2024 U.S. Open Preview Show with Gary Williams, Johnson Wagner & Taylor Zarzour

The 2024 U.S. Open marks the 4th time in 25 years for Pinehurst No. 2 to play as the host venue. Gary Williams, Johnson Wagner and Taylor Zarzour discuss Pinehurst as an anchor site, the approach of the USGA to tighten the U.S. Open rotation, the identity of the championship and how it will stand up this year.

The guys also discuss styles that are rewarded at No. 2, plus Scottie Scheffler’s place as a favorite, Xander Schauffele’s chances to go back-to-back, Rory McIlroy’s strengths being rewarded and his weaknesses being exposed by this venerable course . Plus, players who need a week, Bryson DeChambeau’s outlook, Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm trying to save the major season and what to expect of and from Tiger Woods. Also, the tournament long shots, hunches, winners and where does Pinehurst’s first U.S. Open in 1999 rank all time in Open history.

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[Music] welcome into this US Open preview here on five clubs they come quickly from the PGA we head to an anchor site pioner for the fourth time in 25 years they will play host to the US Open Championship myself Johnson Wagner Taylor Zer we get into all of it next [Music] in this Split Second your hands make all the difference it was time for a grip to help them own the moment introducing reverse taper technology to stabilize both hands for a more Square putter face at impact the most important Split Second and golf reverse taper only from Golf Pride respect the grip with that boys we’re driving to a major how good is that uh down the road first of all it’s great to seeing both of you uh would you like to reenact anything before we get started yeah by the way you’ve got 15 topics listed here and there’s a glaring omission of which shots he’s going to recreate which which we absolutely need to discuss I’ve got some ideas for early in the week I’m going to go over the back of the 14th green I believe it’s called Death Nowell over the back I think it’s a it’s a noo so I’m going to go there uh left of eight is one of my least favorite spots onl I was going to mention that one I’m going to go there for sure and then I think joh was going to say John Dy almost made contact with Tom Kite there I believe there’s so many great spots that you don’t want to be but also I think an idea for early in the week is to go out and uh throw a few balls into the into the native area and just kind of see what a good lie what a medium lie and what a bad lie looks like because I think in 14 I feel like it was just a little bit uh too easy out of the native area and I think now that it’s had more time to sort of Blossom and and fill in I think it’s going to be a little gnarlier I have seen him recreate the pain Stewart fist pump on children you know high handicappers back home many a time so we don’t need to see that again I’ve got one for you why don’t to recreate my boy Peter kieran’s Albatross on the 10th Hall which he made two days before my wedding in October of 1997 the only other person make a two on 10 his name was Hogan wow yeah how about that one I don’t think I have that in my repertoire we uh gosh this will be fun because there’s so many things about this that that are interesting including the fact that officially this is now an anchor site the usja has rained this thing in they’ve tightened the belt with respect to the rotation Taylor is is the the idea of anchor sites the right direction for the USGA unequivocally yes I do I think that the fans of golf that tune in maybe not tune in all the time but tune in occasionally for the majors and the biggest events when they watch the US Open over the course of the next quarter Century they’re going to know oh yeah Pinehurst Pebble Beach shinok Oakmont that’s where they go for the US Open and yeah every once in a while go try a Los Angeles Country Club and if it works works great if it doesn’t it doesn’t and you can do that every you know few years and and find a a spot to go to that isn’t an anchor site but I love that the majority of the spots they’re going to are anchor sites and will continue to be in the Roa exactly like the open is we know oh yeah that’s where they go to play the Open Championship this is where they go to play the US Open and there is no doubt pineer number two deserves to be in that conversation yeah the every all three previous opens have been memorable maybe not I mean Payne Stewart Michael Campbell Tiger Woods was right there uh Martin kimer sort of blew the field away in 14 but if you look back over the last 10 years of the US Open I think the USGA will admit maybe Chambers Bay wasn’t the greatest selection Aaron Hills I would put in there Lac as much as we wanted it as much as I know we all three love that golf course it left us wanting a little bit so I think having these anchor sites is a great thing and as you mentioned Oakmont one of my favorite shinny and the thing that people love so much about the Masters is that you feel like when you go when they comes time for Masters everybody knows that golf tournament and like you said over the next 25 years I think people will have that feeling over Pinehurst where every hole on that course is known and recognized by the by the golf fan the um this more than any other with the presence of the USGA having facilities there now which will be showcased to varying degrees during US Open week including you know having the USGA experience there to having their Museum there the Quasi Hall of Fame presentation as well explain why this one though makes particularly good sense for the usj because it’s not spectacular like Pebble Beach it may not be as Majestic as shinik Hills it may not be historically as meaty as Oakmont but why does why does Piner make perfect sense for the US well I feel like from the East Coast it’s easy for every single golfer to get to and I I feel like Avid golfers almost make a pilgrimage at some point in their life to go play Pinehurst to go to Pinehurst number two it is sort of the home of American Golf I think the Hall of Fame used to be there and was moved back never been moved it should never never have been moved maybe it was a good idea to move it because now five is an incredible par five from the old uh the grounds of where Hall of Fame well it it was too hard of a par four my opinion but I I I love it there and and the Hall of Fame is is just an addition to that that wonderful piece of property where as opposed to St Augustine it was a destination and and just the World Golf Hall of Fame is going to get way more traction there no doubt no question about it you lost Gary on the fifth hole he’s going to be thinking about that for the next 10 minutes but but to to answer his question that he asked you’re right um and and not only is it the home of American Golf it’s called The Cradle of American Golf that’s what they call them eles at at Pinehurst so I think that’s how it separates itself as an anchor site it was Donald Ross’s home truly I mean it’s on the golf course on the third hole you’ve stayed there we’ve stayed there uh it and those greens are diabolical and I can’t say and I know this is another topic I’m not the biggest fan of what I think is the biggest women’s event the US Women’s Open being such a Stern test and watching the women shoot 80 I don’t know that I enjoy that as much because it is the top of men and women’s golf I think that should mirror the Masters more than it should mirror the US men’s open but the US men’s open should be the toughest Championship test that’s how it differentiates itself from the other major championships and I have no doubt that Piner number two is going to do that because of how exacting you always use that word you have to be on approach there and if you’re not you are going to pay the penalty and you may be playing from the same place you played your last shot from yeah it’s you know I I all those things you guys said I I’m in complete agreement with it is it is the home of American Golf it’s a village um it is with the with the express purpose when you go there to play golf and probably to play golf over the course of several days they they poorly curated the Hall of Fame it was mismanaged it was neglected and I understood why it left but it never should have and it’s so it’s rightfully back there is there any place that is probably going to be a casualty to the tightening of the Roa belt that you will miss do you have one in your head as you’re asking that question yeah because I can’t really I can’t really think of one that that they’re not going to go to moving forward I can think of one I would think Beth Page had the uh 02 and the 08 us now they’re a PG of America and I just think 09 09 excuse me Lucas Glover and I think that it was sort of in New York area where you’ve got shinok Wingfoot everything within an hour and a half drive to lose you Tory Pines is as public as Beth PES so I think it was very important to play at Beth pagee and to lose that site going forward for the next at least 25 years is sad to me yeah it’s you know the David Fay Crusade for Beth Page is a great chapter in the history of the usj for him you know you go back and you you hear the stories about he went out there and not that he was a well-known figure he was executive director director of the usgaa he wasn’t somebody that you look at and go oh my gosh it’s David FaZe on the golf course it was with the express purpose of can we find places that have Public Access that also have the chops and the bones right to to present the the best medius Championship that America should offer and it does I’d like to believe that Beth Page will have a you know have a place in major championship golf and it obviously is going to be hosting the rider cup that’s fair that’s totally fair but if I look at these other places you guys mentioned Chambers Bay you mentioned Aaron Hills Tory Pines I get what they were trying to do don’t go out of your way to try to be as benevolent as you can be when your number one objective is take it to the best places that are the sternest examination and if those places are not them then why there’s no reason to go there Mr Met over here that used to dominate the section I know he picks a spot that he he was very successful in and they’ll still go there plenty enough I do wonder if the one place in the country that gets neglected a bit whether it’s during the PJ tour season or the major championship season is Chicago do we go there enough you know should we almost go there annually for some big event and should the US my answer is yes we should I mean that you agree with that that might that might be the one place I can think of that we might need to fix whether it’s the US Open or another major yeah there’s just too many good places I mean madina’s just gone through a massive restoration and Olympia Fields has had the BMW a few times I yes Chicago has the home of my favorite place in the world Chicago Golf Club not big enough to host a US Open but they have had Women’s Open will be there and they’ve had a senior Women’s Open the inaugural so yeah Chicago is is definitely definitely needs to be repres yeah the Madina thing will be interesting I think the President’s Cup will be you know a great way for people to see it because it’s not a restoration it is a redo of what Jeff and his his team have done there uh which which is really I I think going to be great um you mentioned the golf course in 14 let’s talk about this I I was very lucky when they did the the grand reopening to play with Ben krenshaw the day after the 2011 Masters uh and and when I saw it I went my God this is amazing and and I love it I love the presentation the presentation is one thing the examination is another do you think that the native areas which can afford you a bare lie a dry lie a reasonable lie uh are going to be a tough enough test for these guys it won’t be as tough as it was with the thick rough that they had in 99 or in 2005 but I would say that the golf course now is distinct I mean you were talking earlier I didn’t think it was as distinct when it just had crazy thick rough it just looked looked like one of the hardest tests in golf it didn’t separate itself now visually it separates itself by having all those native areas I mean you reference what happened in 2014 you’ve got this one guy that’s nine under par Martin kimer who blew the field away but then you had a dog fight for second place at one underpar so the rest of the field was challenged to par which I know that you’re going to get into so I think the answer is yes as long as Martin kimer is not in the field I think we’re safe there on that one uh but going to Bermuda greens has made a huge difference they were bent grass in 99 and 05 and just couldn’t have the the fire in them needed now that the Bermuda uh they can control the moisture Bermuda is naturally going to be just firmer and faster this time of year in June in Pinehurst in North Carolina specifically and and I think regardless of the weather uh I I think it I think it is going to be plenty Stern in that native area to me it’s a little bit l dependent I mean yes if you hit a lot of Fairways you’re going to be fine and and I kind of like that because it it it you know the US Open is supposed to stress you out mentally yes and if you go in there and get one or two bad lies which everybody is going to you start getting down you’re like this guy’s getting good lies this I’m getting horrible eyes that’s going to take you out of the tournament so to me luck is uh sort of it makes or breaks you with your attitude and how you respond to it so I think it rewards a strong mind well and and that’s great I didn’t even think of this but that’s awesome you already have the 14th green what he just referenced at the beginning of this is a spot where um you’re going to get all sorts of crazy bounces and breaks there around that green especially behind that green and you have to be so precise coming in there and something big is going to happen uh there is a better than 50% chance on Saturday or Andor Sunday afternoon someone will lose the US Open right there on the 14th green and and I think that certainly changing Bermuda is a factor there if we have 90° temperatures and it is hot it’s 6 7:00 in the afternoon upes forecasted as we look week out on a Saturday or Sunday that I mean there is no question that everybody is going to be riveted by what they watch in the in the closing stretch there you know you were talking about how difficult the US Women’s Open was and it was there’s no doubt um this major is the only major in my mind that that we have this Sensi ity to score we do not get wrapped up in it with the other three we just don’t now we did with the PGA just because it was like oh my god really how easy can it be um and it was I mean it was relative to what we kind of expect but not not insanely it was it was in totality what the field did to valhall was just an undressing um it seems to me that it’s getting increasingly more difficult for all of these organizations to protect wherever it is that they’re having these championships do you want it to be around par or do you care at all uh I I do care I I I think par matters and and I I I completely disagree with your take on the US Women’s Open I I’ve played in US Juniors I’ve played in US amers US opens and it doesn’t matter if it’s men or women the usgaa is the sternest test across of all competitive golf so I like Lancaster Country Club I like it being uh what just three players under par at the US Women’s Open that no there’s three there was a tied for second was or maybe I’m wrong it was just two it was four under one under but I like it being that way yes it it it you can make Bogies and you and and it doesn’t kill you um and when you look at the PGA Championship the very next two weeks Colonial and Canada uh were much tougher tests than the PGA championships I want our Majors to be the sternest test in golf and I think it’s pretty easy to say Valhalla will not be hosting another PGA Championship in the near future um and I I think par matters I think it brings out the best players and it’s the more strenuous the the more the cream Rises to the top my reason for wanting the women not to have that kind of test at the US Women’s Open is because I want more people to watch women’s golf and they get turned off by how hard it is and we need more people watching women’s golf you think they’re turned off by it I I will promise you based on the what the early ratings have shown me well hold hold on a second if Nelly C is leading that golf tournament at even par they’re not turning it off of course they’re not but but you’re you’re you’re you’re conditioning it based on yes you two Americans in the top 35 they’re extenuating circumstances as to why the ratings are what they are but there also another reason here I think that if you’re looking for more people to watch women’s golf they want to watch them make some more birdies and I would turn the volume from a nine on the extreme measure to a seven in the US Women’s Open and I think that there just like you have in the most watched men’s event in our country the Masters we love to see birdies on the back nine at Augusta National on a Sunday and I think it’s the same thing at the biggest event in women’s golf so it’s a different argument I know we can have a great debate on that if you’d like for the next 30 minutes on women’s golf but that would be my reason it’s fine that you disagree I have no problem with that um but I thank you for allowing me to disagree well but hopefully I’m allowed to as well and and evidently I’m not uh and you’re getting all bowed up no I mean I’m just you’re asking me a question I think the reason that we’re not seeing as many people watch women’s golf is because we don’t get to see them make enough birdies in the biggest event in the sport the US Women’s Open is the biggest event in the sport it the separator in the men’s game is the US Open differentiates itself from the other major championships by being the toughest test and it creates an identity for that event which I’m a huge supporter of I think they’re two very different events the US Women’s Open the biggest in women’s golf the US Open one of the two three biggest in men’s golf and I love that par is protected I would go back to what you would say about Pinehurst I don’t think it should be contrived I don’t think that you should do some things that were done at shinok or some other past major championships US Open Majors that were done where it felt contrived and it felt been unfair but I would ask you I think just showing up at pineur number two and playing a US Open there is going to be tough enough it is going to be Tough Enough and that’s a great point about the women’s game too and not that you’ve changed my tune on it but how many chances a year do we get to see the LPGA and women’s golf on network television and so it’s a big opportunity for them to draw in new fans and to turn it on and see uh the women hacking out of rough making tens on par 3es it I I see where you’re coming from on that one yeah it’s look the idea of of you want it to be appealing I understand that but you’re comparing it to what historically what are you comparing the ratings to well I’m comparing where women’s golf currently is and I think that I’m a big believer that they have enough star power in the game that if you watch them Excel on a Sunday with a handful of the biggest names which you got at the Chevron which I believe you’ll get at the KPMG that I think that you would see more people um excited to watch the finish of a US Open so I’m only comparing it to the history of women’s golf and where we’ve been in the last 5 to 10 years I don’t Gary I just don’t think we have enough people watching the women’s sport and I’m not trying to manipulate or Force anybody to do it I really believe that if you put sports fans out there and gave them access to this Women’s Open they they they’re not thinking right now I want to watch women’s golf most casual sports fans aren’t but I think that if you showed them and presented them a Women’s Open and 67 was a winning score on Sunday and there was a handful of people that were under par on Sunday and there were birdies down the stretch of the tournament I think that they would be turned onto the game that that’s just a but but again it’s not an extreme I don’t to your point yeah I don’t want to do Valhalla either right I don’t want to go that route I just think that there’s a middle ground there for the the biggest event and women’s golf yeah I think all of this speaks to the challenge like where is the balance how do how does the USGA strike a balance with with conditions as far as like we had at La North last year which allowed for a couple of 62s in a 20 minute span on a golf course that as you said we all we all love it um I want it to be absolutely and unequivocally the hardest examination these players face all year that was what they were defined by that’s who they were and I think because they found themselves in this weird vulnerable position to have to kind of defend themselves they triy graduated rough I think it’s not accidental that that graduated rough kind of came along at the time when you had the two biggest stars who could be a little Aeron off the tea and I think they were being particularly benevolent to tiger and Phil as best they could not that they needed even more advantages and I think that their identity was damaged and by virtue of that they became vulnerable that players started taking shots at him I know deep down that there are things that Augusta National does that these players go home to their rental properties at night and scratch their head about maybe bang their heads against the wall but you know what they don’t do they don’t complain but they do it with the USGA and you can I can go through the Litany of players can you confirm that that they go home and do that yes there there’s a lot of there’s a lot of talk about the Masters and the way they’ve moaned the fairways back into the players it even when it’s dry the balls pick up mud and yes there are plenty things that a but you never hear them carp a bit but they do it with the USGA I want the USGA to be exactly who they are be unforgiving and this word about Fair like what is fair in golf like you just said one lie got lucky one lie I didn’t Embrace and accept those are the two words that the likes of whether it was Lee Jansen or hail Irwin or Cory paven or Curtis Strange embrace it accept it and move on Saturday at the 20 8 US Open was unfair that’s what unfair is and you when you have to come on the air and apologize and say you lost the golf course what specifically was unfair because I agree about a couple of things well I mean you just saw that they couldn’t hold golf balls on on the course to the point where you’ve got the guy conducting the tournament apologizing for what they’re playing in you know that’s the last thing you want yeah it wasn’t every hole but the the 15th green the Pinos on 15 on Saturday in 2018 was a disaster an unmitigated disaster you don’t have to do at Pine nurse is my point you just go there and play and it’s going to be hard enough no I I really think that to your point I think you go to Pine nurse you go to Oakmont Pebble Beach typically isn’t as challenging in terms of relation to par unless you have the elements involved if if you have you know good weather there then chances are you’re not going to have as high of scores as what you have at Oakman or shinok or at Pinehurst but I I think that whether it’s even par or not Gary I think that it’ll be plenty hard enough and I do think it’ll be the sternest test of the year which again I love on the men’s side whether it look I don’t have to have them tell me it’s going to be um do you think though that that these organizations in this case the usgaa they they pay pay attention to what happened to bhalla um and and they know what happened uh last year at La North and and people think that because of what Johnny biller did in 73 we got the massacre in 74 they are humans do you think think that they’re going to tighten the screws well a little bit but and I I’ve got a question for you guys um I I watched John Bowen hammer on the uh the night part of golf’s longest day and he talked about how they’ve got Scott Langley used to be Jason Gore former player on the PGA tour helping with setup they bring in people from the PGA Tour rules staff to help with setup do you think they’ve taken it too far and are trying to get too many opinions as opposed to just sticking to their guns and knowing that they’re setting a golf course up the right way I it’s a good question I I I think one of the challenges they have is that first of all here we are gas bagging like countless others will be in the leadup to this with with Outlets that we like and appreciate and we can go down the list of people who will do US Open previews they didn’t exist 20 years ago and 30 years ago you know Golf Channel didn’t even exist it was born in 1995 and you have bloggers and you have realtime opinions like that’s a shitty pin position and it’s like yeah it is and it’s like pitchforks and and you know they they come out and it’s like oh my God that gets back to my my my point about feeling defensive and being vulnerable and everybody have an opinion and saying that’s not good and I’ll accept that and that’s unacceptable um yes I think they listen and I think we all naturally are affected I by the way I like him asking the questions this is good I John John Bowen Hammer to me in the last 5 years has done an excellent job I I wouldn’t say that he did a bad job of setting up Lac I would just say that the golf course probably isn’t a Stern enough test from what most of us want the US Open to be and because of that we probably won’t see them back anytime in our lifetime they’ll go to Riviera which they’ve already announced instead um but no I probably so Johnson yeah like I I think that John bowdenham should listen to what he’s listened to the last five years in setting up us opens because I thought he’s done a great J it yeah and on the LCC point it wasn’t like a tournament week mistakes made I think it was a little bit leading in the year or two leading in where they didn’t narrow a few Fairways and make it a little harder in that regard the LACC setup plus the weather you had the the Marine layer coming in and making the green soft like it just there was It was kind of out of their control and that’s what happens when favorable weather comes Sunny week what if it was a sunny week and it’s a good point about how wide the fairways are because Rory mroy will bust Windom Clark chops for the rest of his life for the t- shot he hit on 18 in most us opens you hit that t- shot you’re in the right rough somewhere you’re not in the Fairway instead he’s still in the Fairway on the widest Fairway we’ve ever seen on a closing hole and he wins the tournament by one yeah can you imagine that t-shot off 18 at Oakmont it would have been so deep in the rough you’d be lucky to get it back out to the yeah you’d be doing what pay Stewart did you’d have to wedge it up there and then hit a third shot on unless you get a bare line in the native area that’s correct see and that which again like the whole pain thing thing Payne’s choice in 99 might have been very very different if he has a bare lie over there why why wouldn’t he go ahead and Advance it toward the green but but he had he literally had no choice I mean he went over there which again I I I think it’s going to work out from what I understand a lot of people believe those native areas may need several more years of of growth to really be dense to where it’s not like oh I can probably get no no you’re probably not so ConEd little bit I look I playing the golf course a month ago and if I’m going in there repeatedly and it’s like I can get seven iron to the Green from here there’s there’s I I think there’s more Good Fortune than not enough bad fortune is my feeling having been over there very very recently and a lot of the problem though you you get a good lie you think you can advance it up there and it it leads to mistakes around the greens that you you know you catch it a little thin out of that native area and you go long left on two all of a sudden you don’t have the easy up and down probably would have been better served uh laying it up 50 or 60 yards short of the green and being able to control it into the green more I think it brings in which is the beauty of Pinehurst which is why we all love it around the green so much is that the options are plentiful so I mean just because you have a good lie doesn’t mean you’re going to be able to execute the shot out of that ABS true absolutely true the the one thing I remember in 99 was how this was going to be a real departure because of the the the presentation of the golf course around the greens which allows options when you think about missing greens and US opens historically before then the year before in ’98 97 we can go on and on and on and on and people are going well a guy like Jose marol Lao he’s a great chipper he’s a great short pitcher he has options now the agnostic approach of that the idea of not discriminating and allowing guys who have deaf touch with the use of whether it be one club in the case of Jordan spe or a handful of different clubs do you think that still applies that there is a variety of style that can be rewarded on that golf course yeah um I would like to think so I would like to think that Jordan spe would be rewarded for his Brilliance around the greens with a wedge I would like I was talking to chess and Hadley the week he just qualified through final qualifying at Duke one of the sites and he was saying that he’s bringing out a three-wood around the greens like he’s been practicing this shot for weeks in hopes that he would make the US Open you may see hybrids in three woods around the green I think that’s great I would love to see some variety there of course Martin kimer used putter everywhere he went and one by eight but I would I would think Johnson that we would see to your point earlier if somebody is left of eight somebody’s behind the green on 14 there’s going to be a number of players that would put a putter in their hand there are going to be some players that are so confident nipping it perfectly off those tight lies that they’re still going to use a wedge and you can execute them both well and get them up and down and you can also fail with both those clubs and have it either right back at your feet or across the green on the other side and another Swale that’s the beauty of that place there is not one right answer and I like it I not having the DI deep thick rough around the greens and everybody just blasts out like a bunker shot I think it’s I think it’s more uh I think it’s more intriguing to the viewer that there are going to be so many different styles you should do both of those things oh my just was thinking about it my plan is on you know Monday Tuesday Wednesday to put myself in a spot and hit one with a putter one bumping it and one flopping it so I’m pretty sure I know what my choice would be if I was in the situation you certainly know what my choice would be but I it’s it’s great and it it it it you know I think it really speaks to the the average golfer as well when they see the best players in the world just yank that putter St straight out of the bag knowing that they’re not going to make a huge mistake with that CL you think Scotty Sheffer is going to pull a wedge out in in those situations around the green yeah I I do and and it’s not like we’re going to go someplace for know you know I don’t really like his chances because and we will get to him momentarily I I qualify this just looking back on the on the top 10 in 2005 when it was a Bermuda grass Farm but my point is around the area was the same in terms of it being you know options and tight lies um obviously Michael Campbell W tiger if you didn’t have to play 17 and 99 and in ‘ 05 he might have won both Tim Clark Sergio Mark hensby Davis Love theii Roco mediate VJ Aaron oberholz or AO popping a top 10 in the US Open Nick price not only are we talking about a stylistic kaleidoscope but we’re also talking about the biology we’re talking about some young men some older players guys with a lot of experience um there was also not the proliferation of of distance in the game 19 years ago that we presently have now but I do think that that does speak to hey look you can do it a lot of different ways um with that being said as we get into and let’s start with with the guy who’s number one in the world should he be unequivocally wherever they’re playing this US Open and make it specific to number two the absolute favorite without a doubt yeah we’re had we’re seeing a historic season and one of the questions that we had was once he got past the Masters in harbort toown and he took a little bit of a break and his wife gave birth to Bennett um would we see that same sort of form happen I think that if this guy had had a normal week at the PGA Championship and got a normal amount of rest each day I still think Xander Schley wins the tournament but I think that he Scotty would have his week is different yeah Scotty would have been a factor the way he was a factor at Colonial I think and he was a factor at Colonial I absolutely expect him to be a factor at Pinehurst he’s you you go back in the last couple of years and this guy nine out of 10 times more than 90% of the time really is a factor in every tournament he plays in I don’t know how with all due respect to Andre Schley who’s having a terrific year and now it includes the biggest win of his career you have to start with Scotty you have to start with Scotty and Colonial is the perfect example uh he had two really bad rounds uh first round and fourth round and what what I’m you know I’m continually surprised and Amazed by what he’s able to do but what blew me out of the water was how he could have he shot a 78 in the first round at Colonial but turned it into a 72 he shot a 78 in the final round at Colonial and turned it into a 71 and and finished T2 I just like there’s not many guys that can turn those bad rounds into really close to par rounds and I think when you crank the screws on a golf course and you get to the major championship pressure that only benefits him there’s less people that have a chance to win which means Scotty Sheffer doesn’t have to beat as many guys yeah I I think what you said about you know his week at Valhalla is the most pragmatic way of looking at it the guy who won absolutely deserved to win the golf tournament Scotty sheffer’s week would have been different I think it would have been a lower score how low I don’t know I don’t have to get that far far removed from it to know that whether it be a year from now 5 years from now that incident will go down as one of the most asinine ridiculous extraordinary things that we’ve ever seen forget golf in sports that somebody in route to a competition was handcuffed booked arrested put in a jumpsuit and then still was able to go out there and play and play the way that he did that you know that day and then the next day was what it was um and I think the colonial because as much as he is better conditioned to do this la la la la la he that was still hanging around the resolution of it and the dismissal of this Preposterous situation was not completely done he is he is in my estimation so far in away the favorite going into this week um that it it takes me a while to get the second given Pinehurst history hosting the US Open someone does Blitz out to a five or six shot lead I’d be very careful with the speed limit on Saturday night I just will say that what is the speed limit like 12 miles hour in the village yeah 20 mil an hour or something just be careful around those parts in all seriousness I I hope we get a thrilling US Open I hope that it comes down to the wire and um and Pinehurst deserves that they got it with Michelle we West they got it with pay Stewart but they haven’t really had it the last two times they’ve had men’s Majors there certainly hope that happens this time the Michael Campbell US Open was was it was tense yeah it was it was weird it was weird what happened to what I thought well I know I know what I thought like just put retif gon’s name back on this thing because I thought he was going to win and then tiger did what he was habitually you know incapable of doing which was you know he was never going to retreat and then he was right there and then you know 17 happened again for him and it gave Michael Campbell the amount of daylight like he gave to Phil and and to p in in 99 I I think we’re they’ve got this this is going to be much more competitive than than 2014 it can’t be a runaway well and I do think that there’s a better chance while certainly we expect Scotty Xander the big names in the game to be around the leaderboard for four days going back to the leader boards you read through earlier I think there’s a better chance of a not a random player but a player that we’re not talking about absolutely having a fact being a factor I mean Eric Compton and Ricky Fowler tied for second there uh 10 years ago I think that that this kind of golf course especially if you look at like Strokes gain putting numbers the players that are at the top of those rankings they’re most of those guys are not top 50 in the world players but they’re amazing at getting the ball in the hole and given that there is going to be a huge premium on that it wouldn’t surprise me if you saw somebody that we’re not talking about have a chance to win the US Open at pioner just like Michael Campbell did yeah I I I you know it’s interesting you mentioned if you take kimer out you know Compton was a great story obviously Ricky had a phenomenal major championship season top fing in all four the balance of the top 10 was really at that time A Who’s Who Keegan Bradley was a star a young star uh Jason day would win his major the following year DJ Kea that was his first top five in a major championship Stenson Scott Jimmy Walker was an elite player in 2014 Brent snedaker that’s a great top 10 wasn’t it an incredible top 10 and I mean that’s what the P that’s what Pinehurst does with the native area I think it separates the field even more than it did when it was Pitch Out Berita Ruff I think now you don’t have to be the greatest driver of the golf ball I think you have to be creative which is what snaker is amazing at getting the ball up and down from anywhere and I mean when you look at players that kind of fit that bill this year Zack Blair just won open qualifying or sectional qualifying and he had a good Canadian open like a guy like Zack Blair who drives it so straight he’s incredible around the greens just thinking of someone off the wall that we’re not talking about that I Jason Gore was off the wall Brown was off the wall right which is which is part of the the texture of a US Open which we love it it it it is not necessarily just one round it is a couple of rounds it’s qualifiers it’s it’s Journeymen um who knows it could be a young guy who maybe still in college the the shaffle thing um because of how quickly these are now coming the way that the major championship season including you you put the players at the front end of it from March to July we clicking them off reasonable chance he could double up a chance certainly I’m not you like you liked him to win the PGA we we’ve been on fire so far this year in the major championship season I mean we haven’t gone on any limbs by the way we picked Scotty at the Masters at the US Open um my man Mr fet that was sitting in this chair took it before I could but um yeah certainly he’s got a chance if I have any hesitation I it’s only that I think that Xander has celebrated this PGA Championship the way he should have and I am proud of him for doing it and he is connected with every person that’s close in his life uh I got a middle of the night text message from him if right after he won the PGA Championship with the w maker Trophy and to his credit he fit more drinks in there there than I thought was humanly possible I don’t know be I don’t know that Scotty Sheffer how many beers fit in it he said that 24 beers would fit into it I I I I can’t confirm that but he said 24 whole suitcase yeah a whole case of beer fit in there um nevertheless I don’t know that every player in the game is doing that Scotty sheffler probably isn’t burning it down the way that Xander burned it down but you know uh maybe that is one reason and he he is playing in the memorial this as we’re doing this this week so we’ll see how he does this week but sure I mean I think the guy is playing the best golf of his life so I would expect him to be a factor I just 72 holes at Pinehurst is a heck of a mental challenge yeah he’s got the short game obviously to handle that place he’s driving the ball so much further and straight which is a huge Advantage around that golf course and I’m with you I’m a little bit leery of two weeks off and the amount of Celebration the memorial is going to be a big test to see if he can get his form back quickly but I think when you have that big of a of a you know an upswing there’s you’re going to fall off I I would like his chances better later in the year at the Open Championship when he recollects himself but I I I fully believe Xander chofay will top 10 and be an outside influence on Sunday yeah I think those are the the fair kind of viewpoints on it not easy to I mean to for the first time to to climb to the summit and just think I’ll go back to base camp for a couple weeks and then I’ll climb the summit again um look you go back om 1998 he doubled up Harrington 2008 and the absent tiger whatever uh he he picked off a couple um I reasonable reasonable but but like you said my God like it comes so quickly maybe his form is one thing but maybe a little bit more time to to get his equilibrium again and and dig back in it’s it’s a hell of an accomplishment what he did did uh to be knocking on the door as repeatedly as he has and to knock it down where he had to make one more on a week in which he made a million that that D Shambo of all people forc his hand to make one more so let’s get to Bryson shall we um what about him and number two I I I think um speaking of luck being on your side and attitude uh creating the breaks you get in the native area I I think Bryson is gonna I think the native area is going to get the best of him I think he’s going to get real down when he gets bad breaks in that rough and I just I know his short game is is good he chipped in on 18 on Saturday at the PGA he got up and down on 18 on Sunday he’s fine around the greens I just think it’s going to expose him and I I have him outside the top 15 as you could tell early I get very excited for a little bit of a battle I don’t get much of these as doing my own show in the morning so I was I’m EXC mute everyone I’m excited I’m excited for another one if we can get one but I unfortunately did I for agree the if there are if if there’s one area of Bryson’s game that I still question it is his game inside 100 yards I’m with you the look the one of the shots of the tournament at the Masters Was His Ho out on the on the 18th hole on Saturday night but I’ll never for the life of me under understand I understand the single length clubs until you get to your your sandwich and I I had the pleasure of calling a lot of his golf for ESPN on Saturday and Sunday at the PGA Championship and he had some wild misses from just outside 100 yards with a sand wedge I mean missing by 10 yards over the green on the 17th hole you can’t do that at Pinehurst and get away with it you can at Valhalla I don’t think you can there I have some questions like you said in when he misses a fairway but also when he’s in the Fairway from 115 120 yards away I want to I think that there is a real premium on being able to hit it as close to the hole as possible with your short clubs like Scotty Sheffer does I I’m I’d be surprised honestly if Bryson was a factor at the US Open the way he was at the PGA it’d be great for the game if he was because man it was great at the PGA yeah he’s again he’s provocative and people pick a side not many players do we were kind of ambivalent about most of them I I do think about a couple things while I start going through this golf course like like two four eight 14 not to as much of a degree as 16 like these unrelenting beastly par fors which he’s going to have shorter clubs if he drives it reasonably well in his hand to everybody else but the reality is he’s probably going to miss 25 greens and those 25 greens this is not Valhalla those greens were so average in their complexity they actually had no complexity to them that was one of the reasons why they shot what they shot they were not hard these greens are diabolically difficult to not only hit and hold but to then recover from those single length clubs the stress required to deal with that over the course of 72 holes I think is is too much for him if he does it hey man I I I put my hands up and go that is an accomplishment I didn’t think you were capable of I just don’t see it I don’t want to steal where we’re going with the rundown next but are we are we talking Rory mroy as well because I I have some similar concerns about him you do his his his proximity to the hole with his wedges has been a big problem for him the last couple of years certainly seems like he’s better in that regard but I still wonder under the fire from 10030 yards in with a wedge how close is Rory mooy going to hit the golf ball of the hole he you know we can get very technical and how big his golf swing is with a wedge and a lot of people have said it’s too big needs to be more compact uh and then making putts inside 10 feet it seems like sometimes he he struggles with reads inside 10 Feats on on big putts when uh in the biggest moments major championships and boy I I think that Piner can get in your head when you get closer the closer you get to the hole when it when it comes to Rory and his wedges like when he won Wells Fargo his wedge play was amazing brick hard greens at Quail Hollow I think the problem with Rory is when when he has to really dial them back and hit those three quarter shots the beginning of the year he was hitting a lot of those long and left just not you know that’s why it makes him such a good driver of the golf ball because his full speed swing is amazing so I think if we can get those firm conditions out there Piner which may be a little U you know controversial because he plays soft golf courses so well but I think when it comes specifically to his wedge play the more full wedge shots he can hit the better and I think uh given the weather we have and knowing how firm those greens can get I think that’s going to be a positive for him um his short game has looked really good he hit some shots at the Canadian open from inside 5070 yards where he hit 12 specifically on Saturday when he drove it up in front of the green for me it always comes back to this Rory is just too darn aggressive he did it again in Canada out of a couple Fairway bunkers drilling the lip trying to get too much out of it and I just think Pine her is going to require so much more patience than he’s capable of the um I I I I think what you said about him the closer he gets to the hole like he’s more proficient now I having the chance to to see him not only in Charlotte but also at valala his tidiness his efficiency with his chipping uh and and these short pitches gotten better he’s gotten better but when you when you when you then expand it out to 125 to 150 where he finds himself repeatedly because he’s such an exemplary driver of the golf ball he’s not as proficient he’s not as efficient his proximity is not as good um then the other thing which again these greens are hard as hell to deal with and I’d like to believe that just because he’s so damn good he’s going to find himself in the mix here and I think he will be how much would you would you bet inside the top five or outside the top five right now I’m going outside the top five for the US Open but stay tuned for the trune preview oh very nice I love the preview before the preview I I I’m a little bit with Taylor on this I just feel like I it’s not just the wedges that he three quarters that he has struggled struggled with his timing and rhythm is so good when he’s swinging full out and I just think major championship golf when the pins get tucked and the conditions get that much harder you have to be able to dial back and hit little shots with curve on both directions he has too many big misses with irons in play from the Fairway he’s going to put himself in some spots on this golf course like he did at the Players Championship like he always does that you just have no chance to get it up and down so I think he’ll finish I think he’ll finish between Fifth and 15th he was tied for 23rd and 2014 and then went on the flyer and won the next two major championships for whatever that’s worth do you think that he will hit driver with you know decent Liberty it’s not Quail Hollow um but I start thinking about him and where he would hit driver I see it a fair amount I mean one and three would be the only spots on the front nine and if they move three up he could possibly hit that green I don’t know about seven seven I think he’ll cut the corner on seven you do I do okay you think he I’m just going through the golf biggest weapon if it’s negated that that’s a problem I I think to Johnson’s point he will if it’s a choice he’s choosing driver I think until he realizes he can’t do it and he’s been penalized so much that he has to dial it back but um that might be also part of the problem though is he is a little too aggressive sometimes and especially with recovery shots after that as well so um I would think that he would hit driver he’s always seems he’s he’s the modern day Phil Mickelson he is he is I I’m I’m thinking about you know the the holes on the inward nine um 13 maybe not but I mean he’s hitting that fade now with that driver and I think he can take it take it on and put it up there inside 100 yards I think he’s going to take on those chances when he can I Do by the way the new t on 12 is like I didn’t realize we’re also getting to play number four at the same time it’s so far back there it’s ridiculous they keep I mean I remember from the first time I played Piner number two till the last time I it’s just ridiculous how far that tea is crept back and back it is uh it used to be a three-wood n and now it’s do we have but do we have a drivable par 4 I don’t know what they do with three yeah three is the one that that you got to believe one day it’s got to be in the mix I mean the only other place I was thinking was seven like maybe they could bring it up and try to cut the dog leg that’s that’s pretty bold if you tried that yeah from the old back te I think that’s possible but now that back te is over on the side of the road where six green is and I don’t think anything’s possible from there but but yeah from if they move seven up yeah I could see that Green’s probably the most benign on the front nine and I would think that guys would be taking that on if it all that’s fair uh Brooks kep we’re halfway through this major championship season flat man in his mind it’s it’s an abject failure these are his weeks does he write it I I I’m guessing not I mean it’s I know I’ve been saying in the past that I need to see less form from him than most of the Live players but also I think that what I’ve seen so far in the major championships this year and to some degree in the Liv season makes me think that um and that he did win on the Liv season so far this year but what I’ve certainly seen in the major championship season so far this year just makes me wonder if the juices are flowing the same way they were last year yeah I it it just doesn’t he’s doesn’t seem to have the the the fire right now he said the right things in his pre-tournament press conferences at Valhalla and when you look at Pinehurst it’s not that similar to a place like shinok where he’s won but I don’t I don’t see much out of him if I’m going to pick a live guy to play well I think cam Smith is is my guy just given the way he hits the ball and and and his he’s so prolific around the greens I just think this is a really good fit for a guy like cam plus it would remind me a lot of sand Bel golf courses down in Melbourne and and in that area of Australia you agree with that yeah that’s a that’s a hard one to disagree with especially with how good his short game is and how consistently good he has still been in major championships in the last year yeah uh Liv did not have a good sectional qualifying day lot of failure Dean berme he he was two of 17 he was another one I was thinking of though who has who has been consistently good all over the world no matter if it’s been a live event or not yeah for sure but uh a little surprised that some of these guys didn’t get through I get it second uh I’d have to i’ have to go back and look I’ve got a list of the ones who didn’t I know leechman didn’t not because Herbert did not whatever by the way I talked to several people uh who have watched him a fair amount that he’s got the goods man um that he’s really really got the goods well and he’s Young and Hungry enough and is you know only been a professional for a couple years so I think he has that fire of wanting to continue to get better which I’ve feel like a lot of these guys have lost once they signed those contracts to go play and he was The Medalist by the way at his sight espe and speaking of that fire especially John ROM um I I know what do we make of it well I I think he would wouldn’t admit what I’m about to say but I think years from now he will say going to Live cost him major championships and I think that there is a big part of him that thought going to live was going to bring us closer to resolution it hasn’t I also think that he to a degree regrets that decision I I know that there were a lot of factors that went into it certainly money was a huge factor that went into it what are the other factors well I think that he was frustrated with with his voice in the game and and how how big of a voice he carried on the PGA tour and and some of the things that have happened in the last couple of years regardless to me he looks like a man that is dealing with some regret right now with his identity as a professional golfer and I think it’s cost him in the major championships I didn’t expect him to win the PGA Championship but I didn’t expect him to miss the cut and I think that he is somebody that thrives off of competition and being in a battle time and time again and the fact that he doesn’t get many opportunities to recreate that kind of competition is going to cost him a Majors you were standing there when he did his pre-tournament you know presser and then subsequently his little car wash and he talked to Drew staltz uh for for PJ Championship radio and similarly to Augustin Asal Johnson I felt like with him to to Taylor’s point if your mind ain’t right when the bell goes off it can be over very very quickly and to his credit he did battle got off to a horrific start on Thursday at bhalla and and got himself in a position to possibly play the weekend he is he’s a temperamental guy I don’t find it to be self-defeating I think he gets past it but I do think that like he’s showing up in this defensive posture where where these other guys have got their focus on the task at hand as opposed to trying to satisfy whatever it is that that you think you need to to some assembled International media yeah and I don’t even think at the PGA that the questions were that hard I think were not I think he’s going to get I think at the US Open if he does a pre-tournament pressor the questions are going to get harder and harder Championship recently why wouldn’t he be I I would think he would and I just don’t like the way he one side of the mouth is talking about defending his decision and the fact that he’s actually I’m playing good golf I haven’t finished out of the top 10 I love team Golf and at the other side he’s saying what you said that he thought his decision would bring it closer together he misses driving he has to drive by the Waste Management Phoenix Open every day because he lives out there and he missed playing those tournaments on the west coast that he won no kidding of course you do talking about wishing he could still play the PGA Tour I like you can’t have it both ways and the the fact that he was arrogant enough uh to think that he could have it both ways in January or end of December when he made that decision is mindboggling and I just think he cares about what people think about him I’d advise him to lay off the pre- I would too it’s not going to do him any justice and and and if he does it and it’s a similar outcome I just think it’s too much too it will be for sure and I think it’s too much for him to overcome all right who uh who needs a week I’ve got a couple U I think Rory needs a week bad his major championship performance has not been good this year he’s starting to play better golf I mean starting with Zurich and well actually starting with the Texas open before the Masters he’s starting to play great golf but his major championship record has not been good this year I think Rory I think Jordan spe and you were the one that really pointed out how brutal that wrist injury has been I don’t know if he’s capable of it right now and I think Justin Thomas coming off a nice solid PGA Championship JT this is his time to have a good major championship outside of a PGA that’s my guy um and he’s also my sleeper um so I’ll I’ll go right into that one as well and that’s and you would look at him and say how in the world would you pick a guy that so struggles so much with putting but his ball striking has been better and better and better throughout the year and I do think that to Johnson’s Point earlier about where you play your approach shots from mattering at the US Open will be a big factor and given how precise he was not only at Valhalla at home but how precise he’s been most of the year I think that that will matter he’s going to have to make those putts OB viously if he’s going to win the US Open but I am banking on the ball striking giving him a chance to be a factor in the US Open yeah you know his chipping his Strokes gained around the greens very very good he putting horrifically bad yeah and there’s only been like one or two seasons where he has been a better than average putter on the PGA tour that has certainly been the weakness in his game statistically and you’re right it has not gotten better for all the talk about him being on the Ridder Cup team last year his putting numbers are not better in 2024 certainly that would have to be better in at Pinehurst for him to win the event but I do think that if everything else is really good he could be a factor uh how about the defending Champion well I kind of think he needs a week he’s kind of yeah he he definitely needs a week he’s fallen off the radar since the Masters came around uh and yeah he he needs it bet really since the PLAYERS Championship he has not done much um maybe got a little outspoken with his belief of how the tour should be set up and maybe now that he’s part of the secret society it should be a secret society I I I think his short game keeps him in if he can drive it well but to me he he works the ball way too hard One Direction he’s very one-dimensional off the tea and I think that’s I I don’t think he’s going to have a good week you kind of feel the same way I do and I’ve always wondered that about had such a good start to the year and then the players are going my God he didn’t play well on the weekend and here he is doing did down the stretch and he had the putt that lips out I I’m it’s gone sideways I like wind a lot I’ve been mind blown walking with him and watching the lines he takes on holes that don’t require that shot shape to Johnson’s Point I’ve never seen a professional golfer take Wilder lines off the tea than he does and on holes that don’t ask for that and I that makes me wonder at a place like Pinehurst and I think part of it with him too after the PLAYERS Championship he was I believe third in the world and and I think expectations when you get up to that point and you’re playing in your first Masters and the talk around Windham was we’re going to see the first Masters champion in his debut since fuzzy Zeller and and I think the expectations that other people put on him kind of weigh have weighed him down a little bit they’re not Bubba Watson Lines by the way but they are wild lines they wind them tremendous lines yes um do you have a sneaking suspicion about anybody I think Cameron young I think the way he drives the golf ball I’m a little worried about him around those greens but I think he is just so primed and poised to actually break through and it wouldn’t surprise me to see him do it in a major also Tommy Fleetwood okay yeah it Fleetwood was my guy at the PGA that was my sleeper because of the ball striking but I picked him so many times that we don’t have the timey Fleetwood drop that we we would hear like I think I I don’t think I can go back with that I really like the Zack Blair pick that you made earlier that’s the kind of player that I think they would creep up at a PGA Championship Tom Kim has started to show some RC Hees hit it but he hits it in the Fairway um and I would I would like to think that Tom would be a factor yeah that’s a good at the US Open he’s sneaking it out there a little bit farther I had the chance to walk with him the first two rounds at Wells Fargo he was playing with Rory and he he is actually getting the ball out there a little bit further than you would think it’s just for me with Tom he stands over that ball for so long and it’s and it’s stagnant and I just think coming down the stretch of a major championship you’re standing over that ball so long it’s going to have an effect you got to do something about that yeah it it you’re right he he’s he’s popping out there he can’t look it’s very hard to play with Rory and look at the way he launches it um he doesn’t hit it very high and I think about those greens and if they are as firm as they are but no his form is has definitely improved I’ll give you one Tom hogi Tom hogi can absolutely flush the [ __ ] out of it his proximity the number of greens that he hits he’s not a great putter um but he’s somebody who you look historically at us opens and he reminds me somewhat of Jeff magger a guy built for like I look if I’m GNA play Jim Ry for some some coin I can handle this examination so I’ll give you a little Tom hogi tiger what do you got I don’t have High Hopes okay um I I would like to think that his chances at the US Open would be better than they were at the PGA champion ship this entire year I’ve marked Royal trun as the spot where I thought that he might have a chance to be a factor in the majors but I would think because of how much time and work he’s able to do on his short game in his backyard that he would have some confidence around and on the green but I I still worry I watching him at Valhalla that was the first time and I know I’m late to the party on this and you beat the band uh long go on this that was the first time I really worried about the ball speed and how one-dimensional his swing is he’s not using his can’t use his lower body and he really didn’t use it at Valhalla um if he gets in in a weird lie off of the Fairway there I’m a little concerned about how he’s going to get back you know onto the green or get back onto the golf course if he’s has an unusual lie in one of those native areas so I wouldn’t um I wouldn’t expect him to be a factor but you know good and well that I would love to see it sure and just to extrapolate a little bit on that like Piner is an easy walk but there is a lot of walking through the dunes to get from grass to grass and it’s exhausting at the end of the day walking around number two even though it is flat because you’re walking it’s like walking on the beach all day and I just think with with his ankle and with his leg it’s actually going to be a sneaky tough place for him to get around I don’t see him making the cut I think his short game has been okay but I think this place is just going to be require too much form to play well around this place and he’s not going to have it I wish I wish that that you know him even even remotely close to let’s say what he was in 19 to have one more shot around that place was that has so much nuance and so much you know vagaries to it that he would totally Embrace that and the the type of stuff that he can Envision that others can’t uh it’s too bad but I feel like like you guys do I hope he has most importantly I hope the the Bob Jones award ceremony and the way that he is embraced by people there um I hope he is impacted and it penetrates him in the way that I hope it can Gary that’s why he keeps showing up at these Majors people are questioning why is he doing this why is he playing what seems to be ceremonial golf something he said he would never do the reason is is because it’s lifegiving to him to be around all these people that care so much about him and that have filled his bucket with compliments the last few years and are proud that he has such a big part in the game he likes being with the boys he doesn’t get to do that nearly as much as he used to that’s why he’s playing in major championships there’s one last hope for me and it’s actually coming in two three four or five years if in fact he is really true uh telling the truth and he’s going to play some over 50 sure golf cart golf that actually could give him some more form going into the major championships but until we get to that point it’s hard to forecast having a good week I I I that’s not like a joke that’s real I think he will play some cart golf and and the look who didn’t play some quote ceremonial golf they all did they all may say that they’re not but they all do and and Jack took nine special exemptions in the US Open nine of them okay and if tiger takes nine good for him and if and if his last is it Pebble in seven or eight eight years good for him when he’s in his when he’s in his mid-50s look if we want to look at the guys who’ve taken special exemptions in US hels historically the list is interesting it’s actually a great trivia game to start looking the signature series he Rio chawa get one oh he got got a couple from Augusta National I know that he by the way got through the international qualified made it in in Japan he made it in uh who else did M Mato manaco made it in Michael Campbell by the way was the first that 05 was the first year of the international qualifying he did it at Walton Heath and his wife had to tell him to drive that 45 minutes cuz he wasn’t in the mood to do it I wish I had your hair or yours for I know you’ve gotten trimmed up lately we’re not looking at it today but Robert Rock will have the best hair on the property as he’s back I love that uh Phil major championship window painted shut in my opinion yes I just think he’s too ertic he doesn’t do anything spectacular anymore have you seen him hitting t- shots in the last 6 months like I mean it is 50 yards right or 50 yards left he’s got a two-way miss going that has been on repeat for months not just in major championships but in the live events as well his short game is still absolutely incredible and it’ll be fun to see him hit some of those shots but I don’t expect him to make the cut okay uh give me a long shot um I I I mentioned Zack Blair earlier I just think he’s starting to play really good golf a tree farm down in Aken South Carolina is a one cut grass with Sandy native area I I think he enjoys that kind of golf um his form’s good I think Zack Blair I I’m not going to call him winning but he will I think he’ll finish top shoted look if he has a week he has a week I want to go with a North Carolina guy I want to go with web Simpson or chessen Hadley love seeing him get through I would love to see one of those guys Webb as a home in Pinehurst chess’s from an hour away in Raleigh half of North Ridge Country Club will probably be there watching him and I’m very fired up for both of those guys but I’m go Lucas Glover who has shown some form this year in the in major championships and and in PGA Tour events he’s top 30 in yet just about every single week uh I think that we’ll see a good week out of Lucas the 2009 Champion that’s my long shot okay my long shot Aaron Ry uh got through sectional qualifying if you look at his season guys’s having a really good year if you look at his stats like he’s good in virtually every Department he’s the kind of guy that again you go I yeah know that much you don’t have to I think you got here’s another guy who’s not so much a long shot but I got a feeling about Thomas dietry Thomas dietr is having an excellent season obviously played val very well at Valhalla wonderful putter top 15 in that category uh those are a couple other names and again we’re going to get these names these names are we hope we get a great leaderboard but you’re going to get some guys you wouldn’t be quite as familiar with all right before we get to your winner uh where does 1999 rank for you I mean it’s right up there I you were a teenager I was in college had just come home and my my brother loved Phil mikkelson you need to give him some grief about that at some point coming off a Big W himself current champion yeah guest Champion winning Putt and it’s he and Jonathan isy have now retired from the Charlotte Country Club member guest but uh I I remember we used to root so hard for Phil Mickelson and and you know wanting him to win that major and so the the level of disappointment when that putt from Payne Stewart went in and then obviously what happened after it was one of the most impactful us opens on me uh that I can remember I I just uh loved the golf course I had played the Nike winter National Junior series of golf through high school so I was very familiar with Pinehurst that was my first US Open I tried to qualify for made it to sectionals and uh I I just uh yeah it was it was you know what one of the reasons I fell in love with us open was 99 yeah yeah I love Charlotte North Carolina I love Quail Hollow I love what Justin Thomas did here and what’s going to happen at the PGA Championship all of Rory wins what’s happened at Sedgefield and the Windom Championship Travino won a major championship in this state the biggest moment in the history of men’s golf happened in 1999 on the 18th green with pay Stewart making that Putt and as you you know how big of a general sports fan I am as I think of the biggest moments that have happened in sports you know if you’re trying to pay homage to to each of the different sports you have to you would have toay P Stewart’s putt on the 18th green at pioner to win the US Open in that so given where all of us live it’s huge to me that pay Stewart won the US Open and and also unfortunately given what happened months later and the tragedy that happened the fact that that was the last real big moment he had in his professional career was on that green each time you go by it and you get that statue I’m getting chills right now thinking about it sure you know it is and you you think of how much he meant to the game of golf uh it was a very powerful moment in the sport and um certainly I would put it one of the top five Majors for me okay yeah you know you start thinking about the US Open historically um my gosh I look Hogan at Maran that will stand up there till the end of time um Jack In 1980 at 40 at Bal distra Jack and Tom at 82 and pebble tiger in 2000 by 15 but to what you said the the the other things around it the first Us open at Pinehurst the fact that this man was gone so soon after the poignancy of what he said to Phil Mickelson who did become a father the following day the Eerie weather that hung around Piner that week that was much more like Ireland where Payne Stewart had a great affinity for the puted itself um it’s it’s it’s absolutely top five in terms of the image the week and by the way they came back in 2005 obviously they came back in 14 they have made Piner as important a place in the history going forward of their Championship as any other place in America and it all started just 25 years ago my closet isn’t as ridiculous as yours Julie Williams talks often about how ridiculous your closet is and how many things need to be thrown away one thing that nothing is thrown away one thing that Betsy Zer often mentions is this sleevess pullover that I have that that is if you don’t wear it next week it is the replica of what Payne Stewart wore which they used to sell at Pioneers number two I’m not sure if they still do but they did and I bought one uh and I have not worn it in a long time but um yeah it was a magical moment I would say across the country Gary that 2008 US Open that tiger won would probably be um seen as the most impactful one but I think that 99’s right behind it uh who’s winning Scotty sheffler ah interesting off the board he goes well I mean that’s what I was going to ask you like are we losing credit for for being right for being right what an interesting Dynamic we live in it’s kind of like Jimmy Johnson in this city years ago in NASCAR you know you’d pick him to win every race and he would win every race and people like oh that was real creative um I just don’t know how how you don’t pick him honestly I wanted to come here and say Justin Thomas like I did last year with Ricky Fowler who did was right there in the in the mix throughout the entire US Open I wanted to try to come up with someone else again but I just think that what we’re seeing from this guy is going to go down as one of the five to 10 best seasons we’ve seen in men’s professional golf I don’t think it’s going to stop like it has the last few years I think it’s going to continue with at least another major championship and um yeah I I think he’s the man to beat at the US Open when you look at what’s so important around Pinehurst it’s you’ve got to put the ball in Fairway he’s the best on tour at that an he hits it pretty far too he’s the best iron player on the PJ tour which is what Pinehurst is known for it’s a second Shot Golf Course an he’s ridiculous around the greens the one thing you don’t have to be great at is if you hit that many greens is putting and I just think it’s Scotty sheffler’s Championship I think the list of people that can contend with him over four days is so small I also think this I think that you’re going to see more people pulling for him than you’ve ever seen before you mentioned how absurd that entire process was and Lille but if there’s one thing that came out of it that g that man gained a legion of fans on the property in Louisville and they will be at Pinehurst well I me we were sitting here for the PGA Championship preview with Brendan and you were over there Taylor and you two were like Scotty doesn’t give us enough with the media and I mean now think about where we’ve been way my favor thing he does when he does that where where we’ve come in a month with Scotty like he it’s it’s ridiculous and I agree with you completely like if you could imagine a Rory Scotty final group Scotty Sheffer is going to hands down have that crowd in a US think so I do I do wow I do I I tell you being a gangster it plays man I but but it’s true the the the the you know kind of people who are like yeah yeah he’s a really good player I don’t know that much about please clip that so we can use that it is it’s it him that image of him in that jumpsuit which was again the height of absurdity all of it it’s like I can’t believe this um I’m with you it’s going to continue I think he’s going to win I I don’t think that whether he wins or not is going to change historically how weird Valhalla was no um but all of it and again you get him on a green which he doesn’t hit anywhere around it I’ll give his chances of getting it so where close with anybody in the field I hope it’s a great week uh hopefully you will reenact many things and and look I just want to say I’m really proud of you for all that you’re doing in your broadcast career and it it we it it was kind of strange we were walking to out of the lunch area at the PGA Championship and he’s questioning you know all these shots he’s recreating and that night was the night that it really went viral um I love that you’re doing that but as much as I love you making fun of Gary and me if you don’t do the same thing with your face to brandle shamble after one of his after one of his points I’m going to be very disappointed I I I will do that for you but he’s going to be on the network broadcast so I don’t know that I’m going to get oh he’s not on live from he’s going to do I think Monday Tuesday night but then he’s got you have a couple chances I’ll take some shots it’s uh again look this is this is a massive week uh for your company and and you know I think back to 2014 2014 the curtain came down on NBC’s coverage of the US Open for a time and we’re thinking okay it may never come back and went to Fox the following year and here we come back 10 years later and it’s back you’re a part of the team I know you’re very excited uh to be a part of that team long days but very rewarding days you have a great week are yeah I’m so excited I’m going to be doing featured groups Thursday through Sunday the late live from Walkin talks it’s going to be a Dusk to Dawn sort of week but I can’t wait the majors are the you know my favorite part about covering Golf and US Open radio we will both be on it you’re doing the postgame show as you always do you’re the best in the business at recapping and putting a bow on what just happened um obviously I’ve got four brothers I love yelling and screaming at them and uh hopefully I get that chance to do that with you in person next week at pineur but in all seriousness um I think I speak for everybody in how you’ve poured your heart out the last couple of weeks and how much uh we love and appreciate you and respect you for doing that um it has been a trying time in the game of golf the last couple of weeks and I said this to chess and Hadley who was on my show who’s a Raleigh kid yes um the fact that we have a major championship at pioner an hour away from where Grayson Murray lived will be something we certainly have on our minds as we have this Uso positively very well said Thank you thank you to both of you as always most importantly thank you to everybody out there enjoy the US open at Pinehurst from all of us here at five clubs [Music]