Playing From The Tips #78: Tour Championship, British Masters, FM Championship & more

you know the feeling when your mates golf ball flies past yours or when you're on the Green in regulation but he holds it from the bunker at drum and golf we get it that's why we have our lowest price guarantee as Australia's biggest you can count on our massive buying power for the lowest prices in golf but if you do happen to find a lower advertised price we'll beat it the Drummond golf lowest price guarantee unbeatable conditions apply I've never seen anything like it before to attempt to hit the ball out of there it's pure Madness the winner of the gold medal and the champion gol for of the year is Cameron Smith this is the one that I've always wanted to win since I was a little kid so it just feels pretty amazing to be able to get it done today uh it's amazing that it's my destiny to be the first ay to win just incredible hello and welcome to episode 78 of playing from the tips presented by golf Australia magazine our podcast where our group of so-called experts look at every nook and cranny of professional golf and try to make some sense of it all Jimmy Emanuel here in the host seat yet again as we prepare for the culmination of the FedEx Cup playoffs the British Masters action on the LPGA and Asian tours in the spirit of the handicap format of the Tour Championship following his last couple of weeks of successful tips Rod Murray was an in fored an early window into this week's EP this week's tournaments and to gain an advantage on the field Rod how does that make you feel as an Ardent supporter of the Tour Championship don't get me started Jimmy it'll come up later I'm sure oh it will uh given he's played a relatively light schedule failed to recreate his 2023 Adrien log barely scrapes into the field for Tour Championship week and in podcast terms light on Preparation which sounds like it's new for this week but maybe true of all weeks L welcome thank you Jimmy you also an Ardent fan of tour championship format yeah I I don't have the same issues with it that Rod does we'll let Rod off the chain shortly but yes uh as we do every week we'll talk about last week before we talk about this week I think there's no bigger story than Lydia Co winning at the old course after a gold medal she's having just a golden run for a second time gracious she she did seem to suggest in that postr interview that retirement is not at the top of her mind that was the feeling I got which was what I think most of us thought must have been tempting that that would even Trump Suzanne peton Olympics Women's Open done just be like that's the full stop of all full stops but she's too good I hope she doesn't retire she's too good I think we're up for Lydia 2.0 like I said last week and this run might be something like we've not seen before yeah it's a very validating win oh well that she's now got nothing to lose she plays with house money from here on in for as long as she wants to and she's just such an extraordinary Talent an incredible golf the way she plotted away around the old course it was a great old course win it really was was weather she produced the right shots at the right she did that gutsy carry with driver off the deck on 14 to set up birdie there where Nelly made double that was really the turning point of the tournament and then she did the difficult thing of like just bringing it home which Nelly didn't do you love to an open finish in waterproofs I see people playing in waterproofs was spectacular how beautiful the sun the sun came out for last partt and everything fantastic you watch you hit a second shot on 17 and you watch a part out you go that must have been two different days yeah you need a second shot the t-sh I had stopped raining it just bizarre but had everything was it was really just I I don't know whether anybody else noticed it looks like the crowds were very light to me on the T and what a shame would been a great event to be at it really would if you're just Hardy enough to put on a jacket and go and watch I mean I know the conditions weren't much fun but goodness me what some golf we saw I thought it was probably the best one the year stacked leaderboard it's one for the ages absolutely well Saturday night you sort of went look at this leaderboard and look at what's just lurking just outside there was all sorts of possibilities you know if you had a calm morning someone goes out and shoots 63 the wind gets up in the afternoon really the old course just produces time a true Triumph for the golf course matters like every shot mattered down the stretch and they all knew the challenge that was ahead of them and yeah I thought it was uh I thought it was just a fantastic event yeah Lydia what a what a story well there were sort of five or six great story lines at the top you couldn't lose could you in terms of story lines no matter who' got across the line they were all great sords I thought she was the best Nelly was looking to get back and G Shin what's with her Jimmy any thoughts on some odd a double bogey at the 14th I mean how do you from nowhere like she was in pretty good position after two then of her ability it's it's a remarkable ability to make a big score out of nowhere um shades of Adam Scott about it actually he's got that potential too he makes big numbers from but with Nelly it doesn't seem to come from one shot there's not it's not there's a driver or a part or something that goes missing every time it's just she seems to find a way to make a huge score in a hole you don't think she should sometimes start moving quickly and it gets away from it very very quickly um I don't I'm not sure what it would be such a prolific winner at such an odd tin to have in the armor isn't it it's really strange yeah it is bizar but um yeah I mean you wonder how much when you win that much how much winning every time means to you as well uh you want your caddy relationships and everything like that that's that's always the questions around those sort of really really good players about there is a differen maker and what it is is different for every one of them I I think there's let it happen golfers and make it happen golfers and like Norman I think was always a let it happen golfer and that produced like he was just like I'm going to be Greg Norman and come prancing in on my horse the leg grow and let the legend grow and be the outcome be what it may like but whereas I think like Lydia is actually more of a make it happen gol and she said that in her press conference afterwards she was saying uh about her Chip Shot on 16 which was really crucial um she'd hit a poor approach or a bit of an oddl looking approach and she had to get this up and down and it looked to us like a very difficult shot but she was like oh no it wasn't that difficult a shot like I had actually a good lie I got a bit lucky with a lie and I just knew I had to bump it into the hill a certain bit but the thing that was going through my mind was finish this tournament well don't make two Bogies in a row cuz you just come off bogey on 15 that was what was going through her head don't make two Bogies in a row and and that's you know every shot counted towards the end there like getting it on the green on 17 and and I think that's a make it happen attitude it's just that 5% that tips it in your favor makes some Champions you can't separate the top players physically it's almost impossible on their day any one of them can shoot an n and Nelly and Norman are two examples of the let it happen player who are just so far ahead out with their talent and I think Rory is in this category as well agreed um where when it happens it happens big time like it's and it's spectacular I think the the last men's open at the old course is exactly the same Rory was in let it happen mode on that last day cam Smith was make it happen y that was the exact juer position that these two had last week as well of one of them was just going out to you know this will happen if I go well enough and the other was going I no I'm going to make you you know lose this golf tournament it's intriguing isn't it you can't imagine what it must be like on that back nine to be one of the players and be in with a chance I think you saw it affect Lilia Vu which I was a bit surprised by two two time major win she just she didn't handle the pressure she hit a the thing about she's a make it happen golfer but the thing about make it happen is sometimes it doesn't it doesn't happen you try to shoot 63 you shoot 83 exactly right but look great great last major of the Year terrific effort and there was some good other golf Adam Scott getting right in the mix I've been tipping him constantly thinking he's going to and I got off the Y exactly the moment he shot that course record I was think he he's not going to see it through that's your week there you should have waited till for Sunday for that the Keegan Bradley situation as a rer Cup captain going and winning a tournament is going to make things very interesting which is good I think it's nothing bad I could and it's good sort of publicity it's good interesting chatter rather than what we've had for the last couple years which has been controversy in Vision uh David mutti had a top 10 on the at the Danish golf champion ship and but I think big thing out of that was how good the Danish players were there's bit of chat around what the older Danes like Thomas bjor and stuff have done for the next wave and it's a really really growing country in terms of golf strength um so there's plenty of good stuff happening last week uh on last week Rod brought his best and tipped you all into Lydia co uh takes our win total to 18 for the year had two top 10 as well 112 numbers that saw us in the running for best audio golf tipping podcast at the Lois last week but I think we just missed out what a shame we don't know we're still waiting and also shout out to Emma Ballard for joining us and doing exactly what she says we do by putting the mock on players cuz she did it spectacularly last week so she really did your position's in trouble she was Fabulous Fit yeah exactly uh let's go on to this week and we start with the event that's going to get a Rody rant I'm sure PJ tours Tour Championship at East Lake and at Atlanta first venue East Lake is of course where Bobby Jones learned the game played the game his whole life few miles from the center of Atlanta on a site that the Atlanta Athletic Club purchased when its membership started to grow just before 1900 and I think it's John Heisman who the Heisman Trophy is named after in college football he was the athletic director for the athletic Atlanta Athletic Club oh right yeah you Rod know I know will know nothing about the Heisman Trophy I know the name yeah it's where the guy's holding the football great Heisman Trophy pose in any athlete just taught me no Windfield cup it's no Windfield cup what is though In fairness what is yeah all Benson and hedge's one day international series yes yeah non-paid non-paid sponsors there I must say uh Tom bendalo designed the original Golf Course here Donald Ross and REE Jones made changes but it's had a redo completely from Andrew Green working off old aerial photos to kind of get it back to where it was completely Chang the grasses on the uh teas and greens I think it is and they finished it in 10 months yeah so it's like a very quick turn around to get this up and yes they didn't come in under budget you can't have a budget can you imagine keep dipping in until it's finished and we'll add it up at the end course records up for grabs this week that's right big big connection with Coca-Cola Amal in or well not Amal I don't know if that's outside Australia but Coca-Cola at East Lake and so I think that's where a fair bit of the money comes from uh so new golf course all this sort of stuff but first let's let Rod throw the toys out of a cot and talk about the format which will'll see Scotty Sheffer start at 10 under Xander schofl at 8 under and so on working back to even for their yearlong what are their bank accounts isn't that their year-long tally you've been rewarded people you don't need shots you're in the top 30 you've made a couple like a bunch of money that's your reward it just am I am I in the minority do you think it's stupid just me stupid handicap golf for professional golfers is just absurd especially for massive purses I think the Early times of it was just what are we doing here I think it's a valid attempt to create some sort of reward for playing well all year to create this end of season playoffs concept that just kind of doesn't work unless it's head-to-head match play it just doesn't well that's the thing it doesn't work like you have to you would have to play if 30 is the number the top 16 get a buy through the first round and the top four get a buy through to the third round you make them play through and then you give them the most Advantage they can have but it just it doesn't golf is not structured to have that kind of finale that they want to have so this is what they've come up with and presumably the players don't hate it because that's where the direction would come from of we want don't care they just care about the size of the purse as would play down the highway if there was a purse on and we know that and that's true and that's as it should be but the problem is youve put the lunatics in charge of the Asylum what committee came up with this idea let's take the best golfers in the world and handicap them like it just it makes no sense I think you've got to put yourself into the head of what problem they're trying to solve and every like most sporting leagues have some sort of cumulative thing and then like the F1 is cumulative and you can wrap up the world championship well in advance of the final race which is boring which is what we saw for the original FedEx cups the first couple bjing I think skipped two one year and still won the FedEx year nobody wants that for the FedEx Cup so the alternative model is to have a have playoffs where it's all up for grabs I get the concept the win of each thing but then golf I think may be unique in going for this well it's not really cuz tennis has seedings and stuff like that which are a slight Advantage but um golf has gone for more of a hybrid thing where yeah they don't want the whole season to be wrapped up like five tournaments from the end which it would be I think probably you get to a point where sheffer's uncatchable or something in the money list or the FedEx cut points so you don't want that so you get to the final thing and you go okay how are we going to resolve this golf is a little bit unique in sport in that it's not uh the dominant player doesn't win that often and I think that's what you you're grappling with with golf that okay so this guy has been absolutely do dominant all season long but his chance of winning is like 1 in 10 so how are we going to stack the odds in his favor so that it's a little bit better odds and makes it more aligned with other sports yeah if it's tennis the winning the top player the dominant player wins like 80% or 70% of the time so I think if you look at it through that lens they're just trying to turn things around so that so the golf becomes tennis what's the point so dismiss I'm I'm just trying to put myself I understand into the mind of the the problem that they're trying to solve I get the pitch and this this is a way of improving that percentage so that you're going to give the people what they want which is the winner that they expect to come out on top yeah but trying to mess with the outcome and engineer the outcome in sport is always a failure always the very best sport stories are always the unexpected ones you can still have that in this can you this Justin Thomas going to catch Scotty sheer from Thomas Mr 30 so he starts even power but he starts along the problem is that where it staggers down to the bottom of the guys is it becomes very congested so you need for the guy at the bottom to win it has to be the most remarkable number of things to happen not just to Scotty she but to everyone down the list and it has to really shift around and it becomes almost impossible it's I'm sure it's mathematically possible 3% chance or something like that which is kind of what the 30th seed in Wimbleton is getting like I yeah yeah it kind of makes sense to me but I can understand why is it compelling do you watch it do you find it interesting can you keep up it's confusing for a start you got two lead board's running whether you want to or not someone's going to be tracking the actual leader board versus the the tour leader board with these shot start so straight away you've confus things used to run two leader boards so that's improved at least like they they have reduced the confusion a little but not a lot has anybody ever understood the FedEx Cup we've had Steve Sans now for the best part of 15 years trying to in Rec years if you win the tournament you won the FedEx Cup they used to so they have improved the clarity of right they've improved it yeah and casual golf viewers if this is to be something which uh on top of the four majors and rer cup for the men that um the casual golf viewer views which is I think what the tour aspires is to be then they have to make it super simple like that as well yeah well this isn't super simple super simp it's much simpler than it was a few years ago but it's not simple because it's simpler than it was a few years ago doesn't mean it's simple you're a golfer you understand the notion of a handicap and a shot no idea if you really wanted to do the simplest form would do what Jimmy says you'd have a match play tough thing it's got its own issues yes but you'd have a match play which is really easy to understand for non-golf is like he won the hole so now he's two holes in front that's the truth yeah except it just doesn't solve the the percentage problem I was talking like it reduces this like it it's there's no way you can apart from seeding why would you why do you want to seeding doesn't get it done enough I just explained it's the percent why would you want to I don't understand why you'd want to try and percentage chance of the winner to be much much higher than it is in a normal golf tournament name the name the FedEx Cup champion since 2007 anybody no I'm not not saying they've been successful in this I'm just telling you what the mindset is and I can see step by step how you get has it worked that's the question does it work um will you be glued to the TV this week I don't know that it's necessarily not working because of the format I think it doesn't work because the PJ tours just talking about the Tour Championship specifically but the FedEx Cup and then culminating this particular yeah you got now with the change in how the season works and everything like that it doesn't actually end it is awkward but a mess yeah I I I must say that the efforts to improve it so the winner wins is is a substantial Improvement on where it was it is and I get that credit where it's du and all that sort of stuff but who came up with the stupidity in the first place that they've had to try to fix it doesn't make any sense I get the problem the PGA Tour had FedEx come to and said we want to give you huge sums of money for the next decade and a bit and the t's gone how the hell are we going to give give all this away and what and this the FedEx Cup I don't think is a great system it's kind of people have gotten used to it but this TOUR Championship idea it just it's not Innovative it's just silly to me it it removes the basic tenets of competition of golf which as we start Thursday morning with everyone on the same score and on Sunday night we give the trophy and the check to the person who's had the least number of strokes and it's just fiddles with that to a point where I feel like it it's it's not unwatchable but you can't really have any great interest in it because it doesn't make any sense Scotty she is already 10 under we haven't who gives Scotty Sheffer a 10 shot lead the only all the people who don't need a 10 shot lead Scotty sheff's at the top of the list well yeah and you know what I think welfare for the wealthy he's I don't I don't know if I've ever heard this suggested before but I feel like it's another thing that would improve that percentage breakdown of like getting the top player a better chance of winning is make it a six round tournament why do you necessarily want the top player winning I don't that's all they need to I think that's where it's it's it's rooted in is that that's where you they want to get to is to make it make it like a a reward for doing so it's a it's trying to blend the concept of say like the English Premier League in football where like log said with other things you can win well and truly out from the end of the season because there is no finals then you bring football to a country like Australia that's used to finals you just tack finals on the end and it doesn't quite manage it this is trying to blend those concepts of you've done so well so we going to give you an advantage like minor Premier in rugby league and stuff where they get a Buy and they get home ground Advantage we can't do that so it's this trying to find this balance um and I think it's in a window in America where football hasn't started everything else is kind of winding down you need to appeal to Casual fans and this is a way to try and do that and you know I I don't I don't think there'd be a player in the field who would think it's not right that given the year had that Scotty Sheffer should have more of a chance to win than they do you reckon no I would believe that yeah i' agree with that not gol's not a year long I do think another way of doing it would be to make it a six round event make them work for it yeah then like he's going to win over six round I feel like yeah that's right he's going to be yeah yeah yeah it's six six rounds is really going to sort I mean the more go Randy for the last 15 or so who this is how you end up with this Tour Championship this sort of talk you've convinced yourself both of you that there's a point to be made here that it's legate and it's it's just all of its nonsense because it just takes the basic tenant of the sport which is what people enjoy it for and changes it six rounds without a handicap yeah that's what I me this is what the handicap thing does but all of this nonsense about trying to look just let them play in the last and whoever wins it wins it your reward is you're in the field you're in the you're in the lottery you've got a ticket the other 120 people didn't get a ticket you got a ticket cuz you played well you're now in the the lottery play well this week you get a huge payday don't play well you still get a huge payday who cares but that's the problem with it interesting there's uh obviously 30 as we've said a number of times players in the field Justin Thomas miss a 30 uh you've got Keegan Bradley Adam Scott Tommy Fleetwood and Chris Kirk with the last four into the 30 they knocked out Brian Harmon Jason day and Denny McCarthy who miss out on that big payday week uh there's 25 million bucks for the winner Victor holand was that last year the other ones outside of the sheffler shl sort of Advantage hii starts at 7even under Bradley six ludig Oar at five and then it sort of gets there three or four on the same scores Adam Scott is the lone Aussie so given all the advantages and all that who's going to win it Rod Scotty Sheffer starting at 10 100 it's got to be I know it doesn't happen most of the time I don't know who cares seriously who cares with this format who cares remarkable L just on that by the way 25 million to the winner you said why is sheffler bothering to turn up he's already made 29 this year that's handy extra money you can never have too much or is he covering the purse if he doesn't win now that' be interesting wouldn't it the FedEx Cup winner has to cover the purse for the Tour Championship if they don't win it sorry you're going to have a tip uh Zander CHL because he's got such a big Advantage there but you know not quite as big Advantage as no we didn't play as well all season because he won two majors in an Olympic medal but anyway I also think Xander who won the likes that place he's won the you know the the clean stroke of this event a bunch of times and now he's in a better position to actually win the whole thing than he's ever been and playing so good and I think has a little bit of a much to Rod shagin he probably wants to be the best player of the season so this will decide the PJ to is Player of the Year effectively I also think Xander is a little bit more resilient at coping with change like a different like the venue being a little bit different absolutely grinder is he I think that stuff I don't think really bothers him that much where I think Sheffer actually gets in his head a little bit like a Pinehurst he Che is clearly the second half of the Season by far the better player yeah best player yeah at drum and golf we understand your passion nice roll and that's because every drum and golf store is owned and run by a local who loves the game as much as you do yeah it's come off the face really well someone who knows where you play and what you need oh yeah looking good with Australia's biggest range and expert knowledge great now let's try that poter with this grip so if you want to improve your game see your local expert at drum and golf next we are going to move along we're going to go back to the UK and the bet Fred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick falo at the belfrey there's a lot of the and sers and whatnots there log you're all over it uh thank you jimmmy yes the belfrey uh as we all know is a golf resort near Birmingham uh it's got three courses the brabazon which is very powerfully named Golf Course PJ National and the Derby oh I didn't know about the Derby I like that the Derby uh it's hosted four Ryder cups it's really its thing it's rer cup Heritage uh you played it haven't you I've I've played it yeah com to that um uh it's hosted this uh tournament for the last three years and Daniel is the defending Champion uh Lord brabazon I actually covered this last year I looked at my notes you're R out of material already remember who just going back to wonder who volunteered for this one I found my notes's a little secret for you when we used to do the stars on public holidays at the paper because the people who did the Stars didn't work public holidays so the ket's job was to do the stars for those so you just go over to the Athena yeah Athena star so you grab Athena star from the same date last year freak every Christmas was fantastic for Sagittarius and terrible for Li you telling me Athena wasn't a person on staff oh no she was a person she didn't come to the office I think I met her once okay okay moving right absolutely don't believe Stars anyway Lord brabazon was a former president of the PGA um and the PGA is based there at the belfrey he was also a former captain of the RNA and a war hero in World War I a famous Aviator A yachtsman and A Member of Parliament which is where he took on the Lord title a uh he was elevated to the House of Lords so that's Lord brabazon um this course was designed by Peter Alice and Dave Thomas uh in the 1970s I think right started down right up in the 80s did it not uh and Dave Thomas had another crack at it in the '90s and gave it more water than it started with like it's got a lot of water um yeah lot of water and this is I think a good example in contrast to lolf National where there's a lot of water but the water actually seems to be in place amazing uh this place the water isn't really in play um even for me as you mentioned Rod I played there and I don't think I went in any of the Creeks but there is a lot of water on every hole the 10th I guess is the one place where you might be stupid enough it's the short par 4 driveable everyone wants to do a sevy and try and get it on the green and you might be stupid enough to put it in the water there I duck hooked off the tea there into some safely missing the water prickly pear or something oh yeah yeah and I didn't really I'd never encountered that stuff before and I came out like scratching myself like a madman and yeah I think Australia's dangerous um Tom do I'll leave you with uh on the course with a quote from Tom do from the confidential guide uh for some reason designers have tried to bring American Design Concepts to British so soil but the stylized Trent Jones style bunkers and multiple teared greens an utterly failed attempt to imitate Pete dy's telephone polls to line a bunker imit take the worst elements possible wow there with Peter Thompson's uh water beside greens is like fins on a Cadillac yeah no use for them they just look good something uh got my attention with this year's tournament is that Saturday is being called retro Saturday nice everyone's being blades and bada nice no just for the spectators they're being encouraged to come in retro gear and there's a prize on offer there's your two a championship ants for Simon blades and blad oh yeah 30 yeah good luck fellas yeah um some notable players in this year's field include Tyrell Corporation yes uh Danny Willet and T Hatton for everyone playing uh Danny wil who's a past winner yes he is um you and Ferguson yes uh some Australians Daniel gaale Jason scrier and David mzi a lot of Australians I think in Indonesia there is a huge amount of them in Indonesia yeah Daniel Gail on an invite good luck to Daniel G Y my pick uh is finland's valamar nice nice call by the way he plays out of Nokia River Golf Club would just out of river with a whole lot of old phones in it all yeah I don't know I'm Fascinate I tried to look it up before this but I didn't find much information on Nokia River Golf Club hope I'm really really hopeful it's like a corporate Nokia golf course it's nice numbers y hasht yeah there's Endless Possibilities right there standing Rod your tip oh I think tyell he he won in what it June on uh on L and I think there's still an element of giving them a bit of stick back on the European tour for he's a bit motivated in that way he's playing well at the moment so yeah go I'm going to go with Richie Ramsey yeah good call just playing good gol just he almost did it for me a couple of weeks ago didn't he same this sort of venue despite him liking really good architecture stuff it's he's one of those guys that likes the good stuff plays the not so good stuff really well so very familiar everything for him is teric follow on Twitter if you're a golf really good Richie ramsy him and Michael Kim sort of cut from a similar sort of cloth absolutely uh next after a major in Scotland lpj goes to Boston Massachusetts or very nearby Norton uh for the FM championship and we go to Rod Mor yeah interesting tournament this more interesting than you'd think first year FM firstly sponsorship watch uh was a new event title sponsor frequency modulation factory factory Mutual I think these people specialize in risk management for a fact I don't know I didn't get it here's what they say about themselves one of the largest world's largest commercial property insurers takes a unique preventative approach to helping clients protect their businesses customers and communities through rigorous research and Engineering expertise FM Global forges new standards in Lots profession and meets them with deep rooted Partnerships and human-to-human understanding of course I do who wouldn't sign up I got no idea what they do but good on them um there's lots of webs word salad on their website about scary stuff and how you can protect yourself against it if you've got money that's what they uh they trade in but look uh that aside good luck was a 5year deal that they've signed this is the biggest tourn the biggest purse outside the majors in the Tour Championship on the lpj which is really yes and comes the week after the Women's Open which is an interesting absolutely stacked five of the world's top 10 yeah all of them coming over from not quite all but most will will come to that the Course TPC Boston originally done by Arnold Palmer 2002 redone much better by Gil hands with then Brad CC starting in 2007 you might remember 2017 the controversial Center Line bunker on the 12th hole when the PGA to played there and they took it out for the following year Ah that's how golf goes unfortunately uh made the whole much more interesting but G look have they had a promotional event this week at uh Fenway Park I'm not sure though Fenway sports management were according to stories um pivotable pivotal in getting the deal on between the obga and and FM yeah so uh good look course is really Gil hands has done a terrific job here it's gone from one of the most boring venues on tour to one of the more interesting first time we've seen the women tackle it so that will be interesting um good scoring opportunities at TPC boss I think Dustin Johnson won at 30 under the Northern Trust there 30 which I think might be a tour record some interesting CA some interesting holes interesting not that different necessarily to some of the strategy that you'd see around St Andrews last week but it won't have the win and it won't have the look obviously wide Fairways lots of ground game stuff lots of imagination it will test the mind as well as the club so it'll be good to watch the course will be worth looking at this week as you said the field is stacked the main contenders didn't Lilia Nelly and Lydia all out for this week um which is understandable after last week but they have got uh a hell of a field on the purse would be a lot to do with that five of the world's top 10 te up world number five Amy Yang the highest five Australians Hannah Grace Steph H Aid Robin Choy I actually like Steph this week she's going to be my tip I think okay good it'll be good competitive goal a really interesting golf course and what more in your ass for yeah that's what it feels like to me like uh I'm tipping Rose Zang um good Olympics obviously not so good Open Championship but um I think she's back in familiar territory now with this sort of golf course finding her way isn't she she I think she's in good form and yeah it's been a pretty good second half of the year really with all those expectations on her it's quite remarkable to be playing the way she is truth child uh I'm going to go with Hannah green similar thing poor week last week after a really good Olympics really set herself for the Olympics there had to be a let down emotionally from that um has a lot of connections in Scotland just asked John hugen so it becomes a big couple of weeks of that stuff and I just think you weather and all that sort of stuff so I think back into more familiar playing conditions kind of S Andrew without the wind should suit her and a lot of there's a lot of Perth in it in terms of what that sort of golf is Andrew's connection you're making to TPC Boston more about the style of put it this way normally TPC Andrews well if you normally went from s to any TPC you could not draw any parallels between the I'm making the point that the changes Gil hands made here makes it play much more in that strategic style where there's more room to play and more options for all shots that's what makes it interesting nice uh we like Castle Pines we're going to hey it's unnecessary driveby great great thick shakes at Castle Pines I've been told wish there's something decent yeah there you go uh back to you again Rod this time for the Asian tour and the manderi Indonesian open yeah quite the uh quite the tour it's got quite the history 1974 it started so it's been part of the Asian tour and Associated tours good winners list pay Stewart Padre Harrington Craig Perry Frank noo among others so uh pretty good sponsor watch m is a bank a massive state owned bank nice welcome to golf this is what we do the name means self forign or independent in Indonesia and that's the most interesting thing about this bank so well done to them uh Pik Golf Course part of a 30 six hole facility got Jack Nicholas designer Rober Trent Jones Jr Design This is the Trent Jones course it's a bit of an odd setup the nines there's an inner circle and an Outer Circle and there's houses everywhere in between the courses are 22 M apart as part of this same kind of facility we saw that in Thailand Springs it's a yeah not a mar Springs um not Springs Country CL which has got four courses but they're got it all over Tha like it's it's not an unusual thing in Asia to have a club that has multiple multi Not Unusual here too I mean when you think about the national and Long Island yeah that's right that's probably the first it's interesting there um look nothing architecturally stunning about the place as You' imagine it's sort of designed to host this kind of golf once or twice a year but mostly Resort and local resident kind of golf bunkers tend to be not too beig Fairways and playing corridors are wide enough for sort of this level of player it's no St Andrews it's no St Andrews exactly you're not you're not going to draw any parallels between here and St Andrews at all under was the winning score last year it's sort of the sort of scoring probably expect again this week it's only a $500,000 purse it's one of the smaller ones on the Asian tour but at this level of the game the stakes are higher than just the money these guys are playing for cards next year and uh all those coins of things lots of Australians in the field I won't go through them all is 18 uh in total including Brendon Jones Marcus Fraser Scott hend among the veterans up and comers like Harrison Crow Louie doar and comma McDade big opportunity for those guys in this field this week There's a big local representation obviously and again these are hugely important for these local players they get to see players that they've watched on TV and measure themselves against directly and that's really help won't pay dividends this year but like you're saying with Danish golf in 10 years time these kind of events can really come dis disappointingly uh my man from the Asia Pacific amate Randy bintang hasn't got an invitation so the tangman will wait another year to play his National open but that's okay that is very disappointing it is is hugely disappoined but that's okay team team bintang will be okay yeah um yes doesn't even care I've been on bint Tang though I've been a fan of bang ever since you mentioned it I remember bint Tang yeah yeah any uh look lots of the unfamiliar names in the field obviously so the tendency is towards some names that you know I got no idea who might win uh probably one of the local players but I'm going to stump up again for Brendan Jones doing it for the old I knew you the moment I was looking at that list I saw Brendan Jones out I'll leave that alone for yeah thanks mate I appreciate that go Brendon L the other option was going to be trap SM but well here we go which two players on the asan who's now going to tip Trav SM yeah Trav SM very this it's going to be hot wet and soft I think it's just but I I think those are conditions that Trev will do quite well in with his length and he's one in the Northern Territory as well he has in yeah absolutely uh there's so many Aussies so I'm just going to have to pick one of those and I was going to go with Jack Thompson he had a really quite a good year there it's it's really hard Asia where there's obviously more and there's more events than there has been but it's so stilted that they get a run and they have to go font somewhere else to play and all that sort of stuff but Jack's been very very good I do get noticed in golf these days isn't it Jim I mean Jack Thompson is a hell of a play who who sort of knows it you just don't get that much press down at that level of the game so good luck to those guys who out there do that that will just about do us for episode 78 Rod I don't think we need any more word on what's coming up this week you I think we've heard everything you've got to say got some we know what your highlight be next week there's some large viewing halls in my golf viewing coming up this week I've got some some time I won't be watching the no it's not true I will watch the Tour Championship but these are big and important question you watch it I don't think this is advancing this will advance the game in anyway I'm just doesn't make any sense to me but it's got more conversation out of us than any other PJ Tour event so that's a positive right uh Lo given we're talking format there's new formats in this studio there's about to be a hole cut in something your your opinions on that given Rod's given his opinion on another format I don't know I think you could like you should do a DIY YouTube channel or something Rod there all sorts of stuff you always doing in here which I think people would be interested in just little projects little mini projects today I dug a hole or today I du put some under coat on the wall or something I don't know there's always stuff going on new soundproofing thing you could do before and after clap do you want to start on small business and what it's like being a no let's not do that okay uh of course you can follow all these events and much more on the golf Australia magazine website golf australia.com we also spoke about it last week but why not do it again uh new book by friend of the show friend of everyone here and former editor of golf Australia Brendan James called great golf courses Australia inside is the top 50 most desirable golf courses in Australia standout holes history and all that sort of stuff written by BJ and accompanied by his photography so get out and get that that's in all good book stores well worthwhile I'm not 100% sure on that availability but I've always wanted to say available in all good bookstores like it's just a pitch and some and some probably some not so good mle of the road ones as well probably some average ones too but it's there uh and Rod we must be due a new thing about golf episode very soon I would IM next week next week okay it will be Trevor imman well there you go sitting down with Huggy that's a te which I had to technically organize at 1:00 a.m. I wasn't at my best because that was the time he was doing huggy's not great with the recording side of things so I help him with that so anyone who knows John hugin has just been shocked by that staggered staggered by that anyway well that's something to look forward to next week but thank you for listening and we'll be back next week on playing from the tips [Music]