Tiger at the mic, on the course: More questions than answers | Golf Channel Podcast | Golf Channel

In this week’s edition, the guys discuss Tiger Woods’ first press conference of the year, when he tiptoed around the specifics of a potential partnership with the Saudis. Plus, their expectations for his play at Riviera and more notes from the $20 million signature event. #GolfChannel #GolfChannelPodcast #TigerWoods

0:00: Tiger met with the media at Riviera. Our takeaways.
04:00: What raised the most eyebrows: A potential partnership with the PIF
07:00: The raging debate of a pathway back for LIV players
15:00: How Tiger has looked for the past two days, expectations for the week
24:00: What else we’re paying attention to this week at Riv – including JT being “back”
30:00: Rex’s misadventures in the Connecticut snow
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Tiger at the mic, on the course: More questions than answers | Golf Channel Podcast | Golf Channel
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Hello and welcome into this edition of the Golf Channel podcast with Rex and lab Tiger Woods is back we will get into how he’s looked over the first two days here at the Genesis Invitational but first it was Tiger Woods’s First Press Conference of the Year here on Wednesday

At Riviera a lot to discuss his health his game his views on the current state of affairs in professional golf most specifically the $3 billion deal with the Strategic Sports Group as well as the ongoing negotiations with the Saudi public investment fund Rex you were part of like a

Three-hour golf today desk I was supposed to join you and then didn’t I was in the room where it happened so to speak here at Riviera what was your big takeaway from what Tiger Woods had to say on Wednesday it’s a little scary because we had to vamp a lot we were

Waiting for Tiger Woods vamping in TV means we just talk because we’re wasting time until Tiger Woods gets to the microphone and you get to hear the person you actually want to hear from and one of the questions that me and Todd Todd Lewis my colleague on golf

Today were talking about was okay we’ve been in these rooms before what would you want to ask him and we’re sort of batting back and forth questions and look man like I love Todd but you and I both know Todd threw out like a three-parter and I’m like dude Miss nope

Nope nope n we can always we can always follow up but let’s just stick with one anytime you go multiple part question with an athlete they’re going to go the path of of lease resistance absolutely and and I will say this the question that I wanted to answer the most you

Asked so apparently you and I share a mind I was very impressed you asked him about the pathway back for Live players we can get into to that a little bit later I I it was it was curious and afterwards after we finished up golf today and there was some TV stuff going

On so then we we kind of spilled over into golf Central and Jimmy Roberts asked about what did you take from sort of his attitude you know did he seem like he was in a good spa did he seem like he was in a good place I go it’s

Seemed like he’s a 48y old guy he had a bunch of surgeries played a really really cold round of golf and he probably just wanted this to be over the press conference was 24 minutes so he didn’t spend a lot of time elaborating on things but he normally doesn’t I I I

Didn’t take anything away from there well it was twofold it was one and we can we can address this this way one it’s the business of the PGA Tour and because he’s so embedded and at the very very heart of how the decision process is being made we can get into that and

The other is sort of the state of Tiger Woods and honestly I use this anecdote I’ve done it with you many times you’re gonna roll your eyes Tiger Woods told me a long time ago he’s never won a proam so I don’t pay a lot of attention to

What he does on a Wednesday at a PGA Tour event because he’s not trying to win on Wednesday he’s trying to win on Sunday yeah so let’s let’s stick first with like this current state of affairs because I thought that was going to be most interesting like we’ll have plenty

Of indications over the next two or four days depending on how Tiger Woods plays what we we can project either for The Players Championship which presumably would be his next start in a month and then the Masters obviously two months away the the biggest takeaway to me is

That Tiger Woods seemed like almost like a politician where he was very cognizant and aware that what he was saying as one of golf’s most influential voices was going to reverberate beyond the walls of the Rivier Clubhouse he had to have known that representatives from the piff

Were going to see this in Parson words closely he had to think that the PG tour membership was hanging on his very word and so he seemed very hesitant or reluctant to tip his hand in any way kind of knowing the weight of his words he was so vague discussing not only the

Strategic Sports Group and what they could potentially be doing with this3 billion do Beyond you know kind of paying off the players for their loyalty he just said basically we want to make the best tour we can and have the best players up playing on har tour he had he

At least publicly he did not share any details of how they would arrive to that point on the PJ tour but the most interesting thing to to me Rex was his thoughts on the piff first of all he has never met with any representatives from the piff including the governor yir Al

Rayan as you remember Roy marroy was the one who late in 2022 had a conversation with Yasir in Dubai basically asked him what does he want to do with the game of golf and it was kind of that initial conversation that eventually led to the Freddy Merkel agreement that we saw on

June 6 I found that fascinating how two of these enormous uh personalities and influential figures have never even just had a conversation and to me that that spoke volumes about where we are uh and potentially where we’re headed uh that’s funny because I on golf Central when we

Were sort of recapping the press conference I called him tiger the Diplomat because I think you’re absolutely right and look Todd Lewis my colleague he kind of weighed in a little bit heavier he said that he seemed to Echo the comments Tio had some takes did

He he had some takes I wouldn’t call him hot but lukewarm takes is what I would call him and I think in this particular case he was saying that well essentially he’s saying the same thing that Jordan spe said two weeks ago at Pebble or Adam Scott

And and I go no I go it was softer I go nuanced but it was very it was softer because if you paid attention you went back and you read the quote what he said was we would like to have the piff involved in our tour that’s that’s the

Line that you need to go with and then he went to what I assume and I think it’s a safe assumption is the company line which is we have a huge influx of cash with the SSG investment $1.5 billion with an option for another $ 1.5 billion doar we don’t necessarily need

You right now and so if we’re going to go to the table we’re going to try to get the best deal possible the tour is in a better negotiating spot now than they were three weeks ago before the SSG deal got announced and this is all part

Of the negotiations I’ve said this time and again and I’m going to go back to it I don’t see a future that doesn’t include the piff in the PGA tour in SSG together somehow the last two weeks have been a disaster for professional golf we

Need to get out of this cycle of making things only worse that being said I think all he did today was sort of reinforce the idea of these are the talking points and this is what we’re going to stick with because even when you asked them and look Bravo to you

Because you and I apparently share a mind sometimes even when you asked them about the pathway back which has been a hugely polarizing issue with after what Rory said at Pebble Beach he said they players who join live should be allowed back without any kind of penalty or

Fines or suspensions and there’s a bunch of players who pushed back even on that front he said absolutely nothing it was we’re looking at a bunch of different models but there’s no solution right now and that’s just him being the Diplomat it’s like look man I’m in the middle of

This we’re we’re digging through this every single day we’re having meetings we’re having emails and it’s not going to be a quick fix and and to me the more that this the more that time passes like the only thing that matters is what this pathway looks looks like you know this

Is this is not sustainable to have two tracks a PJ tour track and a live golf track and and them to be going in separate directions golf is a niche Sport and it’s just it’s not sustainable it’s not healthy for either tour to be in this position where you’re dividing

Talent you look at the t- sheet this week at the Genesis invitation I’ve and I’ve kind of bandied this about with some of my colleagues in the pressroom there’s about five or six stars on the PJ tour who are on this field list and then the rest of it it’s it’s basically

Just depth in in and like them or loathe them you look at the players who are now on live from Brooks to Bryson to DJ even you know kind of lesser personalities like a Sergio or a Terell Hatton obviously John ROM was the big signing in the off season like they don’t just

Provide depth to the PJ tour they provide the the topend talent that is recognizable to all of the fans we’re not going to name names about who who in this field you know does not comprise a quote signature event no I want you to name names do it that’ll be that’ll be

The the the the the after show but I I think it’s I think it’s becoming clear that that if this is the very best that the PJ tour has to offer and and look it is it is it’s 65 degrees it’s perfectly sunny here in Marina del Rey uh this

Golf course Riviera is a is a Timeless classic uh it’s arguably the best venue on the PJ toota but you look at this t- sheet it just it’s not it’s not working it’s it’s it’s not working this is the best the PJ tour has to offer I have a

Hard time imagining a scenario in which the PJ tour can become even more profitable like you have to develop a pathway back for these players and for him to say you know simply they’re just running through the models like they’ve had the task force ever since the the

The June 6th agreement this is this is nothing new and to not have any sort of clarity at this point I think it just speaks to how divisive this issue really is among the tour membership and to be clear it will be the key issue like we

Can sit the only it’s the only issue exactly and and I always get sort of strange eyes when I and I’ve been in Connecticut and I’ve been around a lot of Executives for the last couple days so I always get a weird look when I say that and it’s like look it’s a

Multi-billion dollar deal international law is involved the doj is going to be involved there’s a lot of layers to this but when it comes to is this going to happen or is this not going to happen it’s going to come down to what the path back looks like and if the Live players

Quite frankly are comfortable with what they have to do or not do and I think Rory probably had it right and like look you may not like the messenger you may not like the message but he’s right the only way this deal works if you just let

Those players come back and then you figure out from there what the product’s going to look like because I will double down on this the last two weeks in golf have been a disaster and part of it been weather at Pebble Beach and last week in

Scottsdale part of it has been way too much alcohol which we covered when when it comes to TBC Scottsdale but the bigger issue is I have friends texting me asking me which one of these events I should watch should I watch the live event or should I watch the PGA Tour

Event and it’s become increasingly harder for me to say watch the PGA Tour event when you have a final round pairing of Bryson D shambro Brook Kea and Dustin Johnson at the live event like I I still contend the PGA Tour has the better product but the gap’s been

Narrowed so much and one of the interesting things I think tigerwood said I just pulled up uh his press conference transcript he said quote varying degrees of ideas and what that looks like in the short term varying degrees of ideas is probably not the the

The phrase that he was looking for to me that means varying degrees of punishment and what these players are going to have to do to earn their spot back on the PGA tour is that monetary fine is that some sort of uh longer suspension or uh kind

Of a a longer pause for those who potentially sue the PJ tour does it mean you have to play I’ve heard ridiculous things like they don’t have to play corn fery tour events or they’d have to play other events on the PJ tour schedu schedule just to be able to get into the

Quote unquote Signature Events that they’re going to have during the PGA Tour season that seems to be what he’s talking about when he say varying degrees of ideas but that does not benefit anyone except the players who have remained loyal a a a punishment is is just not a feasible scenario they

Should be trying to welcome back these players as quickly as as possible I’ve mentioned it a couple times on the podcast it there’s there’s clearly some some bitterness some resentment probably some jealousy of the players who left for live and got 100 150 300 million whatever it is to sign but the players

Who remain loyal to the PJ tour they’ve still been enriched through this process they’re playing for more money than they ever have in the history of the PJ tour this week alone at the Genesis Invitational the winner is getting $4 million and now you develop this Equity

Program with a with the Strategic Sports Group I I mean these guys are still doing well but if you’re thinking long term and how do you make the best possible product for the PJ tour how do you get the best players all together again how do you make this more

Entertaining and grow the brand and the amount of interest in the PJ tour there’s one solution and there’s one solution only it’s to get these players back and to get them back as quick as possible yes I mean the game’s got to be reunited and whatever that looks like to

Your point I think the quickest most efficient easiest way to do this is to Simply allow them to come back but don’t give them Equity so you mentioned it like look there’s going to be a lot of money up for grabs when it comes to whatever this Equity program is

Going to end up looking like and then we went through some of the details in the podcast earlier this week just don’t give them that option like if that’s the biggest penalty like look you got paid when you joined so you you got your paycheck when you joined live golf we’re

Going to let you come back with the status you left with that’s important like Dustin Johnson gets to come back with the status he left with but you don’t get you don’t get to have equity and essentially you can I believe I truly believe you can sell that to the

Rank and file based on the idea that your Equity that you’re going to earn and they are not is only going to improve because of them I mean think about where we’re going from there I do want to point out you actually wore the right jacket today I’m proud of you but

I unfortunately I did not appear on television I I it had been it had been bandied about that I was going to be on uh but I can I can now put rex on my LinkedIn profile preempted by Tiger Woods bumped out of a show by TIG I was

Sitting there I was sitting there waiting had my earpiece in had my microphone in place I think you guys were going to Commercial and I was supposed to come back on and then all of a sudden Tiger Woods is on 18 I trust me as someone who was still deathly afraid

Of Television it did it did not hurt my feel it did not hurt my feelings to be bumed from a TV spot because of one Tiger Woods I I I did want to get Rex Beyond this I feel like we probably belabored this point Tiger Woods’s Health Tiger woods’ game over the past

Couple years those two have been have very much been intertwined what did you make of the recovery you saw him last at the Hero World Challenge and the PNC Championship but talking about his health did you sense any Improvement on that front are you still optimistic that he

Kind of go with his goal for 2024 which was to play roughly once a month from February until July or August I was about to say once a month starting now so as we pointed out his calendar only has six months in it apparently his calendar is different from ours uh yes I

I do and and this came up earlier in the show as we were watching him play his practice round I’m sure you were out there walking with him and at one point Todd leis referenced the limp and I was real quick to be like no it’s not a limp

And this isn’t me playing along like people inside of camp and tiger himself has explained to us that it’s not a limp it’s just the way I walk now this is his gate that’s his gate fix this is his fixed gate for eternity he has two fused

Sections of his body one is his back and the other is his ankle if you do not have the flexibility to be able to walk this is what it’s going to look like he said his ankle just like he said the hero his an his ankle does not hurt now

There’s the kinetic chain yeah I love to say a drinking game every time you say it you have to drink yes it hurts other areas of his body his knee is sore his hip is sore whatever the case may be but I think for the first time in a long

Time Rex it’s not a matter of tiger woods’ pain tolerance throughout tournament competition like we’ve we’ve seen him grit his teeth and just try to make the cut and and kind of fight through all the discomfort he’s experienced in in the game was kind of an afterthought like the actual quality

Of his strikes was an afterthought I I think finally as we get ready for this Genesis Invitational we can finally focus on where Tiger Woods actually Stacks up at age 48 can he still compete against the very best players on the PJ tour to me that’s a that’s a more

Refreshing conversation than can he actually endure or survive 72 holes like the actual fundamental aspect of of walking and he has said this before I don’t know why I’m I was like a kid on Christmas when I heard it during the press conference but the way maybe it’s

The way he phrased it during the press conference today was and it was in reference to the way he made the transition was the reason I don’t have a swing coach now is I don’t know what I’m gonna get day-to-day like I might wake up tomorrow morning and might feel 100%

Or I might wake up tomorrow morning and have to crawl to the door you know you just don’t know what you’re going to have you’d like to think that it’s getting better you’d like to think he’s making some sort of progress he doesn’t give you a lot lot of sneak peeks into

That however I’m taken by the idea that the best athlete of Our Generation arguably the best golfer of all time and he always had someone there to make sure that everything he was doing was right like he always had a second set of eyes is what he called them and now there’s

No reason for a second set of eyes because I could wake up today and feel great and we could go to the range and everyone would be happy and I wake up tomorrow and I’m dragging a leg and it looks like I’m about to fall over and I

Mean that to me is sort of Tiger Wood in a nutshell right now and I I think that kind of applies to what the expectations are this week I did bring it up and I don’t know if I did it on air but I will

Say it now it will be that the irony will be there if he misses the cut after being the one who fought for a cut I I mean you you you have to you have to you have to try to miss this cut because this is so so so Pebble didn’t

Have one everyone who started you could have one person missed the cut you could have no people miss cut the way this works out cu it’s a 10 shot rule to explain it’s it’s it’s it’s pretty wacky so it’s a it’s a 70 person field it’s

Going to be top 50 in ties plus the 10 shot rule so in if unless you have a situation like we had a couple years ago with Walky nean I think didn’t he race out to like a four or five shot lead at the halfway point and there was kind of

A a greater separation obviously between number one and the bottom of the field you’ve really got to stink over the first 36 holes to not make it and I I fully expect Tiger Woods based on what I saw in the proam to make the cut and and

Potentially contend and you can look at the history that he’s had at this gol potentially content that’s what you’re going with that that let’s clip it right here let’s make sure we have the timing on this 1945 please drop that down potentially could win very good okay no

Potentially could contend and so look like based on what I you can you can look at the course history he’s played I think 15 times only a handful of top 10 finishes which seems which seems kind of crazy he talked about it being kind of a fader’s paradise that’s the predominant

Shot shape that Tiger Woods is hitting now uh iron play has been the Hallmark of his career obviously and with the tiny greens that you have at Riv you really have to be precise it it’s it has at least traditionally come down to way the way that he’s handled the tricky

Bumpy POA greens and quite frankly he has not handled that particularly well based on what I saw Rex in in the proam I think think there’s there’s plenty of reasons for optimism he’s he’s driving the the golf ball uh extraordinarily well it just a patented fade every

Single time uh it’s still plenty long he still has plenty of speed uh I love the way and I watched him for 13 or 14 holes before I had to get ready for my non-existent television uh hit he he’s sorry bu next time he’s fighting his his trajectories he’s working the ball both

Ways whether or not he’s going to contend to me comes down to his his play on and around the greens you know not having the tournament competition he has not played an official event since the Masters he not played a regular PJ Tour event since this event last year uh at

Riviera there’s just going to be some aspects that are a little bit sloppy they’re a little bit messy that are a little bit untidy if he is sharper and he’s shown over the past couple days and look this these were pretty Breezy practice rounds and proom rounds once he

Put put his head down you would expect it to be a little bit sharper that’s what it comes down to I fully expect him to make the cut whether he gets in is is basically just gonna to boil down to his sharpness not around the greens uh the

Cut line is a little bit ridiculous and I I actually went back to last year what did he finish tied for 45th I believe last year and that was kind of a microcosm of his entire history at Rivier if you look at his ball striking stats he didn’t drive the ball

Particularly well but he probably you don’t really need to it’s not a noly long long golf course but his ball striking was right there in the top third of the field gave away Strokes around the greens gave away Strokes chipping gave away Strokes putting and that’s always been the case I don’t

Understand it he grew up on POA but then again he also moved to Florida and and started putting on bermudo on a regular basis and I can understand how look I’m in Connecticut right now some people seem to be really really comfortable with it being 15 degrees outside I’m not

But I don’t live up here maybe I would get comfortable with it so I I think I’m with you missing the cut is ridiculous as we just pointed out it’s going to be really you have to try really hard yeah to miss the cut this week I think

Anything around where he was last year actually I’m being a little less optimistic than you are only because I just want to see where he is going into the Masters and the players like there’s much bigger better events on the horizon no offense to the Genesis Invitational

But I’m more concerned about where he’s going to be when we get to TPC sass is he finished he finished T45 last year he still made the cut the before he eventually withdrew uh before the end of the third round with an ankle that needed to be fused shortly thereafter

Like he was an excruciating pain and was still making the cut and so to to me it’s it’s it’s it’s a foregone conclusion that he would make the cut it’s it’s is the sharpness in his game there having be R there’s gonna be rust

I just want to put that out there like I we’re not going out on Lim on that one correct but without having tournament competition and that rust is it is it a significant amount of rust or is it just little fine-tuning that potentially four more rounds at TPC sass in a month’s

Time could get him sharp enough for the Masters keep in mind when he won the Masters in 2019 he I I believe Augusta Nash was his seventh start of the year he really played his way into tournament form I think he’s probably taken for granted how difficult this task was

Going to be to to just play the major championships and maybe one or two it looks good on paper right like you you you play a tournament you go home you rest and recover and you kind of ramp up your preparation you know what you need

To work on at least in The Limited sample size that we’ve had with this tattered body of his it has proved a little bit more difficult what else Rex are you looking forward to seeing this week at Rivier in this $2 million event I was looking forward to actually having

You on golf today this morning because I read your story last night on Justin Thomas I thought it was very very good and I did I it it was well written and I did take the idea that in whatever stage of the comeback he’s in right now that

It’s full flight that he doesn’t have to scramble for clearly the swing is there clearly he’s scoring well you pointed out all the really good Strokes gain stats I’ll leave those to you but it’s the confidence that gets me like he hasn’t gotten back to where he’s won he

Hasn’t gotten back to where he’s JT again but I feel like the Swagger is there again no uh ABS absolutely it was I was struck while talking to him uh on Tuesday and the stat that you referenced and he’s kind of quietly now aass seven consecutive top 12 finishes if you look

At his Strokes gained over the competitions he’s played over the past six months whether it was in Napa whether it was in South Africa whether it’s the three events he’s played on the PJ tour so far this season it’s not Scotty Sheffer it’s not Roy macroy it’s

Not Victor hwood it’s not John ROM who has the most Strokes gained over the past six months it’s actually just Thomas he is driving the ball significantly better than he did throughout the 2023 season his iron play he’s he’s always been one of the preeminent iron players on the PJ tour

That has gotten much more precise as well and and quite frankly it’s just cleaner the the quality of his rounds is just cleaner he already has two more bogey free rounds uh this season than he had all of 2023 and so I’m very curious to see what what JT does this week and

And while talking to him I was struck not just by the the the the technical or the physical aspects that he had to change you know he said his his hands got too high it was too Steep and that was causing some issues that can always

Be fixed right like he can he can work and he can beat thousands and thousands of golf balls in South Florida to get that muscle memory back of where he needs to go it was mentally what he had to do to get back to this position I

Mean I’ve known him for as long as I’ve been covering golf he was he was a junior player on the agga when I first met Justin Thomas he has always been a prolific winner at every level everywhere he has gone and so to have kind of this Stark reality of of missing

Cuts in the majors and shooting 80s in the majors and relying on Captain’s picks for Cup competitions and going years with without victories it was such a foreign feeling to him and now he can rely on a Jordan spe and Ricky Fowler who are close friends and who kind of of

Gone down similar paths he keeps a lot of athlete friends uh in other sports who have kind of weathered the the es and flows the ups and downs that a professional athlete is going to endure but he said he he started working with Julie ellion a renowned sports

Psychologist who works with a handful of PJ tour players Max H has has uh talked volumes about how much has helped Windam Clark the reigning US Open Champion employs her as well and in the main message that Julie tried to instill in JT was this is not going to last forever

You know you’re eventually going to play your way out of this the the media makes it seem like a big deal you’re you’re seem to be floundering in some of these features groups but it’s a long career this is a temporary blip rely on kind of

The body of work of your entire career it took a long time for JT to kind of grasp that message but he says he feels so much more at ease so much more like himself uh this is this is definitely shaping up to be a resurgent year for

Justin Thomas I’m glad you got that off your chest because you’ve been holding that in since you did not get to do it on golf today yeah I mean that would have been a very long answer for T long answer keep those a little tighter they always say I remember Molly Solan our

Executive director executive producer at golf show he always says if you can’t say it in 30 to 45 seconds on television just keep in mind this is on television it’s not worth saying you can you can spread your wings a little bit on the podcast as we tend to do and that’s

Exactly what I did there but I think it’s I think it’s an important week Scotty Sheffer the putting issues that we talked about uh on golf today uh on Tuesday Max hom he loves this tournament as much as any on the PJ tour schedule K morawa has been in good form Victor

Havin our FedEx Cup champion has had a really slow start to 2024 as well what else has kind of caught your attention before they get going well and you were there so I want to run this one by you and I said it today on golf today just because I was

Taken by the the Beauties which is what they’re called when you get a get a shot from the golf course the Beauties look beautiful there was Sunshine there wasn’t mud there wasn’t even ice like I didn’t understand what I was looking at after the last two weeks and again

Objectively awful for professional golf the last two weeks between Pebble Beach short in 54 holes Scottsdale which barely finished in the pitch dark on Sunday night after many many delays it looks like you’re going to have a glorious week a glorious for at least a couple of days and it has been brilant

Sunsh Sun like 30% chance the past couple days I was just pulling it up uh right now I saw potential for you know a quarter of an inch of rain you could get some softness uh on Saturday uh evening as well like the fairways are still soft but the greens are

Definitely getting getting crispier we’ve had a little bit of Breeze uh but again just brilliant Sunshine not not a cloud in the sky it should be at least for three days uh absolutely brilliant weather at Rivier it should be a great event I know you’re looking forward Rex

To getting back to the sunshine in Florida can you tell the folks so there was a there was a a monstrous snowstorm that I believe it actually shut down New York City Schools which is pretty uh pretty rare even for that area what happened on Tuesday did you survive uh

The snow apocalypse that hit Stanford Connecticut uh I did it came just as they predicted I thought well it’s going to snow and there’ll be a little dusting on the ground and it was overnight when I opened up the window everything was white and it was it was blizz blizzard

Conditions and uh we had to be I think our call time was like nine o’clock we had to be in the office and I am driving Todd Lewis around this week which is creates its own issues and its own obstacles so uh that’s already difficult

Enough and he texted me and he goes okay you want to meet downstairs at like 8:30 and I go I’m I’m not driving in this like I’m gonna take an Uber I’m not I’m not getting behind the wheel in the middle of a blizzard and I got nothing

But you never driven in sow before you want me to tell the story is that what you’re doing you’re fishing here is that what you’re doing uh yes I have driven in snow I have a little bit of History here uh when I was in the

Marines a long time ago in a former life I I grew up I was born and raised in Florida unlike you in New York so I’ve never driven in ice or snow I hadn’t at that point and so I was going to be on patrol I was a military police officer

And I told my Watch Commander like I I I shouldn’t be driving tonight put me on a post like put give me a rifle let me walk a post somewhere I’ll be good and no no no you’re fine go ahead and do it I wasn’t on patrol five minutes and slid

My patrol car into a fence and caused damage minimum damage it wasn’t that bad anyway it took me about an hour to do the paperwork and he sent me back out after asking again okay now surely you’re not GNA send me back out in this

No no no you’re good and again ice storm so it was very very difficult conditions and as soon as I get right back back out on patrol there is a there’s actually a call now so now I’ve got a we’re we’re we’re codes and and I’m behind the fir

Truck and we’re having to to go because there’s down power line somewhere and the firet truck makes the turn perfect and I go to make the same turn not only did I lose control I slamed my patrol car in the front of someone’s house there’s a poor family that was

Traumatized as my lights blaring siren that’s like a viral video that you would see now like oh yeah like how the heck did this car wind up in in this guy’s living room watch it and and I I can’t say this with any amount of certainty

But have to believe I’m the only MP that wrecked two cars in one night like maybe it’s not true but I I have to believe anyway so now fast forward to Tuesday I’m clearly not getting behind that wheel Todd Lewis ridic scar scarred for life apparently scarred for life we get

Into an Uber and the Uber driver was very brave like it again this was blizzard conditions the roads were not clear like that’s the point I want to point out like once they cleared the roads it was like oh this is fine I can do this roads were not clear and we’re

Driving to NBC Sports which is where the studio is two and a half miles two and a half miles not far away at all it should be like an 8 minute drive we’re going up a hill and we’re behind a truck and halfway up the hill the truck stalls and

Then it starts sliding backwards and I turn to Todd and I’m like there it is there you have it like not gonna happen brother but you put your life in someone else’s hands not a not a professional driver basically they’re just over driver they’re just they’re just paid

They’re just paid volunteer drivers how would you have gotten to the office what would you have done walked I would have driven I would have driven my car I I New York I absolutely would have you sent me Snappy chats all it looked like was slush there’s a big difference

Between driving in snow and driving in icy conditions icy conditions like to be hon is are is just no joke like it doesn’t matter how slow and how cautiously you’re driving if you hit black ice like you could potentially be for a world of hurt in the slushy

Conditions in the two or three inches of snow no conditions that you were facing at the time wait wait wait no no no no eight inches of snow like get it get it right don’t twist it it was eight inches of snow not at one time over a 24-hour

Period sure but you’re going to get snow plows every hour or so they throw down salt it should not have been bad I can see why with that backstory while you were why you were a little hesitant to get behind the wheel fortunately no one

Was injured you and T got to the studio safe and sound and we did a around table and everyone loved it uh but I did want the world to know that you were a little bit of a wuss when it came to driving and what appeared at the time like I was

Being about two inches of snow and about two miles to go it was eight inches of snow and uh I’m not going to do that I’m not I’m not going to make this argument with you tonight is Valentine who’s your Valentine who you going to dinner with I

Can tell you who mine was you can guess uh I’m not going to dinner with my lifelong Valentine which would be my beautiful wife Amy uh I did send her her uh flowers on Monday the day that I left she was home she received them it all went swimmingly she’s since post of

Beautiful pictures of of of my kids who are also the Valentine’s on her Instagram account to answer your question I’ll be going to dinner uh with a two colleagues Ron green Jr and Mark schlau of ESPN effectually known on this podcast as Bulldog not quite a romantic

Setting it will not be a candle light dinner in fact we’ll probably just get some tacos that were suggested by listener of the podcast how are things at home what did you get bunk AKA your wife for Valentine’s Day and how are things uh very well and they weren’t

Well when I left like we were we were a little tense when I left anyway they’re fine now because I got uh I actually told my son I called him on Tuesday right in the middle of the snowstorm and I said uh go spend $50 like not 49 not

51 spend $50 on on flowers and and sign my name to the card for for mom on Valentine’s Day okay you had you had your son do your dirty work for you I paid for it like everyone orders flowers like why do I do I flowers ago I ordered

My flowers weeks ago to have them delivered at the house you had a grunt worker bring flowers to wonder your pissed no she’s not no she’s not angry now and and I made reservations tomorrow night at The Melting Pot in Longwood Florida and so uh that’s your favorite

Restaurant F delicious yeah it is delicious I I did also want to point this out because we always like to hear feedback from the fans right like we do every once in a while we we hear someone say we love the podcast we had someone on golf today uh an interview it was

It’s the winner of the Herbert Warren win award from the usgaa her name is um Dr Ashley Brown and she wrote a book it was called serving herself The Life and Times of althia Gibson which is a fantastic F book and right off the top in break as we’re introducing ourselves

Right off like it’s uh hello doct my name is Rex hogard oh I know who you are I love you in last’s podcast let’s go let’s go Dr Brown gushing and and I also wanted to point out and I was so taken in in just a monsoon of respect because

And you can relate to this just like I can she researched and wrote that book for 10 years 10 years I can’t research and write something for 10 minutes without losing focus and falling asleep or chasing a kid around the house and my editor merer bags our editor merer bags

Get gets angry when I take two three hours to write a game story how about 10 years big MCH put a pit in this I’m gonna need 10 years to file this hope that’s so that’s okay Dr Brown big fan of the podcast Taylor today at a local

La affiliate a big fan of the podcast as well it was great me of him look forward to working with Taylor for the rest of the week at the Genesis in Invitational all right as always we appreciate the support appreciate the feedback good and bad typically it’s it’s more the bad

Than the good we love you guys either way that is going to do it for this Edition the GOL Channel podcast with Rex and laugh I will be on site all week at Rivier make sure to go to NBC sports.com golf for all of the latest news notes features columns Etc you can

Find me on the socials I’m definitely not going to be tweeting I’m still in a boycott with the social media Department as it relates to our Twitter account but I do have some stuff up on my Instagram Ryan laaber we will talk to you guys on Sunday night as I most

Likely wolf down some In-N-Out before hopping on a Redeye flight and I know Rex will have some takes from the week as well this $20 million signature event so we’ll talk to you guys in a couple weeks enjoy the golf and enjoy the return of one Tiger Woods