Tour Championship Recap + Presidents Cup Captain's Picks Predictions

[Music] H Smiley caufman for 61 wow I'm Smiley caufman and this is the Smiley Show welcome back to the Smiley Show the first I guess not technically postseason Edition but it feels that way a little bit we're we were just saying proud of this record feels very foreign to be sitting in in these seats recorded the podcast at our at our actual homes it sure does I mean you've been on the road for I guess it's been close to a month now for both of us and we had a blast on the road uh but we're back and how's it feel to be home Smiley do you remember what your home the layout what it feels like to be around and sleeping in your own bed I've put I've put away so many projects you know how that goes when you're on the road and and you're like you know what when I get back home I'm going to do these X things and I have no desire to do those things and so I think that's why we're going to go out of town [Laughter] that's that's always a nice play I I I wish I could say the same we're we were in full nesting mode over here we got baby girl on the way in October uh had the In-laws in town this last week we had an eventful week we had our first emergency department trip um uh which was interesting thankfully we we survived with just medical glue not stitches also got whacked in the lip by a walker with a with a truck so uh like it it's just been it's been full-on Mayhem since I've been home uh which has been it's been fun listen these These are the joys of fatherhood but uh and and then yeah we spent the better part of the weekend uh painting the nursery doing all sorts of fun stuff like that so I'm a little envious of your Beach getaway uh in lie of all the projects that I I'm still working on yeah uh that's yeah bummer for walker uh it was always going to happen at some point and hopefully my man learns his lesson uh andna Carter's got it right around the corner and and I say corner like hopefully not hitting her head on the corner but that's kind of how it ends up how it ends up going so uh she just she just runs so fast she just thinks she can just go go go and run so fast uh but she looks like the LSU football team uh trying to finish off finish off a game just just never going to end well yeah I I I think we'll delve further into the dad portion of Our Lives on this pod in the offseason as as is appropriate but uh I I regret to report that he based on the last few days has not learned his lesson uh he's running faster than ever uh throwing things yeah it's just it's it's I think that we're just going to have to just get on a first name basis with everybody in the in the emergency department uh but to to kind of follow your your line of thought there do you have like a nice table in front of you that you can slam and disgust over the LSU Tigers losing their opener against the USC Trojans well if you're watching here on YouTube you can see I got my uh light blue and and white hat in support of the only one and0 team on this podcast it's the North Carolina Tar Hills they won a disgusting game at Minnesota 19 to 17 if you had to watch it uh I apologize most most people that did watch it was either a fan of North Carolina uh Fant of Minnesota or you had family members on the team because boy you just wanted to scrub your eyeballs out after the end of that game but who am I to say you you guys are one and0 uh LSU again loses a season opener for like the 20th year in a row it feels like um I'm over the big game to start the year because all we do is talk about in the offseason all we talk about is Hope and hope is just it it's gone in week one and I uh I've gotten really good at at not making as much noise when I watch LSU football games like in Anger like I've I've decided that that yes football I care a lot about LSU football but the uh let's just say the good oldfashioned man yel uh after after bad things happen you know or the good old knee slap had a couple of good one of those last night but what I really resorted to at the end was yes one good loud yell which was fair it was just and then a pillow throw a pillow throw I feel like is it's you know you can get it all out right like you can you can you can throw it as hard as you want and it's not going to make a mess it's not going to well it could break something but got to throw like throwing a club it's like throwing a club it's you it's just all in how you throw it and I was over it was I was done right after after the pillow throw and uh yeah it was it was it was just so frustrating because our we actually didn't play that bad I I thought USC played really well too it was a fun game to watch um you know for for people that didn't have a dog in the fight but goly boy did we get conservative in that second half I got I got a bone to pick with a play calling in the second half we just went so conservative we forgot that that Garett NM was absolutely torching this USC defense I say torching he was completing every pass he threw he was throwing cookies all over the field and the second half we're like oh what's we're going to turn into Notre Dame we're going to run the run the clock out and we're going to win this game by running the football and then we forgot we didn't know how we can't run the football uh consistently and uh yeah uh so we got super conservative and and then just choked inside the 15 yard line three times and guess what uh Lincoln ry's a really good play caller and they won and uh yeah no no issues with anything besides I don't know if you saw the unsportsman like penalties that we had it was hysterical that one was that was and and my my and then my guy comes back to the bench and they're we're trying to figure out what the penal for he's showing his teammates I did this like I don't know we were all like in the group text like God these refs are brutal man like I cannot believe they're calling it on Sports flight all he did was dance and then they showed a replay of him like humping the air and then after that they showed the glac glac pop pop shot that he did to the USC Defender I was like you know what they got this one right probably a good call Glock clock clock yeah that was that was a tough scene for uh LSU uh you know it's it was interesting watching that game which by the way just just to kind of set the table here you're going to be getting a lot of what's happening right now in the fall as as we are college football addicts uh you know mix a little NFL in here too but we we are as much as we will be discussing the PGA Tour fall schedule and all the various offseason story lines we have in golf we're going to be going heavy into the football uh at some point we'll get our producer Jackson Brown on to answer for his North Dakota State Bison and their season opening loss the call colado really thought they they had it close there but in watching your squad last night against USC NM Miller Moss just slinging it around the field I I I am coming away from this weekend just stunned that Carolina is the one0 team on this podcast uh thoughts and prayers to Max Johnson hate that that's the way he went down but it was it was a little bit of a tough scene prior to his leg injury and then Conor Harold came in and uh a tough scene is in like you started it uh yeah how much of this do I want to take credit for or or take blame for really I I mean look it is what it is it's we have a a a quarterback room full of guys that if they were going to go out and win the job definitively they would have done that and that is not where we arrived and then um max didn't play his best football prior of the injury and then Connor Herold came in and I think ran 97% read option in route to uh a last minute uh I we won the game with a field goal but it was really a field goal miss that got it done for us in Minnesota and I was similar boat as you was it was a weather delayed game so was past midnight I was just yes yes very quietly watching that that uh that that field goal miss to the right of the uprights for Minnesota and uh us walking away one and0 but it I think it's going to be a I think it's G to be a tough scene for the Tar Heels this year depending on how that quarterback situation shakes out we have a it's going to be a real tough scene bu you don't uh I I feel uh we're not going to be talking when we say we're diving into football this year we're not going to be diving into North Carolina football and and we will not be diving into LSU football unless they beat Alabama then we're g to go all in yeah maybe even maybe even I don't want to tease too much but you know we we we're back at home now but we could be on the road we could be on the road at some point soon you never know you never know we'll see how it goes uh I feel like that is probably an appropriate amount of college football discussion for this podcast uh given the the nature of our team's losses and wins this week but we will say this uh we are we're we're creating a little contest for the fans here and I guess we're we're sort of live workshopping this now Smiley but essentially here's the gist of of what we're we're laying out here is we have a NFL Survivor pool that we're doing and we have a college football weekly pick them contest that we're doing we're going to use ESPN for both of these things so stay tuned to our our socials we are at the Smiley Show everywhere we're going to Tweet out links so you can join both of those contests the password to both is simply Smiley SM SM y l IE lowercase and at the end of these contests we should have two winners and smiley would you would you care to to just lay out there what the priz is for the winners of these various contests well as we're workshopping here um I would say that what I proposed was that the winner of the college football pick them and the winner of the Survivor League uh I'll play round of golf with them and it will be hopefully uh they live it'd be sweet if they lived in Birmingham uh that would be helpful or around Birmingham but if you happen to live in a city I'm traveling to we're uh definitely going to try to make that work too but if you want to travel to Birmingham and play then we'll go play some somewhere here in uh in town but uh I would love to have that be uh the prize if you will for for winning the Survivor league and or winning um the college football pick them the only caveat I'll say in all this is if if I do win both leagues I I don't I don't I guess I'll just I'll just play golf with myself um which I'm totally fine to do yeah and we'll get that on video just you being lonely and gloating uh holding your little imaginary trophies so that that will be entertaining in its own right uh but yeah that is that is essentially what we're laying out for you here uh still workshopping the the travel piece of that how we're gonna get you on various golf courses but I think the headline is sign up and play these things because you could be teeing with smiley when this when this whole football season both football seasons are said and done we're firing up the chat yeah we're firing up the chat that's also in the works we got some we got jacks on the case working on a few places where we can what site are we using for that uh I I I don't think it's a site as much as it's a platform Jax has Discord in the works it's I guess you could call it an app I mean I guess it is also a site I'll go to like Discord on Google and that's how it works or what yeah I I think you I'm I'm this is great we're just laying it all out here on on just live figuring this thing out you can go I believe to Discord as a website but it's it's like one of those things that prompts you to download an application that you can put on your Mac or I guess your PC and then you can just pull that up and then it's got you know all all sorts of various rooms you can join group chat's going to be right for the college football Pickman Survivor League that that is that's the plan but uh I mean you've just heard us lay out the plan for how this League's going to go so this is all in theory and we'll see what it looks like in practice I mean look here's here's the deal the worst case you you you you you sign up you you play a bunch of games uh you win this thing and we figure out how to get you to play around with Smiler that's worst case best case you me a bunch of new friends on the internet talk football find a way to pass the the the golf off season and we're all in a better place when we when we turn the calendar and we're in Hawaii in January we are our our one really big goal at least the goal that I have is is that we have such an organic audience we we love you know I've been on the road this whole year out at a golf tournaments and just so many people have said hey love the Pod love listening and uh I think it's just a way for us to continue to get to know uh all of you uh you obviously listen to Charlie and I a lot just talking about our daily lives uh I'm sure there's many of us dealing with a lot of the same uh stages of life um and then a lot can relate to all of our golf stuff but we W want to just continue to uh to to grow in knowing you guys and I think why not pick them Survivor leag these just seems like easy ways to uh to get some good uh good quality trash shock going on and also to get to know you guys hopefully off of usernames it'd be cool to like meet somebody out on the course and be like I'm Ninja Turtle 44 like Ninja Turtle 44 my dude you know that's kind of like what I'm I'm I'm hoping to get out of this Ninja Turtle 44 nice to meet you I'm the big butterburger uh so so so good to finally make your acquaintance uh no I wholeheartedly agreed I I think this is It's been uh you know a year and a half I guess now since the show's begun and we've done a lot of audience building and now it's time for us to kind of connect with you all on a deeper level so we're forward to that we got our you know our guys that are our usual YouTube commenters and we appreciate you guys like y'all are uh y are the OG's I think it's like OG OG Jack Jack that's our guy he always there if he's not in the Survivor league and the pick him I'm gonna be so upset um because we have some we have some some people that definitely are really good about commenting and uh which we appreciate you know any anytime anybody comments it just helps helps the uh the Youtube kind of grow uh we want to reach more and more fans and uh yeah so that's that's the plan this year is uh I mean shoot I mean we haven't gotten to Tour Championship talk yeah I'm sure a lot of people are like are we going to do this we talk about this I was right there man hopefully the audience is so devoted that they made it 15 minutes into this podcast and we haven't said a word about golf uh and they're here now and that's what we're about to do but uh yes so so let's let's get right into that you were on we were on both of us were on side the beginning of the week and then you obviously through the weekend uh had another great uh Friday's Smiley happy hour uh where we had uh JT join the show of course but then we had I think Sam Burns and Windam Clark bombing the set a ton of fun there and then going on to the weekend watching the conclusion of this tournament so as you as you might already know Scotty sheffler is your FedEx Cup champion uh with The Strokes adjusted the the starting Strokes he finishes at 30 under followed by col morawa at 26 under and S hit the gall at 24 under that's one we want to get into because he is only at 24 under by virtue of a penalty he called on himself out of the third uh third a bunker on the third hole on Saturday so he finishes Two Shots behind col morawa and then a group at T4 Russell Henley Adam Scott Xander shley all at 19 under uh we can get further down the board as we get into the show but let's just kind of start with um just overall impressions of Scotty's win how he you know it got a little bit close on Sunday got down to a two- shot margin after a shank out of a bunker uh but he quickly you know got those shots back by virtue of a number of birdies in a row um so just maybe just Reflections on Scotty's week Scotty's year and then digging a little bit into the course itself how it played um how it played this year and how we think it's going to play in future years as this as the grasses everything we talked about heading into the week is that sort of takes hold and the course matures a little bit well we're talking about an all-time year uh Scotty shefford just tied the nod on on a year that I think we we will always refer back to over you know the next couple decades talking about Scotty sheffer's year in 2024 that's how good it was I I I don't think we're going to see anything like this uh for quite some time I don't think even Scotty's going to be able to potentially repeat what he was able to do this year maybe he will um but it it would be a a tall task because the the golf tournaments that he won I mean let's just be real here I mean to to go and win the Tour Championship you know you win a gold medal and then you win uh I guess it' be six other times um besides that it's just just insane um he won against the best players in the world I I the only you know argument you can make about his year is just that he only won one major championship right I think that would be um the one thing you would say is that hey the US US Open didn't really have much of a showing the Open Championship uh the same way and then the PJ Championship uh he got arrested so yes yes which by the way interesting to hear him reference that in his acceptance speech with Mike too yesterday what'd he say I missed it just essentially reflecting on the year th this actually was was interesting to hear him say that he'll he'll never forget or or he said it'll stick with him for a long time the reception he got on the tea on Friday I believe it was right because it was Thursday to Friday uh like getting you know coming straight out of jail being escort of the course having an abbreviated warmup and then coming to that first te on Friday he said he'll never forget the the fan reception he got at balla that day and that's interesting to me you know of all the things of all the memorable moments he's had throughout the year you know just the worry of how are people going to think about me now I have this wholesome image and then everyone unil almost unilaterally being in support of him you know coming to that first he for him that was one of his most memorable moments of the season and this is uh and I I'll say this um for for those that have listened to the show for a while they know how high I've been on Scotty for for quite you know quite some time now the first time I saw him play golf since College was at uh the US Open uh this was at the country club and I just remember watching him that day and thinking to myself like this is some of the best ball striking I think I've ever seen and but that day is exactly like every other day it's it's insane what he's able to do with the golf ball um how high he's able to hit it how much control he has and he does it day after day after day he's quite simply put I think the best golfer um that I've ever seen from my own eyes and and I've played and seen a lot of great golf but I never uh you know I've watched tiger play in in this era but I I didn't get to watch him besides on TV uh so it's hard for me to really say um you know what I've seen in person right like if I think I have a much different opinion um if I had been on the call or played golf with tiger do during the years you know 97 through 200 you know 10 whatever the years are um I would probably say you know obviously like tiger is the best player I've ever seen well I I just haven't seen it with my own eyes as much as I've seen Scotty I've seen him play a lot of golf and he's he's the most impressive player um that I've ever witnessed it's it's just hard to put into words how how Elite he is uh with his ball striking how good of a driver he is he has speed he's so accurate with the driver as well and now the Potter's a a it's a strength at at at times and it was this week his uh his performance and just his resiliency from a mental aspect you know to be in that bunker on eight which I felt like was the easiest shot he had the entire day it was like a a simple chunk and- run bunker shot and then he Shanks it and and makes a bogy and then gets up on that next hole and hits to four feet makes birdie Bird's 10 hits a brilliant shot at 11 makes birdie and then uh it just he just hit down he was knocking down flag sticks ever since that moment and there was a lot on the line for him I I really felt like he had everything to lose uh after that shank and I I think everyone watching probably felt like his wheels were spinning and and expected you know Colin moral to have a really solid chance on the stretch and within 15 minutes like oh never mind Scotty's winning it's it's I'll start by saying it's it's really uh heartening encouraging to see that many of the world's best players have the wed Shanks right now I think a lot of people are talking about that that the wed Shanks are very common for some of the it's a real epidemic right now yeah that I took some heart on that I also really enjoyed uh his his uh answer to someone asking about why he shanked it uh CLA Rogers made the comparison first which was hilarious uh to the I believe it was toron Prince I'm probably butchering his name but the Baylor forward that was asked March Madness you know several years ago now about you know how did Yale outrebound Baylor grab the ball and and then when you get more of those the other team that's how you that's how you have more rebounds and Scotty's answer about the mechanics of a shank was was very similar to that uh I think um first of all let's kind of start with some stats let's paint a little picture of of Scotty's year Scott Kyle Porter Kyle Porter CBS on on Twitter and X is a fax machine he's got us the first of of of a few we're going to read from him uh Scotty sheffler earned north of 62 million in total PGA Tour money this year which is 3.3 million per tournament 830,000 per round 12,000 per shot and assuming a 4 and a half hour round 3,000 per minute on the course good work if you can get it uh so I'd say that that's DA office you know yeah it's not too many bad ones in there even though uh you know again it's it's amazing I think and to go back to the tiger conversation it's amazing to look at that year and think man it could have been more if he doesn't get arrested the PGA finish this T8 there that could have been a second major you know know if if I don't know how how us us open was never he was never in the fight there and I don't think I don't think he was very comfortable at that course either and he said as much and I think Open Championship was a real draw draw situation you know well you know the Open Championship is all about making the most of whatever your draw is and and he I thought he did him and Xander both were in that same kind of area of the golf course uh during the during the times and chefer he was in position um just wasn't able to kind of get it going um and just miss miss too many putts on the weekend yeah and and I think you know in that in that sort of the tiger comparisons it feels a lot to me like Michael Jordan like a Michael Jordan LeBron conversation where I don't it's even it's hard to compare eras because we get so far into the well the the Michael Jord and the Tiger Woods era there was weaker competition and so it's it's I mean I don't know how to handicap that really and you know equipment was different but I I think that what un undoubtedly true is that both Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods impacted their respective Sports in such a massive way increasing participation at Grassroots level having a bunch of kids growing up wanting to be like that person that you have a bunch of Scotty shefflers coming up or Lebron James coming up who you know watched this this sort of predecessor and wanted to model their game after that guy and so we're now in an ERA with Scotty where you know it's it's tough to compare to tiger and you look at all these stats with tiger that no one's ever going to attain that level of of dominance ever again but I I think what he's done and especially this year in Shoring up the putting is is nothing short of incredible and it's also you know you kind of Wonder where's that g to stop you know I I think next year we'll see we'll get into some stuff a little bit later in the show lud oberg it been confirmed he's going to undergo a procedure to repair a torn meniscus at his knee Todd Lewis is reporting that kind of explains the latter half of his season that's a guy that we really kind of outlined as a potential foil for Scotty sheer in the years to come Xander shafley of course coming on strong kind of the middle to the end of the season and winning two majors you know put himself in contention he's a guy that if he continues his form next year could be a foil for him but you know it's tough to kind of look at this right now and say where does Scotty's dominance you know in and to me it feels like we're head rolling this right into next year and maybe he does pick off more Majors yeah no totally and I'm uh just looking at just the owgr just I wanted to see like how big of a lead he had on on the next guy his average points and I I don't really I'm not probably good at knowing what a good average is in this just besides seeing what I'm looking at so I see Scotty Sher is an average of 18 points Xander is at 11 points and then Rory's at eight Collins at six so basically looking at this you know Scotty Sheffer has a a 10o average lead on the third ranked player in the world and I was just kind of thinking to myself all right if if Rory had a I mean you can't even like do the math because if he had a 10-point lead or something well he only has eight points and he's third in the world so it just goes to show you how big of a lead he has as the number one player in the world he could probably play uh the next nine months and still remain the number one player in the world that's how good it is but we are not owgr people so uh just just so all the folks all the folks that are shaking their head we don't this we're just using this as a guideline it's not uh it's not the truth right and and I think what's what will be interesting to see is and you could even hear it a little bit in his remarks after winning yesterday is just what the offseason looks like for him because we've seen the past two years President's Cup at Quail Hollow where we've talked a lot about how he didn't play his best golf there and was really Sam brunes who played really well in partnership with him and kind of carried some of those Partnerships even though they didn't uh necessarily win all their matches that that that you know Sam was the stronger of the two in those pairings and then of course we saw what happened at the Ryder Cup last year Rome also not his best golf now you add in the variable of you finally get some time to hang out at home with your wife and your son you know you're off the road now you get to watch benett grow up a little bit uh so I I I assume he's going to take some time away from the chorus and maybe kind of relax and recharge a little bit and you know just President's Cup and pres cup and then chill May maybe he plays hero again uh he won there last year I assume he'll probably play that um yeah I don't think he's playing Zozo so yeah he's probably going to be chilling this fall yeah and then we'll see what what version of Scotty shows up uh at caloa he's got a lot of time to come on a podcast he he does have a lot of time you know would wouldn't hate if it was this one so uh we we'll have to keep a keep an eye on that put a little put a little tab in that uh I think the the kind of playing this forward a little bit too and looking at I never your Eastlake question though you did never get to my East Lake question sorry it it was kind of a loaded first question it it was there was a lot packed into that first question if you I mean it's it is a little strange you know being back at home in front of computers person I just was like we I was trying to catch up we did a lot of college football talk I was trying to catch up on golf topics so yeah I mean and I think that it's interesting this first year at East Lake just to kind of set the table a little bit is we saw pins kind of in the center of the greens on Thursday May you know just accommodating for the fact that they were really firm greens um and I think the scoring you know we saw Scotty get to 20 under you know without the starting strokes this week Colin morawa got to 22 under so the scoring was definitely there I just wonder going forward you know your your thoughts on just the way this course played and do you think we're going to see it like this in future years are they going to be able to kind of do different things with this course you know once that that you know that that grass that Bermuda on the green takes a little bit better I was always kind of an East Lake hater when it came to just like watching it on TV and this you know seeing the restored golf course I I really liked it it's a golf course I'd want to play uh the especially just mainly because of the playing conditions the zoa Fairways the prism like approach grass around the greens is so fun to play off of I hit a couple chips uh with Johnson Wagner's wedge on 16 yesterday and it was so pure uh and I just like the layout I think it's got a really nice mix I but I'll say this about just East Lake yes I think it's a a really good golf course I think it's worthy of having a TOUR Championship maybe in a rotation I just don't I this golf course to me without any wind um with how hot it always is going to be this time of year everybody kept talking about how the fairways seemed like they were easier to hit and there's way less trees so there's lot less trouble to get into and around the greens that that grass that I was talking about just that prism zoa that used to be grain and Bermuda it was much much easier to get up and down this week just because guys aren't worried about that grain in the Leading Edge uh I think most the time when guys were around this golf course they spent a lot of time chipping just to get comfortable with the grass um and now it's that at prism zoa which is so pure uh you just didn't see as much hiccups this week um mean guys getting up and down from a lot of different places uh so when you throw no wind you throw a lot of wedges because of the how warm it is and then when guys drive it offline instead of having to pitch it back into the Fairway uh because of tree trouble they're able to play at the green you know that all becomes wi dependent on how heavy the Bermuda rough is and it was spotty in places so yes I really like the renovation or the restoration that Andrew Green did but with all that being said I just think that the Tour Championship and just the playoffs in general just need reimagine um because you know if Scotty shefford isn't shank that bunker shot and Colin doesn't get up and down and doesn't get two shots that day was going to be a snoozer and I don't think that's what the playoffs should be all all should be about right I think we need to identify the season long race to the FedEx Cup at the end of the year or whenever you deem it you know if it's at the FedEx St Jude like like just set a cap at that and then let let let's find a way to really get creative to make every single day impactful and meaningful for not only uh the fans but for the players I feel like when they wake up every day it's a new challenge they got to go get and I'm not saying that this system is broken it's just that I think we can do better like it there is a way in which you can have thrilling finishes with this and I've Loved covering uh the FedEx St Jude the BMW and all the story lines that we've had and they've been been great but when you get to the Tour Championship and you have this starting scoring format I just think that it could go wrong a lot more times than it can go right I I agree completely there and there are two pieces of what you just said that are both worth unpacking one is venue selection and there there have been a lot of uh you know lines of thought or proposals that you know suggest I think Tron Carter of no laying up has been the most vocal about saying hey let's let's get some of these West Coast Swing courses and use to the end of the season like let's do a TOUR Championship at Pebble Beach don't necessarily hate that idea I think you have to kind of dig deep into that and acknowledge the realities of sponsors and and you know things that that fund Charities and fund the tour and where they're aligned and and you know how you're going to make that whole puzzle if you're if you're GNA make pebble be the end of the year event what are you doing with you know East Lake foundation and Coca-Cola and the City of Atlanta and where are you kind of moving them in the schedule and does it align with you know the health of Bermuda grasses and and spring fall I I don't so that that's one whole thing you start to lead us into format which I think is the the big discussion that everyone's having you know coming out of this and I just love to hear because I definitely have thoughts about this we talked about this before the show but what does an Ideal World look like for you in terms of a a both rewarding season long performance and then a a an entertaining postseason structure because because I kind of the points you're making Windam Memphis and uh and you know BMW or you know so so St Jude and BMW Championship all three of those have compelling storylines it's just when you get to TOUR Championship and you separate everyone with Strokes where you can start losing some of that Intrigue well I I'll get there in a second I think just as just to kind of finish that conversation on like Pebble Beach for instance for the Tour Championship I'm hitting you with with double questions yeah no I just I feel like I still like wasn't quite finish with that thought there and and you know how much I I I believe that we should be going to Chicago New York Boston during the playoffs because I've played in the playoffs I know what these Crowds Are like and the support and that those events get are fantastic I just feel like for our playoffs like we have to be in the big cities with good weather it you just like I love I love everything about the Memphis event like you have FedEx there you like St is just it's awesome the the fact that you know you have these patients that come out on the 183 it's it is a great event but I I think personally that event should never be when it is I think it should be in the springtime you know that that event should be in the spring it should be a signature event have it be the first signature event for all I care but Memphis that crowd like everybody's dying out there it's so hot and they're just trying to cram it in there because FedEx is paying the most amount of money and I get that they want to be a part of the playoffs they want like the more you know drama but I personally I just think that that Memphis being one and then Atlanta another like I I would love to play East Lake every year but I don't want it to be you know I think it should be similar to like a Wells Fargo where East Lake can have their their own event and then every now and then be a host of a TOUR Championship and then have it Ro rotate you know whether it's east north south and West and East like be the the uh the course that gets it in the South that'd be great um but I I just I haven't gotten past the point of that our playoffs should be probably played in Chicago La New York Boston like these big cities because why not right it just seems it seems so obvious to me I I agree with that like even as you're saying that and to be fair the BMW Denver was great Denver was awesome awesome great crowds good course we're calling Olympia Fields that's Chicago adjacent that's that's Chicago enough for us right oh 100% yes and Caves Valley is is like Baltimore adjacent so you know we're doing some of the city things well BMW does it I mean they're they go to different courses different venues that's what we're looking for and I think I think unfortunately the tour is they're just in this handshake with Coca colola the FedEx and just all these big big sponsors that are paying a lot of money that yes the players are probably well you know if the tour comes and say well like we don't if we don't play there they're not going to pay you $25 million if you win the golf tournament it's like well okay we'll play Atlanta you know it's a it's a two-edge it's double-edged sword there right 100% And I think I think that there are there you know what what we all want to see and there's like merging that with the realities of corporate sponsorship and available venues and timing because if you're trying to take these things and move them to a different part of the year it's finding the part of the year that gets rid of what's wrong with these events which is you know it's insanely hot and humid in both Memphis and Atlanta in in August and even leading into September and that's makes things very difficult but if you're if you're trying to move that into the spring which to me that' be my first choice because you know especially with Bermuda surfaces you need time for them to come out of dormy and get healthy unless you want to look at like an overseed sort of setup so now we're talking about that golf course with wind and like not being hot changes a lot you those wedges turn into nine and eight irons um and so you're looking at like the Florida swing Texas Swing part of the schedule in and around the Masters and the PLAYERS Championship not saying it couldn't be done I just think you know it would you you really need to look at the entire schedule and almost have like that you know Charlie day it's always sunny like yarn Board of like where this Mo event moving here because we want to use this venue at this time of year and figuring out what makes the most sense for because I I think there's a great opportunity in the summer and the and the hot months when it's hot in California Texas Florida the South to do a bunch of these you know both New York City adjacent locations Midwest locations Chicago places like that where you could hit some of those big cities and and larger you know fan bases and do it a way that that also you know makes it the courses will be in perfect condition only argument about how Memphis and East Lake play you know that it's Bermuda Ruff and Bermuda Ruff really doesn't come in until shoot sometimes even June it's light you know in the South like July is like really when it starts to kind of come in where it's where it's like oh you know I don't have a perfect lie every hole so that that's the only other thing about those two courses in particular and and then and that conversation is nature versus the NFL like really like that's what we're talking about is is it's tough to the reason why the tour doesn't play past you know the beginning of September is because what's starting this week the NFL schedule and you do not want to compete with the NFL on a Sunday so it's it's it's a it's such a tough one and it's so layered and I agree like in a vacuum with everything you're saying it's just how do we reconfigure this in a way that finds the happy medium and and then let you know and then let's be fair about the criticism too of like this is the way we like it to be but also we understand why it's set up the Way It Is Well you and this is where you're going with this conversation was to try to reimagine what the form format would be and if we're keeping with the Three Tournament format for the playoffs which it used to be four which I think three is actually a sweet spot in all of this that uh I think just the common word that everybody keeps keeps bringing up is like how do you make it a match play deal because some of the you know some of our best events when you look at just you know the Ryder Cup match play right President's Cup match play you know one that everybody used to like to watch on TV which is no longer part of the PJ tour schedule which is the Austin event which used to be the the PJ tour match play event it was a WGC tournament everybody liked it it was a pool play format that went to around a 16 that hey that would be kind of cool or if you were able to do some you know some guys that make it in the top four that have buys that are not subject to the stroke Blake you know portion of the qualifying at a Tour Championship and then do have a pool play format um with you know similar kind of how it is I I just feel like we've got to figure out a way like I said earlier to to make it a season long race and then playoffs like we need to identify that these are two separate things pay the season long race much more than what they're probably making now and then make the playoffs before you know if you make it half and half or whatever you want to do I mean these guys can still double dip 100% And and so I want to respond to that because I have I think a comparison in sports that that works I I'll just say to start things if you're looking for what a a straightup match play bracket could look like or a pool play heading into a match play could look like Friday golf's got a pretty cool sketch of what that would have looked like this season so you can get a feel for how the tour could potentially set it up and and how it could potentially play out and I think it's you know make any criticism you want of match play but you can't tell me that the potentially anticlimactic nature of that is is any worse than what we saw even this weekend where Scotty essentially the closest they get is two shots on a Sunday but other than that there's really not a ton of intrigue so I I just don't buy that match play isn't at least as compelling as as that if not more so now I think we'll get there like next year we've got a I I really think that that you you've got to make a change next year I just feel like you can't do another year of this format I just think it's it's gotten too much criticism uh from the fans even when you have Scotty shefford talking about in the media right like you just don't need guy wins yeah you don't need it and and you were leading into this a second ago and and here's where my head goes on this is if if you were a fan of you know International like soccer really soccer at any level but it's particularly like let's let's just use the English football structure as as a reference point both the Premier League and the Cup competitions that happen outside of it there is the Premier League that is played over the course of of the entire season that's 38 matches and the the the team with the most points at the end of that you schedule is your Premier League champion doesn't matter how many points they are ahead of second place and how anticlimactic that finishes you're rewarding that team for season long excellence in the same way that you know you should reward Scotty sheffler even if he's a zillion points up in the FedEx Cup like he was heading in the playoffs he should be rewarded for being the best play over the course of this season and which he kind of essentially that's what he's alluding to in his remarks before the Tour Championship separate of that you can have what in in that English you know or other European soccer structure are Cup competitions in in in England it's you know obviously you have the FA Cup and then at a larger European scale you have the Champions League the Europa League so those things obviously are higher variance a team can get hot and go and win that thing and and you know but you're you're winning Hardware but just it it's and they're you can argue about which is more important to win whether you'd rather win a premier league or a Champions League whatever it is you're you're rewarding two different types of competition excellence and that's what I feel like the tour could do with their sort of structure and you really wouldn't have to go too far to create something out of thin air like I look at the Comcast business top 10 and I I in some ways it's weird to say this out loud like I feel bad for Comcast because they have this thing that rewards season long Excellence yet we hardly ever talk talk about it because it's like we already have the FedEx Cup structure in place and we're playing it forward towards the playoffs like let's increase the size of whatever the Comcast business tour thing is make that a big deal for this for the you know maybe even even those purses out you're getting just as much to win that as you are to win the FedEx Cup playoffs you know whenever you want to end that after Windom after Memphis make that a big deal and then you go into this sort of cup competition type deal where you're you're you're seeding into match play match and and and that's and that's your your playoff champion and if someone comes out of nowhere and beats Scotty and wins it okay that's that's cool that's wild there's some variance there it's probably intriguing it's probably a compelling television product but it's not like Scotty Sheffer isn't earning his due for playing the best over the course of a season here's where I see the holes in this in this in this proposal is that yes I would love to reward the end of the year Champion like for instance the number one in the Comcast list would Scotty sheer that would be the the the season long race champion I I just feel like we have such an anti-climatic end to our season when it comes to to this like it our our FedEx Cup points all goes towards that TOUR Championship and the way the schedule is set up right now that players play the Open Championship and their next start that are are guys that are in that top 10 or maybe a couple guys will play either Minnesota most guys won't or they'll play um play at uh Windom which most of the guys they won't play so you you basically go you know have this the season long race or whatever that you're talking about rewarding the this the the overall points champion at the Open Championship it would be the last time these guys play which is not a PGA Tour event that that's where I see that that last event if if you don't have because right now that event is just about El player eligibility really you know and then a guys that are trying to get in the top 10 to make an extra 500k or something like that so that's that's where I just see the hole in the argument it's like okay cool like that let's make it a big deal but your schedule doesn't say that that's what's what it's going to be right now because these guys they they plan and plan and plan to where their Open championship and then they play playoffs now if you do the Open Championship and let's say you have another signature event after the Open Championship Maybe uh wind them week uh where that would be the last event where it's like your last chance like still more amount of points available but then the next week you have the playoffs it's like now you're getting to a crazy stretch for these guys at the end of the year that guys like oh God I mean it just doesn't doesn't end but that's where I see the hole in the argument is that the way the schedule is now hey these guys are playing Minnesota they're not playing they're not playing Windom it's and it's a fair one too and it did strike me as interesting that we don't have like the last signature event is Travelers which is the week after the US Open and then we're done until we get to the FedEx Cup playoffs which are elevated purses more points but they're not you know Signature Events and the way you see those early on in the year leading into majors and and things like that um I mean to me what what what what league can you think of where the champion has decided you know three weeks in advance like where the guys don't even play the last two events well I mean like my rebuttal of that would be you know look at some of these Premier League Seasons where I guess it's it's it's quenched way in advance I mean like you know man City's you know 12 12 points up and it's like okay we're playing the rest of the year out but but what we're and and this and that's why I say there are parallels here is like a lot of these Premier League Seasons you get to the end of them and there is no Intrigue at the top of the table but you're looking at the relegation Zone you're looking at you know 18 through 20 and that 17 you know 16 15 and a very similar way the way we're looking at that top 70 of wind that's where our Intrigue is and that's what we've talked about that's what we like I like to see guys jobs be on the line who who steps up but what we haven't figured out is how to make the top like as interesting I feel like right and and and I think at this point it's it's you know it's a tough solve no matter what way you cut it let's try match play especially now that we don't have a match match play event on the calendar since it since you know the the the WGC Event in Austin went away like let's let's give that a shot you know the argument right uh what is it the players argument is that so you're telling me that we we determine entire year based off stroke play and then we get to the end of the year and we're going to determine the you know all of this money that we're giving away based off Match play because like in a in a world in which you look at this year nothing I'm just going to throw out a name a guy like Ben on could have won the FedEx Cup and won $25 million in a match play thing because he got hot on a golf course that you know just beat a guy that he played better than that day then maybe he wouldn't have beat half the field or 20 guys that that particular day but match play is such a who you play that day and how you play I mean I guess my rebuttal to that would be to borrow call War cwa's joke on Instagram is like you play all year gross and all of a sudden now we're showing up and it's a net Club Championship in Atlanta like that doesn't make a ton of sense either no it doesn't listen there's a lot of arguments and I I that's why I say you got to buy in from the player on this which of course all the stuff would have to be run through them and you make sure that it works but that's why I say so I think Scotty Sheffer made I think eight million this year for winning the Comcast business tour and it's what is it is it is it is it 30 million for the winner of the FedEx Cup I think I have that 25 25 25 million so even it up or or or or make the Comcast business tour winner a 20 million purse and make the whatever this match play version of the Fed Cup is 20 like payout I mean I'm sorry yeah $20 million to the winner yeah make the purse larger however you want to do that 20 million to the winner of the season long deal and then like 10 million or 15 million to the winner of this whatever this playoff thing becomes the the fans don't care about the money and I think that's something that you know every now and then on TV when when you're watching you like I I am curious about like a a $2 million putt like or a two and a half million doll uh let's see for Sith his two-stroke penalty that he took like I am interested type of story lines when it comes to that much money because you can't really even fathom it right yeah but uh yeah I I still there just needs there needs to be something that I feel like needs to change about it um and we've said this a lot like we've they know they need to continue to innovate right like I think the SSG group them being a part of this and and the players wanting the product to be better the networks's wanting it to be better I think there is going to be a bit of a push to try to make some some changes in um as we head to next year whether they get approved or not um that that's the question but just know that there's definitely going to be some action in the bullpen uh from what I've heard that's I think trying things at this point is a worthwhile Venture you know like and let just see what works and what doesn't same thing is this last year with with uh just the this swing five and and next 10 sort of deal and the Signature Events and turnover and things like that and you're heading into the year a little skeptical of it and then turns out that you get the turnover on the high end and let's let's try some stuff let's see what works and hopefully that leads to a better product because it's it's clear the last two iterations weren't working for the fans and it'd be nice to get to a place that does work for the fans and also keeps the players happier or makes them feel like it's a fair setup so yeah want to keep it on I mean I know we're probably about to change subjects to uh couple different other items we want to get to like President's Cup but as we kind of head out on this 2024 season like I think you know it was if you're with us the whole the whole ride at um I was just kind of thinking in my head like what were some of your favorite moments and just highlights from just the PJ tour season this year oh man uh golly I that that's a that's a loaded question I'm trying to I'm trying to think back now I feel like I kind of want I kind of want to do this as a separate episode to to to produce this live uh unless you we totally can um I just thought like you know if there's just some moments from this year that just stick out like a sore um you know I um it it was a really fun year in golf I I thought there was a lot of really good tournaments tournaments that I didn't think were going to be compelling were um and uh I don't really necessarily have an answer because I was on the ground for a lot of these uh so I didn't get to experience it as much as a viewer which is why I pose the question to you as you're workshopping the the tour schedule to see who who are the winners these weeks well I mean and I think I think this is deserving of a what I'd love to do at some point is uh well plenty of time this off season is kind of go back and unpack this entire season and winners and losers probably too reductive but guys that really kind of you know made their Mark and and did a good job of of you know either improving their status or playing their way onto the tour like if we're talking about highlights off the top of my head Nick Dunlap winning the AMX as an Amer that was that was a massively cool storyline um I think that that things like that uh you know are going to be worth recapping in depth and just kind of going through the season and talk talking about a a whole variety of different story lines but I thought the players uh players amazing I really thought the players was like just we had like four Dudes that were duking it out Scotty coming from behind with the neck that to me was uh just like a really great build up to that point because you had Windham playing so well you had Scotty playing good Xander like getting to these final groups hadn't hadn't really done it yet and I I just felt like that one with harm in there as well as the as the fourth guy I just thought that that to me was probably my one of my favorite events but it's hard not to go past the US Open in the open I know these are not PGA Tour official events but uh God those those events were so good this year Bobby Mack with his dad winning that was super cool too yeah there there's a ton of stuff like that I I I'm not going to do this season Justice right now by skimming through the schedule and trying to remember all the things I like but I will make that list for you and I will get back to you we can do it in a full in a full well just remember Scotty won a lot of them so like you can probably just what was your favorite Scotty victory how about that that's an easy one oo that's a great question I think I think it probably was players like I think just the way that whole one unfolded also I think I picked him in one of done of players so that was a really I think you were texting me live from the ground that day and you're like this cannot happen this cannot happen it's like oh it's it's happening it's happening all right but I mean I I think for for me this season with Scotty and we've talked about this a lot like it was just cool seeing a guy that is so phenomenally talented and the best ball Striker since Prime tiger uh both find something with his putting and and it feels like it's gonna it's G to give him some consistency going forward and also become a dad for the first time as we talk about this a ton on the pot I think those two things were the coolest for me um just this year for him because of course you're rooting for the guy like you don't want a guy like that to just toil with with that struggle forever and so it's nice to see those two things happen for him in a way that he clearly you know uh is two very very important areas of his life that was that was a a fun subplot for a while where it's like hey are you going to leave the Masters if you're leading and go to the birth of your son he's like yeah absolutely I don't care when it happens um so yeah it's I mean players was probably my favorite one for that for that reason but I even say kind of towards the end of the season again not a PGA Tour win but how much that Olympics went me to him that was gonna be my answer was the Olympics super cool Olympics was mine yeah well let's let's flip the page then now to President's Cup because we're recording this midday on a Monday or late morning on a Monday and tomorrow we will have Captain's picks made by Mike we on the international side and Jim furick on the American side and so we we kicked around the idea of doing some sort of predictions or or selections the way I've chosen to do this is I I I list the guys that I would pick if I was each of these team captains so let's just quickly over each of this the set rosters of qualifiers um on on the American side Scotty Sheffer sander Schley col morawa wendam Clark Patrick Klay sahit the gala on the international side Hideki matama Sun JM Adam Scott Tom Kim Jason day and Ben on and uh Todd Lewis reporting today that that international team scheduled a play of Royal Montreal to get their they're on a little scouting trip right now getting know the course building some some Unity uh so be interesting to see who is part of that trip to see if there's any tips as to who's going to qualify but I saw I did see um as I was pulling out of the gates of East Lake on 18 like this van was people getting loaded up in it I was and I saw Ben on he's obviously on the team saw another player as well uh get on this van and I was like huh that's kind of weird that's that's you would think that that you know volunteers just typically take they put all of um the luggage in a player's Courtesy car typically and drive that player to the airport in their Courtesy car this was like this big van and so I was trying to figure out I was like what would this what would this this this is different like this is like one of those big you know Sprinter vans they're putting all their luggage in I was like huh I wonder if this is a little international team thing maybe this these picks are already made um and so I I've heard some rumors about uh somebody who's not getting picked and I don't I I guess when I do my projections in my team uh you might find out who one of those players might be well I'll say so let's let's start on the international side of things and I have to preface that again by uh I don't know if you want to share this or not but there's been yet another breaking piece of news related to the number one player on the international team [Laughter] and the IHOP craze continues I mean it's like it it's at this point it's not even breaking news so we all know Hideki matama loves IHOP uh that was your other international team scoop of the week um where you were just you were all over the Hideki IHOP beat yes uh if you listen to an episode I think it was Wednesday or Wednesday episode from the Tour Championship you would have seen uh me talk about how I ran into hadi's translator uh with a bag full of ipop and uh also just drink carrier with these big gulps with IHOP printed on them and then uh Sunday as I'm I got my luggage I'm heading down to this parking garage elevator and I see I'm waiting for the elevator to turn around and I see the elevator to go up to the rooms and I see one at somebody from hideki's team with three massive bags of high hop and I said you've got to be absolutely me it's I I think at this point they're trolling you that's the only explanation I how much IHOP can one guy eat I mean apparently a lot of it and and this is something that think we need to again you know I'm pushing for the offseason IHOP meal with Hideki uh we'll have to talk to their team they seem to have been enjoying the fact that we've been all over the IHOP beat uh but let's just hope that there is IHOP in in Montreal because he's going to need a lot of it that week uh to keep to keep him fueled up uh but let's Okay so let's international team who are you projecting as your six captains picks okay as I sit here and look at this um I I just think Cory Connors is going to be a no-brainer Cam Davis is getting picked I think minw Lee at nine where he's sitting right now I don't think he gets picked um personally and Christian bazan hoo I I think he's gonna get picked Taylor pendrith is definitely getting picked based on on how well he's played the second half of this season uh Nick Taylor this is the one that I've heard potentially is not a pick and that one to me would absolutely shocking this is the player that I feel like is hit the most famous shot in Canadian history um at the Canadian open last year sinking that long putt now this may not be true this is just a rumor I heard that he's not getting picked um I think sewu Kim gets picked so how many do I got there I got one two three four five so there would be one other player getting picked so you're you're looking at either midm Nick Taylor Adam hadwin um and maybe like an Eric Van royan uh maybe McKenzie Hughes good putter but I this is just what I heard that Nick Taylor uh maybe wasn't getting picked that would shock me I hope he's on that team because I think he should be um I I don't know who you pick to be honest if I personally thought it was gonna be Nick and thought it was kind of a no-brainer I think sewu Kim's a no-brainer in my mind so I don't know what do you think so here here's who I'd be picking if I was in m g position so I'm kind of looking at these things and obviously pods have been in Vogue in recent years and I'm also looking at this from the perspective of it's very it's been very difficult for the international team to win these president's cups so we got to try some stuff we got to throw some stuff at a wall and see what sticks right so if I'm looking at the Canadians I'm thinking like what's GNA give my team the most energy the biggest bump it's like the max amount of Canadians possible so I I'm taking four of them I'm going Corey Connors Nick Taylor Taylor pendrith Adam hadwin give me all four of them because I just think that you're going to get more crab juice that way you're gonna get people back in the team I don't disagree with you and I think you either go two or four like three is almost a weird number for me it's like give me I I want to I want to be able to send out if if I want to depending on how the the sort of pairings go I want to be able to send out at least two Canadian teams if I need a little energy bump so taking four I think worked to me or splitting those four guys up and having a little bit of Canadian support across four different groups that would help I think so that leaves me with two additional captains picks uh as you all know we're very partial to Min Le on the show I I will not leave menw Le at home I think he's a budding star I know that maybe the season didn't finish the way he wanted it to and just the season itself was he had some opportunities to to play his way in and played one signature event and maybe just didn't play the way he wanted to but I still think this is a guy that you want to play in these types of events um as he continues to grow develop and so I got to have it be fun for him to be on that team I want him to be on the team I just don't know if it's going to happen this year uh yeah he he he to me reminds me so much of of like Keith Mitchell like just their maybe not like similar players or Stat profiles but um they both hit it Wong and I just feel like both you know just were so close to getting over the hump this year that just came up short um whether it was just just not doing enough to to make the that that next event in the playoffs and just I don't know I I feel like both both of those two players are are much better than where they finish on the FedEx Cup this year well I think it's I always think back on these teams to what Jordan spe said when he was on the show for the first time about how playing in these teams early on and and listen I I want to say unlike Min Le I'm not saying M Le's played terribly but like Jordan obviously did a lot to earn his spot on those American teams early on and then gets in those positions and that experience gives him the confidence he needs to handle the pressure of trying to close out a major Championship win and I think that if you're willing to take minu Lee even if there are other rums that are better you potentially give him some of that experience that crunch time feeling for him to make a leap in his career to where now he's a lock on every president Cup team for years forward and it helps him individually too that's the way I'd be thinking about it and again I I'm thinking about this also from perspective of you probably need to take a few risks on this team if you want to pull off a massive upset so that's why I'd be taking him now he's not even my Wild Card I've got a wild card for you okay I'm looking at the composition of this team I'm trying to find pairings for guys I'm trying to find some young Talent obviously so you can do a lot of I I gave you all the Canadian matchups right you got some good Aussie matchups in there you you've got Adam on the team you've got Jason day you got some good you know Korean matchups in here Sun JM Tom Kim been on you you can you can even mix up a little bit you can do broomstick boys with Adam Scott and been on and and I feel like you know Tom Kim Jason day pretty happy go luck you can pair them with anybody but I need somebody that can play with Hideki Matsuyama that can bring out the best than him I'm looking down this list and there's a young star who graduated from the DP World Tour the PJ tour this last season didn't play great this season but his last time out T3 at the Windham championship maybe gets another I don't know if he's going to play a Napa but maybe gets another crack at it Rio he's satun 12th guy on the team 21 years old potential star in the making Japanese let's do this for Hideki let's take Rio give him a little bit of juice give him potential partnership to bring out the best in him that's my that's my Wild Card Internationals all right I'm here for that you like it you yeah I know that's I like it um I I don't know enough about his game uh to to let you know how good he is I haven't seen him play yet so I'm just gonna take your take your word for it well I think it's a guy that clearly is like played as he he you know played well you in Japan prior to playing on the on the the DP World Tour and clearly did nothing there won on the DP World Tour to earn his promotion to the PGA Tour um and it's and it's honest I mean it's probably not gonna happen uh the unfortunate thing that I think Mike we has to deal with with this international team is is what a crowded seven through let's say like 14 or 15 situation he has and making these picks and there are a lot of deserving guys he's probably going to have to take instead but that's I would Lobby for that just as a let's bed in some new Talent let's try some new things let's let's get the next generation of this team in a good place so that's that's my vote there so now let's let's flip over to the American Smiley I I've read to you the automatic qualifiers yeah who you got for your six Captain picks um Sam Burns is a no-brainer to me he's I think definitely going to get a pick he's an obvious pairing for Scotty Sheffer as well being that they're good buds um how how about what he did in the playoffs to go from yeah I think it's 13 to 11 to seven in those standings just like went from outside looking into like you cannot leave him off this team yeah he really did he actually um he finished 11 under this week so if if he started at even finished t13 in that format um this is where I think this gets kind of confusing and and maybe I think if the US team wasn't already decided I think the the captains and Jim furick and um the assistant captains are probably trying to sort through what they saw at the Tour Championship and so when you look down this list let's look at Tony Fen now um who's eighth uh what or actually let's let's skip one pass him at Russell Henley not at nine to me he just played his way onto the team I think he solidified himself on the team at shot shot 17 under I just think Russell is a a a super competitor an ultra guy that's a a team room player guy you can pair up with anybody uh really solid you know a player that's been inside the top 50 seems like forever so Russell Henley and Sam burns are my two locks uh along with Keegan Bradley who I think played his way on the team winning at the BMW didn't necessarily have a good week this last week we're just admit that it's hard to play a week after you win but so if we have Sam Burns Russell Henley and Keegan ly on the team let's look at the rest of the options and like who played well who didn't play well this week and so Tony F now Chris Kirk AA batia Billy horel let's just look at those names in particular Chris Kirk shot three under total this week just a reminder Colin Mo shot 22 under AE batia three under this week Keegan Bradley two under this week we already kind of mentioned that we're omitting that hard to play after a win Billy horel 5 under this week and the other person who's near the standings who we didn't mention Tom hogi um he's not going to get PR picked most likely he shot three over for the week um but let's go let's stretch past that to the 15th person on the standings and Justin Thomas um I think he benefited a lot with these guys playing poorly this week and then himself having a really nice week shooting 14 under um not saying that this event is what gets you picked but I think it's it was a really important week for Justin Thomas while other guys are sitting at home like Max H and Brian Harmon who I I would have put in a bucket in a category of of of three experienced players that you feel like are are are guys that you can you know go and put out against the international team's best so Justin Thomas with all the experience that he has had in these events and I know last year I think people are still frustrated by all the pick that Zack Johnson made I still think when you look at Justin's season it it was very very close to being a very good season and when you just look at maybe the points are a little lower than you think they should be he just didn't it's just been the majors for him you know just hasn't had quite the major season um that he's accustomed to having so but when you look at all the other events I I still am happy with Justin's resume um how well he's really like been close to playing really well um and you get him in this format he's able to turn off the brain a little bit and just get into uh international team mode we've seen how how well he's he's done in this format so I think I think Justin gets a pick I know it's a long wind winded way of getting here but Justin Sam Burns Russell Henley Keegan Bradley so we got two more picks left and I think they're they're really difficult to make I think these are really tough picks um I think Tony feno is is where I lean I think is ball striking his ability to be a fantastic iron player I'm really concerned about his putting um I think that's an aspect that in these team competitions you got to be able to make putts I'm a little worried about that but I love the fact that Tony fenal in a baseball format if you've ever played at home in baseball and you're playing it uh in a two versus two you always like to have guys that are closer than the other guys and Tony fenal does that better than anybody so I think Tony fenale gets a pick and gosh I I I I I think I think that Brian Harmon gets the last pick although although I could see a guy like AA batia getting picked because of his ball striking but if you're to me if you're you're picking between Tony fow and oxe like which ball Striker do you want of those two and I think you probably take Tony fow and then Brian Harmon to me is a guy that I just think is a bulldog we saw at the Ryder Cup and I want to see I want to see more of it I can't believe it took me this long to the show to to gloat over my oneandone season ending Championship the the the the fex cup I mean you were going this whole thing on JT and the starting strokes and I was like wait a second I picked JT this last week I had a seven shot start we finished at 21 under you had Xander and and and five you started at five under you finished at 16 under so JT yep thanks for bringing it home the inaugural winner of the the Smiley Show FedEx Cup one and done Championship uh but I I I think that that's very well where do you where do you land on all that do you agree with most of it is that um I I agree with the jtps for sure like so I'll just I'll quickly zip through what I had on my sheet and and first ones you agree with like Sam Burns lock uh JT for me for all the reasons you stated and just seeing him kind of play his way into form really going even back to like the Scottish open was where I first started saying wait a second he had that first round where he played really well same thing the Championship where he's getting the putter going a little bit and you're starting to kind of see him seemingly get back to a place of comfort with that like the ball striking has always been incredible we were looking at a at a stat on on T to Green stats this year correlated to to um earnings and looking at where JT fell on that list you're like how it's crazy that he didn't make more money or or you know put himself in position to win more this season with just how good he hit at T to Green now you're starting to see the putting come around you see a week like this at East Lake you're like he's he's getting it back so for that reason and a guy that you know even in talking about the major performances weren't maybe his best really the last two years but this guy thrives in these team match play settings like I think you'd be a fool to leave JT at home regardless of all the baggage that you know exist from last year's picks and and you know that that was a debacle in its own right I was out there and watch JT a lot of play a lot of golf last year at that Ryder Cup he he didn't play Bad no not at all like he was he was not the problem on that team um and so so I think Sam Burns JT on the team for me I think I'm definitely taking Keegan Bradley as well for the reason that I thought I was so interesting sitting with Keegan uh at East Lake and hearing him say that when he got the call to be the Ridder Cup captain that within like that first sentence of that phone call they said we want you to be the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 62 I think it was 62 or 63 and uh there's going be a riot if he didn't get picked by the way well I think Jim has to pick him for that reason 100 and I think too it's like if that is your stated goal if you want this guy to be a playing Captain next year at Beth Page then you'd be crazy to not at least let him get some experience being and I know that the assistant Captain thing is is a much lesser job and you're really kind of a support system but at least let him dip his toe in that pool of a little bit of leadership a little bit of playing and kind of get some experience there and then and then I think I think it just it helps even if it's not the same as being the actual captain of the team you let him kind of feel that out a little bit so he can learn some stuff and maybe even alter his approach for Beth Page so 100% I think you take him I think you take Keegan for that reason now you hit on a couple names there with those last few I would I would take Tony F now as well I think you outlined that perfectly like you want a guy like that even if his putting is a little shaky you want like guy has like a plus plus skill in terms of like distance and long iron play that you know going both ways you know underrated chipper and bunker player too very very strong in that aspect so you he just he checks off too many boxes right right not quite the five tool player but he's he checks off pretty much every single box and and sticking with a good putter in some of these you know you know teams like I know it's like he's not going to you can't guarantee that in all shot format he's he's not going to putt every time like inevitably he's going to have to hit some putts that matter but you know there's a way you can kind of set the up to protect that part of his game and and his his positive attributes I think are are too outstanding for to leave him at home so Tony would be on my team now it comes down to got two more picks here uh I and I'm kind of turning in the same direction I did is where I kind of landed on on the international team which is I take OA batia because this is a guy that has all the talent in the world he's gonna be on one of these teams at some point why not make this his first sort of opportunity to play on one of these teams he you know this roster the way it's constituted it they should be good enough to get a win regardless and if a guy like that is around all these superstars in a team setting getting experience that's going to do wonders for him going forward so I I don't think this I don't think this is a no-brainer um us win by the way nor do I I think this is becoming more and more competitive but I think if you're looking at like I mean the US will be favored and they'll be favored not by a margin it'll be heavily favored now it won't be as much of a slam dunk I think as in past years but I think that you should be I'd say it this way like I think the international wa we'll just talk about some of the international team right like Hadi Sun JM Adam Scott Tom Kim Jason day Ben a like these are all really good players and I think they can with with the crowd on their side I I just feel like the international team already going to Royal Montreal and I don't think any of the US players are playing anything leading up to worldy Montreal I think they're going to be rusty and I think international team is going to say hey we want to win this more that's why I think it's going to be a very competitive pres cup and I think the international team has a really good chance to winning 100% agreed and I think it'll be interesting to see because you know a lot of this obviously you're playing 12 singles matches on Sunday and so you know you can there you know of course Thursday through Saturday matters they have that extra day in the President's Cup instead of three days like the Ryder Cup but I think a lot of it comes down to like how are you stacking up 1V one going down to the bottom the roster and that's where I think you get to the end of the international roster depending on who you take and I think there's more Talent at the end of that American roster but it so but absolutely who's your last two I mean that's comes down Ox would be my 11th and then again I'm going with a guy where I'm trying to kind of get him some experience because I feel like he's gonna be a star I'd take Nick Dunlap I really would I I think I know he's he's not getting picked I he's not getting picked in the same way that Rio satun is probably not getting picked either but you know you're kind of think is going to get picked who I think's going to get picked I mean I think you listed a lot of good options there like Harmon probably match play Bulldog you know about Max I think that I you know Max is a phenomenally talented player he's going to get it back but you and I have talked on the air and off the air the past couple months of just like he's going through some stuff he's trying to figure out right now I think it's almost unfair to a guy to ask him to grind through swing changes and and clearly not playing his best golf and then go throw him in a match play scenario where if it it like it's I'm not saying this is Max's Talent level but it's like it's like drafting a rookie quarterback and just throwing him right in with a with a bad offensive lineer no weapons around them and it's like you risk doing more damage like for Max like I feel like what he needs is some time to kind of work through all that stuff and get to a better place with his game so he can come back next year and play with some confidence I a player like Max can't figure out just getting it off the tea with one shot in 3 weeks he's a world class player that's just my my general opinion is of the opposite note if if I were Jim furck could say hey Max I'm gonna pick you for this team but the only way that you will be on the team is you have to play Napa and it's a tournament he's played most years but he's not playing this year I think because fortn Net's not the sponsor anymore I would say hey you're either playing that event or you're not and and if you if you don't play you're not on the team and to me like for guys that you feel like need the Reps that's that's the way I would approach it if I was I was Jim furck the captain um like Scotty Sheffer doesn't need the Reps but Max on the other hand like we need to see more driver reps because if you go look at his STS the BMW um it's obviously the off the te stuff is is where he's been struggling just with you know a couple couple bad drives around he gets plenty of good ones but he gets a couple you know wered ones that when you got out of bounds that that tight like you did at the BMW you know some loose shots got penalized ryal Montreal not as much from what I understand uh but if you go look at the you know what's what's who pass the driver at one point he was losing 11 Strokes off the te but he was first in approach game so in this format you're able to hide um a little bit if you know a guy you know it's like put him on the odd holes those are the easier driving holes Noah be and let him hit irons on part 3es it's like Max home is a dude so let's not forget that aspect about Max um in that he's he's had really nice moments this year struggled the second half at times um so if Max was picked it wouldn't surprise me but that to me would be the thing if I was Jim say hey go play Nappa yeah well and and and I think the the thing that makes it doubly difficult is he has been probably the best you know national team player in the past two competitions President's Cup and last year's Rider cup he he's been you know two two competitions in a row where he has been the guy for the US One in a win and one in a loss but the standout performer and he's talked about how big you know that that that putt on 18 his singles match you know in Rome was so huge for him in terms of building confidence and you know a down year but and this this is why to to go back to another thing we discussed on the show before we need the Zurich in the fall like I would just so love to see Max go to Zurich with a guy they're theoretically gonna partner him with and and and you know make some sort of incentive through sponsorship or however else to get those guys there as one last tuneup and let's see how he's doing with a partner and feeling less stress off the team when it's not just him it would be so helpful what about Billy horel so Billy's another guy where like I I you know and again like I'm not saying my picks or or what he should do I'm saying like this is crazy Charlie got to take over the the international you know and the American team for a day and he gets to make his crazy picks and go in a weird Direction cuz like Billy very much feels like he no nobody's going to want this more with the exception of maybe Keegan Bradley than Billy horel like he cares so much about these teams and he played well at the Open Championship and obviously played his way to East Lake and and didn't play great this last week at East Lake but he he you know second half of the Year man and great second half of the year I just think he's an energy guy and like it's similar to Keegan Bradley I just think two like if you felt like Billy horel you you you like where his game is at and his ability and you see like really good pairings for him uh through all your the models that you run and stuff um as captains I I feel like do you then you add it's like all right what besides like all right we see him that he pairs well with Sam Burns we think it's a good course fit and then it's like all right what else does he bring to the team oh he would be a leader oh he would be a high energy guy he would be a guy that puts your arm around and and that that would be totally fine you know sitting out matches like he he's he a type of player that is listen I'll do what's best for the team like no ego that's what Billy brings to the team and then he also I think if you look at the list of guys that we've been talking about I would say that Billy has been in more form than any of them U maybe not so much last week but I see Billy Hall in better form um over the last couple months than any of the guys we've been discussing outside of uh out outside of Sam Burns and and maybe Russell Henley yeah I could easily see it being Burns Bradley JT Billy horel Brian Harman Max H that would make complete sense now now I think there's there's a part of it too of like are you know you got to pick to win the competition you have to but like is there less value having a leader like Billy horel on a team if there aren't young players around that are benefiting from his leadership and experience you know like is that almost like a wasted attribute I don't know but that would be just it's a tough thing the picks are tough and inevitably somebody has a gripe but some good options on both sides there's I think if a guy like Justin doesn't get picked or Tony feno doesn't get picked I think the you'll look at um at how they picked these teams and you'll say you know what I think they valued uh putting this week you know like being able to to make a lot of putts is what this golf course calls for and then if you go and look at JT and maybe Tony fow's putting stats You' be like you know what uh the putting hasn't necessarily been there this year we're going to go with a guy who's we feel like can make more putts now I I don't I still feel like Justin should be on the team that's not me being biased as a friend I just I just think uh what he brings to that team is much more than what Tony Fen I would bring um as far as just what he's been able to do in these competitions but I still it wouldn't surprise me if Tony didn't get picked mainly just because of his shaky putting it'll be an interesting one and those picks as mentioned Tuesday mid day so that's that's tomorrow we're recording this on on a Monday and and you're either watching this or listening to this on a Monday or you're watching this on Sports grid on Tuesday morning and those picks are just hours away from being made so we'll see how we shook out on predictions but wow Smiley an hour and a half episode in the in the we need it man I feel like uh there's a lot to get to I mean I think uh the Tour Championship the whole year um you know I think we'll continue to unpack the year because it if we cover it every week but it really it it it takes a while to to go back in the memory bank and try to relive the year and the highlights the low lights um but uh it was a good year for growth for us as a show I think getting on site so much was really fun uh the playoffs was fantastic to be able to get the axess from the players uh we're going to try to do more of that next year again uh we're excited about some fall projects as well coming up that uh I think we continue to uh keep you guys entertained and to fall with football season I know is is King but we'd like to continue to uh to bring you guys new new content uh maybe some new series as well uh when it comes to the show and our guest uh so lot to be excited about President cup is uh I I feel like we're gonna what do we want to recap all these picks on the president cup you want to get to that next week we will get to that next week uh because the episode you're going to find near feed on Wednesday is from Adam chernoff who is I guess he is a lot of things but he is most importantly at least in connection to this show he is Smiley's NFL Guru he's Smiley's guy many guys so we and we taped this uh several weeks ago I think this is actually on the front end of Memphis um and or either between Memphis or Denver the whole last month is running together for me but it so understand there are a couple of predictions we talked about the Vikings quarterback situation prior of J.J McCarthy's injury some of that stuff is is ever so slightly dated but largely Adam's kind of laying out a lot of things can help you this season God it was so good man ohc betting the NFL you know drafting your fantasy team any number of things you can kind of look at heading into the season Adam was awesome on so that's going to be in the feed on Wednesday to get you ready for this NFL season and then of course there is no PJ Tour event this weekend so you know we'll react to those president cup picks a week from whenever you're listening to this uh and then maybe some big picture season thoughts things of that nature but Smiley I feel like that just suffices your final thoughts there unless there anything else you want to add before we wrap this thing up um man nothing uh other than um banging that table and one we're still and one drawing we're still 0 and one gosh uh but man I'm I'm kind of excited about golf season for me this is my my golf season is uh just starting around the corner I had such good range sessions and uh at at the BMW I got to remember what I did but I really think uh I was kind of on to something there I love that for you love remember what it was I need to start writing these things down that would probably help uh I'm I'm thrilled for you because I am I got you know we've got a couple projects coming up we I've got member guests in a few weeks and then I am gonna be putting those clubs up for a while once baby girl arrives so we'll uh and then break and then breaking them back out in November to come see you in Birmingham so looking forward to that well that's that wraps it for us today I believe uh we appreciate you watching and listening as always and yeah chime in in the comments with your President's Cup picks we want to hear from you yeah we want to get you in the mix for for football we we want to do more with the audience so well how real quick on the way out um remind remind everyone about the ESPN pick them thing uh I assume we're going to put stuff out on our socials but you'll just be able to go and search that on where do you go and search that out ESPN so it's technically a private group although I could make it public I I'll I'll be honest and saying this is the first time I've moderated one of these groups so all these things are asteris subject to change we might flip this over to a public group and just make it easy for anyone to search the Smiley Show because that's they're both labeled but at at at time of recording my plan is to push these links on social media and then you go and click that link and you go enter the password all lowercase s SM y l i e that's Smiley of course uh and type that you get into the group and you should be good to go there and then there's also a a locking mechanism that I'm trying to figure out with the college football pet pick them where basically it makes it so that you can't swap in a better entry once we've started playing so like essentially what's going to happen is oh yeah like once the game starts they lock so I'm hoping to like get everybody in in the next couple days everyone participating we'll put this little video out to let people know what the prizes playing golf with you uh and then we'll lock that thing up and then we'll be good to go for the rest of the season that's that's kind of what I have in mind I can't wait to overthink the Survivor league and be out week one yes I I fear I'm going to be in the same place I actually did a test run um for the college football pick I did pretty good week one pretty pretty good I think got like 97% of my picks hit um so we'll see and we're excited to go on this little journey with you this fall little football little golf next next and last question on the college football pick this will be against the spread right against the spread correct okay good just didn't want this to be some uh Fantasy Land College pick them this seems to be hardcore how good at picking games are you yeah there there are three options they standard against a spread in confidence which I I don't confidence is dumb confidence I just of course it's always 10 out of 10 until you're down 14 nothing yeah against against the spread that's what we're doing we keep it you know simple enough so that's what we got for you uh love the simin old coffee mug out of coffee so I'm out of here out of coffee very good with that we'll wrap up and we will talk to you very soon you know I listen to this podcast it's really cool all have 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