Start from Scratch
If there’s one thing that always stirs up a debate for our family… it’s golf. Some of us provide sensible, measured and articulate points. Others, chat complete s**t from start to finish. You can decide who’s who for yourselves!
Start from Scratch
S2 E1: Brotherly Rivalries, Handicap Drops, and Merging Tours
We're back with another episode of our golf podcast after a lengthy hiatus (no thanks to Josh! But I won't keep going on about it) and this time we're joined by our older brother! Eddie has disappeared but we'll find him at some point we're sure.
We touch on the dynamics between Josh and his new golf rival JT, exploring their on-going feud and a potential scratch match for charity. Plus, we discuss the recent PGA and DP World Tours merger, debating the impact this could have on the golfing world and the involvement of the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund.
But that's not all! We've got some exciting changes in store for our podcast as we expand our guest list to include not just scratch golfers but anyone with a passion for the sport – from beginners to industry professionals. Stay tuned for more engaging and informative conversations, and join us as we continue to explore the world of golf, its players, and the friendly rivalries that make the game so enjoyable!
Are you telling me and be blunt with us now that you don't think Tiger Woods could teach you how to play golf better than what you currently do, or you're not saying it for certain? you're saying he might not be able to. Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. I'm not saying for certain. I'm just saying that he might not be able to Look at Gary Neville unreal, right back, but he's an absolute garbage manager. That, from scratch, was September 2020. Although I can't see it, it is recording. Sorry, normally I get an application at work it says it's been recorded. But, yeah, we're going to leave that as it is, because that just completely summarises you for everybody. The reason it's taken so long is we needed a break.
Speaker 1:Season one went really well for us And ever since that literally ever since that we've said right, josh, we've got a lot of stuff going on in our lives. It's time for you to take over the reins. And he's gone. Yeah, fine, i'll do it. So three years later It's not three years later. Well, september 2020 and we're really close to three years. It's the best part of three years. We've had COVID since that. In between that, we started the podcast during COVID. Let's have our time. I've been trying to prioritize my golf game and you'll be. You'll be seeing results this season. I'll tell you that we're going to come on to your golf game. Don't worry about that. That's the whole reason we're starting again.
Speaker 1:Okay, one thing, some sad news. We are moving forward without Eddie. There was a disagreement between Josh and Eddie. We had to choose one or the other and that's the end of Eddie. So I don't know. I think people were sick of hearing about him talk about how he played for Anglesey in North Wales and golf. Yeah, we decided to keep the banter. No, i'm missing.
Speaker 1:Eddie's got a lot of stuff going on as well. He's doing well. He will be coming in and out, but he can't commit every week. So I decided I can't just take on Josh by myself. He's too big of a challenge. So this week we've got our older brother.
Speaker 1:So we are four boys Liam, me, josh, two men, two boys And the last one, jack. Liam is more like me sensible, not stupid. I don't really know what to say because I'm comparing him to Josh and Jack. So Liam's joined the list today as well. He is worth noting, actually, to be fair, historically, just because of the work he's put in between the last few episodes we've been recording. He is officially the best golfer the Griffiths family has ever seen. On paper. There he is the handicapped. Yeah, he is, that's worth noting, but that is as far as it goes and put my compliments on him, or either he, for that matter. Well, we actually better stay here as well. That there's serious, i don't know what you'd call it. There's competition between Jack and Liam, and I want to touch on that as well, because Jack thinks he's good, but he's not. Well, let's get Liam to introduce himself first from his own words Evening guys. Fuck me, i was waiting for the No, that's his going, mate. No, good evening guys. Nice to finally be invited onto the podcast.
Speaker 1:This is your second appearance. Actually, you appeared on the quiz. No, he didn't, because we tried our best to keep Liam and Jack out of it. Yeah, but we let shot on it. Yeah, that's true, and that was a mistake. That was probably the least viewed episode of the first season, which I think we should mention. We decided to stop right when it was getting kind of small time popular. We'd reached 10,000 downloads. We had 500 downloads a week and then we decided to take a break, but the break was meant to be. So you got to a head's, didn't it? Well, the break was meant to be like two months, and two months turned into the best out of three years.
Speaker 1:Like I've said, i'm not going to keep going on about it, but there you go. Yeah, you are the kid, and that thing here About two kids now, two kids. In that time I've had two kids. We did To prepare. We just interrupted Liam's introduction. So, liam, carry on. Well, how else do you want me to introduce myself? Did you even say your name? You've introduced me in that sense. Yeah, but it's my friend's say as well Watch your handicap index.
Speaker 1:Okay, so my handicap index at the moment is 4.1, working on getting that down, i'm actually going to end the meantime. Whilst he's talking, i'm going to get his handicap index up. So I'm going to give you a bit of a. Don't go through my latest scores. No, not latest scores, to be fair. Like I said, the only compliment I've got is the steady golf you've been playing over the past year. Wait a second. We're not here to go through Liam's scores. No, to be fair, i want to give some context as to the greatest No, i wonder. We're not doing that. We're not doing that.
Speaker 1:No, to those who are listening, to the very few that are listening Liam, at the time of the recording the original 2020, i don't think you were playing golf then. Obviously, you played golf before, but what are you playing? I restarted golf during COVID June 2020. Basically, what he isn't saying is he restarted golf when he was listening to Start from scratch. Yeah, look at that. So start 2020, so you're just going to make this quick. So in 2020, his handicap index was 9.8, and now it is 4.1. That's impressive.
Speaker 1:On the contrary, i'm going to go on Trist as well. You can, you can, but we're not doing that. If we're going to do that to anybody, it's going to be only you. So, as I told you from the start, you're doing everything in the podcast and you're not you're not to intervene with the way it's structured, which you are now. Is that your job? Yeah, so your score is horrible. They have been and they keep getting worse. It is what it is.
Speaker 1:Back on, we are changing the way we do things slightly. So we had scratch golfers last time and we're still going to have scratch golfers, but we're going to have more of anybody kind of set up. So anyone who's into golf, who works in golf, who does something special in golf, anything and anybody. So that's how we're changing in that sense, and we're going to have different people on every week and we'll go from there and see how it is. Yeah, i think it'd be cool to notice, to mention that again in between.
Speaker 1:The last time we finished recording and starting up again, a lot of our friends picked up the game of golf And we had it was a funny, funny experience seeing new people start And we just thought me interested, thinking that it'd be nice to get not just the pinnacle of golf, people with over each scratch and their opinions on golf, but people who are just starting and their opinions as well. I'll tell you what is, on that note, funny and quite alarming really is those that have started golf in that period. Yeah, they're better than you. Well, they're either better than you or the. The level difference is yeah, yeah, they was none.
Speaker 1:I found I know what you're gonna say, what I know what you're gonna say. You're gonna say that ability wise. They are okay close to you, but mentally they're still no in here. Yeah, no, i'm gonna stand. Yeah, no, anyone, i'll take anyone mentally on, but they've not been plagued by YouTube yet. Wait till YouTube finds him. And then, mentally, you are strong, yeah, without that. Have played golf for this long, yeah, and still be at the level of a complete novice, is I mean, i take my heart to you. Well, is it? is this gonna be the second we talk about my golf? because, if it is, i've got one. No, no, no, just okay, that's fine, okay, so actually, yeah, let's do that.
Speaker 1:So you tell us how your golf game has progressed in your own opinion now, from three years ago. So I just want to provide some background into this before you answer. We recorded, i think, if I'm not mistaken, 19 or 20 episodes with scratch golfers yeah, and every one of them try to give you advice, and we got to a point where they weren't actually giving general people advice, they were just giving you advice on a weekly basis. Yeah, yeah, that's a doctor Karl Morris, adrian fryer, matt fryer, matthew Totty and all these people, to name a few. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So three years down the line, i want you to address the previous guests and I want you to give them an update of how you progress. Well, progression wise, that it literally hasn't been any like. There's been no progression, and that's not and that's not you know. I hope they don't take that personally. It's. I've ignored lessons from a lot of people over my short golfing career, so it's not a personal thing. It's just that I just feel like sometimes I'm better off on my own, and last year I guided myself to my first ever board comp win and my local club 42 points.
Speaker 1:It was a Hall of Fame week in terms of what we've achieved as brothers that way. Minutes, that's a good. I will make a note of the Hall of Fame week. You can be on with your channel game progression. Also. You weren't actually like saying that you as in making a note of it in a good way, you would actually just saying I want to make no welcome back to it, just leave it with me. I'll bring it up.
Speaker 1:What I want from you is how was your golf game progressed? yeah, but what? what? that's what I mean there, isn't it. So what are you? are you any better? I'm a 30 hour longer. No, you're not. I am. I really am. Liam, is he's out the bright long drive, mate. I'm getting on the 20 yards longer the other way, 40 yards past you both. Now, i've never.
Speaker 1:I honestly think Tiger Woods and butch Harman could try to coach you and you would try to convince us that they're talking shit. Tiger Woods, i might actually talk shit when it comes to teaching golf. Ronaldo might not be a good coach, messing about be a good coach. They just cracking players. Well, what is name butch Harman? butch Harman and it's what? yeah, i haven't coached anyone yet, okay, butch Harman? yeah, maybe, yeah, i don't know, butch, probably it depends.
Speaker 1:If I'm not getting results instantly what they're telling me, if it doesn't resonate me with me on every molecular level in my body, it's hot, it's not, it's not. It's not a choice we not take it in, it's like right. My mentality when it comes to lessons is like a locked door. If you've not got the right key, absolutely the fucking. You got the right key to open the door, it's gonna stay shut. Knock the doors, fault, stop for a minute. Stop for a minute.
Speaker 1:Do you know what people say about Tiger Woods? not about his achievements. Do you understand what people say about his understanding of the game of golf? no, they say that nobody understands how to swing a golf club more than Tiger Woods. So he understands every concept of the golf swing, of how to hit certain shots, how to shape the ball, how to take the ball off the ground and how to do whatever you need to do with a golf ball.
Speaker 1:Are you telling me and be blunt with us now, mm-hmm that you don't think Tiger Woods could teach you how to play golf better than what you can't do? you're not saying it for certain. You're saying you you might not be able to. Yes, that's exactly. I'm not saying for certain. I'm just saying that he might not be able to look at Gary Neville unreal, right back, but he was an absolute garbage manager.
Speaker 1:Can I ask a question? yeah, as you've alluded to, i've sort of come down. Yeah, honestly, started three, three years ago. In that space of time, i've probably had about five or six no, four or five golf lessons. Yeah, these are from professional, you know, qualified, yeah, coaches. Now, when they tell me what to do or what they think I'm doing wrong, i put a lot of faith in what they're telling me, because they wouldn't have the qualifications that they have if they were. You know talking rubbish and the proofs in the pudding. You know my hand caps come down, so, but you could also argue proofs in the pudding with my game? no, no, do you know I mean what point? again, that's nothing against the coaches, they're all brilliant coaches. I'm just. You've also seen various coaches some of them the same coaches, same coaches that I've seen you're Mathetotic show out brilliant.
Speaker 1:Now, i wasn't gonna name him because I don't know if he'd be too happy to associate himself with you. So, hey, we went out for record. Matty, you know, totally said I would see him few times my game. My game got better than, but then I didn't. I didn't carry on because of work commitment. You just reverted back to what you think is best and that is trying to hit the ball as far as you can. Yeah, yeah, longer.
Speaker 1:And actually, because this is like no holds bad, this is just an honest podcast. Brothers talk yeah, it's a brothers talk. Yet the mice they didn't. You tell me, liam and Jack, yeah, that you weren't gonna listen to talk anymore. No, yes, she does. That's completely fabricated, like what I might have said was that I'm not going to listen to anyone anymore. I, honestly, i found it now anyway. So just to put it out there on a record. We recorded this.
Speaker 1:We're recording this episode. It'll be on the 8th of June, i've got a medal comp. What's it called? Gladys Gladys Cup? Gladys Cup is also the club champs This weekend, which would be the one. Unfortunately, josh doesn't qualify to play the club champs If we're off index of 9, i missed that one Not even if we gave him double his handicap.
Speaker 1:No, halfway, what is it? Index 18 on the dot. So it's not bad. Gets me about 20 shots. Yeah, that's actually not. It's not as bad. I think I've lost 23 at the time.
Speaker 1:Okay, i'm going to give you a gift and I'm going to let you and I won't. I won't interrupt you. Liam might, but I won't interrupt you whilst you're talking us through your whole of fame golf week, because I know everybody Anyone who's actually bothered to download or listen to this episode is going to want to know about that. So go ahead, okay. So, basically, it was middle of last year. It was on July, wasn't it? No, it was August. It was August, it was. So on our local golf club we, Al James, a very good friend of ours. You're going to shout out to Bobby. Yeah, i just said shout out. Well, shout out to all of you know Bobby, shout out to Bobby and Al James.
Speaker 1:He used to do a Friday night comp. So you'd come, you'd rock up and you'd play 10 holes, you'd walk off the 10th and you'd point and it'd just be whoever had the score to take. You'd pay like, was it three quid? Yeah, was it three quid. And you rocked up. So, anyway, rocked up and I won the Friday comp with 22, 23 points and like that That's not on record, like cause, it was just whatever. Rocked up on the Saturday, won on a yellow tee comp with 41 points.
Speaker 1:So when that's, i went, win, win, had a week break and then played up. No, no, no, no, sorry. So when the Friday, when the Saturday, played in a team comp on the Sunday, and literally me and my friend Rayon, we carried Jack, our other brother, and Harvey, our friend, to third place. So I went first, first third team comp break of a week. Thought, wow, that was a great weekend. I was saying it was the whole Friday weekend. And then my brothers were having it. They were like, no mate, you just, you just had a good weekend. It wasn't all the same. That that irked me, honestly, that irked me. That got my back up. So what they'll do, i rock up the next Saturday on a board comp, smashing 42 points, broke 85 and took the debacle. And then I went and then it went back up and my handicap became that We went back up, but that was a whole of a frame week for me.
Speaker 1:I don't think there's any disputing either, to be honest, okay, not interfering then was harder than I thought it was going to be. So why? What was the dispute on that? Um, credit will just do. I do think you should have mentioned that the 22, 23 points was in a 10 hole comp. I did. Oh, sorry, this guy's right next to me, he's not even listening. No, actually it's worth. It was worth making a point because people are used to those scores from 18 holes for me. So, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, fair enough. But, like I said, i've made that clear.
Speaker 1:10 hole comp win. 18 hole comp. Yellow teams win Team comp third podium finish week. Next comp board board comp means something. My name's on the clubhouse, no matter what happens. If I retire tomorrow, my game, my name, sorry is going to be in that clubhouse for the foreseeable, jax is not. Yeah, Just use the time now to stir some shit and make your point about board comps with the brothers. Yeah, so Liam is on the on the board on a number of boards in the golf club.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you went captains day. What else have you went? No, i think it's drift captains day And you're not another one. No, it's just one's. Tristan, was this? after What year did you in the town cup? Long time ago, 2020. Yeah, so I might have mentioned this on. I might have mentioned this on the podcast. That's the. That was an impressive golf clinic. You put on those two days of two rounds in a middle. That's the best. That's the highlight.
Speaker 1:My golf career is done and I'm on a steady actually I'm on a quick decline. We never talk about my golf, so carry on, make your point. My point being is I did it over over a second whole week. You, you said you make this point every time we're together and you're not making the point. Now, who's the only one of us? Oh, yes, sorry, that's when I was going with it, yeah, so, yeah, basically, tristan on a board comp, liam's on a board comp, i'm on a board comp and I'll James on a board comp.
Speaker 1:I can name a lot of people who, who are from bull Bay We don't go into there Who who are played bull Bay, who are all on a board comp. There's one person who's not, and that's Jack, and he has got arguably, there's no arguing about it, he's got the biggest ego of us all. He's your social post talent. Oh right, liam. Oh yeah, okay, all right, okay, let's move on. Keep here to rip him, but not rim him. That is the job I'm to be honest, because he has the most talent, but he does the least work.
Speaker 1:The thing is, liam, you understand the people big egos is they'll take, they'll take. They'll hear what they want to hear from what you just said. So he won't hear that as a jive. He'll hear like, mate, i've got the most talent And technically mean you don't know this, but me and Josh, i've got you on an hour long interview and we've just marked you down. Yeah, like what is that? Anyway, back to your golf dress.
Speaker 1:No, okay, right, josh, i want to ask you a question. I'm waiting to answer me in percentage, okay. So the question is how much nonsense? Yeah, do you say you talk when you're talking golf? I'm, i have a percentage in my head. Liam, i want you to think of your percentage. You just tell me how. So how much of what comes out of your mouth is purposefully nonsense. No, no, no.
Speaker 1:The general public or the general golfer feels that it's absolutely just fucking mental What you've just said. I genuinely think that I talk. I don't think. I genuinely don't think I talk any nonsense like 5, 10%, something like that. I think a lot, yeah, i think a lot of golfers can relate to me and how you handle the cappers in general. I think Arter is closer to relating to you than to Jan's first sport. Yeah, you need to introduce him 2015 Masters runner. No, well, before that. No, he'll need some time, but I don't think what I chat up. Obviously, you guys disagree. What percentage do you think? Well, there's, yeah, i think it's way. It's way over 50%. Yeah, well, better than I thought. It's easily above.
Speaker 1:The thing about you, though, is when you talk golf, it makes sense, you make some sense. You're just not able to translate it into your own game. Yeah, do you know the amount of times I've had people sort of compliment my backswing, not my backswing, my practice swing, and then just passing and then like if they're far enough away when I actually hit the shot, i'll just hold the finish. So I don't know, I've shanked on right into the bush, but it's? yeah, i don't know. Even I sometimes think that I don't know.
Speaker 1:Your swing is beautiful. No, yes, it is. No, it's not. If you were a fisherman, it would be a lovely cast. That's the way you swing a golf club, as if you were casting a role. I've changed that, though It's like you never finished the swing. Well, listen, i'm gonna let my golf do the talking for the rest of the team. Point I was making anyway, the point I was getting to Words.
Speaker 1:There's a member at your club, james, true, yeah, jt, jt. Yeah, yeah, yeah, jt. He thinks you've shot completion. Yeah, well, it's pot kettle black with him. I can tell you that right now It is pot kettle black. I will argue till I'm like blue in the face. I would wait a minute. I just want to.
Speaker 1:I want to see where this goes, because I only met him fairly recently, or only got to speak to him properly fairly recently. I could hear in him, although he quite obviously loves you, there's just something in him that's got really weird. It's so weird, honestly, it's so weird. There's like a mix of like pure hatred and then across with like unreal sexual tension. He'll, he'll, he'll, attest to that himself.
Speaker 1:Now, obviously I love JT, but when it comes to golf course talk, we are we're sworn enemies, like we're gonna have a scratch match. He's what's he off now? there, i think you get about 14, 15 shots. Yeah, so he probably gets about four shots on me. I'm gonna scratch match him And we said we donate. The loser has to donate money to charity and we're going to set that up and that's going to be documented and you'll see. Yeah, here's a suggestion. We talk to JT and we aim to put that at the end of the summer, so we've got enough time to stir shit between the two of you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but the things he says about you when you're not there, oh, yeah, it would be behind my back. Yeah, of course it would be. No one can say it to my face, like. So you're saying for certain that you think he's full of shit. Yeah, like that's not. Probably those from from bull Bay who are listening, that's not, that's not news to them. Do they all shit? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, 100%.
Speaker 1:Al James, john Bingham, liam, anyone they know JT chats out the crack. I did. I did see him on the course the day when I played with Liam And he was wearing it and I did say I bring it up He was wearing a shocking, shocking outfit. He does. He wears a neon, a neon yellow polo, yeah, with pink shorts. Pink shorts Every Saturday. That is tiger outfit. To be fair, every Saturday wears it. It was the third week.
Speaker 1:So the bet is now is a scratch match between me and James. True, the original bet And it came last summer. I think Mark Williams, a guy at the club I don't know if you'll actually mind me naming them there He has a video of us both recording this bet And it was the first person out of both of us to get down to single figures. The loser pays £100 charity, like we have done. The other one. Where's that video? Well, that's Mark to get it.
Speaker 1:But Mike, the point I'm making is that then got changed the scratch match after we both NR a couple weeks ago. We both looked at each other like on our own in the clubhouse and like she changed the spec because we're not fucking getting up there to see a big. So that's over that on that one. But you know it is what it is It's. You know it's like couple, couple parties on the balcony, the competitive juices that flow in and anything comes out. I just found it interesting because I was thinking there's something in this, there's a rivalry here And I want to explore that.
Speaker 1:I'm willing to take on all challenges, not just JT. By the way, don't you have 100% record of losing to all the guests you've played? I only played one. So, yeah, guess it. Yeah, they did play last day And did you lose? Only was that one episode? Yeah, so you got 100%. If you wanted to narrow it down to an actual result, yeah, i lost, i suppose. Okay, well, i did. But I can say we go on, right, we're going to every week. Now we're going to have something new and it's a quiz. I'm going to think of questions and we're going to put them in. So, josh, just just, i want to actually want to ask because we'll do this going forward Yeah, who wins the?
Speaker 1:he wins the scratch match. Yeah, oh, that's a tough one. Actually, i haven't seen got to. I'm going to back you. I'm going to back you for it. Look, is it that? JT, jt? No offense, i'm not going to give my prediction, not for a while. You can't do that. Liam, you've got, you can change your opinion. You're, you're no, i'm just going to hold it to the event. So, liam, you're going for me, i'm going to go for Josh. Reason I think, mentally you've played more bad golf than him, so the crowd will not, will not face you.
Speaker 1:Jt, the other week was on the 18th green. Yeah, yes, he was. Yeah, he was, yeah, he was, and he had a bit of a crowd. He was just off the green. What about 24? Yeah, yeah, and he pulled his putter out And we were all on the balcony watching him. He didn't really like it. He well, he actually stole from taking his shot. Yeah, trying to get us to go inside the club. He must have been after his put. He was further than 20 feet away, but then proceeded. Luckily for him, he putted it closer to us. He was directly beneath the balcony and then put it pretty much back in the same position. It was a left side for him. So, yeah, that's why I get the answer there. Okay, quiz time. Let's go. It's you two And obviously anyone is listening.
Speaker 1:Give it a go, right, there's five questions. One of these are based on the British Open, because technically, nobody cares about the US Open. So once that one's out of the way, british Open, whoa, you can't be offending our American listeners of that mate. We got any One, maybe. Well, he's not listening anymore, is he Right? number one?
Speaker 1:Two golfers have been number one in the world. Pause, is it first one, sir? It's first one, sir, okay, and basically, if there's any rules we're unsure of, it's just what I say goes. Okay, two golfers have been number one in the world without winning a major. Who are they? Oh, no, it's Luke Donald and me Westwood. Yeah, that was such a ridiculous guess. That was, yeah, john Ram. Don Ram is just when the masters, oh John asked about two majors. Yeah, i know, he's Jeff from the masters. So, yeah, that should be fresh. I think I know where Liam was going, though. Yeah, liam was thinking John Ram was number one without winning a major, but that's also not true.
Speaker 1:Are you on the USPG? Yeah, but that's not what Trist is asking. What does it mean? Was it Scotty? No, the answer is Josh. What's it? Luke Donald and me Westwood? Yeah, i think, to be fair, the views might be split on that one because of the way you were.
Speaker 1:There's a question, but that's, that's not my fault. I got it right anyway. I'm just saying So, what did he mean? What? So what did he mean? Wait a second. We're on a question two now. Right, who are the last two winners of Open to High League? Rory McElroy and Tiger Woods? 14,000, 6,000. Yeah, i'm just being smashed at this. I said I live and breathe golf. I don't mean live, i live. I mean I live. Josh could take. Josh could take the win with three points.
Speaker 1:Next question now. You'd only allowed to guess once. Okay, i'm on this, by the way, on Saturday, so you can't just go and just give me your first guess. Your first guess is your guess. Right. How many players compete at the Open? typically 157. 100. Josh, was that a guess? Yes, it's 156. Yes, dude, so that's a pike. That's you by you or me, peretti, on Saturday? Right, what is juice? Let's even get 5 for 5. Come on 4.
Speaker 1:Where was the first round of golf of under 70 played? Is it Andrews? Yeah, he was, and it was by young Tom Morris in 1868. I was going to say that When he shot 69. Are you genuine? You don't get any from anywhere. I knew the Huyley Cones and I knew the first question, but I did it. I completely guessed 157 and I just assumed it would be St Andrews, oldercourse, and all that Right to the nearest 0.5,000.
Speaker 1:0.5, so 500. Yeah, to the nearest 500. I was reading the question. What a weird way to say 0.5,000. You know, i got that from my website. You can't donate mate To the nearest 500.
Speaker 1:I let Liam go first. What is the longest course in the world, liam? it's got to be a links course. You understand the concept of guessing. He's not educated, he's not guessing it. Pebble Beach. You missed that one. He said his base round the open. This one isn't. Disclaimer, then, longest course in the world I'm going to guess is somewhere yardage wise, somewhere like Wolf Creek. You're genuine. You've misunderstood the question. Again, to the nearest 500,000. To the nearest 500. What's the longest course in the world? Where is the course? 7,900 yards. You can get to the nearest 500 as well. I'm going to go 7,800. Liam wins 8,548 yards.
Speaker 1:Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in Li Jiang, china. What's that? par then? Might have been worth it for the viewers. I did well there. Yeah, he was at 4 out of 5. Yeah, and quick as well. Yeah, he was quite good.
Speaker 1:Did you know any of them before you? I knew the last two winners at Hoi Lake because Hoi Lake is the opener to go to every time. I would have guessed. I would have guessed Luke and Lee, but I wouldn't have known any of the others. Well, my God, thank you, i matched until next week. Luckily, i'm playing on you Right time to get on something gritty now Ready.
Speaker 1:Yeah, i'm going to take a step back on this one because, genuinely, with stuff going on this week, i don't actually know Other than the fact that the headline is Live Golf PGA and DP will tour are to merge. That's it. That's all I know. So I'm going to hand over to you and you tell me what's going on. Liam, do you know where you're in first? I don't mean to weigh in first, because I know you're an advocate for the layman. Actually, it might be interesting for people to know, because Liam's just touched up on that Me and Josh are what I would call like socialists, so we're a little more aligned in our way of thinking than Liam.
Speaker 1:Jack is just completely random. Jack basically just chooses the right side. Jack's not a socialist. He's thick, isn't he? Liam and me and Josh constantly in some sort of disagreement, whether it's me and Liam against Josh, josh and them against me, or whatever the other one was. So go on anyway, carry on. So I'm going to just say right now Liam will probably disagree with me. I don't know. He's been trying to get a rise out of me all day, all day on WhatsApp Live is not merging with the PGA Tour and the DP will tour for the start.
Speaker 1:That's a common misconception. Saying Live is going to merge with the PGA Tour is like saying Newcastle United is going to merge with the PGA Tour, the IAF they own Live. They are the main investors for Live. I can't remember what it is, but they are now becoming the new investors, the priming investors, for this new for-profit, unnamed entity which is going to include the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour And possibly players that have gone from Live, gone from PGA Tour to Live. But they'll need to reapply for their memberships, which is why it's a talk of penalty. Live has got nothing to do with this new entity. Take the players away. Nothing to do with it. So what happens to Live Golf? Hopefully, as Rory says, mate, it goes away Now, jokes.
Speaker 1:I actually I don't particularly like Live. I don't just because of the pure format of it 54 holes. I don't know, it's not for me. Liam obviously disagrees. I know he's itching to weigh in on this. So, from your perspective, what's happening? I don't particularly agree with Live in the sense that I'm not a fan of the 54 hole structure.
Speaker 1:What I will say is, throughout the entirety of the live PGA tour fiasco, i've always been pro golf and live is the catalyst to the change that's needed in golf. Good or bad, and it's been proven, and, whether you like it or not, live ultimately even though we've had a period of disagreements, there's been a lot of hostility in the golfing opinions Live has ultimately been good for golf. So is live part of this merger, then? or is it, like Josh says, the Saudi Arabian money? Look, live is was funded, or is funded by the Saudi Arabian public investment fund.
Speaker 1:Now, as far as I'm concerned, live was just a vessel for them to get their foot into the golfing world. Yeah, so if live goes away, you know it's for me, it's the same people that want to get their foot in the door. And yeah, it might not be. It may not be live anymore, but I don't think they care. Is there any?
Speaker 1:I think one of the things, one of the issues I had with live was the ego centric type of approach they took the way they thought they were changing golf, when you could argue that the actual idea has changed golf and a degree with that. But the actual product, in my opinion, was really shit, yeah, but what you watched, what you saw, the way it was all fake and like dramatic. But what happens? the likes of Greg Norman, because he is an issue in my opinion, he's live, i think, would have a better standing without the likes of Greg Norman. And I'm not being funny.
Speaker 1:If Pat agreed is one of your, what would you say? sort of Stamina, stamina, not Stamina. He's sort of like you. These are all model for live. I don't know what the word I'm looking for is Advocate, advocate. Yeah, it's alive. Fucking hell, he's not going to come out looking like roses in the public eye.
Speaker 1:So if just the idea of the PIF is working alongside PGA, that's a better set of the might. Pif needed someone to make enough noise to send shockwaves down the PGA tour and that's what you know. Goal accomplished they got Greg Norman on there, who nobody likes. They got Patrick Reed, they I don't think anybody for. So them getting Bryson, camsmith and Brooks and DJ. But they've achieved what they set out to do, which was rock the boat.
Speaker 1:I think everyone deep down new, including PIF, that the PGA tour can do live golf better than live golf can do live golf. Yeah, they've disclaimer, to be fair is yeah, i agree that live wasn't a good product, but it's been leveraged to get themselves a seat at the the broader global golf table, if you'd like. And they've made Jay Monaghan the CEO of this new unnamed entity rather than Greg Norman. So I think that tells you something about what they think their plans are. And also, rory and Tig were very vocal about the fact and Jay Monaghan, that they want Greg Norman to have nothing to do with it going forward. So I can't see how we'll be a part of it. To be honest, greg Norman or Greg Norman, from what I've read briefly, the same should happen to Jay Monaghan. Yeah, i agree, he I was saying this to Osh on the phone.
Speaker 1:My cousin part of me is like there's no doubt about he's a massive hypocrite. A massive hypocrite. You know you go out on your shield, but then you've also got to think that you've got to be a certain type of person to do what he's done and in the fashion that he's done it, and you've got to be that sort of person to be a CEO to be a commissioner, and obviously that's why he is where he is, because he's not afraid to make sometimes staffed, sometimes hard, sometimes good. But what you can agree on is that live wasn't a good product, but whatever comes out of this is going to be the best product we've probably ever seen in golf. What I would challenge is why did the PJ Tour feel a need to do this? because if I don't think there was ever any real winners coming from it and the way it was going back and forth, back and forth, it was turning golf into like I don't know football, like really dramatic. But if you look that the way you did have winners and losers, to me the PDGA was winning the.
Speaker 1:The only real argument live hard was Brooks Kebker who, when I watched one swing, full swing, shout out Netflix. I could see. I could see more of a reason as to why he left. He wasn't in a good place and he just wants to play against the best golfers in the world and that's where he's at his best. Other than Brooks, don't think they had anything going for him. Even Cam Smith after he won the open, he's not managed to do anything since. I don't know if he's on a bit of a down slope and he's coming back up again.
Speaker 1:Well, this is the thing, just to say. Let me just make my point on that. If they'd waited them out, i don't, i know they've got bags and bags and bags of money and they were willing to throw bags and bags and bags and money at things. But the PJ Tour was still the most watched, it was still the most active. It's still had the biggest names in golf. You had the likes of Ram, sheffler, rory, who really are genuinely the best golfers in the world.
Speaker 1:And if the PGA feel the need to be drawn into a merger, i'm thinking about what the weaknesses, and it was because if only one was going to survive, from my perspective it wasn't going to be live. Money talks, doesn't it? and there's rumors today that John Ram was very close to signing a deal for live. Oh yeah, so it was. You know live were chasing the big names. Some of them were turning or their ears, they were listening in the at the very least. So the merger to me makes sense because it's just an opportunity to unify the golf golfing world and also get that investment. And while Rory, you know Rory said something along the lines of at least they now get to control where that money's, how that money's spent.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the PGA Tour, they couldn't. They couldn't keep up the the prize purses. They needed to to have the financial to cover the financial gap between live and the PGA Tour. They also they made elevated events, bigger purses, etc. They. That wasn't sustainable. The PGA Tour has never generated that amount of money. Also, i think the litigation suits, i think, played the massive part in it. They didn't want Tiger said. Tiger's been quoted in an interview. He said get rid of Greg Norman and the litigation system will talk. So I think that the PGA Tour weren't. Personally, as soon as the likes of Rory say now, this battle went on for like the five years, as soon as Rory and JT and Spieth start to dwindle off, the PGA Tour would have would have crumbled. I think it's only Tiger and Rory that have really, really steadied and could the PGA Tour to.
Speaker 1:It is, i think, personally like I say, john Ramsey from the Masters. So he's playing the Masters every year. He won the US Open so he was playing, he was playing. So with the Masters you get the Masters but you also get, i think you get other majors, british Open, you can quality he was qualified for anyway through the Masters win and then, if you don't, you can just go through qualifying for that. So from John Ramsey's point of view, if he's not getting what he needs from just regular Tour events, he's in all the majors. It was only the Ryder Cup that was probably holding him back from signing will live.
Speaker 1:I think a major player was Bruce Kebker. Without him, i said a while ago that if Liverpool were going to win a major, it needed to be this year, it needed to be soon and needed to be fresh whilst they were all still in them and whilst they all had a shout in them. And Brooks is just a different animal. That's the problem, because if you remove Brooks yeah, you had one or two others that made a bit of a show in the Masters. But, like we said, who gives a fuck about Patrick Reed? I don't care if that guy finished like first, i wouldn't give a shit about the Masters that year. He's a nobody like, nobody wants to hear from him. But Brooks came and he made the point which was I'll be fresh for the majors. And now I think that has really rocked the boat with the PGA because there will be a top pros going. I didn't expect Brooks to come out like that. To be honest, yeah, i don't know. I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen. It'll be exciting, though. I think it's the best thing for golf.
Speaker 1:This product, where you had the divide before, is like we've all three of us have said there now. Leib wasn't a good product, but there were some people there was a market for that. Some people loved the good. Think they were lying. I do think they were lying, but regards to the line up, they would come out and say they loved that format. And then there were some people who said they hated it and liked the PG80 format. So you've got two different sets of golf fans like in two different products there. At least with this one, they're going to be forced to like the same product, and I think they will as well, because I think it'll be great.
Speaker 1:One thing I want to touch up on about one week maybe not this week is actually how John Lamb did destroy Brook. Yeah, that was good. I like Brooks. I really like Brooks. He's the only one Yeah, i like Brooks. I think that's the only one that I actually would choose to root for in the major.
Speaker 1:No, i think a lot of them made good points. When you watched full swing Ian Polter, i had a lot of respect, for I can't see anyone making a different decision to him. I'm sure he could tell you himself And when he does listen to this, inevitably you might have an opinion on it. But he couldn't compete with you on the PG80. Simple, and he's achieved so much in his career which you never really thought he would And he just thought, yeah, what make millions from playing on a different tour? Well, it's still giving me money, no brainer. So I just heard a lot of them. Yeah, i can't blame that, to be fair. But we'll see next week, because when this episode comes out, like I said, it's June 8th today. This episode will come out when we project interest. Why are you asking me? You're the one with the reins.
Speaker 1:Now, by the time this episode is out, it will be the US Open, the beginning of the US Open. So I think the three of us, as well as anyone listening, should make our predictions. How about we go? one European, one American and one world. Is it world? Is the President's Cup team of Australia? No, president's Cup is Australia. Yeah, so they will go world, but not European or American, no, no, no, american. European and world, oh, no, yeah, obviously Right, okay, who wants to go first? Leigh, i'm your the oldest, and look at you, come on. I'm going to go with John Rom for the European. Yeah, okay. And who? just Victor Hovland, wasn't it? Yeah, great shot, he's a shot as well. No, i'm going to stick with John Rom, rambo Yeah, rambo living. Colin Morikawa, i think he's got to make. Can you do us a favour then? Well, you're trying to take longer. You're putting me on the spot. We're calling the winners. That's the whole point, mate. John Rom, colin Morikawa and Cam Smith. Me next. Yeah, i'm going to go. Rory, i'm going to go.
Speaker 1:Spear baby And Dressed The World, i don't know, someone completely random, jason Day maybe, yeah, so I have to back Makaroy to the hilt, like I'm going to. Yeah, makaroy for me every day. Have you ever thought about not backing him? No, that's not the time you do, because he might win. No, i will. Honestly, i would rather not see him in a major and me backing his whole career than him winning one when I don't back him. So, makaroy, rest Of The World, i'm going to go for I'm going to go Diffense U-Test.
Speaker 1:My mind was Jason Day, but I think Siwukim could do well. Yeah, there's always some Asian like up there Or thereabouts. He could do well. He played well last week in the memorial, just had a bad blast round. And then an American. Am I stupid in saying Brooks? That guy literally lives for the majors, he lives for the majors. So, brooks, makaroy and Siwukim, where is it It is in?
Speaker 1:Is it Brookline Crypto Club? I don't know. Okay, well, should find it out. We will start the door to a close.
Speaker 1:So that was it for episode one Coming back. We're looking forward to it. Don't know what next week has in store. Where is it, josh? LACC can't be forgot. That Los Angeles Country Club, oh, is it? Yeah, yeah, yeah, i know that. Have you heard that before? No, here we go. Okay, right, so we'll see you next week. And do you say this will be up before the US Open? Josh, it is Okay, great, yeah, yeah. Thank you, liam for coming on.
Speaker 1:We'll be seeing you more this season, hopefully alongside Jack, where that episode will probably turn into me and Tristan taking the backseat and then going out each other's throat with kisses No, just with absolute grief. Actually the golf game. So I'm going to go for it. Go on, what do you want to say? In any major competition this year, jack will not finish above me. And what we got left? We have Club Championship this weekend, we've got the Town Cup in July. Captain's Day Got Captain's Day in July.
Speaker 1:We've got the Champion of Champions, which, by the way, i'm already qualified for. Well, that then only goes. Champion of Champions is if you win a board competition or get top three, you automatically qualify. And you've already beat him. So you beat him. You haven't beaten anything yet, but you beat him in the singles, much by singles. You're further than him in that. He's knocked out, isn't he? Did you go through? Well, i think Jack's got a lot of explaining to do when he comes on. I'm sure he's eagled. We'll sort that out like Brittany. Yeah, right, well, we did say bye And then we've had another half an hour there. Okay, see you in a bit.
