The Shotgun Start

Andy and Brendan discuss what feels both wrong and appropriate about the CJ Cup. Is it a soulless contrivance or just the kind of thing that pro tours should be experimenting with during this slower part of the golf calendar? Then they get to the big news of the week: Johnny Miller is retiring from the head analyst chair at NBC. They discuss Johnny’s contributions to the game as an analyst and assess the report that Paul Azinger will be the replacement. Finally, Twitter’s top golf handicapper, @GolfmanPaulie joins for a couple quick tips on the CJ Cup.

Brendan and Andy return from an eventful weekend to discuss results from across the globe. They review Marc Leishman’s win in Malaysia and Eddie Pepperell’s victory in England. Then they appreciate the dominance of Bernhard Langer and handicap his shot to break the all-time Senior tour wins record. After watching Conor McGregor’s hideous and viral attempt to throw a football in Dallas, they ponder about who from the golf world would be most likely to commit a comparably embarrassing throw. Finally, they wrap with a discussion on the tree removal fight that has now gone public at Congressional.

Andy and Brendan begin this Friday episode wondering who the hell is calling the shots and organizing The Match between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. The most recent report on an event that’s losing steam after a series of missteps is that no tickets will be sold and there will be no public access. So they come up with some fake WWE-style controversies and conflicts that could put this thing back on the hype train. Then they get into the impacts of the PGA Championship finally divorcing from TNT and getting a modern TV deal. They wrap with Andy challenging some horrible Jason Day opinions delivered in a Golf Digest interview this week and a Flashback Friday segment honoring the legacies of Bo Van Pelt and Jeff Overton.

Andy and Brendan discuss the Brooks Koepka Player of the Year announcement video and the cheeky attempt to go viral by including Dustin Johnson. The attempt is derided. Then they get into the Jim Furyk interview and discuss the idea for an alternative Bachelor “After the Final Rose” alternative for airing all this Ryder Cup drama out once and for all. Finally, Golfman Paulie comes on to provide some fantasy and gambling insights for this week’s CIMB Classic in Kuala Lumpur.

Andy and Brendan return from a weekend of respite and merriment to discuss the thrilling conclusion at the Safeway Open. Andy presents a case for Kevin Tway’s big future of #Gainz and Brendan wonders about the need for a Safeway Open. Then they get into Phil Mickelson’s comments on the course conditions of the Ryder Cup being “unplayable” and that style of golf being a waste of his time.

Brendan is under the weather, Andy is in an airport, and Pat Reed’s mother-in-law nuked the show plans. But we soldier on to deliver a Friday episode that covers more Reed family drama, Brooks Koepka’s denial, Phil suddenly pouring in birdies, and the fantastic UL International Crown format. We cap it off with a flashback Friday to an ignominious smother-hook from a Safeway Open past.

Andy and Brendan dissect all the Ryder Cup drama, which grows and expands with each passing day. They dive into the anonymous response calling Pat Reed “full of shit,” take a guess at who may be the source, and then go through Koepka-DJ tussling. The try to assess what it means and where we go from here. Finally, PGA Tour fantasy ace Paulie joins with a few names for the Safeway Open.

Brendan and Andy go deep into Patrick Reed’s controversial quotes pointing an angry finger at his teammates and captain. They dissect how he threw multiple people under the bus, from Tiger to Spieth, and if he has a future on these teams. And they get into the role his Reed’s wife's tweets played in the entire mess. Finally, they hand out some Ryder Cup superlatives from the weekend in Paris.

Brendan and Andy get on the horn for a short, insta-react to the Sunday singles blowout by the Europeans, who won the Ryder Cup with 17.5 points to the USA’s piddling 10.5 points. There was a glimmer of hope for the US at one point early on Sunday, but reality quickly arrived and it arrived in the form of more bad American golf. It was a fitting end for Tiger and Phil, and a fitting end to this 2018 edition that saw Europe steamroll since Friday afternoon. They’ll back later Sunday night for a more holistic reaction to the entire week in Paris.

Andy and Brendan run through another day of matches at the Ryder Cup, where the USA is down 10-6 heading into Sunday singles. They discuss the disgrace that was Patrick Reed shushing the crowd in the middle of getting his ass kicked by Frankie Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood. They discuss the disappointment that was DJ, and the continued revelation that is Webb Simpson. And then they get into the prospects for Sunday, looking at the weak spots and strengths of the lineup on tap for singles.