Live from Denver: Sepp Straka & Craig Stadler Interviews + BMW Championship Preview

[Music] Smiley caufman for 61 wow I'm Smiley caufman and this is the Smiley Show welcome back to the Smiley Show once again onsite here in Castle Rock Colorado we joined you Monday from the range at Castle Pines now we're at the the 18th green at Castle Pines is grounds crew back there doing their final preparations for the start of the BMW Championship tomorrow fun day of Pro Am play here today uh course is looking like it's in great condition but before we get to all that and we have a lot to dig into got to give a big shout out to the good people over at Plum Creek yeah we had a a a staff outing yesterday our first ever with with Brian and Jackson out there you know couple sticks over here we had a good little game came right down to the Finish we had a blast we did have a good time and you know actually uh it was really good to see where my game was um which was uh there you know faint pulse I tell you what this game will drive you crazy um I do think that the the issue has been solved but I'm a little concerned about the turnaround time because the fall is coming right around the corner and that's where I'm going to be playing some golf and if I drive it like I did yesterday a couple times that's not fun golf so I really need to get uh back to work hit some balls and make sure I don't hit it quite as bad off the tea as I did at times yesterday but also hit some cool shots too we we have a hot date at Tobacco Road looming large yes we do I think that was our big takeaway was you know having Jackson Brian out there with cameras and we're venturing into YouTube golf and like let's play three holes on camera like let's play two holes on camera let's play a hole on camera let's do a putting contest on camera it was It was a it was a tough scene uh but we we did hit some good shots out there yesterday and let's look at the positives right we had a good time and uh yeah all good yeah I uh I I had to laugh talking about uh talking to sep straa about hole in ones because he talked about you know part three hole in ones and I almost had the nightmare scenario on 17 at Plum Creek of making a second shot uh hole in one zipped it past the hole after dunking my chunky my first in the water that would have been absolutely brutal but fun time out of Plum Plum Creek GC really appreciate everyone for hosting us there and another thing we got to talk about Plum Creek was the the UV index yesterday eight it's absolute Scorch right here in in Colorado and we're out there applying our our uh we SPF sunscreen yeah uh definitely so I I stay strapped uh I got these things on the Bell yeah definitely so I mean I reapplied three times yesterday and then uh today a couple different times so yeah it's a it's a week that the sun's screen is going to be out and about and really it's really dry out here too yeah and that's one thing too the lip balm is something I'm going to definitely be using and uh yeah thank you I was going to say if I can get my zip rope in can I also can I get a hit bro you want to share lip balm can I can I go have these on a 30 SPF Li can I get a little hit I I uh yeah it's it's it's interesting it's like you both come from the south where it's humid as heck and you think that's the hottest version you're going to get of it and sweating and trying to you know not you know retain moisture and everything retain hydration but you come up here you get closer to the Sun 6,400 ft of elevation and it gets to you real quick so wherever you are you're in the south at sea level if you're at elevation in Colorado use the code Smiley 50 that's SM y l i e50 atwar sf.com let buy one get the second one half off and lather up like we do on the golf course you may not play good golf which is similar to us but you at least won't get burned so that's a good thing yeah absolutely so let's let's get right into it because you were out on the golf course today I would say I would tell you that I walked the back nine with Jackson this morning but I don't think that's a correct characterization I hiked the back nine CU it's a true hike out here I mean this is I can't illustrate this any better than they gave us course maps and you look at this course map it's stylized as like a ski slope they got like you know black diamonds or you know the the blue squares the green circles all that type of stuff it's literally you could you could go sledding off like tint off 11 I mean it's it's a it's a walk out here yeah 100% it is it's about a 8 to n mile walk out on this golf course here at at Castle Pines I went around it today in my golf cart and I'm be it's going to be it's going to be a long week for the guys out on the ground uh just so I give you some elevation just as far as the feet first hole the te to the landing area 115 ft second hole is a 60t 65 ft drop 45t drop in the third hole 20 22 feet up on five 34 ft up on seven as we go down to the back nine on 10 you got like an 80 foot drop off the te so the t- shots on one and 10 those going to be fun to follow just to see you know the Hang Time on some of these drives you're going to get uh it's it's going to be fun to watch these guys try to navigate one to be aggressive off the te with drivers um and one to lay back to find the fairways because you know going around this this golf course what surprised me is how residential this place is with you know some out of bounds uh very close to to some of the fairways that'll definitely catch some guys attention um and it's a Jack Nichols design and and this place reminds me at times of shots that you have at Memorial some shots remind me that that you have at Augusta National uh some of the drives for the most part remind me of what you see in typical Mountain Golf which you know Reno would be an example but I don't think anybody in the top 50 here has probably played Reno in quite some time so it's probably not a good uh one to look at but yeah it's it's a very unique golf course uh blended with you know Mountain Golf perfect conditions and then typical you know small sections that you have to hit into with wedges that you're now trying to calculate with you know potential with some firm greens and then uh you know the ups and downs that you're going to have to calculate and pretty much every single hole for the most part you can't miss long so that'll be the big thing is can guys leave it in the correct positions because I do think when you do get on the greens you're going to be able to make some putts um although it is you know just me standing on the back of a certain green and then I go to the front of the green I'll think it's uphill when I'm looking at the front and then I'll go to the back and then I see it the total different way and it was messing with my brain almost like I'm going to get on my yardage book tomorrow and try to put a dot on where the mountain is moving to just not get lost on where you are because if there's any pull out there it's going to be down the mountain and sometimes you can kind of Get Lost based on how they build these greens uh whether it's up against the slope or with the slope and I think the guys that are able to kind of maneuver and see these greens the best are the ones you know if you're hitting the fairways obviously are the ones that are going to be up there at the top we're going to talk to se straa about this and Craig Stadler about this uh in a couple minutes here but just curious for your perspective on this because we know obviously these players and these caddies are the best in the world at figuring out what the number is right but there are so many variables this week in terms of just okay just this entire place at 6,400 FT of elevation then you just ran off a list of all these holes the change of elevation on those individual holes going up or down and then wind coming into play like we're looking BMW Flags over here and watching some of these flags ripping in the and it's a little bit down right now but if that kicks up at any moment all of a sudden you're standing over a shot you got like three or four different variables coming into play and and it again like these guys are the best at it but do you think how important is that that player caddy Dynamic this week in terms of trying to kind of dial in what club you're taking and how you're going to hit it I think it's a bit of a guessing game I think Thursday is going to be a big test for a lot of guys some guys maybe uh will play to aggressively and it lead them to to to some mistakes with their club choices while other guys maybe play a more conservative route or have a better gauge of a game plan on how they're going to deal with the elevation and this golf course too when you get in the rough especially with bad angles and you have forced carries there's not great run up areas on a lot of these holes uh especially the ones that go uphill uh you can't really run it up and then the holes that are the shorter of the par fours if you're if you miss the Fairway with a bad Angle now you're worried about about first carrying the penalty area that which a lot of these penalty areas are marked yellow which are for for people that don't understand the difference between red and yellow you know red up by the green you're going to be dropping there's a majority of the majority of these holes have yellow penalty areas around the greens which takes you back towards a drop zone a good example of that would be like Augusta National when you hit in the water on the 11th hole you go to a drop zone you know short left and you'll see a lot of guys this week when they hit in the water it won't be that easy up and down for bogy they're actually going to BR be bringing in double Bogies uh when they when they make mistakes off the te uh or if they hit a poor wet shot from the Fairway and it's the driving accuracy piece is just a fascinating one to me because Jackson and I were following around couple groups this morning playing in proam and we we were walking with Davis Thompson on 12 and there's that it's that really tricky there's that kind of Bunker on the right side but there's a mound on the back end of it and it runs off out of the Fairway quickly and you don't have a ton of room on the left side either so I got up to the green and talked to Davis's caddy Joe Eder and was just talking hey like what do we hit back there and so the wind was with them and today it's a seven wood then he's got a wedge in but on a day when the wind's in it could be a three-wood and I just you got to think that precise like te accuracy is going to be at such a premium this week with all you know playing the guessing game all the variables and I wonder if some of that t accuracy is just going to be a crapshoot it's like a guy could take a club he thinks he going to be great and it might not work out for him no 100% this this golf course is going to be about hitting the fairways the rough is right around 3 to three and a four it's thick isn't it 3 to three and a/4 in personally I feel like it's more than that it's a Kentucky blueg grass too and most of the time it it gets trampled down as the week goes so it gets less and less typically unless you have a bunch of rain that keeps moisture in it which then that's when the golf ball doesn't come out quite as hot but Thursday Friday when you're missing Fairway is going to be definitely very penal um and uh yeah one of the cool things about this golf course that we found out in the meeting is that there's a wildlife manager really there's a wildlife manager on property to deal with all of the different animals that they have out here they have Bears they have mountain lions Bobcats snakes bald eagles and Elk elk is like an invasive part of the golf course actually apparently the the elk urine is was an issue in the Fairway so they had to resod a bunch of some of the fairways because of the elur in I thought that was very interesting so uh if you're a fan of of animal watching or if you're want to run from a bear this could be the the week that you come out and watch some golf look at you doing some big J journalism this week you had the IHOP scoop hiim Matsuyama on Monday now you're the elk earing guy so congrats man we really the credentials are are there we're so in talking in painting this picture right we're talking about guessing games things like that so you got to think that familiarity is helpful here right right and the guy that we've been talking about all week we've been hearing about who this is home for him is wam Clark guy we had on the show last week finished tied for seventh in Memphis do you think how much do you think I believe he's going off right now at 28 to1 to to win outright how much do you think playing here and and feeling comfortable and being at home helps wendam this week you know I think he hasn't played like this golf course in a long time you know it's not like he plays this golf course every day so it's not paint the picture that this is like his home track right right um he's obviously played in the past he's familiar with just golf and Denver in general so with winham this week I think it's the biggest storyline right you know a guy that's going to have you know a ton of Hometown support you know that he's got this this tournament circled for a very long time you know he's playing a a practice round this week uh in the proam today with Payton Manning so he's got this huge crowd out there so you know the expectations are going to be high and so when I think about Windam this week what did we talk about with him last week the one thing that he mentioned was managing expectations that and getting off to a good start in round one and I'm not sure if if maybe he's been just getting his mind uh prepared for the Thursday round here at uh Castle Pines and if so let's say he gets off to a good start and shoots a 5 six under round I really feel like you know he's going to have the city of Denver behind him and we're talking about 30,000 people every single day uh you know there's you know obviously there's fan favorites out here Scotty Xander and uh and Roy maroy but I think Windham Clark is the number one number one storyline I'm monitoring this week it's it's a big one and to your point if he gets off to a hot start it could be the week where that Trend he's talking about these last couple weeks come play good I mean if you go look at it it's not quite as consistent as as it was maybe in the first half of this year and at times uh the back half of last season but you have got to credit just his Outlook of where he's at in his game it just feels like it's close and if you're somebody that likes Windam this week uh I love it for you I think I always shy away from the guy with big expectations but I could totally see an argument and say you know what Wham Clark understands these conditions and playing an elevation more than anybody yeah without a doubt uh and a couple of those other names Smiley mentioned near the top of that odds board we're going to get to those on the back end of the show as make our one andone picks talk about some favorites play it forward a little bit to to East Lake the event next week the Tour Championship uh but right now we got a couple of fun conversations to share with you we're going to start with sep straa Smiley's boy from Birmingham Alabama uh a lot of fun to be had with him there of course and then we're going to talk to Craig Stadler as well a PJ tour vet a guy who makes Denver his hometown who played out here here 17 straight times at the international when this was a tourist stop so looking forward to both those conversations we'll get to those right now back here on the smiley show at the 18th green at Castle Pines does not get any better location wise and it also does not get any better because we have a friend of the show sep straa I'm feeling a little bit like the odd man out here this is like the Alabama crew up here the Birmingham the stavia hills gang you definitely should feel the left out which something we can get into in a little bit uh but you're 24th coming to this event here the BMW Championship 24th in the FED ice Cup standings we are back at a venue that the tour is not been since 2006 obviously 6,400 ft of altitude so just kind of starting with your prep for the week and and just anything that stood out to you in terms of the way this course is playing differently since none of us have seen it for a while yeah I mean it's uh it's definitely a course where you're doing a lot more prep than normal um like you said 6,400 ft so number one you got to figure out distances uh how far you're hitting it what percentage you want to play if you want to do that or go to new carry numbers for each Club um figure all that out and then I had a terrible week last week so there was a lot of uh a lot I just wasn't very sharp and so a lot of kind of sharpening up this week that I've that I've been doing and uh yeah had three really good days of prep and ready to go now all right Seth so I got the yardage book out and this is like a a massive week for the caddies they need to bring their calculators to work and if if there's any wind just throw it all out because then it just becomes a guessing game because now you're factoring a 10 to 15 mph wind with a 15 yard downhill shot and then you throw in the elevation which can be 5 to 15% depending on when you're playing during the day so I'm just like I'm I'm using the 12th hole as an example there's a run through at 342 yards when you see that number what what do you think do you feel like driver is okay through that on that line I'm just wondering like when you see these big numbers how hard it is for you to kind of adjust yeah so that one actually you can't really hit driver cuz once you get over the bunker it's kind of downhill towards the rough so I mean you you might be able to but it's kind of a tight squeeze with the driver so I just hit like either a three-wood or a seven wood out there just to left of the bunker okay here's here's another one I think is a good example which would be the fifth hole and this t-shot there's two big bunkers up the left side of the Fairway and the cover on that bunker is 3 53 yards do you think some players will be able to cover this and some won't yeah I'm not looking at that number but I guarantee you Rory probably is I mean you know especially this this altitude like he'll just send it up in the air and it's just not going to come down forever so it's crazy it's weird looking at those numbers uh just trying to figure out how far your driver is going to go how far you thre what's going to go CU you got the big carry numbers and then the ball's rolling pretty good right now this week so it's uh it's a lot to put in yeah 100% And can you just walk us through what's some of your numbers look like maybe give us how far your driver's going your seven iron and a pitching wedge or something like that yeah so driver I'm looking at like you were saying the 340 number like if I'm looking at that I'm looking at just roughly about 35 off so essentially that's a that's a 300 yard uh shot so if that's the run out it's either a soft driver or a three-wood um so yeah that's kind of crazy to think about I mean 340 something you're thinking about driver is going to be too much so uh yeah you're looking at that um you know the other numbers I'm just playing a percentage I don't have a new stock yardage for each club right okay uh cuz I do a lot of 10 10% 10% we've been doing 10% it's been pretty pretty good uh obviously changes a little bit with the uh with the heat but I feel like I can adjust that you know just for regular Heat regular coolness if it's kind of chilly my irons generally don't go as far anyways so yeah but it's a lot of math out there I had a conversation with Shane Lowry the other night and one of the things that he talked about when playing an elevation is that the shots that are in between are the most difficult because when you lower the flight it's not going to be in the air as much and so potentially it's going to come up way shorter so those shots in inside of 140 yards that are so normally easy for you to hit your number have you decided I mean I'm sure it's based on the situation but what Shane had told me is that he's going to lean on if he's between is just go less and then just hit it harder yeah there's definitely going to be a lot more of that this week the one thing if you go less if you hit a soft chot you still got to flush it it's not one of those where you're in between you can just kind of put the club on it and get the right number if you miss it at all like that spin number is going to be off and it's not going to be in the air long enough to get the full full altitude so no matter what shot you're hitting this week it's got to be out of the middle of the face SE we've been here since Monday we were out on the Range and you know just getting a feel of course for the for everything that's going to be different this week and looking at some of the guys playing well but Smiley's also been engaging in some some big journalistic breaking news uh we had a little moment on Monday's show where Smiley revealed that Hideki Matsuyama plans out his stays in uh near the closest Ihop the proximity to IHOP and and just when I thought I couldn't love the guy more he's an IHOP and a Chick-fil-A guy which is absolutely amazing I I think he needs to move to the South but so it got me thinking a little bit I I got a two-part question for you here and the first is uh when is the last time you ate an IHOP and second question is what is your IHOP do you have a guilty pleasure like keki eating IHOP on the road I've got plenty of guilty CL uh I can't remember last time IH ho we're I'm a Dan a Denny's guy so uh okay Grand Slam guy yeah so in college we played at uh regionals somewhere in California we played terrible the first day hacker was pissed so we go to Denny's right by the hotel next day I think we shot 20 something under we're in like third place going to the final round so we went back to Denny's again the next night what do you order at Denny's at night is it just breakfast or you go with like a teaone I think it's all day breakfast right they they do all day breakfast but they've got some sort of like U moons over Miami or some uh some sandwich or something that I like yeah but it's been a few years for that you can get a T-bone at Waffle House I know like some people get that number one T-Bone seller in the US at least that was when I was in college that's phenomenal probably just cuz they got one on every corner probably so probably well we've also been doing of course some journalistic practices in the background but doing some research heading into this interview and you mentioned on the front end here we we were having a little conversation before we came on camera talking about all these Hoin ones you made the past couple months one of those was Gus the Nationals part three course and just wondering you know many people would look at that and say whole ones on part three courses do they count or not like give us the argument as to why they do count yeah it's it's kind of aough tough tough uh tough deal there like they they change I feel like you know I mean if it's like a 75 yard hole can you really counted I don't know but that was that was a tough hole it's water short right crowd to the left tiny little green I had a I think a full nine iron so I'm counting it or I put a caveat with that one I I tell people it was on a part it was on Augusta part three but was it during the tournament um yeah it was the Wednesday of it was part three it was a golf tournament it that's another thing I had one in the Augusta part 3 concept count counts when people ask how many home ones I made a th% count that one because it is in a competition there's people out there yeah it's not I do tell people I do include that one if there's a part three course where it should count that's probably the course where it counts yeah I would say yeah I definitely count that one um but there's definitely degrees to it like certain part three courses if you're just hitting 70 yard pitches that do really but that one that's a full on full on golf shot and two of your other hole-in ones probably the coolest hole to ever make a hole-in-one on the 12th hole at Augusta National yeah you made that was that Monday this year I might be biased but that's my number that's my favorite part three in the world but yeah it was Monday last year yeah Monday last year and and then Pinehurst this year on the ninth hole in the US Open making a hole in one and the only thing that we can all include in this is that in a 14mon span of those Hoin ones JT Poston was there for all of them he was there for all three playing with them all three yeah so uh this year the par three course uh that was the second one of the three um our celebration was a little tough uh I just freaked out jumped up he tried to catch me it was not great um and then all I remember making that hole in one at at Pinehurst a few months later I just looked straight at him and I'm about to jump and I decide not to so we're we're gaining on it a little bit um celebration is getting a little better but it's still not not quite nailed down gosh and the reason why Charlie asked this question do part three uh hole in ones count on a part three course this question came from your brother your twin brother Sam straa because he INF he says that you are so on that side of the fence that yes it always will count and by the way we got some good questions from Sam here that we're going to hit you with as well yeah I bet I bet he's got he's been there for everything so I bet he's got some dirt on me but yeah he does not he does not count him so we're we're kind of against him there well I think I think the first one that needs to be asked and it's this just isn't to you this is to Smiley as well because I think you're both on trial here a little bit is you guys are both of course SEC guys right you're George Bulldog Smiley LSU Tiger we're hearing rumors that you guys are going a little soft being married to Auburn Tigers there may be a little bit of War Eagle kind of movement happening your fandom you care to refute that or what's happening there well I'm just doing good for the dogs cuz ever since we've been together we haven't lost to Auburn so uh it's been a good run so yeah yeah I'll just keep up the good work there how many years in a row is that then uh we met we met at the last game that we lost which was at Auburn in 200 boy I don't know turn of the century 17 18 2018 been a while yeah are are you like what's how old is Leo and how's the recruiting going there is it kind of a house- divided situation in terms of you know gear you know we haven't talked much about it but now that we're were getting into we had a bit of an argument about it last night um he's 8 months today okay there go and uh she was talking about while I'm in Spain for for a tournament she's going to want to take him to the Auburn game that's where that's where I lost Santa Carter she said she's she's basically already filled out her paperwork to be a chew leader being a soror at Auburn it's she's a lost go mean frany brought Obby down to Birmingham to meet Anna Carter I mean Obby it's it's like Super Bowl man that's tough it's it's gone higher than Dad Dad Obby than Dad Dad tough I hope I don't get there but uh but yeah so she wants to dress him in Auburn clothes that week I said fine but we're going to the George Auburn game uh together he's going to be wearing dog gear because it's in Athens so uh that was my my stipulation we'll see if it sticks I don't know all right let's talk a little bit about Sam uh your twin brother I'm not sure if I'm a little nervous I'm not sure if a ton of people know though that uh that you are a twin and and I've played junior golf with Sam and youp and for those that have never played golf with Sam this guy is one like how how long of a player do you think he would be out here on the tour would he be top 10 in driving distance you think I mean if he kept playing full-time since College yeah I think so I mean he absolutely crushes the ball smashes it um it sounds different coming off of his Club tiller my coach actually just showed me video of him at Kusa during the uh he was hitting balls before the midam qualifier or something I mean the sound of that thing is just out of this world so yeah he he flushes it he hits it far but it's unfortunately not very consistent you know we had uh a couple twins come on the podcast earlier this year this was Maxwell Ford and uh David Ford David David yeah I know what Dave is for it's all like in my head I was getting confused but we had these two guys on and I was like hey name a number one to 10 and both you guys say it at the same time and they both said seven and there they playing that I had to playing that no I'm telling you I it was we've had a few moments too though I freaked out about that and this is what I wanted to ask you is that that Sam believes that that you two can like kind of read each other's minds and whether Sam is watching on the golf course there's like a way in which he can enter your brain and know exactly what you're thinking have you had moments like that where it's the other way around there's definitely been some weird moments between us like where I'll say something and he's says I was literally going to say that exact sentence just now has nothing to do with what we were talking about or one time I think we were in uh weightlifting class and had a whiteboard or whatever and at the same time we both go up and see if we can get the little uh uh marker to go off but um yeah stuff like that where uh it is a little bit weird how we can kind of think the exact same thing at the exact same time well you said weightlifting and and a lot of people uh we've heard this on the broadcast now that your nickname is Ox where did the nickname come from a lot of people think it's just because you're a big dude strong guy but uh Sam was telling me you actually got it from your assistant coach of Georgia yeah Doug he uh I don't know if anybody's seen the movie Stripes here oh yeah John Candy I catch up on that one his name is Stripes no it's great M you got what's the premise uh well just amazing movie of the past in that tells me two two basically potheads decide to join the Army and then just all the Tom FY that that comes with their their whole their whole Army group it's fantastic but John Candy's name in the movie is Dewey oxburger and they going around in the circle talking about you know uh what are they saying who who they are and all that he says my name's Dewey oxberger but my friends call me ox and uh yeah he kind of reminded my assistant coach of uh d oxburger and since then I've been I've been Ox there you go it's not as good of a nickname as people think cuz John C is obviously not exactly a it's strong guy it's on his Club glove his uh his golf clubs came out I was looking for just you know sep Str at two s's on his embroidered Club glove bag and it was it was Ox I was like perfect that's actually kind of tough though cuz people think it's XO oh yeah but uh yeah well I want to get a little further into kind of just the Birmingham Golf Scene of which you and your brother Sam are both a part of and I look I get we're here for the FedEx Cup but I'm interested in a very different cup I want to talk a little wolf snake Cup right now oh God this ising Captain for three years is that right really tough subject for me this is this is what I want to get we've had Nick dun laab come on the show we talked about how well he played in this and so I I need a sketch of like your history playing in the wolf snake cup apparently I need to hear a little bit about your captaincy and how that's gone for you not gone well um yeah I'm I guess I'm a better player than a captain uh but no it's an awesome it's awesome tournament I mean we've got a bunch of guys in Birmingham like who are all the guys that have play that are tour guys I mean just think about the list I mean Robbie Shelton Trey mullenax Wilson fur um dun laap I mean I guess he's a tus Le Hodes Michael Johnson Michael Johnson I was a tour player I've played um but now it's a it's a good do we throw Jeff curl in there got yeah he was UN fairy um but yeah it's a good group of guys and that tournament's always real fun well it's kind of incredible now cuz you you throw Gordon sergeant in there as well like he had played yet he hasn't been chring in the wolf snake not played in the cup but but just the the the talent coming out of that portion of Alabama like are there any other names we need to know who were on the rise now that we've seen Nick and Gordon of late coming coming out of you know Birmingham Alabama yeah I mean there's a bunch of guys I've been playing with Chase kis a good bit he's about to be a freshman uh in college and uh or I guess he's got one more year too he's number one Junior in the country he's up in Huntsville he hadn't come down and played yet but if he does he'll he'll get the full the full treeman you know yeah but uh yeah I mean this a great uh great great spot for golf a lot of good golf courses and uh yeah it's it's awesome you know that wolf snake up so anytime that I have Nick Dunlap on a on a broadcast I have an opportunity to talk about just how long I've known him how mature of a golfer he's been how high his IQ is as a golfer and we really have seen that since you know his first time playing in that wolf snake cup he's going against tour Pros uh down the stretch and he's like the last guy in these matches this is when he's 15 years old and I remember one of the years he lost one of the last matches and and literally practiced the rest of the night to try to get ready for the next day just as an UL Grant he was too young to take part in the festivities that after he's still to be very still too young to take part of the festivities he's 20 years old yeah um but no he's been I mean it's been great watching him play I mean since he was what 14 we've been playing with him unreal and uh when he was 14 years old I didn't feel comfortable giving him a shot so uh I had a good feeling he was going to be out here pretty soon and yeah he he got out here real quick and Sam your brother's played in this and uh at the wolf snake he he was actually him and I played uh as as partners together and that and your brother I think two of my favorite people to ride in a golf cart with would be Jordan's brother Steven Steven spe your brother Sam like my two ultimate favorite cart Maids guys just keep the energy up you know they're definitely going to have some beer they make you like the camaraderie in the cart is always going to be great I feel like anytime you play golf with Sam it's always going to be a good time yeah I mean he's just he's just awesome to be around uh definitely a little more outgoing than I am but uh but yeah he I love playing golf with him still um he's just it's never really a dull moment you'll always see one shot that you've never seen before in your life I mean just like out of the woods 40 yard slice to 10 ft or something something crazy is going to happened he told me when you got out on the PGA tour the first time you went back and played with him again you asked him like Hey do you want any shots and he was so pissed he was pissed yeah he was he's still pissed if I bring up shots he does not want any shots so so te team competitions you know I no this is you were on The Winning Side in 2023 in the Ridder cup you know we a little ways before we get to Beth page in 2025 but I can't think of anyone who could be more equipped for the Beth Page black environment than an Alabama kid from Austria who has been to multiple SEC football games and played in the SEC I mean do you feel first of all what do you think that environment is going to be like at Beth Page and do you feel like I'm ready to go into that Arena I don't think I'm ready no I don't think I'm ready I don't know I think the Alabama thing's going to work against me up in New York too so um yeah I think it's going to be crazy uh but I think it's going to be a lot of fun uh to try to tackle environment so definitely a huge goal for next year trying to get on that team and let's just talk about your development over you know the last however many years right you've you've made two tour championships you're in a great position at 24th in the FedEx Cup and you know you've had two really good coaches that and this is what Sam and I talked about is that you're growing up you had clad Griner is that he pronounces Claud grer yeah grer excuse French Canadian he just he mentioned how him as a coach growing up how how good he was for you and Sam's development and then over the last couple years I guess I'd say maybe the last four years or so you've been with John Tillery and just seems like your your stats every single year continue to proove as well with uh your short game coach Tim yelverton yeah uh I've been really lucky I feel like I've had great influence from a lot of people um Claude to start kind of the fundamentals of the game uh he was the the pro the teaching at our home course in Austria um and yeah he was he was great I mean he was such a fun guy made the game fun uh and kind of taught me the fundamentals and then honestly one other guy Chris Dixon uh through high school he was the teaching pro in uh at kinderoo uh that's right when we moved there and he uh yeah he kind of took me to the next level I guess uh to where I was actually a really good ball Striker uh working with him and uh yeah recently Tim yelberton and and JT it's been unreal JT I've been working with him for two and a half three years and that's been yeah the best two and a half three years of my golf uh career so uh yeah huge huge props to him and thanks to him for kind of developing my game and helping me become the best player that that I have been and Charlie we've uh talked about with this on the podcast with SE after he won the John Deere classic just about things that he's improved over the years and one of the things he mentioned and this is I believe right around the same time we did an episode with maybe James sikman something with chipping and and SE was like man that was a good episode because he's somebody that is still learning and chipping and I think that's something that you've picked up over the years of of how you've improved in that aspect from where you were let's say in college when like when shipping was was a tough scene dark days to where you are now from a technical standpoint if you could describe the chip ER in college and the chipper now what you changed from when you were in college to now um yeah from when I was in college I mean The Yips is one subject right but the technique just wasn't very good uh which kind of led to the Yips um I was real shut real steep which was my golf swing at that time I was kind of had more shut Club face and uh and yeah and I just could not figure out how to how to hit either ball first or kind of figure out the bottom because the air like that's a nightmare you just rather put it in the back and bump it yeah I mean it's so hard when you have a shut face in that clubs outside to get any sort of Loft on the club on the ball um or especially if you don't really know how to do it now there's been especially last few years a lot of people have kind of come up with ways and like you see Victor uh doing an incredible job uh with his chipping and he still has a fairly shut face so yes um so yeah there's definitely ways to do it and I feel like tripping technique has come a long way in last five or six years good point that's a very good point but uh but yeah it's come a long way my I'm a lot more Square in my full swing too like those kind of went hand in hand uh face is a lot more Square takeway I'm not uh I'm using my actual body to move the club a little bit and not just picking it up with my hands um which makes me a little more shallow and makes that that bottom point a little more predictable than it was before we like predictability when it comes to especially uh I think think Charlie would love some predictability when it comes to the the chipping game from time to time you have some issues we we might be working through the wed Shanks and and this is my dad has the wedge sh he started well he's got the he's got all the he's got hybrids now so he's secured but they developed into his his long IRS too and it was not good it's not even chipping it's like approach wedges like anything inside 120 it's when I try to draw it's a tough scene yeah that my Yip my chipping yips got to that point where in college I I remember remember we didn't play well one tournament I think it was Vegas we never played well there and uh hackers going around there's a lot of wedges in Vegas and hackers going around like what's your favorite wedge distance with a uh distance with a wedge where do you want to lay up to and everybody's throwing out weird numbers like 75 I like 95 I like 60 he gets to me and I'm like 145 cuz that's the first club that doesn't look like a wedge so that's my pitching wedge was a was an iron set and I'm like yeah just give me 145 so I can just hit a full swing that is awesome the mood little strategy for me I like that's a good takeaway you know what it gets you excited this week we got a little putter change from this guy this week no we're back okay all right all right sure Liv short live back on the ttle that never mind that is that is not uh that is not news and notes Here well well this it's funny because that was I know you're the ox but I I always on the Pod call you the microwave because when you heat up with that putter gets h it's very hot very yeah the last two years was awesome putting and this year's just not been not been very good so uh hopefully couple days on the on the bench will I think we're going to see a lot of M pots on these greens so perfect surfaces you could see everything uh it's right in front of you so I think you'll see this guy he there's nothing like a bench putter I mean gets going real quick five years she gets a little comfortable you know you got to let her know that there's other options out there this is last one for me last one from the Sam research file on the way out here here we're told you're an original Swifty like iPod ER Taylor Swift lover so we're fresh off the Olympics here's what I want to know give me your Podium of Taylor Swift songs your bronze silver gold Taylor Swift song I mean this is like high school like Teenage step right so so you're like country kid oh yeah yeah no I don't like the new stuff no okay right no not a fan but uh yeah curly hair yeah that um but uh yeah she was my high school Crush I would say um I'd go probably White Horse maybe 15 and then I mean love story is a classic so yeah that was that was kind of my my jams back then there you go come a long way you want do you want my Podium while we're here please uh love story is my gold uh silver is going to be August and bronze is going to be the one there we go look at you see I you're Swifty oh buddy that that the real swifties will be really excited about that list there I'm I'm like I'm more into the later emotional Taylor Swift and but kind of like basically it's my wife listens to Taylor Swift so I don't know the the names of the songs but I like that the last couple albums they're very moody kind of get behind that even though it's not your scene you know yeah no I mean uh yeah just been been out on Taylor here recently I think that it happened when she straightened her hair which was a while back now but uh yeah like I said high school high school Crush so that's all I got that's it that's it that's it man huh I just I just emptied the tank for all these questions for set man that was that was really good stuff and uh really excited to watch you out here this week but what I'm also excited to watch is Dewey your caddy try to scale the mountain which is this castle of Pines Place which has 330 ft of drop off from that first hole all the way down it's going to be really fun to see uh you play well but also watch Dewey get up and down these Fairways yeah he's been mapping out the course he's walked it a couple times now trying to make sure he gets all the shortcuts and figures out the Le the the least amount of slopes at least he gets a milkshake at the end of the day after a good 9 M off that's right love that thanks so much for joining us I really appreciate you taking the time appreciate you guys all right good luck week all right we are back here on the Smiley Show just had a PGA tour pro gunning for a spot at East Lake and sep sta now we're joined by PGA Tour Legend Craig Stadler and Craig 13-time winner on the PGA tour 1982 Masters champion a resident of Denver and you played right here at Castle Pines in the international 17 times every year between 1986 and 2002 so just off the top how cool is it to have golf back in Denver I probably played every year they had it and I probably had the worst record of anybody uh I don't know what it was about this place I love it out here I love playing in the tournament but I never uh never really played that well I don't mean I don't think I have top 10 or close probably but yeah in the format back in the day it was uh some type of stableford I know the scoring changed from time to time there's one year where Steve Lowry holds out for a double eagle ends up winning the golf tournament I know probably back then what did you remember about that format the first couple years they started fresh every day so you made it from you made it from Thursday to Friday Friday to Saturday and then Saturday to Sunday everybody started off even again and they did did that for a couple years I remember and then they went to uh I'm sure that wasn't very popular uh no I mean you know you shot 65 64 the first two days and now you're tied with the whole field okay Sunday so I i' like that a whole lot either yeah nobody nobody could figure out the reasoning behind that one but uh they changed format two or three times and finally got it right I think eventually but uh that was a great event wonderful golf course and I loved it you know I had an opportunity to speak with Brad Faxon uh who's a part of the NBC commentary team and him and I were having coffee this morning and I I was reminding him I was like hey I'm having Craig stward today on on the uh on the show is there anything that comes up to your mind about Craig and and the first thing he said was oh man anytime you play with Craig it was always fun to watch CU every now and then that temper would come out and this is and this was very relatable to me cuz I had a temper was when I was on tour so I guess my question to you is for somebody that ran hot like you and I both did on the golf course and I'm sure there's plenty of dads out there that have kids that have tempers when they play on the course how were you able and this is what Brad said as well is that every time on the next shot you were able to go and stay committed and and leave it behind you how were you able to do that and what advice would you give to any parents and Junior golfers out there I was able to do that and get that accomplished about my sixth year the late 7s and uh man I was a maniac I just and I cost myself a lot of shots especially three putton three putton got under my skin every single time but uh you know I was I I wore everything on my sleeve and yeah but uh if you ever see Fred Funk again I was playing with him at Colona this is this is one of the best and probably I think I helped myself cuz we're playing uh 12 the part three and we playing yes in part four and drove the Fairway hit the front bunker hit it the back bunker yeah wedge goes flying tromp in the back bunker just don't even look at the whole get in there hit it goes in for Park like now what do you do everybody's looking like you idiot a lot a lot of people following us so we went to we went to uh 13 the part three and I H about 30 ft and I don't know if you how long ago you were there but they used to have a phone booth right down below the te yeah and uh I hit last and they boom and they went walking the green I went in the phone booth for about 5 minutes and uh I finally got they're sitting there looking like where the hell he go finally I got up with Fred's like what were you doing I said I was calling 911 but nobody answered and I I laughed at myself over that one I think that's kind of what took me out of my funk for the rest of my career oh man that is that abely I'm sure there's thousands of more stories that you have like that over the years I bet you do and uh you know for me growing up you know when I think of Craig Stadler I think of the nickname the wallarts probably one of the best nicknames of any player uh on the PGA tour history how did you get it who gave it to you and do you like it I have no choice of liking it okay okay okay but uh Jerry P actually put it on me during the 75 Walker cup really we played a practice around and I never really wore way rain suits back then mhm and uh came in after just a rainy all day long I just was saturated headed toe damn you look like a wet wers and it stuck so I can't tell the story any differently that's the way it is there's the wers he is the wers some nicknames are simpler than others uh so that's a great one well so Craig here's what we got for you today is looking at this event we're thinking it makes sense to to play a little game with you that we're calling past present and future right so we want to talk about this event from all different angles of course there's a history here that we just talked about so let's start right there with with the past with all the years 1986 through 2006 that this tournament the international was held right here at Castle Pines and I just love to know your best memories of this tournament or you've already told a few hilarious stories today any great stories that you remember from this specific tournament yeah not not much really flew off the handle out here uh best memories of Milkshakes a great memory had yesterday ago or whatever is there a specific flavor is there like like what's the best milkshake combo if you're advising someone here I don't know what they have here I I I had a I haven't done that in 15 years I I had a black it's called a black and white and it's basically chocolate vanilla and it's like tablet topped and it was unbelievable it it's better than the memorial milkshakes it's better than Memorial milkshakes that's a hot take yeah that's my take uh there you go but the best thing about for me anyway the best thing was most enjoyable thing was coming out and actually hitting the ball aot long ways which nobody did back then and that's understandable and uh the only thing I didn't like about this place is on 10 you know you straight you only do this once a year and six iron back then in those days was like 173 or four and you got 192 to the hole and you're sitting there thinking about hitting an eight iron over the water and just like just you can't go that far it just your mind just it's a mind game yeah and you know back then I think the golf course here was 7500 yards maybe it's 81 something now I think it's the longest PJ Tour event in history obviously it probably plays similar to it does every single week but on that note as far as just the the past the question I have is as we lead into this week what type of player suited for this golf course that you felt like always seemed to play well here year after year in the years that the international was playing yeah I think you got a putt well uh for one The Greens Greens aren't a gusti is but they're uh Tendencies I remember being lighting fast I don't know how they are I'm sure they are now I just watch with the there rain comes in and they don't have rain this place can dry out and you can have some very August ofik putts I was watching him with a STM on the front there a little bit ago and it was looks like it's probably 13 or 14 it 12 and 1 12 13 right now but if if they don't get any rain and wind picks up 100% you can get it up to 13 14 yep yeah no just to enjoying the golf course so many different golf holes uh you know you got long hard holes you got short holes you got wonderful par 3s and uh just a treat to play every year so so you got a little bit of the past history you got a little bit of the the kind of the present the player profile that could work here so let's kind of play forward to four or five days from now the future with the player profile you've talked about with the guys that are in this field who do you like to lift the trophy on Sunday here that's a hard one this year we cuz I mean they haven't played here in how long now since 06 right yeah so probably the whole Field's never played here correct so yeah it's not going to be like a major for sure or like an open cuz it's not that long yeah at 8100 yards just not that long yes but uh I think just whoever keeps it in the Fairway the fairways are not very wide out here normally I'm just looking at 18 but uh uh it's not an easy driving course you don't need your driver all the time either so it'll just be uh you know it' be Scotty Sheffer just somebody who's consistent every single day Scotty Sheffer always a good pick coincidentally yeah you can't go too wrong but uh yeah I don't know I mean uh it's going to be a good week no doubt Xander's playing really well every week now as Scotty is so and they're PA together tomorrow what's I think they're PA together tomorrow yeah Scot are PA together they're first and second on that FedEx Cup I've heard some rumors that Xander looks very good out there this week he's you know he's been working on his swing a little bit uh ever since the Open Championship and he still finds a way to get in contention every week so I I I don't disagree with you that a guy like Scotty or Zander this week probably two good picks and I'm sure there's plenty of other guys down uh down the board everyone in the field can win no doubt yes 100% th those are the two names at the top of the odds board so we're excited it's going to be a fun week out here seeing a course for the first time in 18 years or so and uh really appreciate you taking the time to sit here and preview with us Craig yeah it's all good love it app appreciate it thank ton of fun catching up with both sep straa and Craig Stadler little double feature on the show this week we prepare for the BMW Championship here at Castle Pines and it is that time Smiley time to talk about some names in the field who we like why we like them and of course make our one ofone picks because this is I don't know what we're going to do in terms of FedEx Cup you know how we're going to portion up those points or finishes and and determine you know who wins the season long race uh you know maybe we we talked a little bit about converting our points to Strokes see we can figure that out so but this is the last week where FedEx cut points are in the mix so uh that's something to kind of take into account this week but uh yeah let's let's start at the top of this this OSB board a couple names you mentioned and in uh the beginning of the show Scotty 3 to one every every week I look I think it was plus 330 last week now it's even shorter uh Xander is is at plus 550 or five and a half to one and then from there you know Rory 12 to1 is the next short of ODS on the board uh let's just kind of start with with just those three names and you know I know we we talk every week about is this a course fit for Scotty orander like yeah probably because they're playing out of this world golf right now yeah totally and and I think from what I've I've heard um I didn't get to watch Xander play much last week but uh everything I've heard this week is that he looks really good and sharp it seems like a good golf course for Xander uh just when I think about uh how it lays out and the one thing with Scotty that I want to keep keep an eye eye on is that his ball striking stats last week weren't up to his I would say his normal standard and which is crazy to think about right like he you know arguably if you go back and look at his you know last 36 holes he had so many opportunities to have won that golf tournament that just that just kind of speaks to how good he is at golf like on a week where he feel like feels like maybe you know he didn't have his normal best stuff maybe his uh in his words maybe the ball striking with the irons or the B minus or maybe a C+ which just goes to show you how good he is a golf so uh let's see the type of adjustments he makes with his ball striking this week and we're we're talking about from you know a guy that's with his ball striking as it is right now an eight out of 10 let's see if he can get it up to his standard nine 10 out of 10 which is what we're accustomed to seeing yeah I'm interested in him this week for different reasons but just there's an Intrigue around how this place is going to suit him in my mind because if we're looking at just a story of his season and at Pinehurst there was this sort of Randomness or variability of when you kind of hit it offline what was going to happen I'm not saying that's the case here but just I think mentally for him he even said as much in several press conferences it was just it made it hard for him to play well that week and he didn't you know finish to up to his usual standards as a result of that but then you look at you compare this place to Memorial won the tournament there and it's it's kind of narrow Landing areas you get into rough pretty quickly that's thick you know outside of those Fairways and then you get into out of bounds even more quickly after that um he is leading the tour in Strokes game driving so it feels like if he can kind of get the clubing right with Ted Scott this week and kind of find some Fairways uh it should suit him will he definitely will and I think uh it's nice too for him to change surfaces he's very good putter on Bermuda it's what he grew up on but last week you could tell that he just was in between his reads and he was hitting okay putts but I would say the conviction wasn't there quite as much as you normally see it uh at least have we seen this year how good his putter has been so so the bent po mix this week I know earlier in the year you were saying wait till he gets on Bermuda and some of the early tough putting performance he had were on the west coast with po that were you at all it's just just Po's kind of mixed into it a little bit it's just some spotty Po in there it's much more bent this a golf course uh as far as the greens go it reminds me of of putting on a memorial putting uh maybe not as there's enough Po in there where you can't compare it to Augustin Nashville as far as the actual grass is concerned but uh as far as slopes go I mean there's there's small sections that you have to hit it in out here uh which favors Scotty Sheffer and and then when you get in those sections depending on how fast these greens get to 12 and 1 half to 13 you know you're going to have putts inside of 8 ft they're going to have considerable amount of break you're going to have to see the curves and from last week where I felt like it was much more of a spot putting week it didn't feel like you could see the curves quite as as well uh just with the the grain change and then how Sun subtle and flat those greens can be this week a bit of the opposite where the the slope is uh it is obvious the one uh the one caveat to that would be just knowing where you on are on the mountain yes well and then the the final player out of that group obviously a forgettable week for Rory and Memphis uh and a lot of that was due to his approach play drove it actually pretty well do you think a place like this where now all of a sudden you're adding in more variables as you're trying to select a club is something that is an opport for him to come out and kind of you know rid his brain of some of the stuff the last couple weeks or you think it makes it more challenging for Rory this week you know it's a good question I mean from some of the numbers I've heard like his nineiron apparently it's going like 185 190 his four iron apparently was going up to 280 yards this is just these are just things I've heard about what some of the numbers he's hit this week so I I do worry a little bit about Rory this week with his short iron game um I I think it's going to be important to be able to to hit your numbers within 5 yards because of how tight some of these uh Landing areas are so if you get off line with that as well uh if he you know isn't comfortable with getting first off the number and then starting line with with some of these wet shots that could lead to some easy bogeys and doubles but you know when I when I go around the course though it this just feels like a Rory Mac Rory golf course so my brain is telling me no no no like the short irons could be a problem but going around and I'm like God like this this could be an easy bounceback week for Rory Ah that's interesting one to keep tabs on absolutely so this of course leads us into the the one andone picks portion of the program and I believe I actually I looked at this last week I think on the point standings I think I would be third behind Xander now Dro a spot and I believe you would be fourth on on the FedEx Cup points list so that's you know we're we're in and around it we're top five uh I have the first pick this week so I'll start with three guys that I like for various reasons uh we always we have this discussion on here we have an honor production meeting every single week do you want to go back and forth or let's go back and forth all right once again I think we've settled it's been the same thing every time we talk about it on air anyway which is great so you're all you're all invited to the production meeting uh I'm I'm going to start with my my long shot of sorts and also a little Smiley Show Juju Happening Here Seth straa at 110 to1 so I think it's interesting trying to talk about it's hard to do a course fit right or course comparison rather because we don't we haven't really seen this recently enough to know how it's going to fit and he said you know he'll say it himself on on this show t61 last week FedEx St Jude not up to par for him uh was negative Strokes game putting negative around the green and so I'm I'm looking at his season in total and trying to go back and find a comparison and the one I did draw was his T5 Memorial uh where he was positive stros game putting he was positive around the green and the difference to me was last week's on that grainy Bermuda where it's kind of tough to Chip and and tough to putt if the grain's giving you trouble and Memorial is on that bent grass and so I think that you know he's he's going to be grinding this week trying to kind of figure some stuff out but for me I think this could be a good get right week for sep you know playing on playing in in a venue that should be similar to places where he played well in the past and if we're talking about a guy that is an accurate driver of the golf ball and is a great iron player great approach player that is sep straa and Spade so sep's my my long shot guy I like this week yeah no it's a good pick and obviously we just had a great conversation with sep and uh kind of see where his game is at and I think the one thing that I'll add to just uh from a player's perspective of of what these guys are going through and what they're thinking you know the 24th spot on the FedEx Cup I would say is right on that number and bubble where I think the pressure is there you know to to make it to East Lake and he's obviously in a great position in the world ranking and and maybe he's able to put it aside but uh that would be the one thing that you think about uh with Seth this week is is it on his mind does he care or does he feel like he's comfortable and if and I think you can kind of tell pretty quickly where he's at with that yeah makes a ton of sense so who is your first guy you like but are not taking you know this uh my long shot's going to be Austin eot uh I think I think Austin uh just his accuracy uh just kind of jumps out to me and and the confidence he has coming off a really nice week in Memphis playing his way the BMW Championship and talking with him out there today he just said you know I just feel like I have house money this week you know I've I'm in the signature events this week or EXC I should say next year in 2025 he made that jump all the way up to 38th I think I believe is what he told me and he felt like a top 15 this week he feels like that's going to be enough to get him to East Lake so Austin EK is a is a player just you know I think he's had a really uh really solid year you know winning at the cognizant classic was the one week but um I just think as we go on and talk about this with the oneandone picks and who we like I think accuracy is is where I'm leaning and I think uh his ability to hit Fairways and hitting into small quadrants with not crazy firm greens because he's not the highest ball hitter um give him a hot putter Austin ecro I'd love to see him have another good week ton of talent and uh Oklahoma guy right Oklahoma Oklahoma State he's from Edmond Oklahoma yeah played played Oklahoma State near Colorado same general I guess I don't know that might be a little bit of a stretch string you're stretching you're stretching all right so you like Austin as your long shot the guy I'm going to go with next is Ry guys never die dude you're Ry guy you're Ry guy to the end a guy came out to me today and gave me a fist bump he said Ry guy I was like Ry guy I love that we print it on a t-shirt we need to get it on a t-shirt yeah yeah yeah it was it was great it's or maybe on some gloves we we don't need you don't even need to explain why you like Aaron Ry either like everybody knows if you're a fan of the show like you know where we stand on Aaron Ry you're absolutely correct and I'll attempt to do it anyway but I mean we were just talking I think it was last week about Strokes gain you know total Strokes gain status season where it's it's like Scotty Xander Rory and then Aaron Ry right and then looking at we're talking about accuracy here we want a guy who's going to hit it straight off the T find some Fairways he is number one in the tour and driving accuracy this year 71.8% of his Fairways hit so I think it's that simple for me with Aaron R A guy who's in great form uh he he won two weeks ago at the Windham championship and coming in here if he's if he hits a ton of Fairways he should be right in there and around it I I I'm stunned if you listen to the show and you haven't picked Aaron Ry already I'm not sure what's happening there because we've been telling you to pick him for the better part of the latter half of the season but if you haven't this week might be a good spot to take him yeah 100% And I'm doing live research I'm not it's not that I haven't heard what you heard I just I needed to do you already heard before I need to do some live research and that's my my next guy that I wanted to pick and would have picked if uh I didn't realize that uh this I I picked him in the first week and this was at Vidant you picked Jake knap I picked Tony fenal and I just feel like Tony fow this week uh if when you go and look at just the raw data with this guy he's just such a good iron player and I think that's going to be so crucial this week uh to be able to hit your lines hit your numbers and he can go up he can go down uh with his ball fight so Tony feno had five top 10 this year and you know kind of found himself last week uh playing some good golf in Memphis uh so Tony feno to me I I I really do think uh he could win this week and then just catapult himself into uh the President's Cup right now he's seventh on that list sah tala is about 500 or so points in front of him sitting at Sixth and it wouldn't surprise me to see Tony somehow like just get a point or two ahead of sahit theala with a win this week I love that pick so much for a couple reasons because if you're looking at a lot of these holes out here you know there are even though it's tight there are these these larger Landing areas that are of course further backs you're going to have to get a longer approach shot into these greens right and so if Tony is finding those Fair ways and all of a sudden hitting less Club than those guys into those greens and and we've looked at Stats earlier this year and those same stats hold where he's Elite on those long iron approach shots like just love him to be hitting less Club holding those greens could be a really great week for him all about the putter all about the putter of course yeah so we'll see so that's that is your uh second guy I believe getting lost on the draft here uh my third is Tommy Fleetwood going off at 28 to1 is another like accuracy you know Elite iron player sort of situation where he's ninth on tour this year and driving accuracy great iron player and I'm feeling a little bit of that Olympic bump sort of kicking in out you know obviously didn't play Windom and then last week you know it you're kind of getting back in the swing of things I I'm I'm banking on Tommy this week to drive it straight off the T find some Fairways and then hit some great iron shots in and and uh you hopefully put us way to a victory but I feel like uh that he's in the same sort of category looking for accurate guys here and he is definitely that I love that and my last guy uh that I thought I could have taken as well was was Patrick Klay it was a tough scene for Smiley getting the screenshot of guys he taken this one I was like this just you know Patrick Kay had a really good second half of the year and I took him at The Travelers is where I found I took him which is another golf course that I feel like he always plays well at but so Patrick Klay uh the BMW Championship over the years you go look at his results I mean he is the BMW assassin this guy when he tees it up he tees it up in any BMW week he plays good golf so doesn't matter where we are what the location is whether at elevation whether at sea level if Patrick Klay is playing in a BMW Championship he's going to play well so that's that's that's just that's just day to coming at you the big Courtesy car Patrick Klay I'm going to try that nickname out see how long that stings so yes there you have it Patrick Klay another one of the guys you like this week now it is time for our picks for the week week and I'm going with a guy that I've been saving all year long uh friend of the show who joined last year for a phenomenal interview and feels like he's finding some form at the right time in fact you gave me a little nugget of seeing him on the rain just last week uh with his coach and starting to feel good I'm going with Victor havin at 18 to1 this is guy coming off of T2 at FedEx St Jude uh you know finally kind of finding some form with Joe Mayo uh one again to your point on the BMW moving around one last year at Olympia Fields that's the name of the course right in Chicago to have Olympia Fields by mixing that up so one last year outside Chicago um and and this course I think again you know driving accuracy he is an accurate driver but I you know maybe not towards the top of that list on the PGA tour but for me it's like if he can find some Fairways and just his iron play being where it feels like it is now kind of ticking up and turning in the right direction to me this is Victor you know to defend and to lose week so uh you know what his putter looked so good last week uh as well in Memphis if if if what what you're saying he finds Fairways in Greens like uh like we know he can um and he's comfortable with his ball striking you know Victor hav very very well could be another a great week and and be the guy that's made the biggest push uh in the playoffs which is a guy that was 57th coming in moved all the way up inside the top 20 um and maybe has an opportunity to get himself inside the top five with another good finish so good pick with Victor hland and uh I couldn't have gone an entire season without picking the next best player outside of Scotty sheffler and Xander cha just couldn't let it slide and that's Colin morawa uh for me uh Colin has just had too good of a year and I think with talking to his putting coach Stephen Sweeney and watching them work on the on the putting green in Memphis it seemed like they had a really good put putting week just looking at the stats we know what he's done this year with his ball striking and I don't feel like this week will be as big of an issue for Colin because he spins the ball he's a guy that's a high spin player so I think guys that are really struggle this week or guys that don't put enough spin on the golf ball Collins's whole game is modeled by knowing how far he hits it based on how much he fades it and that all that is the spin of the golf ball and he is has such a good read on that and I think it helps be able to kind of manage your distances in this altitude so Colin this week I think finding Fairways being deadly accurate with his with his irons into these small sections and then uh a hot putter so give me Colin morawa hasn't won this this season give him give me him to win this week at uh the BMW Championship love that pick because it just it wouldn't feel right if Colin didn't win this season with the way he's played you know throughout the entire season uh you know in Majors included and so uh I'm looking at him maybe like next week at East Lake cuz he played so well on Thursday and Friday last year but I think really any of these playoff events in this one included you know if you're rewarding a guy who's accurate off the tea and who's a good iron player like there you go call him morawa so so that those are the one andone picks col morawa for Smiley Victor hoblin for me uh and smiley this is the part of the show where I just say do you have any final thoughts you want to bid farewell to the beautiful Castle Rock Colorado the week that was when you see me in Atlanta at East Lake I think I'm just going to like give my normat tech boots on like for the show on Monday just do it from a inclined position because I think the walk Walking nine miles every day in this at this altitude I'm sure I'm going to get some nose bleeds uh definitely going to stay hydrated try to be wear as much sunscreen as I can not have chap lips at the end of the week but uh the only thing that's keeping me going it's is the milkshake at the end of the day I had a milkshake had a chocolate milkshake earlier today well worth priz for Miss going to miss it I'd stick around just with the milkshakes so uh been a really fun week here and big appreciation once again to the tour for providing all the players and and good story lines and looking forward to doing it again next week in Atlanta from East Lake at the Tour Championship so we appreciate youall watching and listing and we will talk to you in it l out very soon you know I listen to this podcast it's really cool all of our fans and subscribers but make sure you like And subscribe it's cool to see what you guys are doing I know golf fans appreciate it but we we do too so please keep it up for all the good people YouTube like And subscribe you guys have some good takes so I'm happy to come on and and shoot the