Fore Play

The first Tiger photo post-accident has emerged and he looks... great. We react to Tiger’s post, the Zurich Classic ending in alternate shot playoff, and Brooks Koepka lefty vs Dave Portnoy (with Frankie on the bag). And we do this all live from the patio at Olympic Club, minutes after playing it. We also discuss that round without spilling all the juice. We’re all together in person again, so it’s one of those kind of shows.

A very unique and fascinating guest on today’s show. Dr. Jared Van Snellenberg (54:40) was Happy Gilmore’s caddie, and today is a doctor conducting important research on the brain. As you may imagine, this takes us down a lot of different roads: what was the Happy Gilmore role like, how does the brain affect good golf versus bad golf, how can we better control our own brains, and much more. Before Dr. Van Snellenberg, we have a lengthy discussion on the PGA Tour’s new “Player Impact Program,” rewarding a $40M bonus pool to the players who are most impactful on moving the needle.

Hoodies and casual wear are taking over golf; we love it and want more of it. We talk golf wardrobes, Frankie’s 76, Trent’s upcoming breaking 100 series, Si Woo Kim’s preposterous penalty, Stewart Cink’s dominant win, Lydia Ko returning to the top, and going all-in on Christmas this year. Then actor Dean Norris (74:43), joins the pod to chat about his new show, the early days of Breaking Bad, Rickie Fowler, and much more.

Pat Perez (2:45) drinking a bottle of MJ wine joins the show from the RBC Heritage to cover it all: Hideki winning at Augusta, his relationship to Si Woo’s broken putter, the maddest he’s ever been on the course, defending Horschel and Poulter, not eating fish, what makes professional golf standout in difficulty, and much more.

Instant Masters reactions. Hideki wins as things tightened down the stretch. Augusta shined with great conditions. Xander came up short under pressure again. Zach Johnson looks like an astronaut. Billy Horschel is a lunatic. Spieth and Greller made things interesting. Bryson hasn’t figured out Augusta. Much more. Full 2021 Masters recap.

It is time! The Masters has arrived. We get into it all — course conditions, our picks, what we’re most excited for, and what we expect. We also react to the latest Tiger accident news and, once again, try to figure out how we truly feel about Bryson DeChambeau!

Masters stories. Spieth is back. We’ve got a MONSTER 3 and a half-hour episode for you. We recap all the exciting action from the Valero Texas Open and Frankie eats crow after talking bad about Spieth. We chat about an amazing weekend at Augusta National for the Women’s Amateur as well as the first major of the year, the ANA Inspiration. Then we are joined by some fans of the program who recount some of their favorite Masters moments, and boy are there some wild stories. We’ve got 3(!) separate stories of people breaking into Augusta National, a guy who has been to Augusta 50+ times, a guy who passed multiple kidney stones at Augusta, the most emotional Tiger fan of all time, and as always tons more!!!

Nate Bargatze (94:15) joins the show. We discuss his hilarious new Netflix special, the new golf simulator he installed in his house, matches vs Shay Mooney, going on Joe Rogan, and much more. Before Nate, we react to LA County keeping the cause of Tiger’s accident secret, the new Behind The Greens episode, and take several From The Galleries. Would we rather have Tiger on the pod for 30 minutes or play Rory in a Fore Man Scramble? Will The Players ever be considered a major? Is it okay to embroider your name on your golf bag? And, obviously much more!

We all love match play, but should the match play format be implemented for a major championship? Would it be awesome or stupid? Could it be both? We’re also PUMPED our friend Joel Dahmen breaking through and winning for the first time on the PGA TOUR in Puntacana. And we’ve got: Kevin Na & DJ’s awkward gimme, Herschel’s awful shot followed by somehow winning, the likability of Scottie Scheffler, Sergio’s walk-off ace, the excitement around our first video with Dustin Johnson, Behind The Greens episode 2, and the Barstool Classic kicking off. Big week!

Songwriting stud and country music star Hardy (39:06) joins the show. Hardy dives into the idea of becoming famous and realizing your former self is gone forever (perhaps a parallel to Rory McIlroy admitting chasing distance has hurt his golf swing?). We also talk the Fore Man Scramble vs country stars match, Hardy’s recent ace, the art of songwriting, and implementing rock into country songs. Before Hardy joins, the crew delves into superstitions and the idea of unluckiness (opening an umbrella inside, walking under a ladder) affecting both golf and real life!

It’s Match Play week and the boys are buzzing. Fresh off the Honda Classic, we break down Matt Jones' win, Riggs’ JB Holmes tweet that sent Steve Elkington into a tizzy, and Adam Scott’s adonis-like figure. Then we dive deep into Nick Faldo’s comments about Rickie Fowler potentially missing the Masters, preview the Match Play by breaking down defending champion Kevin Kisner’s record, toss our brains in a blender by discussing UFOs and our cosmic footprint, and as always much, much more!

The king of video games is back and in a BIG way. A one Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods just inked a new deal with 2K to bring back Tiger Woods video games. Frankie takes us on a deep dive into the history of golf video games, Riggs and Trent recount the time they spent living with Gary Player during The Masters, and much more. Then we are joined by country music star Chris Bandi (54:39) for almost an hour. Chris tells hilarious stories involving John Daly and Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door, the grind of coming up in country music, his experience performing at the Grand Ole Opry, and as always, much more!

Doug Ghim (62:05), who played in the penultimate group Sunday with Justin Thomas, joins the show to debrief and recap this year’s PLAYERS Championship: first tee nerves, playing alongside the eventual champ, how this was a learning experience, and much more. Before Doug joins, we react to JT’s clinical final round, Westy’s good run, Bryson topping his tee shot on 4, Rory’s candid comments, Spieth and Morikawa hitting into Sabbatini then getting caught on a hot mic, and much more!

The Dadbod Classic at Pebble Beach was perhaps the greatest buddies golf trip ever assembled. And we were there. We relive the whole week, react to Bryson at Bay Hill, preview The Players, and much more!

Legendary golf instructor Butch Harmon joins the show — the whole crew is live from Butch’s office at the Butch Harmon School of Golf in Las Vegas. Butch delves into stories on Tiger changing his swing, Phil winning the Masters, DJ committing to a new ball flight, and Spieth seeking a second opinion. We get behind the scenes of Rickie at the Open and Tiger & Phil in the Augusta champions locker room. Butch also talks about his efforts to help veterans including a 2007 trip to visit 9 bases in 7 days in Iraq with David Feherty, Tom Watson and Tom Lehman. All-time interview!

“The wretched Borrelli” comes face to face with Abraham Ancer (41:10) where he rationalizes his tweet stating he wanted Ancer to, “quit the game of golf” once Tiger beats him in the Presidents Cup. We dive into the media taking Ancer’s quotes about Tiger out of context during the Presidents Cup, his tequila company, what it’s like playing with Kiz, his caddie Dale’s diet and hot dog reviews, plus tons more. Before Ancer we react to Bryson saying he feels like he’s in Narnia when he works out, the most important inventions in human history, breakdown the 2021 Barstool Classic, and more!

What might be the longest, most awkward 4 minutes in podcasting history occurs during today’s interview with Brian Baumgartner (68:04) as Frankie and Trent take the reins while Riggs sprints to his computer for the interview. Once the train gets back on the rails, we discuss spilling chili with Brian, playing Riviera and what to do on the 6th hole, the current state of his game, plus tons more. Before Brian, we discuss how much of a pro-Collin Morikawa is and how we’d vote for him as president, preview our buddies trip out west to Pebble, Lurch’s life hack on going to sleep, and as always, much more!

U.S. Ryder Cup captain and 12-time PGA Tour winner Steve Stricker (53:38) joins the show alongside fellow Wisconsin native and 7-time PGA Tour Champions winner Jerry Kelly. We discuss playing with potential Ryder Cup bubble guys, how to setup Whistling Straits to benefit America, winning Trent’s precious John Deere Classic 3 times, being pro golfers through Wisconsin winters, their golf games now vs 20 years ago and much more. Before Steve and Jerry, we talk Tiger updates and Arizona golf characteristics!

Pray for Tiger Woods

Max Homa gets an extremely popular hometown win at Riviera while Tony Finau, again, comes up just short. We breakdown everything 2021 Genesis Invitational, from Max’s tree shot to Saturday’s wind delay to Tiger’s appearance and more. We also give our thoughts on the USGA and R&A’s new proposed amateur rules, and where a potential match with Whitney and the Chiclets crew stands!