As part of an end-of-year series, Brendan and Andy run through the first quarter of the PGA Tour schedule to review key moments, controversies, and plenty of amusing ephemera you probably forgot. As you can guess, this is not meant to be a cut-and-dry recap of what happened, but rather a tribute to the many oddities and silly dramas that are often forgotten by the end of an interminable season. They alternate events, with one host armed with some research while the other trying to recall or guess cold on what transpired, starting from the top at Kapalua.

With just three events this week, one of which Andy vehemently proclaims “doesn’t count,” we look to the ends of the earth for the distinguished “event of the week” honor. This leads to longer-than-expected but delightful discussions on the Dunhill Championship and the Indonesian Masters, aka the Westy Invitational on the Asian Tour. For the Dunhill in South Africa, we review Gary Player’s Leopard Creek redesign, with a spotlight on some of its curious finishing holes and what the content makers at the PGA Tour would do with all the animals that roam near its grounds. We also examine the purse size and field makeup of the Indonesian event. Andy makes a plea for no John Daly Jr. coverage at the Father-Son. We then discuss Brooks Koepka taking umbrage with an arbitrary end-of-year list and how that relates to an interesting Golfweek article on players working with the PGA Tour to try to grow their brands on social media (we argue to stop taking the Tour’s suggestions as gospel and just be authentic, among other things).

Brendan and Andy return from the weekend to discuss King Louis’ win in South Africa, as well as the Open qualifiers that punched their tickets to Portrush. They then transition to the QBE Shootout for a quick analysis on some of the scoring yielded by those different formats. If the Tour really wants to Live Under Par, should they put more scramble formats on the schedule? A lengthy discussion on Web Q-School focuses on the studs that made it, some that didn’t, super-low scores on an apathetic layout, and outrage over the lack of coverage during a slow time of the year. Finally, they wrap with a news segment that focuses on Steph Curry’s event likely going to Lake Merced and the Damon Green-ZJ breakup that shook the golf world to its core over the weekend. They speculate on some cryptic quotes from ZJ that may have led to the separation.

Almost no one watches the QBE Shootout, but it’s an event with a solid foundational concept and some good formats! Brendan and Andy review the 3 separate formats for the 3 separate days and ponder other two-person teams that could pump more life into a weekend that’s sans college football. They dive in on Q-School developments, which provokes a fun/agonizing Flashback Friday from Andy. Brendan opts to flashback to one of the oddest couples to ever play the Shark Shootout as well as Bryson’s face-on putting experiment at the Shootout (and subsequent freakout on the USGA when his club was ruled non-conforming). Finally, with manufacturers starting to tease and announce their new wares for 2019, they recall and laugh at some of the worst-named clubs of all time.

It’s a light week for golf on TV but the content gods always provide for the Shotgun Start podcast. Andy and Brendan discuss the report that Tiger Woods may get his own Monster drink and he may now also have a new Presidents Cup assistant captain if one oddball star’s pleas are answered. They then explore the idea of the Tour providing a system that gives NCAA stars access to more playing opportunities. Andy explains what this embrace of the youth movement says about the state of the game. Then they move to the PGA of America announcement that they’re headed to Texas as part of a mega-development that is being called the “Silicon Valley of golf.” They offer a skeptical critique of the lengthy release outlining these plans. Finally, they wrap with a discussion of the South African Open in Joburg, where three spots for the British Open are up for grabs. Is this the best way to qualify for the world’s major championship?

Brendan returns from the most magical place on Earth to catch up with Andy and discuss an eventful weekend at the Hero World Challenge. They review Jon Rahm’s win and ponder who from the under-30 set and the Euro set will win more in the coming years. An Andy divergence on Henrik Stenson goes down the path to providing a valuable history lesson on Calvin Peete. They examine the Tiger double-hit penalty exoneration from late Friday afternoon that had the golf world frenzied. Back from the fantasyland of Disney, Brendan provides his breakdown of Pat Reed’s continued fantasy world assessment of the U.S. Ryder Cup experience. They wrap with some Sunday scaries and the best thing from the weekend before providing a few details on December plans for the Shotgun Start.

The PGA Tour's Sean Martin joins the podcast in place of Brendan who is still in Disneyworld. A pair of Patricks sit a top the leaderboard but the story comes from the bottom with Hideki and his boyhood hero teeing off first. Sean spits some stats about the importance of Strokes Gained: off the tee and Andy debates consistency vs winning.

Brendan is on "vacation" with his kids in Disneyworld so CBS Sports' Kyle Porter joins the podcast to ride into the Hero. Andy and Kyle talk about the the ongoing fallout from The Match and the paywall gaff. Kyle reminises about how far Tiger has come since last year. Of course, Andy dives into the whereabouts of Hosung Choi's start this week. The conversation wraps up with a discussion on Oklahoma State golf and the bright future of Matthew Wolff. Listen to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher or Spotify.

It’s another victory Monday on the Shotgun Start, and perhaps, it’s the sweetest one yet. The legend Hosung Choi gets the win, going for it all on the 18th hole of the Casio World Open to convert on the Japan Tour. Andy reacts to this historic moment in the game, and we wonder about what it might mean for the future. Then we spend time reviewing the good, bad, and ugly from The Match. We cover what worked, what didn’t, what we’d like to see next ... and if you’re the Bleacher Report tech guy responsible for the PPV mishap, do you even go into work on Monday? Finally, we check in on the results of our first annual World Cup of Golf draft.

It’s Thanksgiving Friday! The Match is nigh and Brendan and Andy hop on to discuss their expectations for the experiment while also running through some prop bets. A Flashback Friday segment recalls their two favorite matches of recent years. Then Matt Kane, who has worked in golf production for Turner for 20 years and is working The Match, joins us for a fascinating (and evergreen if you’re traveling over the weekend post-Match) chat on the challenges and opportunities of broadcasting this event. He also discusses a particularly proud moment from his production career that happened with bunker-gate and DJ at the Whistling Straits PGA.