The Shotgun Start

This Wednesday episode begins with some brief news on the engagement of Vegas Dave and Holly Sonders, and then quickly addresses the massive new media rights deal for the PGA Tour. Then Brendan and Andy turn to the second annual Shotgun Start year in review, which begins with a pace somewhere between Bryson and J.B. levels. It’s a comprehensive approach that will jog your memory on the some of the controversies and forgotten inanities that made this year so fun. It starts in Maui with Bryson short circuiting over how to take a knee-high drop and also putting with the pin in with great initial results. Rules furor, tipping scandals, Davis on Dru, Rickie overcoming adversity, and Phil wanting to play deep into the darkness at Pebble are some highlights of Part I but come for the smaller, forgotten side dishes with those main courses.

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A glorious Monday morning edition of the Shotgun Start opens exactly how you would expect: with a discussion on the QBE Shootout and the possibility of Gainz Tway also taking up Slovak citizenship. Then Brendan and Andy shift to more prominent matters and run through what they loved and what irritated them from an outrageously eventful Presidents Cup. They discuss Ernie Els’ closing comments that the International side needs to get away from the PGA Tour and have its own oversight. They hit on Tiger’s masterful work on a Royal Melbourne course that shined in primetime. The endlessly amusing week of Bryson DeChambeau is dissected. Pat Reed’s disgraceful week is covered, including his golf, his cheating, his unscrupulous in-laws, and his future on these team events. The hypothetical of whether Andy would boot Mitch Trubisky or Pat Reed from his life first is proposed. Justin Thomas’ antics, Haotong Li’s ambivalence, and Matt Kuchar’s big moment are also covered, among other inanities.

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Brendan returns from a lengthy paternity stint to talk the antics of Patrick “The Shovel” Reed. He’s met with a Bixby-fueled Andy who is over the moon with Royal Melbourne. They first take on the continued Reed fiasco, who added fuel to a story that his teammates all vouched was “in the past.” They relay some details and the chants from the alleged Aussie provokers of the Shovel mimicry, who also happen to be listeners. Then they get into the exquisite show that is Tiger Woods taking on Royal Melbourne, praising both Tiger’s play and the test that brings out his superior talent. Andy describes just what makes watching the best play this course so fun and how the Internationals appear to be out-strategizing and out-smarting the U.S. side with their approach to RM. They wrap with some thoughts on the pairings for Saturday morning’s session, which leaves Bryson on the bench again. This leads to a pondering of just what he did during his time off on day 2 before a final sign-off with predictions for what’s to come this weekend.

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This episode of the Shotgun Start goes off the usual path for a Monday, pushing results from the weekend to the end to take on the subject of Patrick Reed’s Bahamian excavation. Brendan and Andy first replay the act from Friday’s round at the Hero World Challenge, focusing on Reed’s apparent history of doing this. The punishment for the action is then addressed and both wonder about the slippery slope of a measly two-shot penalty and some public shaming as the only reckoning for such flagrant cheating. Andy proposes a much stronger penalty lasting out in to the 2020 season. Then the responses from various parties are dissected, from Reed himself to Slugger White covering for his “gentlemanly” character to the American Presidents Cup team reportedly acting like it didn’t happen on a plane ride to some Aussies using the “c word” and clamoring for the International fans to give it to Reed this week. After the lengthy Reed discussion, they get to a segment on results, which includes a breakthrough win on the Minor League Golf Tour and a rant about the purse of the PNC Father Son Challenge.

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This Friday edition of the Shotgun Start begins with story time as Brendan relays an amusing and “beefy” tip sent in about Bryson DeChambeau’s ongoing “Bulking Season.” There’s also some unsettling discussion about the contents of chocolate milk. Then Brendan and Andy run through some notes from the early rounds at the Hero, including Tiger’s nicknames, Pat Reed’s mysterious new clubs, and quite possibly the most useless stat ever promoted. Then they are joined by Sean Martin, Senior Editor at PGATour.com, for the third and FINAL part of the Decade in Review. This part focuses on the recent majors this year with some forgotten and entertaining odds and ends, the much-discussed “All Decade” Teams, which include a ridiculous Skip Bayless-type contrarian snub, and a few other categories like the “All Avis” team.

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The content cup runneth over for this Wednesday episode, which begins with the schedule for the week around the world of golf. This tests the geography knowledge of both Brendan and Andy with events spotlighted from the Bahamas to Australia to Mauritius to Kenya. They highlight the tee times at the Hero and how Tiger gets to basically put on a week of Presidents Cup prep and still somehow hand out OWGR points for it. News covers the latest utterances from the overcomplicated mind of Bryson DeChambeau and whether a workout can ever just be a workout in his head. Phil Mickelson’s decision to take the money and run to Saudi Arabia is also panned. The continued shakeup of the CBS golf team is discussed and the lineup for the PNC Father Son is briefly reviewed before transitioning to part II of the Decade in Review with PGA Tour Senior Editor Sean Martin. This section focuses on the back half of the decade, some amateur golf, the “season of the decade,” and the post-major funk trend.

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Andy and Brendan return after a long holiday break and jump right into Pablo Larrazabal limping to a win at Leopard Creek. Then they quickly pivot to some news from the long break, most notably Jason Day’s withdrawal from the Presidents Cup because of a back injury. They review Day’s injury history and marvel at the sweeping reaction this latest WD provoked over the weekend. Then they get to a “Decade in Review” discussion with PGA Tour.com ace Sean Martin. But as per Shotgun Start custom, things run much longer than intended in this free-flowing review so it will be broken up into *at least* two parts. Come listen and reminisce about the first half of the decade at the majors, the Players, and the FedExCup standings in this episode.

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This special Thanksgiving Jr. edition begins with a quick discussion of Thanksgiving traditions, drinks, and overrated dishes. Then there’s a rundown of the light schedule for the week, which permits a spotlight on Leopard Creek CC, the Gary Player island-green-happy design, and the European Tour’s Dunhill Championship. Brendan and Andy discuss the venue, the nearby wildlife refuge, and which animal they’d most like to be “reborn” as if given the option. The LET’s event in Spain also prompts a discussion of the newly announced LET-LPGA merger. Then the balance of the episode is spent listing some nominees and crowning some winners for the first ever SGS Fall Awards, featuring categories such as best event, worst shot, Mr. October, best and/or dumbest quote, juiciest controversy, signature LUP moment, and best reason to get worse for the wear. Happy Thanksgiving from Andy and Brendan, who are very thankful for the Shotgun Start listeners.

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A worse for the wear Victory Monday recording of the Shotgun Start bounces around the world of golf from the weekend, while also discussing best man speeches, football, and apple varietals. There is no crying over #ToddWatch having to be put in the garage for a few months. Jon Rahm’s Race to Dubai title in the Middle East leads to a discussion on his future and his already outrageous clip of contention. Andy explains his  skill buckets theory that Rahm fulfills and predicts he’ll win the Masters. On the LPGA, Sei Young Kim’s win in Naples is praised as the event of the day in a week that was full of positive PR for that tour. The Journeyman of the Day is Tyler Duncan, aka the least interesting man in the world, who took down Webb Simpson in Sea Island. Duncan’s past Indiana prep golf exploits are highlighted as well as his mundane special interests. In news, they excoriate the new branded “hole in one” that the PGA Tour is now pushing and Greg Norman’s Cybertruck purchase.

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