Speaking of Brant Snedeker and Jeff Ogilvie, how do you think the captains have handled the situation so far?

I think they both feel good about what they've done.

Somebody asked Brant last night, everybody's got a plan to get punched in the face.

Yesterday, that punch in the face, and I think Snedeker's staying with what he believes in.

I think he's blessed with enormous talent on the team, obviously.

They didn't make many putts.

I think the internationals... sort of found that rhythm.

how has bedina number three held up and delivered so far in your opinion

Did you like what you heard?

Yeah, they had obviously hinted that that was coming.

I think the question that got answered is sort of the format of it.

It will start with the top 90 guys playing a 72-0 stroke play event, which will have importance because the guys who end up in the top, whatever, however many.

32.

32, yes.

Sorry, I'm terrible with numbers.

How important is that when it comes to this thing succeeding?

All of it.

Uh, but he, I, I give him great credit for following his own path and believing what he's doing.

I mean, he is full of self-belief.

I mean, even in the LIV space where, you know, he's intent on this is the right thing, this is the way the game...

Despite overwhelming proof that maybe it isn't the best way to go about it.

But I, I think the game is better with him in it because he's such a, you know, there's nobody like him.

And the way, again, the way he plays, uh, and the way he sort of cultivated this online presence which, you know, is pretty smart in a lot of ways because that's where so much of the world lives these days, and there's so much to take in.

[laughs]

Um, what do you think all this stuff means? Options? Is that what they're doing here?

I would think.

It looks to me like they want a landing spot if the LIV thing goes away.

And, you know, I, I don't like its long-term chances, so I think all the acrimony, they've sort of gotten past that, made their peace now.

And I think it's great that we're gonna have those guys play in this week.

And the more we can sort of integrate it back in, "Okay, you can be over here and we're gonna be over here," and once in a while sort of cross-pollination beyond the major championships is a good thing.

But yeah, I think you gotta believe they're looking for, uh, what comes next.

Give me a comp of Chris Gotterup.

Does anything favor in this pairing depending on the weather? How hard would it be to sit around all day and watch the wind and then you check in and see what the carnage is going to be like and how much the golf course is changing? Because certainly the guys that are going out earlier are going to get a considerably different golf course than the guys that are going out later in the day.

Sure.

I'm sure those guys are going to watch some of the coverage just to see how balls are reacting going into greens.

I mean, they know where the hole locations are, but sort of seeing where players are playing, how the ball reacts when it gets on the green.

If you're Matt Fitzpatrick or you're Wyndham Clark, you've got to feel really good about how you've been playing, not just the first two days, but through the course of the last few months.

I mean, Matt Fitzpatrick's won three times already this year.

Wyndham Clark won recently.

Saturday really sets up Sunday.

You didn't draw that one, did you?

No, didn't have that one.

I'm not sure I had Aaron Rai either, but obviously a very good player.

I think, uh, just the whole feel of the week sort of surprised me.

'Cause I think you sort of go into the PGA sometimes not certain what you're gonna get, but I thought, uh, eh, I thought it was a really interesting PGA because it was grinding.

I thought the golf course became a star.

Uh, not one I would wanna play in the conditions they were playing Thursday and Friday, but I thought that that really came through and it, and it, and it gave it a nice texture.

... of, of just see it, be it, uh, it will be something.

Yep

... be back to playing golf, and then suddenly we get that news, you know, Friday afternoon.

And I mean, I, I get a text from a friend of mine and just, it just said, "It never ends." And, and, you know, it's, this, his story is...

There's so many layers to it, and now we're at this point.

And I think, without obviously knowing the details of what he's dealing with, uh, it does seem like a good and necessary step.

You saw that Brian Rolapp, the CEO of the PGA Tour, and Fred Ridley of, the chairman of Augusta National-Spoke out and said, you know, he needs to take the time to get things right.

We'll miss him, uh, in the immediate future.

Mm-hmm.

What's changed the most?

Yeah, I think it always had the perception and it obviously is an exclusive club, but it it felt like really closed off and all the gates were closed and they gradually sort of let people in for a little while.

Now it feels like they've opened the club up.

It's become, you know, I don't know if you say for the people, but for the game and they're very, you know, from the women's amateur to all the things Billy Payne did, they have just broadened the scope of what the impact of the club is the tournament.

I think it's, you know, it's very welcoming and it's a bigger part of the game than it probably ever was before.

And obviously very influential.

You know, when Fred Ridley speaks and talks about ball rollbacks, I mean, people listen that has an impact.

What's your assessment?

Yes.

Uh, he, Thursdays are a problem, but I think those nine rounds after those Thursday rounds, he's 51 under par, I think.

So not worried about him at all.

Uh, I mean, Rory doing Rory things.

I- I just think it's- it was a really good start to the season.

I think, and I know as we talk about what may be coming down the line for the West Coast, and I understand scarcity and what they wanna do creating more, uh, compacting things, making them bigger, but I have not heard anybody yet say when you say, "Well, Hawaii may not be there next year.

They may not be starting till February," I've not heard anybody say, "Well, that's not a good idea." I mean, I understand from the, uh, corporate part it might be, but I think fans really like watching Hawaii.

What it was

Where do you start?

Yeah, well, that's a good question.

I think...

In the same way he mentioned at his opening press conference, he had the clean sheet of paper.

He didn't have what Jay Monahan had.

He got to come in and sort of start fresh.

I think because we haven't read that much about Brian Rollup, I had a little bit of that, that people don't know that much about him.

Apparently, Ron, according to what everything that, the overriding and overarching theme I got from this deep dive was that he listens to people.

How do you think he stacks up on that list?

Well, it's a good list to be on and to just be discussed as part of.

I mean, I think...

I mean, I was fortunate enough to see Seve win Masters.

And I don't know if American fans still fully appreciate who Seve was, what he did, and how much he means to the game even now.

We hear it every two years at the Ryder Cup.

I think he is sort of the comparison.

Do you see that as actually having a realizable impact or do you think it's just not enough and too late?