, trying to chase down the South American and, Smithy in seventh place. So a bit of work for Smithy to do, coming in. I'm interested to see, how this course plays. I'm also interested to see, how the Brits get out and support this event, or if they do.

Jake Hower: 00:31:45

I'm also interested to see that, it's been sold out for a couple of weeks, or at least the ground passes have been, suggest it's not going to look super busy, on TV, I'd imagine they would keep it relatively limited, and focus more on that fan experience and, being able to say they've sold out the venue.

Luke Manning: 00:32:02

sold out is, it depends on the definition. Doesn't it? How many tickets you actually putting out there? So what were they doing in Adelaide? I think it was 30, 000 a day or something like that. you expect it to be less than that.

Jake Hower: 00:32:14

well, a lot less than that, I think. Yep. So I don't know what the final number will be. It will look, I don't think it'll look as busy as some of the other events. yeah, we even discussed, Spain last week. that to me didn't look super busy on

Luke Manning: 00:32:27

No,

Jake Hower: 00:32:27

but

Luke Manning: 00:32:27

And I guess it did give the impression that it was a bit of an underwhelming, event versus expectations, but you made some good points around, the location and maybe the same for, JCB here, Interesting to see whether people are prepared to travel. what does sold out actually mean?

Jake Hower: 00:32:48

I think we're just in that point now, hopefully it is just a lull because it does seem a little bit flat,

Luke Manning: 00:32:53

there's a, feels a lack of momentum, right?

Jake Hower: 00:32:57

I feel like maybe that's something to do with, scheduling events around the majors. I think maybe you need to get away from it. Maybe you need to try and focus on maybe taking away some of the events and putting them into February, March. and then again, from now onwards, so have a couple of different runs and try and keep that middle major season. Relatively open. certainly if the PGA tour were to come and say, we're going to allow to play in our events, that would make sense for me there. Cause you could get the live guys picking off events as they see fit to prepare themselves for the majors. But yeah, it just seems a little flat, when the focus is mainly on the major and this is like a side event.

Luke Manning: 00:33:37

I think, short of an agreement that there can be some crossover of events and live players could play on a PGA tour event. You're unlikely to see live change at schedules because the guys. need the reps. They need to have some tournament conditions to be prepped for the majors.

Jake Hower: 00:33:55

the Asian tour doesn't cut it.

Luke Manning: 00:33:57

no.

Jake Hower: 00:33:58

And even if the DP world tour, really it's borderline how it cuts it. Maybe if they got a few more live guys in it, it would them up a bit, but don't know.

Luke Manning: 00:34:07

I think the likelihood is that we'll just continue to see this glut of tournaments, from starting with the players really all the way through to July. and it's going to be hard to feel what's an important event outside of the majors and maybe that's where we're at.

Jake Hower: 00:34:24

I think you're probably right there. on the PGA tour, we've got the 3M open, in Minnesota, TPC Twin Cities. That's an 8. 1 million dollar purse. again, coverage on Foxtel and KO is starting for a Friday main feeds at 530. notables in that event, we've got Cam Davis with Billy Horshill again. actually Sammy Burns who played quite well over the weekends, and Michael Theobaldson.

Luke Manning: 00:34:47

you're a guy. look, we're talking about events that matter and don't matter. This is probably one that doesn't matter. Although, it's got a reasonable set of notables there. we might get some interesting golf, over the weekend, but I think I'll be taking a bit of a break.

Jake Hower: 00:35:03

I agree with you there. and on the LPGA tour, we've got the women's open and that's at the Elgato Golf Club in Alberta,

Luke Manning: 00:35:12

that a joke?

Jake Hower: 00:35:14

Oh, yes.

Luke Manning: 00:35:15

The Earl Grey Golf

Jake Hower: 00:35:16

it's

Luke Manning: 00:35:16

Club.

Jake Hower: 00:35:17

they're a crack. Yeah. they're part of the Commonwealth.

Luke Manning: 00:35:19

Yep.

Jake Hower: 00:35:20

name a course that?

Luke Manning: 00:35:21

Big tea drinkers. gotta be a tea drinker if you're part of the Commonwealth.

Jake Hower: 00:35:25

Oh, goodness. notables there, Vu, Minji Lee, Alison Corpuz, Angel Yin, Ro Zhang, Hannah Green and Lexi, who seems to be on a bit of a, farewell tour.

Luke Manning: 00:35:35

that's right. she played last week, playing again this week. getting all of the stops in before she retires at the end of the year. Pretty strong field, for this event. the ladies will put on a bit of a show, I reckon.

Jake Hower: 00:35:48

Yes. to win the teacup.

Luke Manning: 00:35:51

I hope that's the trophy.

Jake Hower: 00:35:52

we've touched on, Trump and Bryson that's coming out today. So that'll be interesting to see how that video performs. I think it's going to be very good for Bryson. it'd be interesting to see how, with Trump actually coming on board for his. Next presidency, which are pretty much home and host as far as I'm concerned, how that's going to pan out for live, because he's been a pretty big vocal supporter of the concept and against the PGA tour. so it's going to be interesting to see what, president Trump in office means for the golf landscape.

Luke Manning: 00:36:20

I've been thinking, how is this going to play out if Trump does take the presidency? And as you say, if you look at the betting markets, I think he's down to 1. 30 now. the Sharps definitely have him as pending really for the White House come January next year. What does that do for the live events that, would be played at the White House? Daryl, you'll recall when Trump took the presidency in 16, the PGA tour canceled events that were at his courses. And I guess that was done under the guise of governance, but I wonder whether it was more done, in real terms because of sentiment. and optics. there's a palpable change in sentiment towards Trump now, whether, Liv, really tries to ride that wave or goes the other way, like what the PGA tour did.

Jake Hower: 00:37:14

And I think this video might, there may be some sort of sneaky comments that we can Garner a little bit about how Trump feels and how vocal he's going to be. Obviously Bryson being a leaf player. that'll be interesting to see The other one, I think that's going to be interesting is obviously Turnberry, because, the RNA did the same thing around the same time 16 and took it out of the rotor. it. Is, getting really good press over the weekend, in and around the sort of golf community talking about how good that course is and the fact that it really should be in the rota. it will be interesting to see what the RNA does. if we have a Trump presidency with that slightly different sentiment around Trump and the Republicans,

Luke Manning: 00:37:50

And what we've said many times, leave your politics out of our sport. Let's just put on the best events, on the best courses. And if Turnberry's up to it, which I, absolutely believe that it is, then let's get it in a rotor.

Jake Hower: 00:38:02

it'd be a good track for the live guys, if they couldn't get into the rota. and then the other thing really, we've got the U S, junior M being run at the moment and, Charlie Woods qualified for that. he was 12 over, and 250 at the place. So it's performed a little bit below expectation. but, he's going to be plagued for his entire junior career with crowds and, he's certainly going to be one of the better prepared. golfers, in terms of handling the pressure of crowds and whatnot.

Luke Manning: 00:38:29

I feel for Chucky Woods. it's a huge, sort of weight to have to carry being Tiger's son and having such ridiculous expectations put on you at such a young age. I just wonder whether that will prove to be an impediment to him, rather than a help to him in the sense that, He's got no space to be able to make mistakes, and grow like other junior golfers will have. He's just got this intense interest and intense scrutiny. And however many other, guys shot 12 over, none of them are being, posted up on X immediately after they've signed their scorecard. so it's a tough spot for him to be, but, it'll be a place that he will always be in if, professional golf is an avenue that he wants to choose.

Jake Hower: 00:39:17

at that same event, we saw, an image floating around of Tiger's, leg sort of compression bandage on it. And, he's got a big scar running pretty much from knee to ankle. Showing the, that's the first time we've seen it.

Luke Manning: 00:39:30

That's right. first time we've seen it. quite graphic and just an incredibly, long and thick scar on the outside of his legs. just shows how much damage he did in that accident and how much reconstructive work was required by the orthopedic surgeons to put him back together.

Jake Hower: 00:39:47

Looks like he's missing half his car, as well. So this is quite, interesting. No, we haven't seen that from him. and it's relatively voyeuristic, but, yeah, it's interesting to see it and seeing him getting it out. So maybe that means it's improving a bit.

Luke Manning: 00:40:02

Possibly, and whether that means that we'll see more improvement. In terms of his mobility and therefore his, ability to walk four rounds, time will tell, but yeah, he's still got a long way to go, even if that's true.

Jake Hower: 00:40:21

we're not going to see him again until the PNC and the Hero World Challenge. it's interesting. Someone, really is leading the PGA tour now and she's, really hiding in terms of the events that he's coming to.

Luke Manning: 00:40:34

Maybe he's got a lot of deals to crunch and a lot of board work to do in the interim That might mean that we see something before the PNC, one way

Jake Hower: 00:40:43

it does.

Luke Manning: 00:40:44

I think I just want to, get some resolution, whether there's a deal or no deal, let's just work it out and move on.

Jake Hower: 00:40:52

All right, Luke, I think that's it for the week.

Luke Manning: 00:40:54

It is big week. great pod. Thanks for listening. And, we'll catch you all next week.

Jake Hower: 00:41:00

Brilliant.