The Shotgun Start

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.

Before we get to the biggest bar night of the year, Andy and Brendan settle in to preview Tiger v. Phil and the World Cup of Golf. The two praise the World Cup format and hope for a better future with more hype and attention on the event. They hold the inaugural Shotgun Start World Cup of Golf draft to make things more interesting while watching the primetime golf from Australia. Then TV superstar Shane Bacon joins to discuss The Match and his role as a reporter in the unique broadcast of the pay-per-view event on Friday. We get into his preferred spots in Vegas, what he wants to do with Charles Barkley while they’re out there, and what he expects from Tiger and Phil at Shadow Creek.

Andy and Brendan start the short holiday week with a review of all that happened over the weekend, from Australia to Sea Island to the gluttonously named PGA assistant professional champion. Abraham Ancer’s dominance in Australia has Andy almost as giddy as last Monday after Westy’s win. Then we pivot stateside and give Charles Howell III --- that’s NEW FedExCup Standings No. 1 Charles Howell III --  lots of love for his playoff win at the RSM Classic. We also discuss Danny Willett’s drought-ending W in Dubai, where Pat Reed couldn’t keep pace. We end with a review of the best things we saw from the weekend tangentially related to golf.

It’s Friday! Brendan and Andy react to the announcement of The Match’s broadcast team, which will feature notable golf heavyweights Samuel L. Jackson and Charles Barkley. Brendan gives short review of the 24/7 show and what it did or did not reveal about what we may see in Vegas. Then we run through some early action from around the globe, marvel at the consistency and longevity of CH3 and DL3, and discuss some fascinating intel from our Japanese source about the Dunlop Phoenix setup. Before we close with Flashback Friday, Andy gets off a rant about John Peterson announcing the USGA said he’ll get his amateur status back in four years. Here’s hoping a Peterson v. Johnson match is in our future at the Mid-Am.

Andy is still riled up as this Wednesday episode navigates the busy golf schedule from around the globe. Brendan begins with his argument questioning the existence and need for the RSM Classic. Then they both discuss Geoff Ogilvy’s article on the fall of the Australian Open, and suggest a few ways the event could return to the prestige it deserves. A review ensues of several candid Rory McIlroy comments that took aim at the Tiger-Phil match, the Euro Tour’s strength, and even maybe his equipment sponsor. Brendan discloses some unnerving details about the Dunlop Phoenix venue before Paulie joins with a few picks and some intel for the RSM.

There’s nothing but sunshine and rainbows on Westwood Island and Andy has never been happier or better positioned in the real estate market. We break down Lee Westwood ending a four-year winless drought on the European Tour after his inspiring Sunday charge at the Nedbank in South Africa. Then we cover a similar comeback story on the PGA Tour, where Matt Kuchar ended his own four-year winless streak by taking the Mayakoba Classic by a shot. With both players using temporary caddies, we also address how much impact a caddie can have on a veteran player. Finally, we end with a Sunday Scaries segment and our favorite things we saw this week.