Hello and welcome into this edition of the Golf Channel podcast with Rex and lav we are officially in The Dead Zone on the calendar smack dab between Christmas and New Year’s Day inarguably Rex the most depressing stretch of the entire year just curious how are you getting over your post Christmas blues
It’s not is it the most depressing stretch I was going to start with a lot more energy I was going to hit you with a very happy New Year how was Christmas did you enjoy the family and you’re going to go with most depressing stretch well I’m gonna guess it’s the most
Depressing stretch for you because you killed Christmas about five hours after the kids open the presents which sounds to me like the most insane thing you could possibly do it sounds psychotic that you break down Christmas on Christmas day uh it was definitely less than five hours take the under on that
Christmas was over Christmas was over at 9:00 a.m. presents were over I headed to the Blackstone uh to do our Christmas breakfast and then everyone was out of the house I believe it was 10 12 a.m. eastern time at which point I began taking down some of the outside
Decorations and we officially close the books on Christmas mid morning on December 26 we had the cleaners come in the house looks great but literally there is no semblance of Christmas sure that has been left over Chris uh actually Rex I was I was wondering after last year’s
Fiasco I think I think every listener of the Pod is curious what did bunkmate who by the way is your wife there has been some confusion online on YouTube of who bunk or bunk mate actually is it is your wife Dion what did she get you for
Christmas as a refresher for those who are listening last year Rex wanted a Blackstone griddle uh for his outside patio but instead he got yet another TV this time for his bedroom even though he does not watch TV in bed uh she got a a a a bedroom TV just curious what’ you
Get this year uh this year I got a tie from my son Cole thanks Cole it’s a very nice tie that I’ll never wear uh and then I also got like a roll cart this is kind of cool like a roll cart for the Blackstone for the smoker everything on
The outside it’s like you know like you have a kitchen area so you probably don’t fall into this but like I don’t have the kitchen area you do however I have all my things together so it’s just kind of a roll cart where you would put like I made breakfast yesterday on the
Blackstone for my son’s 23rd birthday it’s not easy having a birthday on the 26th by the way which is why I probably don’t break down Christmas on the 25th but uh so it was nice having all that stuff there and if you do like anything anything that’s complicated like when
When I do Mongolian barbecue or or Habachi or anything like that like you have to have everything prepositioned and so it’s nice that’s that’s what I got from bunk would you like to know what I got her please well because only because this got brought up I think last
Week in the podcast and someone correctly pointed out that it’s going to be a trip to Iceland but the way I did it you can’t really wrap up a trip to Iceland so the way I did it is I bought a like a Iceland tourism guide book or
You know just like a guide book and then like a fluffy warm hat and just put it in a box and let her figure it out wow they say they say romance is dead yeah there it is I just don’t believe it we’ll do we’ll do you just showed me uh
Pickle bog shoes that which look a lot like tennis shoes yep I believe they’re tennis shoes they’re Nike tennis shoes I’ll be using for pickle ball uh despite not having lost more than three times in my life things have been going sour I’ve got some shoulder issues I got a little
Rotator cuff pain elbows elbows bother me uh so I’m hoping these shoes get me on the right track also got a countertop fryer another Gadget that I will be using uh as well as a vac sealer they not have a Vaca previously so very excited about all that we we’ll get into
The full Christmas Edition at the end of the Pod also want to give a quick shout out to Edward kraton 2638 on YouTube in a cesspool of negative YouTube comments our friend Edward is a Guiding Light he’s always positive he’s always complimentary we do appreciate you you
Sir okay so folks this is the end of the year recap show so we’re going to be counting down the top five newsmakers of the Year Rex and I Rex you and I huddled for about three text messages this morning but it does seem pretty obvious
We’ll count these down from five to one for for the number five newsmaker of the year of oura 2023 to me it’s it’s the governing bodies and more specifically the roll back that was announced late this fall I think you can take the governing bodies Rex as a newsmaker two different ways
One I think it’s pretty clear that they’re not bending over backwards to accommodate the live guys in the major championships but more recently the decision to roll back the golf ball beginning in 2028 for the elite player and in 2030 for hacks like you and me what effect do you think the governing
Bodies had this year no I think they had a huge effect I think the roll back was a little muted because of everything else that’s going on it’s worth pointing out that we’re we’re taping this pod on the 27th of our Lord and it’s important that we’re clinging like our fingers are
Are are clung to the cliff trying to hold on to see what’s going to happen before the end of the year as we all Remember December 31st is of course the deadline between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s public investment fund to come up with some sort of agreement between
The two I would not expect news before the 31st but I if if it is D if it is this could be a dated podcast very very quickly just so everyone knows also before we get started on number five I also did a uh what I call an arv and
Also receiving votes I’m going to go with Tiger Woods we sort of touched on him last week just first time he’s never been a newsmaker probably it’s the first time probably since we started these silly things I think that he hasn’t been a newsmaker so I thought that that was
Important to point out and look it was nothing he did on the golf course that was particularly interesting or newsworthy it’s everything that happened off the golf course and really he did everything off the golf course literally behind closed doors as a member of the
Policy board I I I would also want to point out Lac which you know I think both of us had mixed feelings I think it was is a very unique Us open venue for a lot of different reasons some good some bad cool golf course being inside a
Major city was really cool it did not have a major championship field it felt more like a country club golf course I think the USGA can probably adjust that going forward and then my final arv is University of Georgia losers in the SEC Championship game do you want to comment
On any of those before I finally no no let’s move on let’s move on immediately we’re gonna move on uh yeah I think the the governing bodies I think you touched on it perfect that they’re not going to go out of their way to create a pathway
For the Live players to play in their major championships I I think once essentially the Live players ran into let’s call it that world ranking roadblock and the world ranking sort of Drew the line and said look you’re not getting world ranking points as constituted right now they didn’t say
That you’re never going to get them like there’s room for negotiations and some tinkering that could change that could give them points but if that roadway is is good and Nar and good and blocked off then the only alternative would be for the major championship bodies let’s say
Augusta National to decide okay we’re going to give spots to the top four points Getters on last year’s live golf list they’re not doing that and it doesn’t look like they have any interest in doing that anytime soon so that is one part of the equation it’s the roll
Back though that I keep going back to because we talked about it it feels like for a decade now we’ve been talking about it we’ve been playing cat and mouse with it there’s been rumors that it could happen they they actually proposed sort of a bifurcated plan that
Would roll back the golf ball for the elite players and not for us that didn’t work for everyone so what we ended up with is just sort of this blanket roll back that will be instituted for us by 2030 which is kind of hard to wrap our
Head around and I think think that’s why it was muted a little bit because it’s not something we have to deal with on January 1 I think had they said that okay this is going into effect next year it would have been a much different reaction especially from players like
You and ie the hacks where if you tell me you’re taking my golf ball from me I’m not going to be H I looked for a golf ball at a prop couldn’t see any I’m not going to be happy but 2030 is so I mean it’s it’s I’m I’m an elder
Gentleman I don’t even know if I’m going to be playing golf in 2030 so it’s hard there was some members at my club who were even more Elder gentlemen than I am who were all up at- arms and angry about it and I’m just shaking my head like you
Guys don’t need to worry about it it’s fine you won’t be playing golf by 2030 don’t worry about it and if you are then play whatever golf ball you want where it’s going to impact is at the highest level but even that is a few years away
It’s that’s exactly right it is a few years away and I think it’s important to underscore the point that there was the option that they could have had bifurcation at the elite level where if you get to the PJ tour you get to the LPGA Tour you get to the corn faery
Those players would essentially be playing a rollback golf ball not dis similar to what you see in baseball with the wood bats at the MLB level in the aluminum bats in the at the college level it would be very similar to that and yet there was push back and blowback
From the PJ tour Community the PJ tour did not support it they were never going to support it and they they were so vociferous Rex in their good one in their in their support to not have a bifurcated scenario that it it just was it was not feasible for the governing
Bodies to continue that way and so when when you mention now that 2028 is going to be the implementation at least at the elite level keep in mind the usj and the RNA are fully expecting that the players who hit it 325 right now are going to continue to
Hit it 325 in 2028 they will be able to make up any loss and distance with speed training with swing optimization with Fitness so they’re basically just making sure they they they have a stake in the ground right where this doesn’t get to a point where in five 10 15 years guys are
Now averaging 340 350 360 whatever the case may be they’re essentially just kind of hitting paw before they figure out I think a more permanent solution you mentioned the impact for folks like you and me like we are not going to see any greater difference than one to four
Yards and quite frankly if I hit at 260 right now I’m not going to be able to notice the difference between 257 you who hits it let’s say 225 with your purest uh most nuttiest strike uh is certainly not going to notice a difference if it somehow goes to 24 this
Doesn’t feel Rex like the long-term solution the long-term solution of course is the driver head and the USGA and the RNA said they will continue to look at the driver head they want to make Center strikes important again instead the drives have become too forgiving that’s really what the problem
Is this is kind of a short-term solution well and I do think it’s important and again this is very convoluted it’s it’s very in-depth and it’s a long ways away so for all of those reasons this one is number five on our newsmaker let’s however speaking from the other side
I’ve talked to people on the other side of this obviously the manufacturers the PGA Tour they were all against this and they questioned the data that the USGA and the RNA used I mean specifically they used the PGA Tours data and the PGA Tour will be the first one to tell you
That’s not the way that data is supposed to be used that data is created that the radar data as I’m talking about for TV for graphics for us to be able to say oh he this is his Spin and this is his launch angle and it’s not scientific
This isn’t sitting in a la in a lab in a sterile atmosphere getting the proper results every single time so that’s where the first problem comes into play and the second problem that comes into play and look I’ve heard this a lot from people inside the game we’re taking the
Usj and the rna’s word for this and there’s no reason not to believe that that 5% or the five yards or whatever the number is going to end up being but we still have to see it like I’m still curious I’m I’m going to love to be able
To do the first experiment to walk out on a golf course with a tour player and hand him the dial back golf ball and see him play it and actually see the difference and see that okay it does doesn’t impact the driver by more than I
Don’t know five yards if you’re one of the longer players and it doesn’t impact the five iron at all I think it’s important going forward that we understand that we don’t know exactly what’s going to happen there’s a lot of data and there’s some questions if it’s the correct
Data number four newsmaker Rex is Big Bad Brooks kka the newly minted PGA Champion outlasted Victor havlin who hit in the Fairway bunker on the 16th hole to Doom his chances and apparently Michael block uh to win at Oak Hill as well to me Rex Brooks’s victory was
Significant for two reasons one it made him the winningest major champion of the post tiger era more than JT more than spe and even more than Roy maell who remains stuck on four major championships the PJ win at oakill moved Brooks to five major championship overall so that was obviously
Significant but secondly I think it really validated live golf there was so much talk there was so much conjecture there was so many conspiracy theories that players who moved to live golf would no longer be able to compete and win major championships we saw that be debunked somewhat at the Masters where Brooks
Held the 54 hole lead before kicking away on Sunday but he and Phil Mickelson of live GF uh both tied for second at Augusta National a month later Brooks wins at Oak Hill why was Brooks in your opinion number four on this list why was
He such a big newsmaker in 2023 did we not do Georgia losing in the SEC Championship Game we’re moving on all right moving on to Brooks that’s fine I’m good with it uh I’m going to say he should be higher than four but it was a
Crazy year so I agree with him being fourth only because from a storytelling standpoint I find Brooks fascinating and look he can be aloof and difficult with the Press sometimes and he’s not very open all the time but knowing what we know now about his move to live golf and
We know know that now only from the Netflix special he did it essentially because he thought he was washed and he needed to Payday and he you know he lives in a very very expensive home and he has things to pay for didn’t need a Payday wanted a Payday wanted a Payday
So whatever the case may be now you fast forward from what we know we we think we learned about him in that Netflix special and you’re right finishing second at the Masters I’ll push back a little bit on the idea that it was validation of some sort there had been
Live players who had played well the previous season and the Masters if I remember correctly there was a that finished inside the top 10 at the Masters the previous year including Phil Mickelson so I don’t know at least in my mind if it needed validation maybe there
Are those who including you who did need it I I will say that this in my mind was more validation of Brooks kka that he was able to get through and you and I spent a long long time talking to Claude Harmon last year getting through those
Injuries and I don’t know if we ever really Plumb the depths of exactly how difficult they were and and I will say I find it interesting now that he has sort of come out the other side and I made the argument that he should be on our ballot for the golf Fighters Association
Of America player of the year I think you pushed back a little bit on that idea I ran that idea I like I like the idea that he would have been the fourth player along with Victor squarely fourth uh I and I ran the idea by Brooks down at their tour
Championship and at Dural and he sort of dismissed the idea for a lot of for the reasons that you and I both did that I’m not goingon to get the boat he kind of knew that he wasn’t going to be the guy but he kind of paused and he goes
Comeback player of the year and I think that shows in his mind that he was able to overcome all of these things and here is this here’s this guy who has this very carefully crafted image he wants to be the athlete he wants to be bigger stronger faster than everyone else he
Wants to prove that he is indifferent to all of the things that make golfers fragile that he he doesn’t get in his own head that he just goes out and he’s a machine on the golf course particularly in major championships and that wasn’t the case we learned that
Last year and he was able to sort of package those and and prove himself to the point then you come out the other side you get the second place finish at at the Masters you get the victory at the PGA Championship you get two victories on live you make the rer Cup
Team in a very limited number of starts all of those things are amazing yeah there was certainly a a window where we saw Brooks in a more vulnerable light I I do I do think that window slamed shut as soon as he won the PJ championship
And all of a sudden he morphed back into uh the Terminator mode who’s kind of too cool for school but I mean this boy would you call him a frat boy uh um in ways yeah like he’s a he’s a he’s a South Florida bro in a lot of ways but I
Do think the PGA Championship Victory Rex was a was a a testament to his to his grit uh to his perseverance and certainly his talent like one of the most uh one of the pieces I was most proud of this year was what I wrote coming out of the PJ Championship where
I talked to basically everyone in his inner circle and did vignettes on what it took to get Brooks you know away from the brink of Extinction and back into major championship uh form and it it was everyone from his caddy to his trainer to his swing coach to kind
Of his swing Whisperer uh Pete C as well uh to his parents I mean it was a it was a full team effort I think that’s why we saw a different level of appreciation for Brooks because he knew uh the hard work that it took to get to that point
He knew the support system that was around him uh they kind of pushed him uh back in this Direction and I I think he he slowed out a little bit for the rest of 2023 he was okay in the rider cup he did be beat ludvig uh he did steal a
Half point from Rah and what was overall a disappointing week for the Americans I guess the the question now Rex now that Brooks does seem healthy now that he is competing full-time on live now that he does have a major Runway which keep in mind his major Runway was about to run
Out had he not performed well in the major championships in 2023 how many more Majors do you think he can na he he thinks double digits uh is still a possibility he is 34 with a body that significantly older than that what what’s your opinion how much deeper
Can he get this feels like the same conversation we always seem to have in recent years about Tiger Woods yeah the talent is there and he’s proven he can win major championships but as you pointed out his body is not what it was 10 years ago when he started this major
Championship run also the level of competition I would argue is only getting more and more difficult when you look at the landscape now it seems like there’s so many players 25 and under who have the ability to I as you pointed out your boy Oar he hasn’t even played in
The major and I think he’s going to show up at the Masters as one of the favorites and for good reason because of what he’s done in a very very short window you would think that Victor hoblin is poised to finally win a major championship so I think double digits is
Probably on the highest side I’m definitely taking the under on that that being said I mean I can imagine him not only winning multiple Majors but I can see him completing the career Grand Slam because in my mind that’s something that would motivate him yeah like Open Championship Links Golf is is actually
Something that that appeals to Brooks he doesn’t have the greatest record uh in the year’s final major but I do think that he does have the skills to pull that off I could see him winning one more US Open you know he’s such a perennial Contender uh when the golf
Gets his most difficult we are headed to pineur of course in 2024 I’ll be curious to see if he has the short game shots to handle that revamped uh golf course but yeah I think I think six maybe seven uh if he gets some help I don’t see him
Completing the career Grand Slam but I would not put another US Open I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibilities that he could win The Masters yeah as well he’s made a couple runs in his history at Augusta National all right Rex another guy who does not
Have the best history at least you can call it a tortured history at Augusta National is our number three newsmaker that of course is Roy maroy so his major less drought stretched now to a decade long uh did give it a good run at the US
Open I’m sure we’ll dig in to that but I think Roy was a newsmaker in 2023 as well because he kind of pushed back the idea and the position of being the leading spokesperson for the PJ tour I I guarantee if we listen back to our podcast a year ago with this yearend
Recap we would have been amazed at how Rory played the Dual role of being the best PJ Tour golf and also being the most fervent supporter of the PJ tour and its ongoing civil war with Liv GF that was no longer the case in 2023 he either uh he either
Stepped down from the policy board he declined to interview request uh he just became a little bit more indifferent or detached from the process we look at the totality of Rory’s 2023 a decade from now how do you think it’s going to be remembered it was a year of transition because he had
Taken on a role that we’ve never really seen at least in the modern game of golf I guess you can go back to Jack Nicholas and Arnold Palmer when they actually created the PGA Tour but anyone since then even Tiger Woods hadn’t sort of Taken on the mantle of sort of this
Agent of Change which is what he had really become and I will say he did walk away and I don’t know if it’s if it was by Design I don’t know if he had enough I think we had this conversation about when he stepped down from the policy
Board and someone asked me why and I’m like look at him he looks exhausted like he looks like a guy who just had to sit through 12 hours of meeting meetings that were going on on the other side of the world and it’s just not a sustainable model going forward not for
Someone who wants to be a world class golfer not for someone who wants to be a worldclass father and husband not for someone who has so many other bus business interests right now that we know about so I am fascinated by this idea of how he has morphed and this is
More and I I even hesitate to do this but the way his the way his Persona has changed at least on social media where he has gone from that day in Mexico when he said I want to be on the right side of history and he sort of became The
Shining white light for the PGA Tour to where he seems to be now where it’s kind of split down the middle I mean I think some people look at what he did and what he tried to do as maybe self-serving as maybe he was only worried about the top
Players as if as if he was only worried about himself I don’t believe that I don’t think that was his motivation here I I think he truly wanted what was best for the PGA tour in the game of golf I think June 6th changed all that for him
For most of us I think June 6th changed how we viewed at least the professional game but for him it was personal and you can look at what he did on the golf course and it it wasn’t a terrible year I mean you look I mean he would seems
Like he was in the hunt almost every week he played he only picked off a couple of Victories only two on the PGA tour but it it’s what happened off the golf course and you’re right he had never I had always been we have a golf Riders Association award that
Essentially goes to the player who’s the most media friendly and I have fought with our friend and colleague Doug Ferguson at the the Associated Press for years now probably five years to be like it’s time for Rory to get it because he’s always been accommodating he’s always been welcoming he’s always been
Insightful all of the things we’re trying to recognize and appreciate and players and and Fergie always pushed back to be fair because he felt like he was too early he was too young this year we didn’t get that that Rory and I think it was a self it was a defense mechanism
Particularly after June 6 where what was he supposed to say like what am I supposed to say about this I like I have he clearly has strong feelings about it but now I’ve been put in a position where I have to tow the company line and
Try to say the right thing even if I don’t believe it I think for Rory off the golf course it was a much more difficult year than it was on the golf course I I think Rory just became powerless he he just he just felt powerless like this was this was
Happening with or without his support so why why not just what’s going on in in the Lavar household you have the leaf blower in the house is that what’s happening right now it it feels like it it certainly feels like it not an ideal
Time uh for uh the the the uh uh the motors the mowers and the blowers to come out here at 8:54 a.m. uh on a Wednesday but like this was happening regardless whether Rory supported it whether Rory hated it whether Rory didn’t want to partner with the with the
Piff whether he didn’t want private Equity money like this this was happening so why not dive headlong into your professional game why not be the selfish golfer that you need to be to reach the heights again why why distract yourself from what you do best with something that you cannot change the
Outcome you can you can you can give a push in what you’d like to see but that doesn’t necessarily mean what you want to have happen is going to Roy to me Rex has never been more fascinating to cover because the the the encourse stuff like
We’ve seen it now for for more than a decade we know exactly what we’re going to get on the golf course he’s likely going to win a couple times a year he’s likely going to get 10 in a major championship but there’s just so many little mellow dramas that happen
Throughout the course of the Year remember him missing the cut at the Masters and then forfeiting what was it like $3 million because he skipped RBC Heritage we’ve PR on for five minutes and haven’t mentioned the Ryder Cup that’s that’s that’s that’s where I’m getting so you had you had where he
Forfeits $3 million basically said he just needed like a mental health break uh you get what happened in June 6 where he said in in Canada a couple of days later where he felt like a sacrificial lamb at times and was put on stage and then made to look like an embarrassment
And then we get to the Ryder Cup and the hat cake the the endless drama that was Saturday afternoon with that Patrick Klay match and the wave in the hats and the explosion with jool laava that spilled into the parking lot which I’m sure was one of your highlights of the
Year it’s always something with Rory and it doesn’t always have to do with birdies and Bogies that’s why to me he’s the most fascinating player to write about Most Fascinating player to cover the most fascinating player to watch on the PJ tour and in any other Universe
He’s number one on this list now granted we’re in weird times but so I understand and I agree with where he fell on this list but in any other Universe what he did this year I hadn’t even thought about him that that forfeiting $3 million seems like a lifetime ago but we
We proud on for five minutes and never got to probably what was if we break it down if if our bosses break it down like they like to do by clicks that had to be the most clicked on Story of the Year no I mean what I if I remember correctly
From the meetings a few weeks ago that was the number one blog right you wrote that uh I did yep tipped off by you of course uh who’s standing in the parking lot watching the whole thing go down I remember running we just finished I believe it was either The American or
The European Captain’s press conference and it was probably what a 200 yard walk to get back to the media center I got a phone call from you panicked saying that Roy just got in a fight and I remember sprinting past our buddy Shawn Martin uh
Who worked for PJ tour doc he goes wait what’s going on I said don’t you worry about it go to golf channel.com uh and we did have we did have the post up before anyone else which is probably a main reason why it was our leading click
Getter of year but like that was just such that could only happen in the Ryder Cup right like that would never happen that would never happen at the Wells Fargo Championship RP that would never happen at a US Open like only in the Ryder Cup when the when the emotions are
So high could Rory just absolutely absolutely blow a gasket and I thought that was a window into how Rory was performing and thinking that week and I also think it helped to Galvanize the European side you had this tidal wave of momentum for The Americans on what happened late Saturday heading into
Sunday it would have been a historic comeback but at least now the Americans thought they had a chance Rory’s explosion I think served a couple of purposes and it ended up being another route for the Europeans uh and so that was obviously a huge moment moment in 2023 it’s certainly something that I’m
Sure you will be remembering as well all right our number two newsmaker if it’s not Rory that could only be the gwa player of the year for 2023 who is yes the Masters champion John ROM he won four times I believe in a 10 week Span in the spring culminating
With the Masters and what was unfortunately Another Sunday final round snooze at the Masters hopefully we don’t get that in 2024 but I think perhaps even more impactful Rex actually definitely more impactful he will not be on the PJ tour John Romell will not be on the PJ tour next year after jumping
To live in a monster deal worth reportedly upwards of 600 million dollar John ROM Liv Defector how do you think this will impact his legacy two things in that opening that were journalistically wildly irresponsible well one you’re quoting some source of six million $600 million and reportedly I’ve heard everything from 200 million
To 600 million so that’s a really really big window that’s why I said upwards let’s just say he got a lot of money I I feel that’s where I feel comfortable Drawing the Line the other half is the gwa male player of the year has not been
Announced it will be John ROM thank you for breaking that news on our podcast I believe it’ll be announced later this week but good for you for for getting that inside scoop that’s amazing that you were able to pull that off let’s hope that doesn’t come back to haunt one
Of the board members or two of the board members on that front he he got it um and it was interesting the the PGA Tour player of the year vote has not come down yet and of course he was on that ballot and that ballot was sent out
Before he joined Liv golf it it was actually sent out before the rumors started so I’m curious how that one’s going to fall it was and the voting the voting Rex closed on December 15th yeah which I believe was three or four days after the John rum Liv deal was
Announced so we’re going to have to see I mean it would be shocking if John ROM won the PJ Tour player of the year I I’m fully expecting that goes to Scotty uh but I guess I don’t know stay tuned I don’t know I mean we we’ve talked about
This before it was funny at East Lake at the Tour Championship I kind of pulled players like I normally do on who they think it was going to be and everyone recognized John ROM season for what it is it was a dominant season four wins a major championship um everything that he
Was able to accomplish certainly we don’t Factor the Ryder Cup into the PGA to a Player of the Year conversation but it needs to be that conversation I think there were a couple things that sort of held him back compared to Scotty Sheffer because let’s it came down to those two
One is the fact that John didn’t win Apple after the Masters in April that he contended he had a fine season but all four of those wins came very very early in the year and the other half is that he did join Li goof that and by a
Certain degree this is a popularity contest we’ve seen it in the past I think it be telling when these players Place their votes and my guess is is most tour players being who they are being the type of personalities they are they waited until the last minute like
The rest of us so it would have been in that three-day window after he was announced as Liv Go’s newest s so that I think is going to impact it I I find Jon interesting because and and look it’s easy to go back and to say you know you you pledged your
Falty crushed it crushed it guilty although leaking confidence the whole way there there was no there nothing I’m I’m Rex hogard I’m Rex hogard uh even though he was on that side is as Rory would say and to to make that turn I can only imagine that when the book is
Written about what sort of got this deal done and and we’ve addressed it like this was one of the greatest leverage moves in the history of Leverage moves that the pif and its Governor were able to sign John ROM at just the perfect time to make sure that the PGA Tour
Stayed at the table and negotiated in good faith towards whatever agreement they’re going to come at it’s it’s such a shrewd and Savvy business thing to do and look we can all sit and Shake our heads and say you know oh he went back
On his word well I mean we’ve all got a number and I’ve made the argument all along that all of us have a number in the back of our heads and apparently John ROM’s number they finally got to because that’s the only explanation whatever that big number is and I’m no I
Don’t I don’t think that’s the case it’s not just that that he had a number I think it’s the fact that John ROM went back on his word because the PJ tour went back maybe that factors into this to be fair absolutely I mean if if he
Felt betrayed by the PJ tour leadership as basically every player on the PJ tour did it’s hard to fault a guy who pledged his falty in February 2022 when the when the goal post had moved so dramatically by the time June 2023 rolled around that’s fair that that’s 100% fair and
Look we can sit here and have this argument about how his signing hurt the PGA Tour obviously the timing of the negotiations was huge I think it said a very very clear message that this isn’t going away anytime soon to get that particular player because it’s one thing
They they probably weren’t going to get Scotty Sheffer so we can go down the list and we can start deciding okay who would have gone and who wouldn’t have gone in that situation John ROM going I I think was such a seminal moment and it was really The Tipping Point and
Whatever it is we’re going to be going forward we’re going to point to that day that John ROM announced it that that frenzy I believe it was a Thursday and and be like yep that’s the day that everything changed because you’re right June 6 was an eye openening experience
And we’re going to get get into that but to me I can’t understate how big this was because he had been such a large part large part of the process go back to the Delaware meeting two years ago I mean he was a voice a big voice in that
Room I would say after Rory and tiger he’s he was probably the biggest voice in that room and for him to go under those circumstances was huge I I just I think it’s ironic that that John ROM and I’m I’m in total agreeance with you that
He’s going to be kind of The Game Changer in the negotiations and as we sit here on December 2 we don’t have finality when it comes to what that deal is going to look like but it’s of my belief that he will be the game changer and that’s ironic because John ROM had
Kind of positioned himself as apolitical about the whole thing he was on the PJ tour he had pledged his fty to the PJ tour but he didn’t denounce Phil Mickelson he still maintained kind of admiration and friendship with Sergio Garcia he was still stumping for Sergio
To be a part of that European rder Cup team he was kind of playing both sides but he was doing so I think respect but I think I think respectfully uh and with with equal admiration for even those who had left and had made personal decisions to do so
To answer my own question no I don’t think John ROM’s Legacy will actually be affected all that much I remember brandle shamble the night that news came out like brandle said that that John ROM sold his career I don’t I sold out his career I don’t believe that’ll actually
Be the case if you’re reading the tea leaves and there is potentially going to be some sort of merger with a PJ tour and Liv golf uh perhaps as soon as 2025 this could basically be a one-year Hiatus John ROM from the PJ tour get gets paid a boatload of money uh helps
Position the PJ tour uh in a in an entirely uh different position he gets paid uh and and he’s still in the major championships like it it it it should be it should be a non-factor now I think the skeptic to the C will be quick to
Point out any sort of dip in performance when it comes to John ROM in 2024 keep in mind he played eight or nine times before his master’s Victory this year Liv golf schedule uh has just five events ahead of the year’s first major two of those require extensive travel uh
To uh to Asia and Saudi Arabia as well so be very curious to see how the gwa player of the year uh has a Repeat Performance in 2024 I think that’s hard to say yeah and to your point I mean can you imagine if we do have some sort of
Agreement that begins I don’t know 2025 seems early but 2026 where it was a one-year rental essentially and they whatever the number is I’m not going to be journalistically Reckless here but whatever the number was it was probably worth Liv go to get him for that one-year rental and then just to turn
Things around on that front you’re right going forward I mean he is a particular kind of player who likes a particular kind of Rhythm and I will go back to the idea that I remember I think you’re the that asked the question when we were going into last year’s designated event
Schedule and the East Lake before the tour championship before it was kind of ran by him that oh well you have to play in these events now and him sort of pushing back he was one of the only top players who didn’t like the idea like I
Don’t want to be told where to play now he’s put himself in a position where he’s going to play these 14 weeks plus the four majors and there’s not going to be any way around it he doesn’t strike me as the type of person that’s going to
Enjoy that type of Lifestyle but we’re gonna have to say that was Evan priest of Golf Digest my head’s been bitten off by John Ram in the past uh that was not uh one in which he did so all right you can probably guess what our number one newsmaker of
The year is going to be it’s a package deal J Monahan in particular is a top newsmaker of the year but the top news making moment I guess you could say is June 6 the day of the PJ tour changed forever the secret deal with the Saudi
To end a lawsuit which both sides clearly wanted but Rex to me at least this wasn’t so much an error in execution as it was in the messaging the PJ tour and whoever else was Consulting them bungled the messaging so badly that no one was sure whether this was just a
Handshake whether this was a partnership whether this was an allout merger so what was the impact first Rex of how you think this all came out on June 6 in particular I think it’s both actually to go back to your original question it it
It was a bungling of of the way it was rolled out and it was a bungling of sort of how you handle just PR 101 I remember our colleague at ESPN Mark sball actually had something along the lines of you know PGA Tour live golf merge and
And there was hundreds if not thousands of these headlines and the PGA Tour pushed back on him saying it’s not a merger like can you please fix this and his point was if you look at the release you sent out it actually says merger in
Your own head line so yes to to both of those questions it was terribly rolled out it was terribly thought out I mean now that in retrospect that you look at what transpired you get an idea of how hurried and how desperate this really
Was when you sort of break it down and I did this the other day for easy reading I still go back to that document and just sort of check on some things and I was looking back at sort of whatever the wording was on the deadline which is as
I mentioned earlier December 31st there was a really soft deadline and there was Parts in there about no not poaching each other’s players well that got stricken from the record because the Department of Justice didn’t like it so they took it out there’s plenty of
Things in there that I think and and now that we’ve sort of seen the inner workings of it it was a living breathing document four weeks leading up to this announcement in defense did you put just put a sausage finger up because I go I I
I I think Rex had this announcement been put in a press release where PJ tour and piff resend lawsuits comma will work will will collaborate toward future project something along those lines I think the entire Fallout would be would be entirely different you know what I mean
Like the PJ tour players they have to have seen the documents that that were shared internally of how much this is going to cost maybe what the what the impact is going to be I don’t think anyone would disagree with the notion that both sides needed to end the
Lawsuits and then if you say hey we we will potentially collaborate on future project okay that makes sense these guys are are willing to pour billions with a B billions of dollars into the game of golf how can this help support the PJ tour yeah maybe there is something that
We can do with Team golf like any sort of collaboration I think needed to be in that press release instead it’s a merger it’s a partnership how could you be partnering with with the Saudis when you’re just bad mouthing them for two years like that was what kind of caused
The atomic bomb to go off instead it it literally just a headline change or just a nut graph change could have could have made this whole thing different and In fairness and I know this because I talked to someone in poned at tour headquarters the day it happened and
June 6 at 9:00 am is when Senior Management found out about it so that that’s not even the people who are rung below that actually would have been writing the press release an hour before the announcement was rolled out so it’s not as though the folks and and there’s
Been a lot of people in Pont ofra who’ve gotten called out on this I don’t know I don’t pretend to understand how to do that job but I do know that trying to do that job given just 60 minutes before it’s rolled out before CNBC essentially announces it with Jay Monahan and the
Governor of the public investment funds sitting next to each other it it there was it was never going to be seamless and again there will be classes held on how this was handled poorly I don’t know if you if it’s fair to dump it on the PGA Tours management shoulders because
I’m not quite sure if they saw it coming and even if they did how they could have handled it better you’re right there’s a there’s a ton of ways you could have written around it I I I’ll go back to just the general idea of this was the
PGA Tours I believe it was Jimmy Dunn a member of the policy board who said it this was their best chance to get any kind of deal whatsoever they were at the height of whatever their negotiating power was going to be and this was going
To make the lawsuit go away and as you pointed out both sides were highly motivated to make that go away and they needed to come up with some sort of way to get to a point that maybe they can be some sort of strategic Alliance and I’m
Not quite sure if that’s a given even at this point this far down the road I feel like some sort of alliance with the piff is not only likely but necessary for the PGA Tour going forward but I’m not going to be surprised between today the 27th
And a few days from now the 31st that we do get some sort of update and saying that things didn’t work out like that’s not going to shock me because the sides are too far apart and this transitions to the other half of the slash it’s June
6 slj Monahan I don’t know and I’m I’m so bad at this and I’ve been very very clear everyone I I’ve gotten a bunch of texts actually over the last few weeks about this and I don’t know why everyone who wants to fire J Monahan and it’s
Really really easy to do that to a commissioner of a league I mean Roger Goodell gets fired all the time I understand that’s the way it works I’m not comfortable firing someone my only comment in all this is I don’t know how Jay sits in a room in a boardroom where
Major decisions are being made across the table from the governor of the public investment fund after everything he said I don’t know how you can have negotiations in good faith I don’t know how you can have some sort of working relationship you and I have said some
Mean things to each other but we’ve never really said these types of mean things to each other I can only imagine how difficult that is for two people who clearly don’t like each other to try to collaborate and work together in some sort of uh constructive way I’m not
Ready to fire J Manan either I think he deserves uh the benefit doubt to be able to see this deal through like if that makes sense and I think the most likely scenario here is that Jay Monahan becomes kind of like a martyr you know like once the deal goes through if the
Deal goes through and he gets the the PJ tour to a point of profitability that it never has before that’s where I think he could step aside and let someone else lead this new PJ tour enti whatever trust the players had in him previously has obviously been lost to
The point that’s hard to imagine he could ever regain it again even with all the governance changes that have been put forth by the PJ tour to ensure it doesn’t happen again it’s hard to see how that relationship can ever be mended I do think his legacy could look a whole
Lot different if this deal goes through with the Saudis if the whole entire goes through it’s a good deal if we’re not sitting here five years from now like feeling like the ACC and ESPN deal like if it’s a good deal going forward yes you’re right yeah if if you’re getting
$3 billion do say from a private Equity Firm and you’re getting uh an additional surplus of money from the piff and the PJ tour is in a spot now or potentially they could even go out and snag other entities if they could put the PJ PJ Championship under uh its preview they
Could put the European rer Cup team under his P perview whatever the case may be if the PJ tour could create this worldwide schedule with 25 events of the best players in the world playing every uh single week together like that would be a compelling product in addition to
Some sort of Team golf aspect like there is still a the the potential that J Monahan can come out of this deal looking very good Legacy wise right he’s obviously in the middle of a firestorm right now where where players don’t like him players don’t trust him sponsors are Furious
Uh FK tournament directors aren’t happy about what’s happening to their tournaments like there is a lot swirling around Jonah hand but if he can get a good deal done I think history will view him very different ly as the as as the person in charge who altered the history
Of the PGA Tour and it’s just not players not liking them you have both sides of the and there is a player divide on the PGA tour that’s another conversation for another day but the top players don’t trust him in the bottom half of the field don’t trust him so
That’s a problem it was one thing when you had the top players on your side because clearly the tour is leaning towards this you know we’re we’re just going to do the top oneir of the tour these are the guys that matter these are the guys who are going to get the
Resources that I understand completely but both sides that have this lack of trust right now I I don’t know what it looks like going forward and you’re right if he can orchestrate some sort of deal and I think the news from last week that the group led by finway Sports is
Going to be a partner of some sort I think that’s going to help Jay let’s be honest he essentially came from finway Sports when he came to the PGA Tour so there are some allies on that front but it will it remains to be seen how the
Players are going to view whatever the final product’s going to be what do you think the potential of the PJ tour is in 24 I I remember uh at the beginning of the year I said there would be less divisiveness on the PJ tour I thought two different Alleyways the PJ tour
Would do their own thing Liv golf would do their own thing it looked good for about five and a half months and then it all crumbled and now there’s divisiveness and contentiousness literally uh seeping out of the PJ tours very poor what do you think 2024 brings
For J Monahan and the PJ tour in its entirety uh more upheaval I think in the short term I think next year is going to be more of the same simply because even if there is an agreement over the next few days and they come up with some sort
Of model at that point that’s just another piece of paper like this document I keep referring back to which was the framework agreement from that piece of paper then you have actually have to make all of these things fit into place you mentioned a some sort of World Tour schedule what exactly that’s
Going to look like you need to find a way to get those players who join lived if they want to come back to the PGA tour back integrated into the PGA Tour you need to find a way to make the players who stayed who remained whole again like we’ve got some general ideas
But they’re just sort of they’re in that gray area right now like they’re talking about Equity grants for players who stay loyal sure how do you do that like what does that look like and if Roy maroy is getting X number of equity grants in the
PGA Tour how many is Tiger getting how many is Jack Nicholas getting like there’s so many questions I see in the short term and maybe that’s six months that maybe that’s the next year it’s just going to be more upheaval we’ve gone through two years of this we went
From moving to a designated schedule where everything changed to this year moving to a signature event single calendar schedule where everything has changed and I would imagine more the same going into 25 26 27 28 I I I think so too like there’s so much so many fine
Details that need to be hashed out just when it comes to the potential partnership with the piff that doesn’t even mentioned like the new PJ tour schedule and the FedEx Cup point structure and how that could potentially alter the careers and livelihoods of these guys like it actually could get it
Actually could get worse before it gets better for the P tour one thing is for sure it will give us plenty to write and talk about in 2024 I’m hoping rex that we do not have to do an emergency podcast before the end of there’s certain potential that we could I do not
Think we would have an emergency podcast if they if they if they announc that they’re merely extending the deadline we could probably save that for next week’s podcast previewing the entry uh but I think any sort of announced deal would certainly be caused for emergency pod so
Make sure you guys are on the lookout for that Rex if we don’t have emergency pod this will be the last time that you and I speak on the podcast before the calendar turns to 2024 what do you have on the grill on the menu on tap for
The rest of 2023 uh I’ve gotten very bold by the way yesterday I cooked breakfast on the Blackstone again for my oldest son’s birthday and it was divine it was very good very what you do what’ you do uh just very very basic it was well I don’t think you don’t do corn
Beef hash do you no I asked I asked what that was on the right side of your griddle never got back to me thanks for that uh but no I I don’t I don’t dislike Corb fast but I’ve certainly never done it on the griddle it’s a very distinct
Way and my youngest son Luke actually gave me the how like I didn’t really I’ve done it camping before but I’d never done it in this thing I mean what you essentially do is you lay it all out you kind of flatten it down and you let
It cook to a crunch on one side and then you have to flip it perfectly and cook to a crunch on the other side worked out well and then just basic eggs and bacon and it was delicious because there’s nothing better than cooking everything in bacon grease but dear God that’s not
Healthy it it really is like the best hangover food if you if you if you drank too much on Christmas Eve if you drank too much on Christmas and you’re doing this on the 26th like or you do New Year’s Eve now coming up and on New
Year’s Day like it is the absolute best thing to do where I I did similar to corn beef hash like I we did the hash browns and so you know you you drop it on there you press it flat you get it crunchy you flip it over the
Tricky part is to get the outside crunchy while keeping it still kind of warm and soft in the middle there very very delicate balance there where you could dry it out very quickly shove that to the side put the bacon down and everything’s just cooking in the bacon
Grease you throw the eggs in there in like they’re the best eggs you could possibly have with soaking up absolutely everything that you have in your stomach that should not be there are you doing anything special for New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day I
Got I had to get us a tire on my son’s car and so we decided to go to Costco uh under the idea that well yeah and I don’t want to speak ill about Costco because I don’t want to offend any potential sponsors did not work out as
Well as I thought it was going to be so I ended up essentially having to spend three hours just wandering around Costco which probably is not the best thing to do anyway after walking by it about 10 times I finally brought a bought a brisket and I’m going to get oh yes oh
My god oh wow that yes wow that really uh that really escalated quickly because I too Rex I too bought a brisket at Costco a couple of days ago I was searching for a beef Tenon that we enjoyed on Christmas Day first time I’ve bought uh and cooked one of those my
Goodness that was the most nerve-racked uh I’ve ever been while cooking a cut of meat $117 for a beef tendero how do people do this how do people do this yeah it’s pretty expensive and you can really easy uh and actually my wife we do it for Christmas Eve dinner I didn’t
I didn’t we have Christmas Eve dinner at my sister-in-law’s and we do that but my wife and my mother-in-law do it and it’s a very in-depth process uh it is I smoked it and then seared it over the fire box actually came out great uh wife
Said it was the best beef talin she’s ever had I don’t think she was just trying to make me feel good but when I was at Costco buying the beef talin I saw Prime briskets on like a mega sale yeah at Costco so I bought a prime
Brisket for like $40 which is insane I it’s on the smaller side I’m a little worried about that when you buy briskets you tend to want to get bigger and then obviously You’ be you be doing a pretty heavy trim on that to make sure that as
Much of a usable brisket as well it probably won’t cook as well as it could if it was kind of a 15 14 pounder I believe it’s like a nine pounder so by the time you trim it you’re probably looking at about a seven pounder uh I’ve
Got it in the freezer right now I don’t think obviously that will thaw in time to do on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day but I do have it in the hopper eventually right now I’ve got a prime rib that is thawing in the fridge I’ll
Be doing that one for New Year’s Day on New Year’s Eve we’ll be going to the Jags game uh the Free Falling Jags trying to squander not just the division lead but a playoff birth well thankfully they play the worst the worst team in the NFL Carolina Panthers at home on
Sunday we go into that one and uh Rex we we we have failed to mention at least to this point the stakes that we do have for Saturdays game between Georgia and Florida State of which you are a fan I’m not sure if Florida State actually has
Enough players uh to field for the active roster not feeling good about it the number of either transfers opt outs uh players who are saving themselves for the NFL draft at least on the seminal side is unbelievable now Georgia’s going to be without Brock Bowers as well as
Rarus Mims on the offensive line both guys figure to go in the top 10 of the NFL draft and so they’re saving themselves for that uh no problem with that from my perspective but we do have some Stakes what are they and have you already made the
Purchase uh I have not made the purchase I think there’s got well I I was I was assuming you were going to talk fantasy football here just because we’re at the end of the season and I did lose in the first round of the playoffs and I just
Want to point this out I lost in the first round of playoffs by less than one point and it’s a two week game so it was 23.1 to 22.54 you know the difference in that what what it could have been and I’m just throwing this out there the
Difference of that could have been had you not talked me into taking an offense last week that got me negative five points had they just got I don’t know negative four points I would have won like I don’t think that’s asking much just don’t go on the whole Five Points
Just go on the whole four points if it makes you feel if it makes you feel any better uh playing your son in the consolation bra bracket I would have beat you by 85 points you did wax him over these two weeks just a humiliating and embarrassing week for the hog since
You did not address the orange bow bet that you and I have uh viewers of the Hero World Challenge remember that you were wearing a Band-Aid above the cancer spot above your right eye uh it is not actually a cancer spot it did come back but nine there’s no trouble there
However when you’re out in the sun uh your dermatologist is advising you to wear a Band-Aid and so when you do for your next live hit or potentially on this here podcast video you will be wearing for the entire iry of the video a Georgia Bulldog Band-Aid viewers are going to get up
Close and personal to your face as we gloat and celebrate what should be I think George is like a 17-point favorite at this point after all the transfers after all doing a straight win or do I get the points no you’re definitely not getting the points we’re doing a
Straight win head-to-head this is the fifth ranked of course fifth ranked Florida state seals over the sixth ranked Georgia Bulldog somehow Georgia dropped from 1 to six and somehow Georgia was dropped behind Florida state in the six hole despite being as I mentioned yes the Bulldogs are victims here I
Understand uh favorite that’ll be on Saturday at four o’clock actually a great day of football on Saturday for being honest uh Old Miss Penn State at noon Georgia Florida State where we have our high stakes and then Dallas Detroit on Saturday evening we’ll be having a
Party got a balance house for the kids for Christmas I think I’ll be doing some ribs as well for a little bit of a get together all right you think we’ll be busy on Saturday December 30th no just football you think all we have is football and cooking and friends and and
Beer if the PJ tour Waits until December 30th to announce this I’m not GNA be happy also early happy early birthday to Tiger Woods turns 48 years Young on December 30th as well all right that’s gonna do it for this edition of the Golf Channel podcast with Rex and lav
Hopefully we’ll be back next week the 2024 kickoff podcast we’ll be previewing the century and recapping any other news that may have happened over the next six days thank you guys so much for listening for watching for commenting for tweeting us all throughout 2023 we do appreciate the
Support hopefully bringing you uh even better content in the year ahead we’ll be trying to maximize our social profiles and give you guys exactly what you’re looking for in these modern times we do appreciate the support hope you have a great new year we’ll talk to you next week Happy New Year
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