Pre-Masters news: Rory McIlroy visits Butch? Justin Thomas splits with Bones? | Golf Channel Podcast

In this midweek edition, the guys discuss Justin Thomas’ shocking split with caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay ahead of the Masters, Rory McIlroy’s stealth visit to see Butch Harmon, and the final week of preparations before the year’s first major. #GolfChannel #Golf #TheMasters #RoryMcIlroy #JustinThomas

Chapters:
0:00: What’s behind the JT/Bones split – and what’s next for them
08:00: Why Rory went to see Butch Harmon in Las Vegas, and what it means
11:30: Rory changes his pre-Masters routine the week of the tournament
17:00: What do you want to see from Rory ahead of Augusta
22:00: Who else needs a good week at Valero
26:00: 13 LIV players have their final tuneup, too, before the Masters
34:30: Anthony Kim speaks out
42:00: We’re headed to Augusta!
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Pre-Masters news: Rory McIlroy visits Butch? Justin Thomas splits with Bones? | Golf Channel Podcast
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Hello and welcome into this edition of the Golf Channel podcast with Rex and lav a very very busy midweek Edition for you Rex is in San Antonio that is a JW Marriott if I have ever seen one for the Valero Texas open and we’ll certainly

Get to that in a second but first Rex some semi- breaking news on Wednesday afternoon which is when we are recording this podcast Justin Thomas and Jim bones McKai his caddy are no longer a team JT announced the split the week ahead of the Masters what happened and why I mean

What happened we’re going to have to wait to find out normally those stories don’t come out for a few months if not years when you talk about a caddy and a player breaking up because it’s almost like a marriage like I hate to say that but it does feel like it sometimes when

You have two players and a caddy who’ve been together for so long I think it was two and a half years for bones and JT and they had accomplished a lot they won a major championship together they had played in Ryder cups together and President’s Cup together like there had

Been a lot of real estate I I’m really curious because it wouldn’t be the first time that a player that a caddy fired a player and I’m not saying that’s what happened because I we just don’t know but I can see a situation where when you

JT has been struggling so much the last few months where Jake bones at his age I can imagine probably just gets TI of the runaround gets tired of the grind like he probably not what he signed yeah I’ve had enough although if Michael has held

On all these years I I don’t know Bless yeah God bless him so I I would say and in the short term it’s surprising that it happen this week because you would think at the very least they could have made it through next week and then

Figured out what to do from there that being said and Todd Lewis was on um live from tonight right before me and he was kind of speculating on what bones is gonna do is Bones gonna pick up another bag is he going to go back working essentially full-time for Golf Channel

In NBC Sports I I don’t think he’s going to pick up another bag I would be actually surprised I guess is a better way of saying it because this wasn’t an issue of Bones itching to get back to be a caddy I think he really liked working

As an announcer he really liked being on the holes he just liked the whole lifestyle changed after years and years of carrying a golf bag it was the draw it was The Lure of of JT of what they could possibly accomplish with this generational player with all of this

Talent all of this skill of what they could possibly accomplish I don’t know that there’s someone out there that’s going to motivate Bones the way he probably got motivated by JT I would expect to see him more on TV but who knows yeah I mean I to me it was

Certainly surprising on a number of fronts one you mentioned the timing which is bizarre to say the least like if this was a mutual parting of ways like why wouldn’t you possibly wait until after the Masters in order to make a change like that completely stood out

To me like you’ve been you’ve been prepping you’ve been ramping up to this and all of a sudden you’re parting ways a week before the biggest Tournament of the year that’s certainly a heads scratcher secondly I was actually surprised that Justin Thomas got through 2023 without some sort of seismic change

Typically you see some sort of Superstar if he has a if he has a down year like someone’s got to take the blame sometimes you see the the agent get fired if they if they schedule them incorrectly uh a lot of times it’s it’s the caddy maybe it’s the swing coach

Maybe it’s the putting coach whatever and JT stuck by his his father Mike after a little bit of a rough patch in the summer and still is using him as his swing coach and now it’s it’s now it’s bones who’s parting ways but four months

Uh after the the turn of the New Year the third thing Rex I thought was most surprising is that Jake T had actually seemingly turned a corner yeah if you look at his results since last fall he has eight top 12 finishes although he has not won uh he’s he’s certainly

Playing better uh statistically his iron play is much improved kind of owing to the changes that he’s made uh with his dad and kind of getting back to what made him uh really a generational talent but his putting continues to suffer outside the top 150 in Strokes game

Putting on the PJ tour bones wasn’t going to fix his putting and so it seemed like potentially that was a fall uh but you know as as as you say there’s I think there’s other complicating factors here the relationship with with JT’s dad obviously and and bones’

Relationship with TV keep in mind he was working for Embassy Sports as you mentioned before JT’s bag came open in 2021 and he filled that role bones is undergoing another surgery later this year you could see with as long as he has been in the cat yard just wanting to

Take it easier um and I thought he was a phenomenal broadcaster selfishly I’d love to see Jim bones maai work full-time for Embassy Sports I think he would make the product uh that much better um but it was I mean it’s a huge surprise eight days before the biggest

Tournament of the year to see a high-profile relationship like this disintegrate very very surprising yeah a cading getting fired is nothing new on the PGA tour that happens there’s two kinds of caddies those who have been fired and those who are about to be fired in this particular case it is

Curious because you pointed out like it seems to me JT had turned a corner it felt like even though the results probably weren’t what he wanted he was hitting the ball better he was putting a little bit better although that that sort of unraveled over the last couple

Of weeks and you’re right I don’t know how you can pen that on Jim bones mcy because he’s not the one holding the putt he he might make a read from time to time but that that’s not where the blame should go in this particular case

It was always going to be awkward like you can’t fire your dad like it’s trust me I’ve wanted to fire my dad plenty of times in my life and you just can’t do it I looked it up it’s in the book you can’t fire your dad and so yeah you’re

Right that he probably didn’t have anywhere else he could go I think in the short term he’s he’s going to have Patrick klay’s old cadd caddy Rev on the bag next week I think from what I was told that’s sort of just a try out that

That’s not not going to be a long term thing the more interesting thing to me is does Bones end up on another bag because again I don’t think he has much interest interest in staying in the cat yard I think he’s perfectly fine carrying a microphone is a lot easier

Than carrying a golf pack around a golf course for 18 holes trust me he’ll tell you that all the time and in this particular case I just feel like he probably saw something that looked special at the time and figured man I can do something really really cool in a

Really small window over the next four or five years with JT as opposed to that career he had with Phil Mickelson and it just didn’t play out the way he wanted it to yeah and look I don’t think this you know bones is on the Mount Rushmore

Of of C he spent 25 years alongside Phil Mickelson and now another three plus uh with Justin Thomas you’re you’re right like he got back into cading thinking boy I can I can kind of Shepherd him to five six seven major championships who knows Justin Thomas in 2021 fall 2021

Like he looked like he was an absolute rocket ship they ended up winning just a Le tournament together at the PGA Championship which was certainly a surprise in 2022 bones is going to have his options I’m sure several players will reach out but I think he would fit

Seamlessly and kind of have this next Act of his career in the broadcast Booth I don’t even think he wants to do OnCourse reporting kind of that’s the lane that Smiley’s occupied now John Wood who’s a longtime C for Matt coocher is also there you know Jim bones maai

Had both knees replaced again he’s having another surgery later this year and so I I think it’s I think it’s time to take it easy and I’ll be very curious to see how JT gets along with Matt Minister AKA rev who is another very well-respected caddy and did a great job

For Patrick Klay uh for a number of years I see that Chris Polo which means you were on television today reporting from the Valero Texas open obviously the headliner this week is Roy mcroy lot of stuff going on with Roy let’s set the stage first with his play Roy won in

Dubai does not have a top 10 this year on the PJ tour he’s now apparently seeing Butch Harman not working with Butch Haron but seeing Butch Harman for a four-hour lesson a couple of weeks ago essentially a second set of eyes what’s the latest on Roars FDA had a chance to

Talk with him on Wednesday uh wasn’t a few weeks ago it was last Wednesday so he was flying out to the West Coast anyway he was doing some work with tailor made he was getting fit for a new set of irons so he decided just stop

Over in Las Vegas and it’s not the first time he’s done that I talked to Butch Haron this morning just about the idea that you’re right he called it nothing more than a second set of eyes and he did point out that Butch and Michael banon who is Rory’s longtime swing coach

They kind of share a lot of the same swing philosophies so he said it makes it really really easy he said like I’m telling him the same thing that Michael’s telling him I’m just maybe doing it in a slightly different way and they clearly have a really good

Relationship I asked Rory tonight about going out there what did you hope to accomplish and he’s sort of explained that look he’s not he’s probably 20% of Swing coach now and 80% of sports psychologist like you just go out there and you enjoy yourself and I’ve talked to enough players who’ve rolled into

Butch’s shop and spent three or four hours working on their swing and walked away after three or four hours and didn’t feel like they they spent a lot of time talking about the swing they just more talked about the game sort of Life what you hope to accomplish and I

Think that’s what Butch at this stage in his career is really really good at like he can break down the swing better than probably anybody in the game at the moment but it has more to do with just making a player feel comfortable and if nothing else Rory clearly feels more

Comfortable leaving Las Vegas than he did before he he showed up there I I was taken by the idea and you know if you want to take Rory in this totality and what’s going on it feels like from the outside looking in that these are wholesale changes that he’s doing going

Into next week and for all the right reasons like we’ve talked about this he’s tried to win the career Grand Slam now for essentially a decade and he keeps coming up short so this time around he’s decided to do something draft that was go to see Butch last week

In Las Vegas that was Monday and Tuesday the last two days spent I mean the the butch the butch thing was not planned I mean he didn’t he didn’t say on January 1 you know you know what two weeks before the Masters comes around I’m GNA

Go I’m gonna I’m GNA go and see but Harman and make sure everything’s in the right place to me that shows he’s not totally convinced on what he was working on with his longtime swing coach Michael bannard who obviously lives in Northern Ireland that’s not the but it’s not the

First time he’s done this either you need to point out 2020 2021 I mean this was three or four years ago last time he saw him did this and Butch has done this with other players as well he did it with Jordan Speed like this is not out

Of the ordinary there last time we saw Rory did we not at the Players Championship he said I’m between two swings right I got a drive got a driver swing and I got an iron swing and he’s trying to meld the two if he was not if

He was convinced that he was on the right path and he was seeing great results in his practice sessions he would not have gone to see Butch Haron he clearly needed at something to get him over the edge to make his sessions a little bit better I think that’s I think

That’s obvious no I think better to say what was obvious is he just needed to hear probably the same thing phrased a slightly different way I think that’s a better way of saying he went for confirmation since you haven’t spoken with butch or Rory on this one I’m gonna

Go ahead and go with me because I think it’s important to point out that he’s done this before and you’re right he’s stuck between four years ago he’s stuck between right he stuck between two swings as he talked about today as well and I think the matter the important

Thing to point out here he doesn’t need to figure out which one of those swings is the right swing he just need to be confident going into next week he’s played that Golf Course well so that’s what he’s trying to do with all of these things like it sounds complicated it

Sounds intense but what he’s really trying to do here is just slow things down simplify things as much as possible and that’s why after telling us at the players that he wasn’t going to take a pre-tournament trip up to Augusta didn’t feel like he could get much out of it he

Spent Monday and Tuesday of this week up at Augusta Trum trying to get that early practice in he doesn’t plan on getting to Augusta next week until essentially Tuesday afternoon he’ll play nine holes on Tuesday nine holes on wednes that’s interesting that is and I think all of

It goes to the idea that he has been tinkering with this for a long time and it was funny talking with other players I talked with Adam Scott and Max hom and Ricky Fowler about this they’re all trying to do the same thing but it’s magnified when it comes to Rory because

Of the stakes because of the idea that he’s trying to do something that very very few people in the game have done and that’s when the career Grand Slam and I think better than most he understands the gravity of that and it’s probably weighed on him heavily for all

Of these years and so instead of doing the same thing over over and over again definition of Insanity he’s trying to find a new way I’m not saying this is the right way but I certainly appreciate the idea that I’m going to mix this all

Up and see if this way works I mean physically he he knows that his approach play has been really poor this year that’s the most important statistic it’s the greatest indic of success at Augusta nashille like I can see wanting to address that the they’re not coming in

Until Tuesday afternoon and I’m sure he’ll give a press conference early earlier on Tuesday then go play nine holes then play Wednesday that’s typically the the big uh press conference day at Augusta nationville that to me is very interesting because as we’ve documented on this podcast over the past decade he’s tried everything

He’s tried everything to break the streak at Augusta National he’s tried doing puzzles at night he’s tried not looking at his phone he’s tried to immerse himself he’s tried saying that the Masters is the most important tournament the mass is a not important tournament he’s going to play the week

Before he’s not going to play the week before he’s literally tried everything what he we has not tried at least to my knowledge he has not tried coming in to uh the Masters Tournament on Tuesday afternoon but I actually like this strategy Rex the reason I like this

Strategy is I’m GNA be in Augusta Georgia on Friday I’m gonna start covering the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and by the time Monday or Tuesday rolls around of Masters week I’m already kind of beat I’m already kind of ready for the Masters to get going amplify that times 1 million for the

Players whose entire legacies can be rearranged by what happens over those four days at Augusta National and I can see if you’re on site as a player and you get there Sunday you play 18 holes you play nine holes and you kind of add to the week by Tuesday or Wednesday like

You’ve got to be itching and ready to go and for a player like Roy mcroy who is now what in his 10th or 11th try to complete the career Grand Slam at the Masters if has to be absolutely excruciating and so why not spend an

Extra 24 36 48 hours at home get some sort of equilibrium and then head up into the pressure cauldron that is the Masters I like this strategy he’s not going to learn anything over this first three days that he doesn’t already you know yeah I mean that’s the important

Point like I asked Adam Scott yesterday if he had any intention of doing like a scouting trip beforehand he’s like why like this is going to be my 23rd Masters how much more do I have to learn like I asked Rory about the new T box on number

Two and his comment to me was I didn’t even realize it was new told me just kind of like when someone told me I was kind of like oh okay I didn’t even realize it now there’s a couple changes to some greens that I’m sure we’ll talk

About next week but by and large it’s the same Golf Course you’ve seen for the last 20 years essentially it is interesting to me and and again talking with Adam Scott about this that he was really really quick when I asked him how he prepares for the Masters what he

Feels like is the best way of doing it and I put it in the context of Rory seems to be tinging with you know the mechanics here he wants to find a better way to do this and he he kind of shrugged and he said the obvious he said

The quiet thing out loud it’s well my plight and Rory’s plight is a little bit different him meaning I I have a green jacket he doesn’t like it’s I understand where he’s coming from on this and there’s no way there is no formula for this other than and I’m sure I would be

Really really curious in his heart of hearts if I asked Rory did you ask ever ask Arnold Palmer about how the pressure built on him not having won the PGA Championship and that’s what kept Arnold from winning the career Grand Slam because I’m sure this is a conversation

They had together and how it never gets easier like you never reach a point where you’re kind of shrug and you’re like okay if it happens it happens that that never occurs it just continues to build and continues to build well into you’re gray and you’re old and you

Realize that oh I don’t have a chance of winning this and I’m sure that in the back of his mind is driving him to make all these changes I mean if Roy mcway does go on to win The Masters whether it’s this year or in the future he would

Be historically resilient no player has ever needed this many attempts to complete the career Grand Slam and so that’s certainly something uh that kind of owes to the amount of scar tissue uh those sort of self-imposed pressure that builds as the years go on Rex as it

Pertains to this week and Roy mroy there’s not if you look at the stats no direct correlation of you know Roy’s played well at the valo Texas open he’s going to then play well at the Masters but what do you think think what do you think would constitute

A successful week what sort what sort of progress do you need to see that would Elevate Rory in your mind to maybe the second or third favorite behind Scotty Sheffer as opposed to where he probably sits right now which is in that four five six range uh statistically this is

Easy if he finishes in the positive and strokes scan off the te it’s a really really hard driving golf course I don’t know if you know this but the wind blows in Texas and it’s that’s not going to make things any EAS and there’s nothing about this golf

Course that you can compare to Augustin Asal I had this conversation today with Cory Connor who’s a two-time winner here to your point he won here last year and missed the cut at the Masters so there is no correlation between playing well in San Antonio and somehow traveling to

Augusta with a good game other than if you’re driving the ball well here under these conditions on this golf course which there’s not a lot of room to miss then you’re probably playing well enough that you should have some expectation going into the master so if he can do nothing else

Like I’m not going to put a number on where he should finish I’m not going to sort of quantify it any other way other than if he could finish in the positive and strokes gain off the te which he did not do at the Players Championship which

We talked about that he’s between two swings and the driver swing being seems to be the one he’s struggling with right now if he can do that then I think he’s that’s a positive sign going into next week you’re looking at Roy’s driving performance I’m looking as I mentioned

At his approach play been really poor uh losing Strokes to the field on the PJ tour this year most important statistic at Augusta National would just like to see progress there closer proximity to the hole gaining Strokes against the field I think that would be a positive

And I wouldn’t rule out like if Roy does play well this week in Texas like he’s been he’s made it pretty clear in in his career that he can get on runs you know when you think back to his toward stretch that he had in 2014 when he won

His last major he won three tournaments in a row they were not consecutive weeks uh but he won the Open Championship he won the Bridgestone which was then played at Firestone then he won the PJ Championship the week after that so he has gotten hot and continued that play

And so I wouldn’t roll out the possibility that if he does top five top finish get himself in contention he’s still going to be overshadowed by Scotty Sheffer next week which I do think is Roy’s benefit he’s still sliding a little bit under under the radar oh he’s

Definitely in that well there’s a Scotty shler tier we talked about this earlier in the week and then there’s pretty much everyone else and so you’re going to have John ROM I would put in that second tier right behind him I put bur kka and again we keep going back to and and

Everyone had something to say in the comments after the podcast earlier this week you just don’t know like it’s just hard to quantify exactly I’m sure John ROM is playing really really well but based on what we normally assume based on what we we argue that okay he’s

Playing well XYZ the reasons you just pointed out for Roy like his ball striking is Sublime and he’s putting well and his driving is better than average okay then that makes sense a good person in this particular case I I would argue in Rory’s case if he misses the cut here this week

Or if he finishes tied for fourth or wins I’m not quite sure it impacts next week one way or the other I I will say that as it applies to him mixing up the formula and playing the week before the Masters or any major both I talked to

Two players this week who had interesting takes on it both Brian Harmon uh and um max h both said that they will play the week for major uh week before every major this year and Brian was really good at explaining it and he goes normally I did not do that

Traditionally in my career he goes but last year I played the Scottish and of course I went on to win the Open Championship and his team broke it down during the offseason and statistically he always plays his best in the second week out whether if that’s a major I

Think that’s probably true for a lot of guys Rex Max said the same thing to me which is interesting because it’s not hard to break down those numbers like you don’t need to take a really you don’t need Strokes gain to take that deep dive to realize that oh I’m better

Off playing one week miss a cut contend whatever the case may be anything else in between but at least then I figured out the things I need to work on the things I’m doing well and I can go into the next week clean I don’t know why more people haven’t more players haven’t

Realized this I think they’re starting to adopt that I think a lot of players did not want to take three weeks off between the players championship and the year’s first major in fact the only top 10 players who have done who are doing so are Patrick Klay and Victor havin

Both of whom are struggling with their game and probably wanted to toil away from the spotlight as opposed to putting themselves in in the tournament competition I think that’s what what Max is telling you what Harmon is telling you I think is a a really good strategy

Where you kind of see where you are the first week refine over the weekend and in your early prep and then that you should be peing a little bit uh by that second week and also the the schedule in 2024 is a little bit differently this year I think it’s more conducive for

This sort of setup have the Texas open which again TC San Antonio is not a great uh harbinger of success for Augusta National but moving forward you’re going to have quell Hollow the week before the PJ Championship you’re going to have Memorial Tournament the week before the US Open you’re going to

Have the Scottish open the week before the Open Championship that’s a little bit more inviting to players I think to play their way into major championship contention than other weeks who else Rex do you think needs a good week pretty strong field Jordan spe lud viob Berg

Max hom k mo Kawa Hideki matama in your opinion who who else besides Rory are you paying attention to this week Jordan I think Jordan’s an obvious choice he played nine holes earlier this morning and went straight to the range he actually went to the far end of the

Range which I didn’t even know they had here at TBC San Antonio until someone pointed out that no Jordan is way down there on the other end he was down there with his swing coach camon McCormick it was interesting he was into the wind on

The other side of the range so I’m not quite sure what he’s anyone who’s ever done this before will tell you that it’s a lot easier to find maybe not your swing but something that feels more comfortable hitting shots down wi like you never I never want to try to find

Something hitting into the wind so it was a curious decision by Jordan and and look he’s one of those players that’s going to go down in history that seems to find another gear at Augusta whether that’s I don’t know Fred Couples or Bernhard Langer or Phil Mickelson or

Whoever the case may be clearly his relationship with Augusta is just different and he’ll find something and I don’t think either one of us or anybody should be surprised if somehow he finds his way into contention next week but we talked about JT not having his game and

Struggling a little bit we spoke at nauseum about Rory maroy I think Jordan is right there next to him I don’t know how comfortable he is with his game at the moment we talked about this on Sunday like just listening to him play last week in Houston was a study and

Contrast it was a study in how difficult this game could possibly be yeah it is going to be interesting he has had believe he even described a couple weeks ago as as a weird year you know he had a chance to win at kaaloa everyone got really excited thinking that this could

Be a huge year for Jordan had another good week at at at Phoenix who’s actually in the mix to 36 holes at Riviera then has stomach issue has to go to the bathroom ends up getting disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard and really has not looked all that sharp since everyone’s kind of

Poined to the PLAYERS Championship he he never he’s never played well at TPC sress the the one the one year he did was in his debut ever since then it’s like the the place completely has his number I think this will be a big week

To kind of reset for him a former winner at TPC San Antonio likes the golf course continually plays uh this golf tournament uh I would expect Jordan to to play better and I would certainly expect him to be in the mix at the Masters I mean the guy’s record speaks

For itself six top four finishes in what he’s he’s still 30 years old I mean his imagination his creativity it’s clearly a place that he can shine in his short game and his putting this year as opposed to previous years is actually a little bit sharper so even if he is

Missing greens uh he he I think he has the confidence to make those par Savers that perhaps was a little lacking a couple years ago I also Rex I think it’s be important to see player like Lou oberg driving machine could be making his master’s debut obviously we talked

About no first- Tim has won the Masters in what’s been more than four decades at this point he along with wam Clark seemed as good as any bets uh to to kind of break that street K morawa has not done much despite having a good record

At August National Max H has not done much in 2024 and Hideki matama former winner at Augusta National would love to see his great form continuing how about the live guys Rex you mentioned how hard it is to kind of put in perspective what they’re accomplishing but they are playing this

Week at Trump National deral in Miami it’s actually the fifth live event of the Year contrast that to last year uh the Liv guys just played three times before the year’s first major Phil tied for second Brooks was the 54 hole leader Patrick Reed had another good week and a

Couple other Liv players performed well I like Liv’s strategy of kind of frontloading the schedule and then kind of maintaining for the rest of the year and as Brook kep said when he went the media on Wednesday in Miami this is the first Big Boy golf course in Dural uh

That the players have actually played this year it’s a great preparation for August who has your attention this week at LIV Miami I mean certainly John ROM I mean he’s coming in as a defending Champion all those things uh that you would point at and I keep going back to the idea

That I I think we’ve moved beyond the idea that if you went to live golf suddenly you’re not a top five or top three or top two player whatever wherever it is we want to put John R like it’s ridiculous to sit and think that he’s gonna show up at Augusta

National somehow being a different player that would be ridiculous Brooks Kea would be in the exact same category I I I think Phils finished last year and I wrote the column on Sunday and there was a lot of emotion it was weird emotion because I felt like for him a

Runnerup finish at that stage in his career in any other context would have been okay I gave it a shot and it didn’t work out however in that context there was tears there was there were celebration you know we tried to talk to his manager and he just wouldn’t do it

Because he couldn’t bring himself to talk about it he was so emotional about it I don’t think we can underestimate how much that actually meant to to them but I don’t know based on what we’ve seen over the last two years we can dismiss any of them like okay maybe you

Can dismiss Anthony Kim since he’s not playing in the Masters but you get what I’m saying like if if I think there’s 13 live players in the Masters and my guess is if we sat and broke it down however it is we want to break it down I don’t

Think I’m going to be surprised if any of them find their way somewhere close to the leaderboard because we can’t quantify how well they’re playing we don’t have strokes game we don’t know that’s where you’re wrong my friend okay Mike mallister uh formerly with the PJ tour

And now with Liv golf tweeted out the Liv golf Strokes gained report both in the last tournament that they played I believe in Hong Kong and the season leader in Strokes gain Rex if you had to guess this would be a fun game if you had to guess which three players on live

Golf are leading the tour in Strokes gained one should be easy I mean you’re talking about Strokes gain total right he didn’t break it down for T green like this is this is Strokes gain total they do have down talking about the breakdown I I want to see what

We see when we to the he has he has he has that as well I’m talking about which three players have played the best against their competition on live golf this year number one should be easy uh number one should be easy should it be uh Taylor G no Walkin

Nean was going to be my second uh that was going to be my second guess and I would put probably John ROMs played pretty well so I put him that top three you nailed him Neiman is number one Rah is second Taylor gu is third all right

So never mind apparently we do know exactly how they’re going to play so all three of those guys are going to play well Taylor gu of course controversially is not in this year’s Masters neither is number four in Strokes game total who is Paul Casey but a couple other

Interesting names if you go down that list Dustin John is four yes exact he’s actually tied for third if you’re looking 1.57 Strokes gained uh per event but DJ’s played well Bryson Brooks all those players we’re going to see to to me you mentioned it wouldn’t be

Surprising if any of them popped up at Augusta and won I I Bas reason within reason I don’t so so I basically broke it down to Five Guys to me John ROM walk Neeman cam Smith Brooks kka and Dustin Johnson to me those are the big five who

If either if any of those players won the Masters you would not at all be surprised the players among whom I’m dismissing Bryson to Shambo his best finish at Augusta National is a t21 when he was an amateur he has remember when

He called it a par is it a par 67 or par 68 I believe it’s a par 67 based on what he’s what he said that has not come to fruition uh look I’d love to see beefy Bryson in the mix uh his historically that does not appear likely to happen

Sergio Garcia the only one top 10 uh since 2014 was his victory Terell Hatton one top 25 at seven tries Adrian Baron Miss cut last year Phil Mickelson that performance last year at the Masters came out of nowhere and it would I think it would be even more

Surprising this year three of his four Liv starts I agree he has been outside the top 30 but as you know going down Magnolia Lane it does seem to conjure a little bit of magic although I I must say I would kind of put Phil in the

Tiger category and in and probably to a lesser extent the speed category where I don’t think prior performance weighs all that much there’s such an intimate course knowledge you know that you don’t have to be perfect you know exactly where you can miss now you still need to execute

The shot in order to put it where uh where you absolutely cannot miss uh but I I would expect actually all three of those players to make the cut tiger Phil and spe we’ll get into that in the preview podcast next week from Augusta National but those players like you

Would you would expect them to at least play four rounds and and see how it hashes out over the weekend I mean it’s hard to miss the cut at the Masters let’s be clear like Roy did it last year JT did it last year I’m not saying it’s impossible but you have

To play pretty bad to miss the cut at the Masters it’s about 100 man field and they cut Maj to win too uh they cut the low 60 in ties 65 in ties 50 oh 50 thank you very much so it’s yeah I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility uh

To say that yes tiger would if tiger plays we’re not 100% sure if he’s even going to play at this point uh Phil’s a little bit different I don’t know that I would put him I I see where you’re going with the idea that okay there’s some

Sort of gear that switches in his head when he makes the ride off Washington on Magnolia I get that I totally understand where you’re coming from I just don’t buy that he should be in the same category as Jordan Speed now maybe no put him put him put him in the category as

Tiger spe I think has aspirations of winning tiger and Phil they might they might aspire to win but it’s not going happen speed FL can can actually legitimately win the golf tournament uh you know it’s it’s it’s interesting in the context and I was talking with a

Friend of ours James Corgan who is a correspondent from London times that doesn’t Telegraph uh Telegraph thank you very much um and we were talking about the Ryder Cup and and I think you and I discussed this on the podcast last week about The Advisory Board met and they’re

Trying to come up with some sort of way to keep those players who join Liv goof from not being on the Ryder Cup team next year and we were sort of talking about just sort of spitballing some of the scenarios and one of the scenarios is probably the easiest one is just to

Give each captain of each team a wild card pick because his argument was do you think that Luke’s going to need more than one pick as far as if he need if he really needs to dig in and decide that okay John ROM has to be on this team then of

Course John ROM’s going to be that pick but he sort of dismissed the idea and I think you and I talked about like does Terr Hatton really have to be on that team no not really and then you can start going down the list of Ian poers

The world depends if John Ram wants Terell hat to be on the team since that was his partner uh maybe maybe but John Rama’s also had other partners he’s had Roy maroy as a partner so I I don’t think he’s had Sergio Garcia as a partner clearly that’s not going to

Happen this time around I I countered and said that works for Luke it doesn’t work for whoever the US Captain’s going to be because the US Captain would probably like to have Brooks and probably Bryson if I’m being honest and depending how DJ’s playing might want to

Have DJ on that team so I think it it would be a bigger challenge for the US team to sort of come to some sort of conclusion about all right if we only get one off live this guy should be it I think it’s harder for the us to do that

Than for the Europeans this is why they should just go all 12 C captains picks mold the team nobody wants to do that mold the team in the captains being let him have full control of the roster you could leave off a top five player in the

World if it’s it’s sort of a cancer you can you can fill it up with bombers you can have uh all the best Putters however you want to do it I’d love to see it we’re never we’re never going to see it but man all 12 captains picks that is

The way the rter cup should be played Rex before we get out of here I did want to mention speaking of live guys Anthony Kim spoke out for the first time for a detailed interview in about a dozen years sat down with David farity the live golf broadcaster and he detailed

Anthony Kim did at least some of his struggles AK is clearly saving a lot for the documentary uh for which he is taking part but he did say among other things that he sought treatment for an undisclosed health issue in early 2023 that got him on the road to recovery and

Eventually a return to professional golf he didn’t play golf at all before live golf CEO Greg Norman called him about three months ago to gauge his interest in a return to live what was your take take away from AKA about a 20 minute feature that appeared on the live Golf

Plus app earlier this week uh I was left wanting like I want more and that has nothing to do that’s not a criticism of David far or live or actually really it was actually a really well done feature for someone doing features for Golf Channel I thought it was a pretty good

20 minutes uh but I need more than 20 minutes yep and that again that has nothing to do with David or anything else that has to do with this because there’s so many more questions that you want answered and David’s probably the right person to do that he’s struggled

With his own addictions so I I understood where they were coming from trying to do this you sort of had an unlimited platform though you you could have given us 45 minutes and I’m not saying that would have been satisfying and I’d have been happy at the end of

That but it would have been interesting I’m I’m writing a story tonight uh for golf chanel.com on just on the idea of players PGA Tour players that I talked to I talked to Adam Scott about this and some other players about the idea that do you have any interest in Anthony

Kim’s story and I was sort of taken by the idea that they’re all fans they’re they’re they’re in the exact same sort of category as you and I are like they’re kind of on the edge of their seats and yes give me more it’s it’s the John Stewart eating the popcorn gift is

Is what we’re talking about here like yes we want to get all of it like catch us up from the moment you walked away 12 years ago to when Greg Norman reached out to you that part was fascinating to me that it wasn’t until Greg reached out

That he was like yeah maybe I can play golf again let me see if I can start that was two months ago like that’s sort of amazing to me but I am taken by the idea and again Adam Scott probably put it in the best context that he goes I’ve

Seen players walk away for a month I’ve seen players walk away because of injury for a year maybe even two years and I’ve seen how hard that is he goes it’s impossible in my mind to wrap around how you do it for 12 and then decide okay to come back

Because maybe the gear is still there but there there’s got to be something in your DNA that you’re able to flip week in and week out if you’re on the road if you’re at a tournament like you need to get into that mode and to not do that

For 12 years seems impossible it’s like any other muscle like you haven’t worked out in 12 years and suddenly you think you can run a marathon is kind of how he equated it I mean I think anyone who watched that feature was left wanting more yeah um and you know David far

Essentially asked AK like where’d you go and his answer was essentially I hung out around I hung out around the house a lot didn’t see many people watched a lot of reality TV and hung out with my pets and at that point I kind of threw my hands

Up like is this is this what we’re going to go and it became apparent like yeah I’m saving I’m saving this for the documentary I know it’s going to frustrate a lot of people but it’s his story to tell if that’s the platform that he wants to do it in in his own

Words go for it and I’m sure I will binge watch that as many golf fans uh will I don’t think anyone who watched that Rex could feel anything but empathy for AK it’s clear that he has been through absolute hell over the past decade a lot of it of his own doing but

In a professional golf landscape where it’s such a homogeneous tour where you have similar players with similar backgrounds who have have taken pretty similar paths to where they are uh on the world stage like can’t help but feel empathy for someone who didn’t who kind of had a a difficult childhood who

Allowed himself to kind of fall in line with the wrong crowd um who who maybe wasn’t smart enough to see that he was being taken advantage of he said there was a bunch of con artists scam artist uh snakes who who are even living under his own roof and so you know obviously

Expectations are low for his second act as as you pointed out you can’t just flip a switch two months ago and say yeah I want to start playing professional golf again and think that you know you can you can take over the world but I do hope that that AK second

Act can be meaningful professionally but I but I really hope it is personally for him to find some happiness to find some inspiration to help someone to feel better about his career because it’s pretty clear that he’s he’s pretty damaged psychologically by what’s transpired I had a chance to ask Billy

Horel about this and he immediately went to the idea that he had he had watched it and he goes I I heard him use words like I have a lot of gratitude now and Billy is intimately familiar with this his wife has gone through a very public

Uh bout with alcoholism and he goes I could I could recognize the things he was saying from things in that Community where there’s certain steps and there’s certain things you have to sort of embrace if you’re going to get on the path to being a better person being the

Best person you could possibly be and he goes I don’t know what his motivations are and this is Billy telling me I don’t know what his motivations are to get back into the game and he goes but it seems to me it’s part of it at least is

The idea that I can send a message to everyone else that’s look everyone is dealing with something and if you’re dealing with some of these urges and some of these issues that maybe it takes 12 years but you can come out the other side and thanks to live go and you know

Good for all the reasons that we can point out he he has another he has this second chance he’s got the second act and if he can do any good in this second act trying to make it normalize the idea that everyone has is dealing with

Something and if you just take the time and you put the right people around you that you can get past this like you have to be focused and you have to be tough but you can get past this I thought that was fascinating he spoke lovingly of his

Wife Emily uh who was kind of his draw and to bring him back she wanted to pick up the game uh he’s play he he played as well obviously wants to kind of make her dedication and sacrifice worthwhile uh obviously is a 2-year-old daughter uh Bella he wants to provide and be an

Inspiration for her as well we continue to root for AK and he will Tee It Up This Week at live golf Miami and the rest of the 2024 season as a wildc card player Rex next time you and I will get together we’ll be in Augusta Georgia you

Know get together on Saturday I believe for a steak cookout out thanks to Jason and Susie uh at their Augusta Reynold house we’ll also watch the final four games and reminisce about what should be a thrilling final round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in the meantime

What you looking forward to over the next 72 hours hopefully we won burn down the house this year we promise we’ll do better this year we’re gonna we’re going to cook outside the weather should be phenomenal if you guys have not looked at the extended forecast for the Masters

Tournament it’s going to be mid to Upper 70s a very small chance of rain very moderate winds uh I’m really expecting Augusta n they got they got drenched up pretty good on Wednesday morning cause a slight delay to the anoa but I think by tournament days next week

Specifically uh with the subir system that they have in place like that play should be firm should be fiery and it should be a lot of fun all right that’s going to do it for this edition of the Golf Channel podcast with Rex and lab you guys know the drill MC sports.com

Golf for the latest news notes and updates make sure to check out Rex who is doing I believe the broadcast interviews on Thursday and Friday don’t stumble on those I’ll be at Augusta National for the practice round for the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in between the second and third in SL final

Rounds what are you gonna do in a practice round I I have to ask like what do you do for the practice round um so for the practice round it’s a little bit tricky so you can’t go out on the golf course okay uh what we can do is stand

By the big tree and wait wait and wait and wait for all the competitors to come through and you feel like this is a good use of your time for the guests to come through it is a good use of my time because I have to appear on live from

Augusta National the Augusta National Women’s Amateur on Saturday in which I’ll be at tasked with delivering notes on these players who I’ve have not covered in the last 51 weeks uh and so yes that is a time where I’m I’m sort of panicked talking as many people as I

Possibly can so I can sound somewhat coherent uh on national television and then I’ll probably write a game story on satday night I’ll be alongside our colleague Brentley Roman who is much more entrenched in the college in amateur game than I am currently but it

Should be a great week I love the event I tell everyone everyone wants to put in for Master’s Badges and I get it if you get a chance go to the Augusta National Women’s Amateur as well it’s about half the number of patrons on site the exact

Same experience you still get to go to the merchandise Center you still get to buy the $150 sandwiches you still get to drink the cold beer and you you can actually have I I would say a more enjoyable viewing experience than the Masters which is pretty hectic uh so I I

Really enjoy these two days but then check back obviously middle of next week when I’ll be jaded and bitter most likely about something all right that’s definitely a long enough podcast for this midweek Edition talk to you guys in a couple of days have a great rest of the week please