The Shotgun Start

The new golf season steps up a level this week at the Farmers Insurance Open, where Tiger Woods will make his 2019 debut. The field is absolutely loaded at Torrey Pines and despite Andy’s objections to the course, it’s a strong contender for “event of the week.” We discuss the prospects for Tiger’s 2019, some curious prop bets, and the tough choices he’s going to have to make about what events to play on a condensed schedule. We also discuss the watered down Dubai Desert Classic, the Web Tour finish, and the “Pro Golf Tour’s” Red Sea Ain Sokhna Classic. Brendan rants about the needless gizmos at the PGA Show and Andy rants about the Corey Conners problem that the PGA Tour has right now -- it’s worth a rant and completely objectionable. Finally, we get to Paulie’s Picks for some fantasy and one-and-done insight on the Farmers.

It may be a day off for most of the USA but the Shotgun Start is here to review the entire weekend of golf from across the globe. After watching Pat Mahomes put on ice and not even get a chance to touch the ball in OT, we discuss one of the worst tiebreaker formats in golf. Then we get to Adam Long’s big finish at the Desert Classic and Phil Mickelson’s big week trying to “crush drivers.” We discuss what that philosophy might mean for the rest of his year. Then we hit on the Euro Tour results with more questions about the validity of the Rolex Series, the Singapore Open and Dru Love’s strong finish that might just shut us up, and a stud prospect getting a Masters berth at the Latin America Amateur. We wrap with Brandel Chamblee advocating not for the usual four-major system but what he called “The Big 5 Events” and what this support means for Andy’s theory that the PGA Tour is slowly trying to brainwash us into accepting a First Major campaign.

Brendan and Andy close out the week with a review of all the golf from across the globe. They cover Phil Mickelson’s 2019 debut and some of the fascinating less heralded stories on the Desert Classic leaderboard. Then they whip around from Westy’s work in Abu Dhabi to the Singapore Open and back to the LPGA’s celebrity event in Orlando. Andy goes into the archives for a Flashback Friday on the debut of PGA West at the 1987 Bob Hope and the revolt of angry players against the Pete Dye design. Brendan then relays a story from a listener and former Latin America Amateur contestant from the United States who became a Dominican citizen over one weekend to get into the field. They also discuss the latest from Matt Kuchar’s tipping travesty and comments from Fred Ridley on the how the Masters plans to operate within the new rules.

There is almost too much to discuss on this Wednesday edition, with seven televised events coming this week. But first Brendan and Andy react to the news that Hosung Choi will make his PGA Tour debut at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in a few weeks. Then they cover different entertaining tidbits from the PGA Tour to the LPGA to Abu Dhabi to Singapore and everything in between in this jam-packed week. Andy relays intel from the Latin America Amateur Championship while Brendan relives a harrowing confrontation with Larry the Cable Guy, who is back in the field at this week’s Diamond Resorts Invitational. Then we are joined by @FriedEggPaulie for some fantasy intel and one-and-done picks for this week’s Desert Classic on the PGA Tour.

Andy and Brendan are both finally settled at home and ready to review a weekend of perfectly normal news from the PGA Tour. They discuss Matt Kuchar’s win at the Sony Open, where he falls in the always evolving “best never to win a major” list, and a few other takeaways from the leaderboard. Then they get to bigger news that engulfed Kuchar over the weekend, with rumors that he stiffed his local caddie with just $3k from a $1.3 million winner’s payout at the Mayakoba Classic. Are Tom Gillis and Kip Henley golf’s version of Woodward & Bernstein? Is this fake news? If true, how shitty of a move was it? They also discuss the collapse of Stephen Curry’s event in the Bay Area. Then they get to Jay Rigdon of Awful Announcing for an interview on how the broadcasts of golf have improved, where they’re still lacking, dream and nightmare broadcast teams, and what he’d like to see change in 2019. Follow Jay on Twitter @JayRigdon5.

After a WiFi emergency challenges Andy’s sanity, a Friday edition does miraculously make it to the light of day. Brendan and Andy immediately go on a lengthy digression about the OWGR committee reviewing whether the new staggered start Tour Championship should be eligible for world ranking points. That digression then leads to another about the WGCs following Adam Scott’s comments that he might skip them all, which then leads to more on the conspiracy about The Players trying become the “First Major.” On the Sony, they discuss some questionable grandstand placement, the new 18th green, Shugo’s big day, and Spieth’s poor day. They finish with a Flashback Friday that Andy uses as an excuse to argue yet another case for his favorite player while Brendan recalls one of the all-time awkward interviews in PGA Tour history.

The typical Wednesday format is cast aside as a fired up Andy joins while on his way to night of merriment after making a hole-in-one. We discuss the circumstances around his ace and his questionable pants in the tweeted video of the shot that had the haters responding in full force. Then we set aside the personal tales and get back to pro golf, covering the news of Shotgun Start favorite Shugo Imahira’s special exemption into the 2019 Masters. We review the expected announcement of Padraig Harrington taking the reins of the European Ryder Cup team. We finish with a discussion of the Sony Open, hitting on the strengths of Waialae, Jordan Spieth expectations, and the Tour chickening out by putting Pat Reed a group ahead of Spieth and not with him.

We have a new No.1 in the FedExCup standings! Andy and Brendan discuss Xander Schauffele’s incredible Sunday 62 to win the Tournament of Champions. They get into the X-man’s future prospects after another win puts him atop the FEC. They also address Gary Woodland’s impressive week and Rory’s unimpressive Sunday flop. Then we get to a further review of the new rules in action, including Bryson DeChambeau’s struggle to comprehend the new drop height. After watching the rules officials loosen up a bit and wear Hawaiian shirts, Andy hypothesizes about placing “undercover plain clothesed” rules officials in the crowd. They end with a discussion on Lucy Li’s amateur status controversy after it came out that she starred in an Apple Watch commercial.

The Shotgun Start was created to go deep on all the amusing quirks and inanities that made the PGA Tour’s opening night at the Sentry Tournament of Champions so entertaining. We’re not overstating it when we say it was fantastic from start to finish. There was Bryson putting with the pin in, Gainzz going low, and a near catastrophe in the first ever in-round interview on the PGA Tour. We also discuss a bombshell of a listener question on the new rules that could render this entire season fraudulent. We also go over the disturbing evidence from the first round that promptly supported Andy’s crackpot theory from Wednesday that the PGA Tour is going to try and make The Players the “first major.” We conclude with a quick news roundup on Pat Reed’s champions dinner, Mike Davis stepping down, and a Flashback Friday to a year when Kapalua wreaked havoc on the leaderboard.

It’s a New Year and the Shotgun Start is back after a brief (one episode!) hiatus. Andy and Brendan discuss the Tournament of Champions and how it holds a special place for them as the annual opener. Then they offer some picks for the 2019 majors, a couple awards, and mix in a few possibly insane/extreme longshot predictions. Andy also has a list of some New Year’s resolutions he’d like to see from different golfers and people associated with the game. We wrap with the return of Paulie’s Picks, as Paulie joins with some intel on Kapalua and a few names to tab for the ToC.