Flagstick Podcast Ep.96 - Lydia’s Legacy, PGA TOUR Championship

[Music] instruction golf news equipment travel interviews course profiles and more your weekly fix of all things golf is about to begin it's the flagstick podcast with your hosts Jeff bter and Scott McLoud all right well welcome everybody to the flagstick podcast we're creeping up on episode 100 it is episode 96 all right 96 uh I'm Jeff B of course he's Scott McLoud and um we're happy to have this uh this week's podcast brought to you by our good friends ganic golf Pei uh which you just got back from not too long ago I did golf prinet RH island is a premier Canadian golf destination boasting the most number of golf courses per capita in this great country with over 400 Fairways closer than you imagine uh top tier accommodations and exquisite culinary experiences uh it is the easiest golf vacation you will ever book so book your golf vacations and tea times at Gopi doca and uh don't hesitate to to do some fall Golf out there either by way we're only we're only in August right now getting close to September but I think there's still a good couple of months at least left in the golf season uh out east and um some pretty spectacular um what do you call them views Vistas Vistas yeah I mean you you you I wouldn't go swimming necessarily too much longer but uh you can golf yeah definitely were we the and what were the end of September oh we were late we were late September early October when we went and was still outstanding yeah and obviously the colors are great and like you mentioned views at golf courses like Glasco Hills I think brochure here yeah I can't really see it this camera won't focus there it is long drive yeah but if you're up on uh glasow Hills and the views from that Clubhouse across the across the Clyde River pretty spectacular so um yeah get that in there and if not start booking for 2025 because it's going to book up pretty quickly strongly suggest that now before we get too deep into the podcast let me remind everybody to follow us across all social media networks including Instagram X Tik Tok and Facebook and please subscribe on Spotify audible Amazon music and apple podcast uh we really do encourage you to subscribe to our YouTube channel uh like us and click the notification Bell to make sure that you never miss anything that we post up there um obviously the flagstick academy continues to rock hard on the YouTube um Y and we're happy about that so which is why we're going to keep doing it um but we'll talk about that another time still plenty of stuff happening in the golf world right now um you know we'll uh we'll use the front nine as always to catch you up on a little bit of the news and topics uh from around the region and around the globe uh but uh in the back nine of course it's TOUR Championship week and there's a lot to talk about with the Tour Championship and um I know that there's some notes made to talk about uh we're going to go off um my my TOUR Championship discussion points are epic today um we we seem to have a lot of the same ones each year I know I know before we even get to the notes I can tell you that the notes are probably going to be irrelevant yeah they just there for reference if needed but I I and I'm really excited to get to that topic so um all right but we got to get to the front nine first so the front n presented by meaf Golf Club a natural setting a pleasant challenge obviously as we said there's still lots of golf have to be played this year especially around here we'll go deep into into October um get those game packs you can still get the game packs 10 20 30 game passes uh you're going to save on your green fees uh compared to the regular price green fees visit metf golf.com to book T times and to shop for those passes memberships and goodies now yeah um okay on the front nine on the front nine um lots of stuff going on yeah there is quite a bit of stuff the ovg ovga men's senior intersectionals we're kind of winding down intersectional season now just senior women left so uh congratulations out to the team from Canada who won the a division for the very first time and at their home course which is always exciting to do um Tapper Dan tap made a birdie on the last hole to secure the win so how exciting is that um for intersectionals like it's exciting enough when it's an individual tournament to make a birdie on the last hole to win tournament but when you're doing it for your for a team your club team intersectionals and you drop a bird yeah yeah it's always interesting on man didn't have to buy drinks that night uh no somebody said that he might not have to buy drinks for a while for for men's night so justifiably so um yeah that was on Monday I don't know I think I was up till Elish getting in results and then still a few more hours the next day but uh lots of different uh stories coming from you know the intersectionals but mostly just uh you know excited uh you know teams team members you know proud team members you know everybody works hard to get onto their team and um you know there's obviously some sad ones too people are upset and maybe they don't get to advance so maybe they go down um but anyways the full results are all up at flag stick.com every single one of them is up there so beautiful um okay uh Curtis Barkley and Natasha St St stasak stazia yeah F uh they represented Canada in the very first G40 mixed team event at the belfrey in England yeah how good is that that is amazing finished four yeah run run concurrently with the uh with the DP World Tour event of that's happening this week they just played early in the week so yeah yeah yeah finish four tough I mean here's the thing I I I mean I see that the alternate shot format kind of got them on the second day yeah and that that almost gets everybody whenever you do that except you and I when we played alternate shot in the member guest at greyhawk years ago uh where we were under par for alternate shot nobody else was so yeah that happened once beans tough beans for all of you people uh but yeah tough format to play in my son Brandon and I played that similar format at Mecha with the with the a twers uh event that we played and and the alternate shot kind of got us at the end too but we still pulled out the win but it did certainly destroyed whatever score we did have yeah it does uh much good for them awesome um world de golf championships in Australia yeah just wrapped up uh literally hours ago so yeah this is this is fresh very fresh Russell Bowie of Miss sag Ontario play golf at Queens actually post 68 in the final round to win uh the world def Golf Championship at Royal Pines Golf Resort in Australia really really cool thing about this too is that uh you know it's a place where Adam Scott had won and Russell is a huge Adam Scott fan uh thanks to the uh The Gang That Australian Golf Digest for tagging me in a couple of things and uh helping me keep track of that as well so I appreciate that um now he obviously led the Canadian men team to a victory by virtue of his victory certainly helped lead the men's team to a victory um and uh team members included obviously Russell uh Ryan Mobberly yep Alexander wette H Dale Proctor and philli Boer um so super congrats goes out to the uh to them and all the Canadians participating in various classes in that tournament yeah I think we had uh 14 Canadians that that participated so it made up a large percentage of the field so good one to follow yeah all right Canadian mids amateur men's mid amateur just wrapped up at Carlton um and uh you'll get all the results up at uh at flag.com obviously but cam Burke of Kitchener won by quite a large margin yeah I think nine so yeah I mean that's good that's good that's large yeah um two golf Canada championships have come into the region over the next two years obviously the 2025 Canadian men's am uh and the 2026 World junior girls both going to be played at Royal auto obviously part of the men's am will be played at River meet as well but um yeah the world junior girls being played at Royal Ottawa too so pretty awesome you get those national championships right here in the in our own backyard it's always nice to see yeah and that world junior girls obviously it's been in the region before a couple times at the marshes and once at Camelot uh and you know what these are the stars of the future and it's a great opportunity to see them many of the players that played in these ones before in Ottawa are now on the lp PJ tour so great now super pumped up uh last week to watch the AIG uh Women's Open championship at St Andrews I mean it doesn't really it really doesn't matter what it is being played at St Andrews it's just something alluring about the fact that they're playing golf at St Andrews and St Andrews and you know flight net Championship it could be the uh the doberman pincher Championship golf kick event whatever I don't really care um but even more amazing Lydia Cole uh it is so awesome to see you know I'm not going to say she fell off the map but she certainly dropped out of where she was at one point in her career struggled a lot worked her tail off to get herself back and now she is sort of um claw her way back to the stature that she was at you know obviously won the gold medal at the Olympics which earned her a spot in the uh in the Hall of Fame and then comes back and win St Andrews too so um yeah that's just incredible just 27 too and you know there's obviously some discussion now uh she's married you know there's been some talk over the years of her retiring early and things like that but you know it's nice now that you know she's done this 21 lpj tour wins eight L wins she's won three of the five Majors now um I'm certainly would it surprise you if she retired no it wouldn't and but the thing is is that you know you could walk off into the sunset here uh very very happy that you've accomplished a lot I mean her first pro win was at age 14 so you know half her life has been spent winning professional golf uh tournaments so I mean I mean you always like to go out on top right I mean this is the thing like a lot of I mean competitive people um they don't like to necessarily go away I mean some will stick around and ride their careers out you know right and basically be garbage and then retire when they can no longer hit a golf ball or hit a or play the sport um in her case if if if there was a time to retire if you truly truly were thinking about retire retirement I now would be the time to do it you know what I mean like I guess the I guess the the side that's interesting with that though and I mean I thought about it too I wouldn't be surprised but you know when you're playing this well MH you know that the other side of it you know you know the same as you know anyone else I mean when you're when you you know you've got the tiger by the tail here uh you know you just think oh I Can Ride This Out ride this out now right now she's third ranked in the world not not relevant really compared to what she's doing here um but yeah if there was a time to go out yes but on the other side of it you know who knows she's just enjoying it and you know maybe she can enjoy the fruits of her labor here and all the work that she's done this year for the next while before she considers that it's like people tell saying that tiger should you know put the bag in the closet and not play anymore it's like well you know sometimes you feel like you still have it sometimes you feel like you have something not necessarily to prove to the world but prove to yourself Pro to yourself and you know in Tiger's case I think he feels like he he can still play with the best in the world he hasn't shown it yet but it's hard for him to kind of given the fact that he had so much of his career taken away from him with all the injuries right that you know he I think he just feels like there's he's got something left in now if he thinks he's sticking around because he wants to break Jack's record I don't think that I feel like it's probably more Sam sne record that that he would still be after rather than Jack you I think he maybe realized he's not gonna pass Nicholas you're not going to win three more major you know so but if you can win one more tournament then he would pass sne and then he' you know ever touch that yeah which is a mark we've talked about before whether it's legitimate or not and I think the other side of it too it's not but anyway no and and uh you know I listened to a uh an interview this week uh that Sean Foley did and was talking about a couple other things relative to tiger and I think one of the things that for for Tiger is also to keep himself prominent uh as far as I won't say in the news or whatever but the attention that he can still bring to his foundation and stuff and they were making mention of it you know the thousands of kids that have gone to University based on his foundation and his visibility if he disappears it brings less Vis visibility to the other things that he does so that's part of his legacy as well and I think people forget that it's not just about uh his record and his playing it's bringing visibility to the other things that he does in his life well I mean I don't remember exactly I don't remember how old Jack was when he finally stopped playing competitive I mean I know the you know obviously the the Masters win he was deep into his Champions he was deep into the champions tour right so does tiger play the champions tour is that how he maintains visibility going forward or is that kind of like you start playing the champions tour and you're not beating the likes of Bernard longer and Freddy Couples and on a week basis Stephen am like is that does that hurt entir of your legacy even more as a competitor you're better off getting beat by Scotty sheffler and Xander every week than than getting beat by St am yeah and there's more visibility on the PJ tour than there is on the champions tour so if it's visibility that you're after then obviously that makes a difference that way so but whatever the case Lydia's done yeah it's been fun to watch especially those last few weeks um fun to see you know her Excel um and then the uh lpj you know I should mention this we didn't have it in the notes but the LPGA is that one of your favorite courses this week they're at TPC Boston sorry one of your favorite Pro Shops yes um they're at TVC Boston this week in Norton Mass uh and which is nice for them uh for the FM Championship they played the BMW Championship there they did a couple I think a couple of times back when they think they had four they had four uh playoff events playoff events yeah they did so it'll be interesting to see the opj play there uh three Canadians in the field Alena sharp Savannah GRL and MMI Leblon Brooke has the week off she was not feeling well the last little bit of the run over in Europe apparently and you know missed the cut at the the Women's Open so hopefully she's back on the horse real soon all right um PJ tour Americas there's only two left event uh two two left event two events left well there lefties that play so there's two events left on the circuit this year this week in Minnesota uh and then they head to TPC Toronto for the Fort net Championship that is going to be awesome yeah I'm looking for I don't watch a lot of PJ tour Americas when there is some televised stuff and I don't really follow a whole lot other than just check the results from time to time but man if that one was televised I would uh yeah I'm gonna pop up there I think for that I was talking to Noah steel last night so he finished uh from Kingston Ontario when he going when he going when you going when you going when you going when you going I'm not sure yet when you going I'm not sure yet uh sadly we can't play it when going up for that he can't play play one of the other courses maybe so yeah his wife is going to be up in uh his uh mom is going up I think on the Friday or whatever so I'm gonna yeah I'm I'm going go up on the Friday uh to see him he tied for fifth last week um which was a good showing we had played with him last weekend and his definitely game was showing some for him and the one thing that we were talking about is exactly what's in the notes Here we talking about the scoring on the tour this year so he was he was tied for fifth at 22 underpar um the scoring this year on the PJ tour Americas has been insane um he was he was laughing because he said yeah he had a t16 at Eagle Creek and he was he was oh sorry a T30 at Eagle Creek and he was 16 under par and the same thing happened last week if you weren't 15 under par got you a tie for 30th at uh in Manitoba so um that's the nature of it that it has been that way even well before PJ tour Americas when it was the Canadian tour when it was yeah it's a little bit lower though yeah you know if you're not if you're not dumping low rounds you're not you're not in the hunt you're not making money you're not contending like you've got to go deep yeah and it's really the cuts that have gotten a little lower because the field depth has gotten much more like you know when and no offense to the Canadians but when there was a lot of Canadians in the field a lot of people that were there that were more marginal playing the tour um you know the cut level wasn't quite quite as low whereas now it's very common place you know every week to be- 6 - 7 to be the cut so the depth is much more that's there and really when it comes down to it if if you don't shoot under par every day you get run over um you know so a good round I think the scoring average is around like 69 a lot of the times so I mean yeah so but anyways two events left for that tour um be good to see things finish out there and looking forward to seeing that cool all right lpj Q Series pre-qualifying last week in California Canadians uh some Canadians are advancing Brook Rivers Ashley cha Chow uh as an amateur um Monet Chun and Jose Doon are moving on the next stage is in mid October in Florida and then the finals will be played in Alabama in December at Magnolia Grove you remember that golf course we played 36 there yes we did yes we did back in the day um well we had a little flag stick web pole which we do do from time to time well we do on a regular basis uh and uh you popped up the question Mr McLoud how long have you owned your current driver this is an interesting one because other than your irons let's just say irons at this point if you're changing out your iron set you're dropping a good 1,500 bucks um a good set almost two grand now but a driver you're still dropping $600 $700 on on a new driver if you're going premium you know premium stuff so the it's a good question because you know if you're going to drop $1,000 on a driver yeah how often are you changing that thing out you know so and and interesting the the the it's not doesn't surprise me I think what's happening we see here the question was less than a year one to three years or more than three years y um 52% 53% almost of the of those uh responses were more than three years yeah that doesn't surprise me at all I think and I'm sure it's going to creep higher eventually I think people are kind of and maybe this will maybe this will change things within the industry now we'd have to talk to some industry people obviously um in the mag in the manufacturing industry with the you know there's there's a cycle of products that they they sort of work to a certain cycle they have shareholders and and what that they have to satisfy so it's not it's a business right so it's not just about oh there's new technology to release every couple of years that's not always the case um of why they're doing it sometimes it's a it's a case of you know they have to show growth they have to show profit you know because they have shareholders sales Cycles yeah exactly you can't just be stagnant just because you you know like well we don't really have any real new technology so we can't we're not really releasing anything different well you know a good chunk of of of um what they talk about with new product and technology is marketing so there isn't always a whole lot that changes but they change enough and they and they have to do this like you just can't you know you can't release a driver in eight years later release a new one no that that that business model does not work you'll get run over um and uh so this is an interesting stat because I can see this like you said I can see this number growing even more yeah and I think I think it's growing for a couple other reasons or couple reasons but I mean one of the other ones as well is you know the the rise and custom fitting you know we're seeing players now that you know it's not just keeping the driver in their bag from a budget perspective it's keeping the driver in the bag because they've been fitted properly and they hit it well and they perform well and I can tell you from talking to a couple of different Fitters it's getting more and more common that players will show up and they don't see enough gains because their other product was you know delivered or fitted properly that you know they're performing well with it and they're not seeing enough gains to justify the cost so so fitting plays A Part as well um and so this I think you'll start to see you know people will maybe they'll skip a cycle they'll skip two cycles and they and then they'll you know get the the latest from there but uh I would expect this just to stretch out as the costs go higher and and fitting becomes more more prevalent as well so yeah no I don't uh I don't disagree with that at all I mean I played the same driver for a very long time um at one point I used um one of the white uh tailor maid uh drivers and um and I loved that club it was a great club and uh then I switched and started playing uh the Srixon ZX7 driver and I really liked it and then and that was a big change from one year like from they've got a new one coming and then I got another new one the very next year now and and the thing is I'm not I don't think I hit the new one further or necessarily better no but what I do like is the look like and and so even though there's some technology that that that was changed in the driver from one year to the next it really was ultimately um the matte finish of the MK2 yeah that changed like okay I I really like how that looks like I don't lie I like that better than the shiny head you know kind of thing yeah yeah yeah for sure you know and and then you know ultimately then you end up switching your hybrid your 3-wood as well because they have the same new finish and it's like a they really look good and I like how they they look when I set them down and maybe I hit them better because of that who knows yeah and I mean I I I mean I just make a a change but the change I made is because the fitting option wasn't really available before right you know you go to a product where all of a sudden there's a variation of it that oh now this delivers and this Loft it provides this but that option wasn't available so again that's part of the change it's not it's not always about the fact that it's better it's just better for you and that's what's the most important part in the end yeah yeah so here's an interesting um an interesting note yeah there is a phone crazy can I shut it off are you gonna answer it live on the podcast no don't no no I'm gonna reject um so here's an interesting thing so um we're going to get to break but uh after uh Keegan's win yes I I sent so after Keegan's win I sent a note to Max Christensen from uh from mint green who is you know obviously that's Cleveland Srixon um can and I said hey congrats nice win uh for Keegan and he sent me he sent me back a note and he said he's basically said yeah back-to-back playoff victories on the heels of Hideki last week and it it had just slipped my mind it Dei had won the week before in the playoff in the playoff uh format and uh he said that's making it interesting for Ryder Cup next year with Keegan as a playing captain Oh even more with the President's Cup EXA year so then he said by the way here's Keegan's what's in the bag if you're interested sure uh hey he plays the diamond ball like you so because I talked about on the podcast so I know I know Max is listening to the podcast because he knows that I talked about the diamond the Srixon Diamond so Keegan Bradley what's in the bag just real quick before we go to break uh Srixon zx5 MK2 irons 3 four and five uh Srixon ZX7 MK2 irons 78 and9 Srixon Z Forge 2 pitching wedge Cleveland Golf RTX zipcore 52 and 58 I don't know which ones um but that's just a generic and obviously the tricks on Zar Diamond golf ball just like me Keegan yeah just thought we mentioned that just just because Max made the effort to send this and respond to me it's like Thanks Max great bit of information it's out there now all right yeah we have we have some Keegan stuff that's going to be in the back half here in the back nines beautiful beautiful okay uh we're going to go to break before we go to break flag stick Academy golf tip sponsored by Castle VI Golf and Country Club back again this week across all of our digital platforms this week week uh tip on uh posture posture y posture posture important posture lots of things important posture ball position but posture this week okay uh we're going to take a break when we come back on the back nine we are going to talk to a championship and who knows where this conversation is going to go you don't want to miss it stay with us you are listening and watching the flag stick podcast with Jeff B and Scott McLoud when you golf on Prince Ed Island there are over 400 Fairways closer than you can imagine not to mention countless miles of pristine beaches and a rich worldclass culinary experience so get here fast then take it slow and play around on Island Time Golf Prince Edward Island all right well welcome back everybody to the flagstick podcast I'm Jeff bter he's still Scott McLoud and um we got a bunch of stuff well not a bunch of stuff we got some discussion to have in our back nine obviously back nine is presented again this week by Falcon Ridge Golf Club with 27 holes of fun and challenging golf at Great rates Falcon Ridge is uh a golf experience you cannot avoid and that experience keeps getting better they have built the first trackman range facility in eastern Ontario uh trackman range is all about exciting easy to use features to provide an ultimate range experience for every golfer at every level that's practice games and virtual golf to book your tea times or to book one of the 10 trackman range Bays visit falconridge [Music] golf.car up for um this year not technically this isort of this is the last this this is the fall series coming up but I mean this is it this is the Tour Championship we are heading to East Lake this week um and only the top 30 have gotten this far in FedEx Cup points 25 million big dollars for first place last place a mere 550 Grand not bad I mean hey just to get there uh pinch Taylor pendrith from Canada starts the day starts the tournament at one under only nine shots back of Scotty sheffler uh and is sort of t125 he's made over four and a half million this year so far had a win at the CJ uh cup byon Nelson six top 10 great season great season um the Tour Championship is obviously heading back to East Lake East Lake completely revamped yeah re re I got to tell you historic renovation I I I'm going tell you right now this is probably I know that it was known that this was happening but this was probably one of the one of the complete Rena done to a golf course that kind of seemed like it just happened and there wasn't a lot of a lot of discussion about it there wasn't a lot of video you know leaked out there about it there was some but it wasn't like this I don't know I mean it was really weird they were rolling up the carpet I mean literally last year as it finished they were literally moving on they were cutting sod on some of the other holes as the the tournament was finishing up so they obviously got on it right away what they did to this golf course and this is some this is a trend I mean know this is not just TOUR Championship talk here but this is discussion but what his seems to be happening with a lot of these older golf courses that have undergone changes over the years to we'll say modernize it a little bit yeah leave these golf courses the heck alone stop modernizing them this golf course what what he did to this golf course yeah um in kind of bringing back its it what it was like um it's just phenomenal like it like just I watched some of the video documentary that the PJ tour released there on PJ tour.com uh listen to Stuart sink talk about the golf course obviously somebody who had played East Lake for a lot a fair number of times over the years watched a lot of the changes occur to it um would have been nice even for them to have you know talked to Tiger a little bit about this but steuart sink's been around a long time and he even he's like this is like what they did is just phenomenal and this is this is not a golf course that last year these guys were like I think 26 or 27 under 27 yeah for for the four rounds nuh-uh that ain't happening this year to on on this new uh um redone historic restoration like it's just amazing what he did to this what what I think is neat is they actually you know they actually went back into the archives they looked at newspaper accounts they just didn't use kind of you know with their own vision of what it used to be they they really dug in to the history of it now that said obviously it's of a modern length is you know necessary for the modern equipment to be suitable for it Golf Course obviously wasn't the length it was back in the day um but a lot of the similar features and looks and so forth the only thing a little bit different as well is that you know we've got green speeds that are much different uh than they were back then so this makes it extra challenging for these players um but you're right I think that's that's part of it and East Lake you know so much history there with Bobby Jones for an example and Alexa Sterling Fraser and you know there's so much history here and you know the fact that they're they're doing that is important and and I agree the U you know trying to make golf courses Timeless uh as opposed to dated is very very important and that's the movement that you're seeing a lot in a lot of places it's you know and you hear it from The Architects they're like they're trying to knock the80s out of they're trying to knock the 90s out of it you know what I mean um you know when Renovations were done and there's a lot of time when a lot of Architects sort of you know they wanted to put their fingerprint on it they wanted to make it look like theirs uh but there's definitely more of a movement now where Architects are going right you know what this was a classic Golf Course for a reason let's let's bring it back to some Timeless aspect of it and focus on the golf course not focus on the name attached to you know making the changes which I I totally totally respect oh my gosh like I just I see what I see what's been done I see what was done at Pinehurst number two yeah um I see what's been done at East Lake I see what done at riverme for example even locally yeah yeah exactly um you know we see what's been done to other courses that the PJ tour plays on that have um restored themselves to what they once were and and these golf courses are more than still challenging enough when you bring back you know and it's something to consider is when an architect designs a golf course and you know now albeit there's some golf course designs out there that are even old school Golf Course designs that are just dumb um and you wonder what the architect was even thinking on the design but then there's a lot of golf courses that are designed by good Architects um that designed a golf course to to play a certain way and it's not always just about in a lot of cases it's not about so much what happens off the tea all the time it's it's a lot of times it's about the approach shots and what they what they wanted to happen when you hit your shots into the green and missed or you hit your shot to a certain section of the green and and it's supposed and you think it's good but it's not and it runs off to a certain area well when you start to to change the green complex to soften up the slopes or flatten out an area to make it more playable or to put in some humps and bumps and grow the rough up instead of these runoff areas you don't realize how much when you do that it changes the the golf course the way it's been was designed to be played and the skills required to to tackle that puzzle I mean that that we saw obviously you know at Ancaster with the runoffs and the changes in the shapes of the greens there um and it's super important and and already looking ahead to this week uh you know I just looked at analysis from data Golf and they looked at the aspects of the game that were going to require the greatest strength and it really comes down to the approaches more than anything because you know when you're off the tea you know there's a certain amount of width that's there you can Hammer the ball out there a long way but the highest level of skill is obviously making sure that those approaches go to the right spots and as you said this design really is going to put an emphasis on that of who is striking their irons well and you can play the golf strategically and it's not just about brute strength uh to tackle the puzzle that it is yeah no I totally agree with that now all right so this is that's what's happened uh the golf courses you know underwent a major restoration project uh it looks great um it's ready to it's ready to to go I watched part of the um the uh Creator classic the Creator classic there that was kind of interesting um at least you get to see some of the golf course so that was kind of why it was it was some of the players I mean there's some good players that are in that creat thing there's there's some that aren't great but I mean it's an event created for social media so corre it's and and we got to see a little taste of what what East Lake is going to bring so cool I love that um let's talk about the uh the Tour Championship a little bit now um obviously this is the third time that Scotty sheffler has entered the tour the Tour Championship um and you know with being spotted two stroke lead starts minus 10 um he has been very clear in his media uh discussions about his um I don't want to call it displeasure but certainly he does not like the way that this playoff format the Stagger format um and and ultimately he's not he's the one saying he doesn't he's not a bigan fan of it and he's the one that is always benefiting yeah from it to start so but here's the thing I believe obviously if sheffler came out with a two-stroke lead to start the Tour Championship and played the way sheffler plays or has been playing most of the Year sure he should win should I mean should he here's the thing here's here's sort of my my position on this and and this is we might swing a little off topic a little a little off the whatever it's all the top it's all the topic it's all the SE Championship I don't like this format at all no neither do I I I think I I but here's the thing so let me let me also quantify this by saying I know why they're doing it for sure I don't like it yeah um but I also don't have the answer either no nobody I feel like I feel like I do I feel like I do have some of the answer but I I also feel like a whole bunch of people get need to get into a room and talk about this and figure out some scenarios that may may be better so here's here's one thing that I would like to see happen okay sure you play and this is much like other sports as well okay so you play your regular season whether it's Hockey baseball basketball MH football even football you play your regular season and there's a reward for who the best is during the regular season so the right off the bat the regular season ends and there's a reward which is really where we're at right now right why don't they have why can there not be a FedEx Cup the FedEx Cup champion is the player that records the highest number of points during the regular part of the PGA Tour season up until when the playoffs starts so boom Chef even if that means he claims it yeah weeks before the the the the playoffs begin okay so you're still playing for points until the season is over because those points matter afterwards but the you play to the end of the regular season if sheffler is the points leader with and in this case this year he had to play the events leading right up to the play the playoffs because he there was a mathematical situation where had shafley won last week he would have passed him yeah which was which is wild when you think those point the playoffs I mean obviously we see you know Bradley go from 50th to Fourth yeah so you the last guy in and he can win it on these playoffs I I I think where you're going with it is that this is this playoffs is different than a regular season right much like H right you know well there's no reward for sheffler giving sheffler a I mean it's a two-shot lead but it's a 10-stroke start right so over the last play last guy he's 10 shots ahead of that guy right right so because everybody else starts at even par yeah that's at the very bottom of it so my point is there's only only a couple that are there all sheffler gains from all of the work he did all season long is a two shot advantage over shafley in a tournament is nothing yeah so he won some other intermittent award that they had but again I can't even name it off the top of my head that gave him a bunch of money and that it was you know sponsored by somebody as far as his regular season stuff so to me the FedEx cup that should be the FedEx is the FedEx Cup race it's the points it's when it's done boom playoffs start done yeah end of story I mean if and if FedEx is paying you know $100 million which they are for that then that's what they get in the chionship and then the Tour Championship is the tour is just the Tour Championship it's the I mean the BMW Championship isn't anything any more than the BMW Championship it's just the BMW Championship it's part of the FedEx Cup playoffs now if FedEx is playing paying for the Cup playoffs then what they need to figure out is how to have um to take that 25 schmill and frankly here's here's the other thing so the most money they play for in a first place prize through the course of the year is what about 5 and a half mil no it's 20 million it's like the PLAYERS Championship oh sorry the PLAYERS Championship okay so so why can't they take that 25 Mill all the all the Signature Events are 20 million now for or total total sorry sorry it just seems I don't know it just I I I get to the I get to East Lake I get to TOUR Championship and I just think yeah so you know and I agree with shefer like you've kind of done all of this work all year long to get a two-shot lead like it just almost seems not worth it it is but you know an advantage it's not if it's not worth it then why bother having it in the end I mean he would have got run over last year I mean he only shot one under last year yeah like for gross I mean he was finished at 11 but he got he got waxed by hlin who ended up at 27 so um yeah so I mean one it doesn't really I guess it doesn't really turn out to be the biggest Advantage it does but it doesn't but I mean well there's less to me there's less excitement cuz all of a sudden hin wins the FedEx Cup wins the 25 mil wins the FedEx Cup and the Tour Championship like two things in one and Sheffer was the one that did all the work all year long yeah and wasn't rewarded at all so the one week he comes out and he doesn't have a good week and he loses yeah putting all the eggs in one basket makes no sense to me well I think that's the problem is I think the perception and and the buildup and everything that's been done for the promotion and everything for the Tour Championship is that it's the culmination of the season when really it isn't so you know it it shouldn't be it shouldn't be made that way so I agree I mean once you're done that season that's fine then it's sort of an extra we'll almost call it a silly season or whatever but the tour championships should definitely not be considered to be you know the big reward but again this is this is where they you know this is what the sponsor wants and not really what's else is part of the problem right is that is that money talks and and this is they want to play for the money in my my my second opinion on this is like you're on the PJ tour and you want to play for the big money well then just suck it up and go and do what is asked of you and for forget about whether it's right or it's wrong or it's good or it's bad if you want to make it right then there H it has to be it's the playoffs so Nascar has a similar format where they they they race all year long and then they get into the NASCAR you know Chase for the cup or whatever and as the season winds down less and less teams or cars or drivers are move on to to compete for the Ultimate Prize which is the the the um you know the season ending thing and it comes down to in that one it comes down to one race at the end of the year and there's us and there's only four drivers that are eligible to win it and it's it's a and and it's and they win the cup based on their points in that race Not So Okay so here's the thing they have the playoffs to go you know whatever whatever and this year it would have been good and I realized in previous years it would have sucked but you got um the Tour Championship why can't the FedEx Cup be decided after the they separate from the Tour Championship they just go into that no Strokes it's just another tournament with only 30 players left in the field and the 30 players left in the field are the only ones getting points so Sheffer has a crappy day uh or weekend again and in this case shley has a top 10 shley would pass him in that final event and win the FedEx Cup um I think yeah and I sheer has a crazy good season and is so far ahead of everybody else going into the Tour Championship and he's already claimed the FedEx Cup well then so be it I think the other issue too is you've got the other Playoff events and the other Playoff events start to elevate and change things by a lot you know you end up you end up doing barely anything once you get into the playoffs you know you do something well and then you can go all the way up just like Bradley has you know he he squeaks into last week yeah he's the 50 how much the points changed the how much are the points elevated they go by a ton they go way up and that's part of the issue is that uh you know Bradley has a Soo season gets a win that's in there as at 50th in the points barely gets in and then all of a sudden he gets a win he goes from 50th to 4 fourth with one win one win yeah uh because of that playoff event and then all of a sudden no granted yes you win it you win it but I mean you know he I'm not sure where he has to finish this week but um you know well he has has to win it obviously the way they have it set up now or whatever but um you know but now he's fourth and he can win the Tour Championship you know just have wanting have won the last two weeks really and had been 50th before that so it it's it's really messed up that's for sure um again I I don't know if there's a great solution to it staggered start you know we start to forget about a little bit as the event sort of gets going because then you're just looking at it from you know you're just looking at the raw scores you're not looking at the other end but uh you know it's sort of loses its meaning a little bit uh based on things that are you know inflated as far as points and money and and so forth great great players you know yeah that's the thing I mean it's good the the money is great and everything and and you're right I me I I don't know I'd have to look at the at how the points change once the season once they get into the playoff season obviously they increase the amount of points that you can earn for for wins and stuff like that like but maybe the answer is if they want to keep that sort of idea then then eliminate the like let let the points be worth more and just have them finish out that last event playing for those same points so most of the most of the events are 500 600 points during the season the BMW was 2,000 okay that's so it's worth four four times the value I mean I can see double points for playoff events yeah four time seems excessive yeah I can see double points for playoff events and I can even see them maybe maybe the points um that you earn for in the playoffs increase as the playoffs continue so you might start with the first playoff event is a th000 points and the second playoff event is500 points and the the last playoff event is 2,000 points if you want to do it that way um but I could I mean I would just like to see okay if it's 500 points for for a win and then down the line from there then playoff events are worth double yeah and and then then you're going to have a race to the end and then you're going to have a race to that you know and then East Lake East there's no Advantage your advantage is your you know you get to play in the last group on the first day if you're the the leader that's how the the field is SE and and then truly are playing for the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup separately so really I mean if you if you look at an average event and we'll not we'll not talk about the Signature Events because they have slightly more points I think they're 600 versus the 500 basically if you win the Fe if you win the St Jude and you win the BMW those two events those two events are equal to winning eight regular events because they're both that doesn't make any sense makes no sense because you know all of a sudden in two two tournaments you earn as many points as shuffler earned in an entire season yeah more more than what he earned in entire season and you wonder how shafley was in a position to catch him right well that's why yeah because he he earned more points in the first two FedEx Cup events or the first FedEx Cup event than shefford did and he had a decision to to take over yeah and the the I guess the Counterpoint to that a little bit is they've they've done that a little bit to because you I don't know if remember back a few years ago when they had the four events some guys would skip an event yes right so maybe they're doing that a little bit to try to keep guys in there so they don't get passed by too much but so again it just it just becomes really complicated so well I mean you can stop I mean here's the thing you can stop them from skipping events just by saying if you SK you're you're ineligible for the FedEx Cup or for if you don't play I mean it's the playoffs you play you have to play all the events like there's no they're independent contractors yeah but they're independent contractors but the tour is the one that makes the rules true but I mean that's fine you're independent contractors as an independent contractor you choose whether you want to play or not but you have to suffer the ramifications of of not playing because the rules of the of the FedEx Cup playoffs are that once you're in the playoffs in order to be eligible for each event and ultimately the the ultimate sorry in order to be eligible for each event and the Ultimate Prize of the FedEx Cup you have to participate in all the the playoff events to me that doesn't that's not too much to ask why are you playing if you're not if you're not you know what I mean like why you even bother I mean for you I mean how much will you watch I mean curious you watch I'll watch yeah I'll watch two reasons number one I'll watch day one so I can see the golf course because I really want to see the rest because I really didn't see enough of it in that that creators classic thing um number two I I I do want to see who wins uh East Lake I want to see who wins the Tour Championship um frankly don't give a crap one way or the other who wins the feex cup I mean I don't I'm so disinterested in the way it's done and the math and all that that I just want I watch tournaments to see who wins the tournaments I don't yeah follow when they do that stuff with the like I just find it like annoying when there's as they're leading into it the guy's like oh well you know he makes a birdie and then that all of a sudden that birdie just got vaulted him from 30th to here I mean that's like oh my god really like that's yeah when they're showing those those points Chang I mean we've only got two players uh Dustin Johnson in 2020 Patrick Henley in 2021 that started as the FedEx Cup GM is this since 2019 uh you know the staggered system that actually went on to win uh you know Rory in 2019 started at five Rory in 2022 started at minus 4 and hin started at minus 8 so um again you know you're I'm the same as you I sit there and watch the you know unless it's a player that I'm really interested Taylor pendri for an example obviously was it was important to see him you know play well last week and secure that spot and to stay in that in that 30 unfortunately Cory Connor you know didn't work his way into it um that's the only reason I'd be paying attention to it otherwise you know watch the the different permeations of this is happening and this is happening and if this guy goes up by one and this guy yeah it doesn't you know the average fan I don't think really attaches themselves to that too much yeah yeah well I mean you know but I'll watch I mean so I'm cool with that um I like to see sheffler win but at the same time this is Golf and yeah you know did did you did you did what you did you won a gold medal and you know for whatever reason in the last couple of weeks you haven't had your stuff yeah I don't think I here's the thing I don't I don't think if he doesn't win the Tour Championship he's going to be devast devastated I maybe not going to be happy but um but I don't think it tarnishes his year for sure I don't think so either I mean it's just another to me it's that that's why I think tournaments should be treated as tournaments week week to week tournament to tournament they're not they don't build to me they don't build on each other the same way as I agree as uh as you know Stanley Cup playoffs or baseball World Series or football like like if you're playing for a you know going for a Super Bowl you want to get better week after week so you practice and you you know and you can get better week after week golf is different Like You Can Be You Can Be dialed in one day and dialed out the next you could be oh yeah you know being playing lights out for weeks at a time and then some small little change in your swing Creeps in and all of a sudden you're not hitting it solid anym well that's not the same thing with with other sports especially family Cup playoffs where you've got a four to seven series you've got you have to lose four games before you're done in golf yeah differ you don't get to lose four weeks no no no but that's the difference between a team sport and an individual sport when the team sport there's a lot of things that are hidden you know a couple players cannot perform well there's a lot of different other factors where you know it's absolute on a single player of how they perform good or bad that make the difference and you know maybe that's the flaw a little bit in trying to make it like other sports yes when it's not that you can't you that's why a season long race a points race has got to be based on points not on not on one tournament that's where I think with you talking with sheffler is that's that's the issue is that you do everything you do all year long to get to the end of the season you get your little advantage and you have one bad week and you're done and and it's not you're losing much more than just a tournament I got a question for you before we head out and wrap things up or whatever and it's it's sort of related to Keegan Bradley it's related more to the President's Cup yes obviously now he's put himself in that position and he has said and this is the discussion that we had before about the Ryder Cup and him being named captain for that he is a captain's assistant for the US team at the President's Cup coming up at Royal Montreal and now he's in a position where he could be an at llarge pick obviously make it from the automatic qualifiers he has said I will do what's best for the team whether they want me to play or be the captain's assistant or whatever any thoughts on that we don't have to go too deep into it because talk it more when you know when those picks and stuff different animal this go around he's not the captain so correct Captain he's the captain's assistant so in this case his responsibilities are far less correct intense as an assistant than they are when you're the Captain your responsibilities leading up to and including the the time of the event are much more intense so as a captain's assistant I have no issues whatsoever with him being named and I think that at this point the way he's played leading into it and where he's positioned outside in the points right now I think you'd be stupid not to take them yeah so you know and I still and I still stand by my what we said last week too I think that pendrith and Connor should be on the President's Cup team no other Canadians should be on the President's Cup team yeah I think I think at this point I think uh Connors is the lock for sure pendrith has just got some talents and some abilities that they're able to make use of so we'll find that out on September 3D I mistakenly said it was Tuesday this week but it's not Tuesday this week Tuesday next week so there you go all right yeah well there we go uh we didn't obviously get into all the details about everything that we wanted to talk about with the president's with the Tour Championship but uh that's the nature of the show we talk about what we want to talk about when we want to talk about it yeah I mean here's the thing we can't talk about everything so we just pick a thread and go with it exactly all right well uh nicely done my friend always good to get a good golf chat in with you um thank you uh obviously to everybody listening thanks to all our sponsors met CF golf club uh Falcon Ridge Golf Club and of course our presenting sponsor this week golf Pei uh golf gol Prince Edward Island is a premier Canadian golf destination boasting the most number of golf courses per capita in the country with over 400 Fairways closer than you can imagine top tier accommodations and exquisite culinary experiences it is the easiest golf vacation you will ever book book golf vacations for next year or this fall and times at golf pei. ca uh glad you're with us uh hope you're enjoying everything you've been hearing and watching uh sure to follow us across all social media networks Instagram x Facebook and subscribe on on Spotify audible Amazon music and apple podcast and don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel like us click the notification Bell make sure you never miss a single episode get over to flag stick.com more stuff there every day as always we appreciate you tuning in until next week I'm Jeff bter I'm Scott McLoud remember always go for the stick