248 - US Open Recap

Bruce, Sam & Tom discuss the US Open and the performances of Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy. They analyze Bryson's win and his growth as a player and person. They also delve into Rory's collapse and the role of Harry Diamond. They debate whether the expectations on Rory are too high and discuss the importance of mental strength in golf. They also touch on the course at Pinehurst and the challenges it presented. 

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Transcript

0:01

Right, no, but you do look like a little pixelated dragon, which is quite nice. Do I? Can you hear me alright at the moment? I can hear you just fine. hey Harry! using wifi. Harry's a technical consultant here. He's not using Wi -Fi is he? No, there's an absolute moratorium on wifi at the moment. You know, I'd be very upset if he was using Wi -Fi. That would really annoy me. I've sent Grace out. Nikki's gone out to go, you know, Harry's Harry's just living like a monk here. So it's. got a first of Bruce's underwater sounds. I don't know how this works though. Hopefully this should... I don't know, this should work. I don't know. Just don't know. Time will tell. It's quite extraordinary that you can live in the capital of the country and have such poor internet quality. I don't know whether we could do the official and unofficial sponsor being Sky Broadband on this podcast, whether that be appropriate or not. I just, do you not get 4G there? Yeah, I do. That's crap as well. Jesus. So I don't know how it handles Netflix. Anyway, we digress. How are you, Bruce? I'm all right, yes, you know, it's been a tough morning really. I'm just absolutely gutted for Rory McRoy. I don't know any other way to put it, really. Let's save that, should we kick this off properly? Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Cookie Jar Golf Podcast brought to you in partnership with our friends over at Footjoy. I am Tom Mills and today I'm joined by Sam Williams. Gents, how are we? Very well, thank you. And Bruce Fitzpatrick. Good evening. How are we all doing? bit of a hollow feeling going to bed last night, feeling a little tired, stayed up all night watching the golf and yeah, bit sad, bit of a sombre feeling in the Williams household this morning I felt. Yeah, I think across the UK, isn't there? There's just, I mean, a lot of old fans really, for as much as Bryson's rehabilitated his reputation, there was one guy, it seemed above all else that people wanted to win and it was just gutting. Did you stay up and watch y 'all? Yeah, it was nice actually having the East Coast finish and it finished, didn't it? It's sort of quarter to 12, something like that. So yeah, I stayed up. I guess you guys both did as well. We were talking over WhatsApp, weren't we? So I know you did. was an extraordinary, extraordinary final day's coverage, I thought. I thought it was so, so good. I thought it was such a good US Open. of staying up. And then kind of seven, eight holes in, I was like, bloody hell. This is all a bit spicy. And then nine, 10, 11 holes in, I was like, bloody hell, I've been waiting. Since I've started playing golf, you've got to remember this, since I've started playing golf, Rory McIlroy's not won a major. That's mental. That is mental. I was like, I've got to see it. I'm going to see Rory McIlroy win a major. And then I didn't. so tough. it was exceptional, but, yeah, it was, it was, it's so strange though, isn't it? I felt like that somewhat hollow feeling at the 150th, you remember at St. Andrews, we were there, I remember racing down from the hotel to watch him play the 18th against Cam Smith, and the race had kind of been run by then, like he'd already got his nose in front, or Cam Smith hold that part on 17, and it was like, no, this isn't supposed, this isn't how it ends, like the... the good guy wins now. It's not that Kam Smith's a bad guy, but it was all the time with Liv back then, if you recall, when there was the big exodus of players. And same as you, Bruce. I actually, I dunno, Bryson seems to have done some sort of huge U -turn on his own branding and how he's trying to appeal to people. But I quite like him actually, and he's a good guy. But it was, it did feel like, you know, the... the only way it was going was Rory's way on that back nine. Where should we start this off? We can't just sit here and mope about Rory McIlroy. So we need to put a bit of structure on this. We could just sit here for 45 minutes and really just be down in the dumps with each other and just... But let's start, I suppose, let's start with Bryson because he did win it. He went out there and won it. He was absolutely exceptional. So let's start with Bryson. We'll talk a little bit about Rory and we'll talk a little bit about... the also rands and talk a little bit about the course. So Bryson showed a bit of form, PGA second place, obviously him and Victor Hovland coming down the coming of the stretch. What do we all feel? How are we all feeling watching Bryson? Bruce, how are you? What do you think about it? as I sort of alluded to earlier, I actually quite like the guy or certainly I like him a lot more than I did for sort of three, four, five years ago where I found him quite irritating. And I just didn't like this persona of I'm the smartest man in golf and I'm doing it a different way. It was kind of, it was like the equivalent of when Kanye West said he was basically the Shakespeare of his time. And I just thought, come on, you're absolutely speaking out of turn here. And yeah, you know what? He's kind of grown on me. I think. He's clearly making more of an effort, whether that's as a result of having gone over to live and just feeling like he needs to sort of rehabilitate his brand somewhat, or whether it's just a general maturity. I actually quite enjoy watching him play and actually, you know, there's, there's a huge amount of content he seems to be putting out on his YouTube channel too. That's just quite informative or engaging or entertaining. Some of it is dross. Let's face it, you know, there's some of that stuff that we wouldn't lie, but there's, there's some stuff there. It's like, that's cool. that's quite cool. He's really quite engaged and passionate about this. And, you know, I think he's, he just speaks well now. I don't know how much sort of how much of that is authentic. Obviously, you know, there's a lot of people out there who want to be critical, but he does genuinely seem like someone who's really matured and he's very kind of full of praise for his kind of competitors. I remember a few years ago when he shot like an opening round 66 at the Masters. Might've been the same year when he said that Augusta was a par 67. That he felt that there weren't many good players there and really, you know, it's nice to see him as one of the best in the world at the top of the leaderboard. And I feel like that's gone now. He is just a much more well -rounded and mature individuals. So, you know, I'm quite pro Bryson. Just gonna put it out there. I'd echo that. I quite like the fact that he kind of paddles his own canoe, doesn't he? You know, he's and without someone like Bryson who does something a bit different, you know, and operates in a different way. And it is a bit weird and it's a, you know, it's a bit toe curling at times when you watch, you know, I thought the stuff on the 18th green. you know after they've signed the cards and they're doing the trophy and stuff I find that all a little bit nauseating by the way footnote that is so different to how the Open is handled like there's so much like hoo -ha around the whole thing there's so much chutzpah around the whole process and the Open is just so sort of stoic and it's just like that's it champion yeah it is really and on to next year but no I like him do you know I just touch on his golf though I think there's so much air time given to how hard he hits the golf ball and everything that was written about, I think going all the way back four years ago when he won his first US Open at Wingfoot. But for me, watching him play around Pinehurst was like, good God, this guy's so good up close around the greens. And I actually really enjoyed watching him play that final round. Now, I feel like I'm monologuing here, but. Because everyone has this sort of preformed idea of Bryson, he's the statistician, he's the scientist of golf, all that kind of stuff, we feel like he's not playing on talent or whatever, you know? It's like that thing of learn versus talent, whatever. But. It was like watching Seve that last round. To shoot 71 the way he drove that golf ball was absolutely crazy I thought. He was so good. I mean that 4 on 8 was absolutely next level. I find it so I'm gonna push back a little bit. I thought, I mean, took a couple of bits from me. First of all, I think Bryson's friendliness is slightly disingenuous. I feel like he's going through like a really hard rehab and someone said to him, right, Bryson, you've been a bit of a dick, okay, let's draw a line under it. Now you just be hyper nice to everybody. And he's gone out there and you know, he's... Mickelson's. Yeah, he's like he's gone out there and he's like slapping everybody's hands in between holes and he's like looking at the camera doing you know wiping his foreheads, you know, because he's got away with a par and it's a bit like, okay. I've never seen this before. It doesn't feel like it's the most natural thing to be doing to be playing to camera. Perhaps it's just a symptom of all the YouTube and stuff he's done. I don't know. But like, I feel like it's a charm offensive. It doesn't feel. It doesn't feel genuine to me personally. First of all, that's point number one. Point number two, I know that there is absolutely no taking away his short game. His scrambling was of the highest order I have ever seen ever. I think in reality, but... To push back on that, I think that Pinehurst as a venue kind of lent itself to, dare I say, a bomb and gouge. He just smashed it as far up there as he could. And then he just got away with it with scrambling, which, you know, if this was like, if this was a US Open that was lined with rough, like, you know, like Wingfoot was, and he's pounding it down there, we were like, God, this is so boring. But because it's Pinehurst and it's got sandy scrapes everywhere, we all seem to think it's, it's okay. I don't know, just. I - I didn't bother. say, like he was pounding it down there 400 yards or 370 yards and then just seeing what he could do with it. But he was hitting loads of irons off the tee as well. Like tons of irons as well. Okay, they all kind of got carried away on 18 and for some reason they all seemed to feel the need to pull the Chief. But there was loads of irons off the tee, I thought. There was a lot of positional play. And like, yeah, the fairways are narrow. You're gonna hit those native areas. Everyone goes in those native areas. And when there's a risk of that, you might as well just pound the driver. In the final round. think you play that round over, you know, several times you run it with that, those inputs again. I don't see how he shoots that score. to Sam's point, I just think, you know, it was crazy scrambling and look, you need a lot of luck to win a golf tournament. Like even Tiger for as good as he was, he needed luck to go and win golf tournaments. And I think that was a classic example yesterday in that Bryson really didn't get many bad lies when he drove it offline. You know, there was a, was it maybe 14, 12 or 14 somewhere around there where he had to wedge it out and then wedged on, he made his bogey, but by and large, he got away with it and was able to chop it up there. 18 was maybe another example where he didn't have a clean, clean shot to the green, but he did the day before. So you need some luck and he had, you know, his more than his fair share of that, which is fine. That's what all, all people are going to win majors. They have some of that on their side. I think. Look, his scrambling was insane and throughout the week he just rolled the ball unbelievably well. And I think it was kind of summed up in that bunker shot. You know, that is like a one in a hundred bunker shot really to get up and down from 60 yards, particularly with a wedge that's like so massive with a grip on it. Yeah. And you're thinking what the fuck. Okay, I know there was that US announcer Johnson Wagner or whatever went and did it like for a bit of a laugh afterwards. That was just freaky as well. But yeah, that kind of summed up really. It was just the most bonkers round to shoot 71 driving it all over the shop was wild. Do you think Pinehurst as a venue lent itself to it coming down to luck a bit too much? I think there's a bit of that with the native areas, wasn't there? There was some where you sort of, yeah, you could probably get a bad break on it, but I do think some of that is more sample bias. In the round of a tournament of four rounds, they're gonna go in that stuff a dozen times, let's say. You think it's probably gonna average itself out, but it's like luck is a factor. I thought it was a sensational venue. I can't believe you're knocking it, to be honest. I thought it was... Advocate. No, I get that, but I do think it was an exceptionally good venue. Like it was not, you know, there was definitely a deterrent off the tee, but it wasn't the only thing. I thought it was so interesting watching, you know, the world's best really struggle without the existence of long grass, rough. I do think that is a factor. I know that might be a bit tied in cliche in this sort of like what we talk about on this podcast, but it was magnificent to watch. You know, watching Fino and Aberg, you know, they really came unstuck, didn't they, on that, on the short fours at 13, where they started trying to, you know, chip up from the front edge and, you know, Aberg made a seven or whatever in the end. You know, and I really like it when the US Open gets to that point where they've got the greens absolutely on a knife edge all the way through, and then they just let it go for the final day. And they looked, I don't know whether it's because I was watching it on a different TV. I was up north, came back down, watched it on. sundowns like good god these things look brown like they were they were they were like a wheatabex weren't they Even Royal North Devon and the Kashmir Cup don't get that sort of crispy and shiny, do they? That's what he kind of reminded me of. Yeah, I think I'd echo that really. You know, it was just a very intriguing, quite memorable course to look at. I mean, I have played it, albeit quite a few years ago. my God, yeah, I played on a university golf trip. We went out there. Yeah, would have been. yeah, six or eight years ago now. I remember playing at the time and I didn't have my best stuff, but I was just thinking this is unbelievably like demanding as a test because of those, those turtle back greens. and so there's an element of like watching a course that you're sort of familiar with, but actually one that just has a lot of character and visually, even from just looking at a TV, you know, if you've, if you've been tuning into the coverage from Thursday through to Sunday by, by Sunday afternoon, you know, what's coming and every hole is quite memorable. Whereas, fair say, I think like Erin Hills and some of the other venues that have hosted the US Open in previous years, it's actually quite hard to sort of remember which holes coming next and find them all that interesting. So I definitely echo your sentiment there, Sam. I think it was a great spectacle. Whether it lends itself to bomb and gouge, I mean, you could make an argument that all courses do. All kind of courses are just lending themselves to a game where you just bomb it down there, wedge it on, and just try and make a few putts. But... The randomness of the waste areas is definitely something that stuck out, I think. I was amazed how good they were out of it as well. Like, I know they're the world's best players but I was still amazed. The number of times they drew a line that I get it, it wasn't always in that thick, bundy wire grass as they were calling it. But they would have a lie and you're thinking there's just no way they can even access that golf ball and it's somehow wrestled up to the right position. You know, like it was just, it was, it was unbelievable to watch really. but yeah, I, I, you know, just ran it out and Bryson, I enjoyed watching his, his round there, you know, the, the, the sort of nature of that swashbuckling golf was, was exceptional to see. However, just like you said, Bruce, I was driving earlier today and I thought if you run that round on that input on those, inputs of Rory and Bryson, I'd say if you ran it over 10 times, Rory comes out with that 8 or 9 times out of 10 easily. No, no, yeah. like you say, the one of 50th at St. Andrews. Rory hit every green in reg and two putts at every green, shot two under and loses to Kamer Smith. With those inputs around St. Andrews, you hit every green, you have more than at least one putt. And just like... much, I'd push back there though. I think Sanandri is a much different test and the greens there are enormous. You can be quite flattered in that, in that sense. And this, this stung, I don't know about you guys, this one seemed to sting a lot more than Sanandri's cause he hit the front with like four holes to go. It's like, you've got a two shot lead here and like clear daylight. And yeah, look, I don't know who wants to kick this off. Who wants to kick this off with this sort of most warm of roaring. Go on Mills, take it away. mean I Thought I was gonna see it boys. I thought I you know, I'd stayed up. I was really excited He's obviously got to eight under Bryson's Bryson bogeys the the the the one you just mentioned I think he was like 14 maybe maybe 13 he bogeys and then are you thinking right? He's now six under and then right. Let's talk about this in terms of Cronol 12 okay, and then it's yeah because 13 is a short part for and then steps up to 13 and hits I think Rory hit a nice shot to clever shot down down 13 got up and down Rory short game was Immaculate only bested by Bryson, but Rory short game was truly immaculate. I thought You know obviously with chipping not necessarily three foot putts And then Bryson hit I think there's I mean the you could argue that the The bunker shot in 18 was like one of the best shots ever, but that shot to 13. I think he hit like a three with a rescue and he pitched into the front bank and left himself an eagle pack, which he only left inches short anyway. And it was just like the way they were going at it, they were like boxers, you know, just going for it. And then, I mean, personally, I'm now at the point where I can't, you know, Harry Diamond, you've got to be asking him a few questions, haven't you? I mean. There doesn't seem to be any stepping in there and just saying like, look boss, he's just birdied the one behind. Let's just mosey this whole side. We don't need to be chasing birdies. Rory rams one past on 14, ends up three stabbing it because he misses the three footer or two and a half footer, whatever it is. now sixteen Was that 16? Yeah. I think he went into 15 hot, didn't he? He went into 15 very hot because that's that, that's the long, it's a par three, but it's really heavily domed green, more than the others. And he played a very flat iron shot there. A lot of them, Pavon knocked it stiff, didn't he? Unbelievable shot, Pavon. But, you know, I think there's some decisions that come down to, yeah, I mean, I think just before we digress though, like that whole like, that sort of exchange of blows backwards and forwards is great. And I bet it was it was tough to pick out on the coverage, but you could kind of see when they were coming off the greens and onto the next T and they were following them. That place is like just following its own lane through the corridors of pines. And it must have been like over the shoulder. Shit, he's just stuffed it there. I bet that was the most unbelievable thing to be walking around and watching because they were completely, you know, they're just playing playing the same thing one shot. behind each other or ahead of each other. You know, the whole thing was so connected. And they were going at it back and forth. And obviously they're only ever about 300 yards apart. So the roars must have been like literally just from one end back to the other end. And like both of them would have known exactly what was going on. And it was, and then they felt when you get around 14, like Bryson all the way through to like 13. And the commentary picked up on this on Sky massively. And I'm not sure much I believed in it. They were kind of trying to say that Bryson was living on energy and it was only the energy that was getting him through, which I thought was a bit fictitious. But. You could see that Bryson was a bit deflated. You could see he was like, bloody hell, this is getting a bit clutch. And then obviously, yeah, it was that 15th, the par three, that Rory airmails it with a seven iron. He leaves himself with a bund out the back, which he actually did really well to make a four from. But that's the first thing you've got to be thinking, right, Harry's there. You know, he knows the yard that Rory hits. He knows long is mega dead. Short was kind of okay. And you know, I just don't feel like there's enough insertion from Harry, you know, and being like... assuming that Rory wants a caddy that he's going to insert himself in that moment and I think, you know, he probably... No, no, I get it. But I think when it's gone wrong with Rory, I think why it hurts so much is when it's gone wrong with Rory. We're so used to watching him arms are out sideways when the putt misses and the head rolls back and all that sort of stuff. And he just never looks like he's going to knock it in the hole from anywhere. on the, when it, when it matters most. And then around that turn, when he birdied, whatever it was, four out of the five holes, nine through 13 or whatever, you're like, shit, this is on. He's going to do this. Like he looked at it when in the hole and he was already hitting it unbelievably well. I think that's why it stings so much is because it was like he'd done all the hard work up to that point. And yes, there was a Mr. Green on 15 or whatever, you know, and he, he, he, he, He maybe pulled the wrong club. But I think it's, you know, fundamentally it just comes down to, he just fucked it up from those two little tiddlers. But they weren't, they weren't gimme putts. Like that one on 18 was not a layup. think about how one leads into the other. So he on 16 had a two and a half footer, slightly out the left and tried to jam it in. And then when he's on 18, he's got like a slightly more three footer out the left. As I believe, as a direct consequence of that jamming it in and over, you know, over reading it and jamming it hard. He's just gone, okay, now just to tittle it. And he's just tilled it and he's got caught in between. Lost all his confidence on 16. I think if he puts the same strokes he puts on 16, it goes in. But he just tried to tap it, didn't he? I've got maybe a slightly different take on things. I mean, I, for me, I, I think I do agree with you fundamentally, Mills, that this question mark over the caddy could not be more pronounced than it is at the moment. but I thought the right, there was some worrying signs actually as early as the 13th tee. Now I know he went and went onto birdie the 13th, but if you watch it back, he's got driver in his hands and the number of looks he takes over the ball is just like wild compared to he's normally like, two or three looks, then he goes and he's looking at the target back at the ball like five or six times, which you just don't see. He was over it for so long. Hits a good one, makes his birdie, holds a good putt there up the hill. Nice. 14, he then hits a drive left and his approach shot left. Okay, holds a good putt. 15, he kind of takes the wrong club, agree with you, but he also hits this hot pull seven iron, which... The only way he could be hitting seven iron there is if he's trying to hit some like hot soft hold up fade and he just like double crosses it. So he's now hit like three shots on the spin left 16. Okay. It's a good drive, but then like sort of a slightly tuggy short iron. He didn't really have much in there. I think he only hit eight or nine iron in. and then obviously we know what happened to putting and then 17 hits another pull. an 18. Okay. Question marks over the club. club choice, but he's like, he's hit, there's a trend there of like, he's getting nervous. His routine seems like out of whack and you can see how it's expressed in that he just keeps hitting these, these pulled draws sort of smothers coming, coming in. he's trying to fade them. Definitely 16 he tried to fade into that flag. 17 he definitely tried to fade that six iron into that pin, just pulled it. And on 18, I mean, this is what blows my mind. It's like, the driver on 18 was like, he's never played that all week. He's not played that once. He sits there with the championship on the line and pulls dog. And it's like, what's he doing? He's lost his mind. little, it could be a little bit of a feeling of like, you know, I just can't turn this thing over again. I've just got to hit something that's not going to go dead left on me. Maybe there is a little bit of that. But it doesn't excuse the short puts does it? And I think, but I think in all of that stuff you're touching on there Bruce is like, it's just, you think that's nerves in the highest form, right? Is what you're saying. I just think he kind of went from a guy who looked pretty smooth and in control and like had a powerful intensity about him to someone who was kind of scared and alone by the time he hit the front and you could just see that manifesting itself in him in terms of like the, that he was just, he was just like alone. And I didn't see that with Bryson in his caddy. They were doing a lot of reading. Is this, this is an 18 foot putt playing 16 feet. It's what they. that picked up on the microphone on 17. There was a lot more interaction and okay, look, maybe Rory, that was the brief when he hired Harry Diamond seven, eight years ago. He's like, I want someone who can just kind of keep me light and keep me, you know, chat to me as a friend. But it really comes back to bite you in those clutch moments where it's like, you just need someone who's like, just going to, you know, go to war with you there and keep you on the straight and narrow. Like, you know, it's, yeah, I just don't think he had the support. that he needed. And that's not knocking Harry Diamond because, you know, as I say, he's probably brought in on the brief, he's like, we're just a mate, let's keep this light, but you need someone who is an absolute pro at keeping people calm and can just tell when you're starting to get off, when you're walking a bit quickly. His routine got quicker, I thought, you know, between shots, like he walked up and hit that chip shot on 18 so quickly, and yeah, he had a great chip, but. You know, the best caddies, I think, know when your energy just starts to shift in an unhelpful direction. And I don't think Harry Diamond is just the right guy to be able to notice that and sort of take effective action to help remedy it, really. That's what I saw. kind of doubled down though really, hasn't he? In so much as he's been on the back for so long. He's such a good friend. It would just feel like such a, it would feel like such a big move, that, to get rid of him. I get it. was the first time I can think where he'd hit the front and he just wilted like, you know, and that's not my, you know, I don't want to be unkind because personally, I think the putt on 18 gets way too much air time. You know, I think that putt on 18 was absolutely savage and you could put a shitload of pros out there with what happened on the line and even good putters were not going to be able to make that because you had this awkward thing of well Bryson's knocked it in the shit and was only tied at that point. If you try and go bold with this, you could gun it part like that was a hard, hard putt, the one on 16 less so. I think the damage was kind of already done leading up to that point really. And I, yeah, as I said, just think, you know, hitting the front and losing it seems to be a, well, yeah, it would be a much harder, bitter pill to swallow than what we had in St. Andrews where he just never really got into gear. You know, he just kind of like faded, yeah. He had the bunker shot. front, yeah. also going to push back slightly with, I would argue that through the same, through the same argument we, you put forward for Bryson, if you put Rory's inputs in, you don't get a good around either. Cause by about the 10th hole, he'd hold a hundred foot parts. Like he holds some monsters and they don't all go in every round, you know? So yeah, yeah, like he got himself out in front, but. He had some very very... and we all know like everyone's aiming at the hole but it's lucky when they go in you know and he holds some absolute monsters. One was massive you know he hold a really big one on like 11 or something around that. There were just some some really really big putts in there so perhaps if you put his inputs in he doesn't get to 8 under with 4 to play. Navy. do you think there's a little bit of, like I dunno. Does it get more, I mean it does get more spotlight because it's Rory, right? But do you think there's a bit of our expectations of Rory are just stratospherically high and unreasonably so? I mean if you think about it in your playing time, Tom, your time playing the game, you've never seen Rory win A major. To do what Rory did yesterday wouldn't have been improbable in other major events, but because it's Rory it's like. this is a really big deal because there's so much spotlight on no majors for 10 years, gotta be a major coming soon, he's here, it's gonna happen. Even if you leave 2014, pre 2014 Rory behind, which you can't really do, just look at his performance between 2015 and now, and he is so far ahead of the next best player in majors, it's just untrue. You know, he is so much better and he's turned in so many top five, top tens in majors. Like he would be by far and away the best player to never win a major except for the fact that, you know, he did all of that by 2014. Well, here's a question. Look, I don't recall watching. I don't think I did. I don't think I was into golf. I don't recall watching the collapse at Augusta for Rory. Which one was worse? I think that was different as well because that was so much of that was youth really I think I'd kind of pin that on was in the same way you look at like Oberk was like so good for 45 holes in that tournament like so good I was like geez this guy could just breeze this the way he's going he's got a smile on his face he could it did look that way didn't it he just didn't it was just it was unbelievable and he just does all the right things and they just got a bit unstuck and you were like once you picked up a seven there and there's you know a little over 18 holes left it's kind of like your races run a bit you know it just takes so much sort of wind out your sails and I think there was a that's how I look back on that year at Augusta for Rory is like youth you know it's kind of one of those sort of like one of those moments that kind of shapes you a little bit that you probably need in your career but Rory's now at a point where it's like He's more tenured. I mean, there's that photo of him at it's congressional, isn't it? When he wins. And I saw on the clip you've got Patrick, Patrick can't lay there behind while he's collecting the trophy. Can't lay was leading amateur, you know, he looks about 12, by the way, can't lay. He's got like a trophy head and he hits. You're like, shit, he's got a lot of wisdom, really Rory. I don't know. Does this, where does this go from here? I mean, I suppose it's like. fight or flight isn't it really? You can either come out swinging or is this now like shit? Bryson in person, which I thought was... I mean... that. Yeah, I think I wouldn't be surprised if he puts out a statement to the extent he hasn't already just saying like, yeah, that was poor move. And he's usually pretty good at owning that stuff to his credit. He is, you know, I think you could just see how devastated he was. And he probably just thought I've got to get out of here and they'll look back and regret that because Bryson stayed around and congratulated Xander, didn't he, a few weeks ago at the PGA. Which hats off to Bryson, this goes back to a thing about his brand building exercise that he's on. Yeah, I mean. hours and hours and all that stuff. shayfla on his shoulders. Yeah, he was just carrying around showplay. But like, he did it, you know, like, genuine or not, he did stick around. He said the right things. He shook his hand. He went away and he comes back and wins the major the next time around. Rory, you know, has got hints of the petulant child about him every now and again, hasn't he? You know, like you say, when the putz messes like, There's a lot of like, it was going to go that way, yeah. There was on Saturday, but not when they were dropping, yeah. That, that reaction to the putt though on 18 was like, where he's like trying to bend over, like praying that it will sort of catch the hole. yeah. You know what, to be fair, 20, 2011 though, if we go back to that, when you talk about the collapse at Augusta, I think what helps us put that like, you know, in the rear view mirror really is that. he won the very next major he played in and won it convincingly. And so it was like, boom, you know, he's right. The wrongs there. I think, you know, this is harder, possibly, because you don't know whether another one's coming. It'd be brilliant if he went and won the opener at Trune and really got the bit between his teeth. I think I still do feel he needs to get a different caddy if that's going to be a realistic prospect. But, you know, Nick Fowdo. I thought you had two very interesting calls yesterday when Bryson missed that really short putt on 15. And he said, this is the thing that you could look back on and that would cost you these little errors. And obviously it turned out that Rory's missed putts on 16 and 18 were the ones that cost him rather than Bryson. But Foward also said he's like, this could really haunt Rory if. if the Shambho goes on to make part here, which he, which obviously he went on to do. So it's, yeah, it's a cruel game, isn't it? And we've all, you know, obviously on a much, much smaller scale, we've all been in that situation where you just let it get away from you from a really good spot. This is just magnified by a thousand with it being, you know, with it being the US Open and him not having won a major for 10 years. Yeah, but the best players in the world. think he's gonna recover. He's like, this could be it. Valdez come out and said that, yeah. I think the problem is, the best players in the world are so good when they've got their nose in front, aren't they? You don't get to that level unless you're really good at playing with the lead. And if Rory sort of internalises this a lot now of, God, last time we were here, the next time you're in with a chance, you could just trigger back to that. And it's like that whole Duncan McCarthy thing, isn't there? There's three places you can be. It's like past, present, or future. If you're not comfortable with that past feeling of two shots clear in a major, it's like that shit's going to haunt you for good. Like that's not going anywhere. Now, you know, there's always, every time April rolls around, there's always a lot written about whether, you know, 2011 still haunts Rory. And it's, it's tricky. I mean, it would be amazing to see him just come out swinging and just go and win a truant at a clip, wouldn't it? I mean, that would really, and that would... I would say for the, for the last six, seven, eight years, that I've been massive massively into golf and watching the majors and stuff. You know, you w you go back and watch stuff on YouTube about Rory's collapse and you watch van der Vel's collapse and you're like, bloody hell, look at those boys, basically amateurs aren't they? You know what I mean? They just don't know. Like that never happened now because everyone's too professional. And I can't think of a major in. Perhaps I've just, cause I'm so, cause I'm so just committed to Rory and I really want him to win that I don't, I can't think of a major in recent memory where someone's got like two shot clear with four to go and just limped home to lose, you know. did at Chambers Bay, didn't they? He had a putt for the win. Speith's bluer. Scott Lither. I mean, he's a great player. Scott at Lither. chips. that was that was probably the worst actually of the lot. that yin, was it Norman Faldo, Augusta like... in 95, I think, and did he win one? It happens. I think that it was just heart wrenching to watch. yeah, you think they're just now like they're more professional, I suppose. You think perhaps it's just like, I don't know, this sort of modern bias. We think professionals now are so professional in every way. They're professional with their diets and the way they look after themselves. And you assume they're just so mentally sharp, they can't do these things. it happened like again, different scale, but a couple of weeks ago in the, the Scandinavian mix was it Soderbergh seven or eight shot lead. Like that's a different magnitude of lead to what, what Rory had on a really difficult setup, you know, close out a 7 or 8 shot lead on DP World Tour, Bruce. You'd give it a bloody good go. out of the way I'm hitting the ball at the moment. No way. Seventeen shots would be enough. Yeah, it's just and that's why this game is so cruel, but also why it's so captivating. You know, if Rory had had Bryson's putt on the 18th, I have every faith he'd have hold that knocked it in, you know, three foot uphill. But instead he had a four footer that had an unbelievable amount of turn. And actually, I think what's quite interesting is. So many commentators said, yeah, this is just on the left edge. And the thing's just like snapped across the whole. It's the guy that the putts had like six inches of break on it from four feet, you know, all these little, these little, yeah, twists of fate. Yeah, I mean. But. just hammers that in? You know like a like a 2000... No, 2010, 2011 Rory or whatever does he just go poof straight in the back then. part, because it was snapping, you could see that, right? And it was, and also the context of, yeah, but you've just looked 130 yards back up the fairway and seen Bryson in like absolute cabbage. I mean, there was a tree root around his ball, he wouldn't have seen that. But he was monumentally buggered there, Bryson off the tee, he was in so much trouble. You know, and he barely managed to wrestle that thing forwards. So it wouldn't have been unrealistic for Roy to think, you know, okay, you miss that part, you know, it's clearly a fall in this podcast for having missed two short parts. You three part from there and then watch Bryce and win it with a bogey. You really look silly then at that point, you know, like you've, you've got to think, you know, I don't know, but any other takeaways, gents? I'm going to put out as a quick one. I don't know if Rory's ever been an absolutely amazing closer in major championships. You know, he won a congressional in 2011. He came from behind, I think, at Keira Island in 2012. But those two 2014 major championships, I don't think they were like convincing closeout jobs in the style of Tiger Woods or Scheffler or someone like that, you know, where it was just like pedal down, just just leave everyone behind with a very calm and calculated performance. I don't, you know, he was kind of behind for a long way at Valhalla in 2014 and then sort of just, you know, had a bit of a flurry at the end there. Nearly hit it in the water. Nearly hit it in the water on 18. So like, this game is just full of cruel little twists of fate and you need some luck on your side. And I think it's just conspired against him here and obviously got on his head as well. It's just sad because we all want it so much. It's like we all want Rory just to win something. There's no taking away from Bryce. That would have been really tough if that was Patrick Reid that ended up winning. That would have been exceptionally tough, I think. It's tough though, it's Bryson, but he definitely has kind of rehabbed his reputation a bit. He does seem like a nice bloke for what it's worth. thing that got me, a massive level of respect for how that guy played this week. I think that there is, I mean, Bryson put up one hell of a fight when he was really up against it out there and didn't let go of that golf tournament. And others would have wilted at that point, and Rory could have been coming up 18 with a three and four shot lead without, you know, he really dug in. little putting yippie thing around about 13, 14. He had two in a row, one that he kind of hit, tried to hit twice down the hill. And then one like short one that he like, he hit and he was like walking towards it because he thought he'd missed it. So like he was going through some serious stuff in the back nine with his putting as well. And I thought, I mean, for all the chat about the golfing scientists, I thought it was pure artistry with his short game and with his recovery and scrambling. I thought that was... Yeah, I mean, I'd never think you could describe like his technique as a hot history with like that crazy arm lock sort of putting stance and all that is, I still think he's a bit ungainly, but yeah, I mean, it's just crazy amount of respect for the guy to. see people with low hands don't you? It looks, it's like more aesthetic isn't it? And the way he plays is anything but aesthetic to look at. But he is, there's no question. but I'd go on the spectrum of Keegan Bradley to Bryson. I'd like something, you know, in the middle, probably. speaking of low hands, I think I think Tony Fina could only could only find his son's golf clubs He's getting so low. Have you seen it? It's like he's kneeling But I mean, he put on, I mean, he finished one off Rory, didn't he? I mean, it was a crazy, crazy good performance by him. We should cover a few other bits and bobs we were on here. There was quite a nice little showdown with the two amateurs. It was kind of playing, I'd like to have seen a little bit more of that if possible, but it was hard to find time away from the two main groups really, wasn't it? Yeah. ship it looks like a hell of a player and a breezy bag nil shippe on this podcast before there was a bit of the i think yeah i remember the amateurs he was sort of given it large coming up you remember as well the first bumping and and hands in the air you felt it was particularly amateurs i think this was one of your words he hold out and just, yeah, just started sort of, riding his driver or his putter down the fairway, like a, you know, boo weekly sort of thing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's 100 % one to watch. Clanton, I did think that like, I don't know, maybe, maybe the golfing gods just gave him a little, you know, clip around the ear, like you do as a parent to your kid. Cause he, he hit that worldly out the trees on 18, to about nine foot and he had a birdie putt to tie it, didn't he? And he was walking up the fairway, hands in the air, like as he's walking down the fairway after his shot, it's like, whoa. Getter just popping on the dance floor. there, didn't he? It wasn't a great thing. but yeah, then by that point it was over so... other major takeaways? Bruce, what's your take on Oberg? Yeah, he is good, isn't he? I mean, he just... Yeah, he is the real deal, I think. I think he hit more greens than anyone all week. You know, he can really turn it on. I think he's got great temperament for it. It's just, I think it's just a case of putting yourself in that position a bit more really. And just stringing together four rounds. But yeah, really, really impressive. And he's clearly on everyone the radar. Great to watch. I hope he's sort of at the top there. but for a long time to come. yeah. He gets over that quick waggle away from the ball, club just literally straight behind it, trigger pulled, and the swing looks unbelievable, doesn't it? I mean, he's... his face as well, you know? Like, it was all falling apart and he was like, yeah, all right, I'm still gonna have fun. Which I thought was quite nice. lesson for us all really. Other big takeaway for me was the presentation at the end where they had the was it the Jeffreys award? No, sorry. That was the name of the superintendent. Wasn't it Jeffreys who was given this award for like a set up? Huh? This is Bryson's caddy who picked up the silver plate. No, I thought - soon as it was hold out, I've missed all this. I thought, no, I thought it was for awarded for the setup of the course being like exemplary by USGA standards. And they don't give it out every year, but they felt that Pinehurst absolutely typified what they would like to see in a US open. Yeah, I don't think caddies get silver plates today. they did. Yeah. There was an award that they gave out to, it's like the sort of support, I can't remember how it was termed, I was a bit tired to be fair, but it's the support team of the champions. So Bryson's Caddy's there with a silver plate before they then start, but you're right, they did absolutely do it for the Greens team. I mean, look, they... platter to John Jeffries just for, you know, his work as superintendent and just setting up a course that exemplifies everything that they look for in US Open. I thought that was quite cool because they don't give it out every year. It's not just like a formality. It's like, thanks for giving us the courses. It's like, no, you've you've got that. You've got the course absolutely, you know, humming for what we want to see. Just a quick one for a few little tidbits from me. Matteo Pavon, one of the most gorgeous little fades you've seen in ages and probably worst hand tat I've seen in a while. Well, he's got a full on like, it's a scripture. He's basically got a scripture on his hand. It's like, it's a full on psalm. So that was quite good. Just some notable sort of. Notable Shockers, I think it's always nice to look at the Shockers. Mikkelsen, 15 over. Would have liked to have watched that, because I think, you know, with a short game, he should have been, should have been able to do something quite interesting, but, and then. had laid a scramble on that last round, could it have been any better? It would have certainly been bloody entertaining. Yeah, you could have a live scramble. Justin Thomas shot Levin over. Thought that was... Yeah. in the doldrums. is he? Not in a good way. No. I mean, it's surprising to see. shout out for Francesco Molinari because that was just the most ridiculous thing ever to make the cut on the number with a hole in one. I mean, talk about clutch. Is that maybe the definition of clutch? I don't know. Maybe he was thinking, I really want to get home actually. I know I'm not playing that well. Just like can one for you. How do you think Tiger looks? You haven't talked about Tiger. Do you want to give Tiger five minutes? I don't even know if it needs that, does it? It's just. yes to shame really you know uncomfortable, didn't he? Yeah, he didn't look miles off. I don't think he looked miles off. I remember watching him play at Chambers Bay in 2015, would it be? And he was doing terribly there. He couldn't keep it on the golf course. I don't think he looked quite like that. I think the putting is what he's just diminished more than anything compared to... you know what he was like at the peak of his powers. Okay, you know, there's the, some of the athleticism and the dynamic kind of ballistic sort of move that he's got through the ball in his swing has gone because of how much surgery he's had and how broken his body is. But the putting just looks, it just doesn't look convincing compared to what it used to be. it's hard for it to look sharp when you're playing four tournaments. It's actually amazing when you think he steps up and qualifies in Augusta just through absolute grit and determination and just knowing the golf course because, you know, really the amount of golf he's playing, he must, it's almost unfathomable to think the guy's going to make any cuts playing that schedule, right? his age with that fitness and all the issues he's got to just turn up and just string it all together is really like you just can't really fathom it to be honest with you. But I'll tell you what, I really want to get a pinehurst. I really, really want to get a pinehurst. Like, you know. bagging it, but it looked absolutely class. I mean, like I would, I would love to have played it in that Nick yesterday. Like I would just, there is something in me where I'm just like, I'm desperate to know just how bad I would be around here. Like, because I know that those, these elevations and what they're talking about and like the number of people that messaged us and said, like, no idea how difficult it is to get on these green surfaces. They must be like, I mean, it mean pretty played it is it is surely a lot more than broadcast gives it credit for like you can't see the depth and elevation change on TV anything like really painful because of these turtled back greens. I remember that was one of the first time. Yeah, I remember standing on a fairway there with a sandwich in hand thinking like, I don't know if I can hit this green, which is just, I was like an okay player, I guess at the time. But it's just, it's not something that you would ever really think about, I don't think playing golf in the UK. with a Samwise thing, I just, I don't actually know if I can keep this, you know, within 30 feet of flag here. you wouldn't have been playing it when it was baked like biscuit -y, 14 on the stem. You wouldn't have been playing it. the St Andrews Union team hit golf coach shot 69 round there and I was playing in the group with him, which everyone just thought was utterly mental because, you know, how do you go and shoot that score? And I, you know, obviously weren't off the mega, mega back tees. I think we were playing like a box up or whatever, but what I do remember is he literally hold everything and just like got up and down like an absolute demon, which, you know. as we've just talked about, is something that kind of separated those guys at the top of the leaderboard this week. Like the greens are just so exacting. But I'd love to go back and see it and play it because, you know, it's such a different style, of course, to what we see on the PGA Tour week in, week out, and for the better as well. You know, it's exciting. I'm going to throw out there just one more time. I think that as much as I want to play it, I think that if Pinehurst had rough, I'm not talking deep rough, just rough instead of native area. it would have changed the outcome because I think there'd be less variance, less luck involved in what happens. Just saying. It's gonna go down. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know what would happen, but I think it's a bit strange when you think two players can hit identical shots and one person can be able to advance it and one not. There is more variance there, more luck there than perhaps can be tested in. I'm sort of okay with that because I think in golf we kind of, we are struggling with this idea of like fairness and what's fair and obviously people talk about the divot, like you should be able to drop a ball if you land in a divot. Having a great drive down the fairway. That's like the classic debate that goes on about people who just want it to be fair. But I don't know, like golf, the metaphor for life that we hear all the time growing up when we first start playing this game is kids. I think Pinehurst just kind of like typifies that really is that yeah, you know, two people can hit a slightly bad shot into the left sort of scrape. One of them might have a great lie and a shot to the green and the other one might have to chip out sideways. And you know, you could say that about Heathland Golf in the UK. It's just the sort of the nature of the game. It's not always fair, but if you can hit one down the middle, you give yourself the best chance. It's the same in like, you know, true. You know, you spray one there, you could find a well trodden footpath where spectators have been walking and two yards next to it could be waist high bund where you, you know, you're not going to advance the golf ball. And I think, yeah, I didn't see an issue with it to be fair. I thought, I thought all those scrapes and stuff actually work quite nicely. Like, you know, it's unfair but it's equally unfair it's like it's just it's kind of a bit of a potluck so just don't put it there in the first place you know it's weird because i think Rory was on the receiving end of i thought that was really bad luck early doors was that five you know because he hit a really and there's the twitter went like got himself into an absolute frenzy over whether it was a a good shot well it can't be a good shot if it finished there but like he had a really good iron into that into that green and it was like a yard off and the penalty did not feel like it fit the crime, you know? Yeah, but five. Yeah, and five was the was the easiest hole in the golf course statistically played something like point two under. So it was like. You know, everyone else was doing right with it and power fives, he doesn't have to try and thread the needle, he can play it any multitude of ways. And I got no problem with five. I'm thinking more along the lines of other bits and bobs. Two little Bryson bits. ran off, it ran off the middle front portion of that green and into a cuppy lie buried behind a bunker with a pin beyond. I mean he was... know not to come in, not to roll in from that. You know, they've played that golf course enough to know that you can't really run it in that way because of the way the shot, you know, the green is. It's not like that's a surprise to him. He's played that hole at least three times this week. So he knows that. I don't know. I'm not sure five is unfair. Like he knew exactly what he was getting to and he chose to do anyway. Two little bits of Bryson before we go. First, number one, just short and sharp, I thought was really, really classy that he didn't try and make Pavon hit that putt on 18. Thought that was very good. He's like, no, no, no, like, no, like, cause he knew that he'd see the line. Not fair. I'm just going to play as is. Thought that was very classy. and second of all, I really liked the fact, you know, he's by that route on 18 on the left. Love the fact that he didn't. try and take relief somehow because when I first saw that I thought bloody hell that's close to the stands like he's gonna be approaching the green close to that stand. Loved the fact there was none of this can I you know I might want to come up on the left there take a drop and he was on a route none of that he was just like yeah okay I'm just gonna hit it. Big fan of both those things. And also he silenced the crowd after he hold that putt, didn't he, so that Pavon could hole out and take Tide forth or whatever it was. Yeah. risk that 13 was going to become this big TIO thing wasn't there. I mean Rory kind of gunned it into the stand and then I thought I can just see Bryson's just going to nail one here at row D and just take the drop and which I think is a bit Mickey Mouse but so we're seeing him step up and hit the three wood it's like okay fair enough. I would say that comfortably goes down as the I mean that's the best major golf I've seen for a while. I would say very, very close to the 150th in terms of... Yeah, 150th was pretty good and that was high drama. But they're the absolute pinnacle of our sport, the major championships, aren't they? And it's so rare you get one that's as good as that. You've got to relish it like it was as good as you could hope for. It just had the wrong ending, you know? Well, I hate to say it, but again, it just drives it home. It's like we don't see Bryson other than four weeks a year, you know, and it's a shame. It is a real shame, you know. I think Liv has actually improved the majors. Because now it's like you get these ding-dongs you don't get. And it's in that way like majors are even better because now we're getting to see these. valuable. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, they're stockers, you know, just keep rising, doesn't it? Interesting. Just on live. And I'm sorry if I'm going off on a crazy tangent here, but Dustin Johnson, I mean, he just isn't at the races anymore. Like, did he shot like 12 or 14 over, I think. I mean, I'm just surprised the guy turns up. Like he was the absolute generational talent of our sport. I thought, you know, in terms of striking and stuff. and you were like, I mean, the thought that, you know, we wouldn't be talking about DJ in a few years time. I remember the words vividly on the podcast. And it's like, here we are. It's like, DJ is just like an all -so-ran. Yeah, for a guy like crazy physical talent and just what you achieve and yeah, that's another sort of story to the live kind of dimension, isn't it? Anyway, right, that's an our listeners look forward to? Soon. it depends on the type of thing you're after. If you like events, then you can come and you can inquire about coming to the Cookie Jar summer meeting, which is going to be happening at Blackwell Golf Club on the Friday of the open, which I think is the 19th of July. If you're into films, you can keep your eyes out very shortly for a recap of the spring meeting that we did at the Addington, which was two or three weeks ago. And if you're in the market for podcasts, this time next week we will be releasing the Eclectic 18 with Tron Carter. Two -parter because he was a bit of a beast which we recorded a couple of weeks back. So lots of things to look at. Have I missed anything there Samuel? Nothing did a really good job that time. I'm trying to get better. Anyway, love that boys. Really enjoyed the little debrief. I really needed to vent about Rory, so I'm pleased that we could get on to our group therapy and boys until I just so gutted. I just honestly so so I feel so sad. Like Luke came into the office today, but basically in order for four hours because I was just so sad. But anyway, chaps, until next time. Adios.