Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Paul Pugmire on Day 1 of The Masters, Tony Finau not in the field, Can Rory repeat (?), Gary Woodland's inspiring story + more

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Paul Pugmire on Day 1 of The Masters, Tony Finau not in the field, Can Rory repeat (?), Gary Woodland's inspiring story + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

• 0:10
  Speaker 1: You were listening to the Sean O'Connell show.
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: It's your source for the best youth's football coverage.
• 0:15
  Speaker 3: Here's oc from the Murdoch Hyundai Studio of ESPN seven
• 0:19
  Speaker 3: hundred at ninety.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Two to one a half am.
• 0:23
  Speaker 3: All the damn time.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: Welcome to the Ballet West Damn venture.
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: Welcome to our number three here on the Chicano Shaan
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: O'Connell show. Chicanos, we might have to rebrand, uh man.
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: Paul pogbyer joins us our Masters Insider, brought to you
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• 1:00
  Speaker 3: Speaking to you into golf for the new titleists SM
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  Speaker 3: eleven wedges inspired to have optimized flight, improved spin and
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  Speaker 3: performance and tour level grinds and I only want my
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: grinds on tour level.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: Paul Pugby are welcome? How are you sir?
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: Oh see? Why are you calling me? I'm watching the Masters?
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: My apologies, that's a James decision. I would never I
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: would never date to interfere with your Master's coverage. I
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: mean you only got four days of it. Paula, we
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: can hopefully take twenty minutes of your time.
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: I'm very happy to talk with you. It is Masters week,
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: which kind of means I'm very happy. So there's that.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: So how's Augusta National playing so far?
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: It's firm, it's quick. They have not had much rain,
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: they haven't had a lot of weather in that part
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: of the country this year, and it's showing on the
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: golf course now. Gus to the golf Club has more
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: ability than any other facility anywhere to control the turf conditions,
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: but they have chosen to ride out this warm dry
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: spell and make the golf course firm and fast, and
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: it will only get quicker as the week goes by.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: It'll only get firmer as the week goes by. And
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: so that's what it's playing like right now, even from
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: the beginning, and it's going to be an awful lot
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: of fun to watch it throughout the week.
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: You've got be intrigued when you say that they've got,
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: you know, more control than anywhere over those conditions, but
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: they've chosen to just kind of let it ride.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: What's the alternative They.
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: Add more water to the course, I mean, give me
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: a sense of how that decision is made and what
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: it looks like when it is.
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: Let's go to the number eleven green for example. That
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: particular green gets very little sunlight because of where it's
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: situated on the property and the trees that are around it.
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: Together with some very innovative and capable engineering firms, they
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: developed a system called sub air that they installed underneath
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: the green that allows them to control the temperature of
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: the soil and the roots. Allows them to add water
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: from on top and leave it there, or suck water
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: from below and take water away. They can control the
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: moisture content and the temperature of the soil and the plants,
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: the grass on the green.
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: Well, hold on, you're telling me that there is a
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: subterranean soil conditioning system on the eleventh green at Augusta.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: I am. I'm saying that's where it was developed. They
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: have it in more places than just eleven now, But yes,
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: I'm saying that Augusta National develops that they were They
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: were the pioneers in this technology and they have immense
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: control over there over their golf course. Now, another element
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: of this, and this is something that has to always
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: be a part of the discussion of Augusta National. It
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: is the hardiest walk on the PGA Tour. Annually. There
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: is more slope and elevation change than on any other
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: golf course. TV flattens Augusta. The common predicted expected response
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: to anybody on their first visit to Augusta after watching
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: it for a lifetime on TV is to say that,
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: no matter how many times they were told, they were
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: not prepared for the elevation changes for the slope on
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: that golf course. And that is one totally true, which
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: means that it drains pretty well and so they're able
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: to control the moisture content in the fairways, but that's
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: a function of the property characteristics. There. There is one
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: thing I do want to say about the slope and
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: then I'll slow down. And this is a Utah guy
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: giving a Utah perspective to the slope at Augusta National
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: Team Fairway and number ten fairway. I would ski.
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: That's steep. Do we lose you, Paul?
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: Hello, Yeah, I'm yeah, I hear I hear you.
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: Sorry.
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: The Utah connection here in the Masters is Mike were
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: and Mike we are alone as far as I'm aware.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: Tony Few did not.
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: Qualify, He's been top he's been top ten a few
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: times at the Masters, but no Tony FW this year. Uh,
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: he's just not playing good enough golf right now? Or
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: is he dialing things back? Why are we not seeing Tony?
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: He didn't qualify to get in because he's been scraping
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: it this year. Tony has not said this, but it's
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: my perception that Tony has has had a long tail
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: on the recovery from his foot surgery last fall. And yeah,
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: he has had He's had flashes of being Tony Fino,
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: but he hasn't been able to maintain it for four
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: days and put together four good rounds. And he especially
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: has had a trend this year of fading on the weekends. Yeah,
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: all that up. Plus when I last saw him at
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: an event at Riverside a couple months ago, he was
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: limping noticeably. I think he's not fully recovered from his
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: foot surgery.
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: Well, we've seen injury take really good players out of
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: every sport. Unfortunate to see it happened to Tony in
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: this one. Let's talk about the current leaderboard. Rory McElroy
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: and Burns are up there at five under Scheffler Reed
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: Day Kitty Yama, Rye. They're all in that three under
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: spot and we expect movement as we're only in the
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: first day of this tournament. But yeah, we'll start at
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: the top there. Rory through what sixteen or is he
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: done with his round?
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah? No, no, he is on sixteen now. Actually he
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: just tapped in on sixteen, so he's got two holes
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: left and he's at minus five on the day.
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: What do you like about the way he's playing right now?
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: He's playing freely and this has been a theme for
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: Rory McElroy for years. When he swings freely, he is otherworldly,
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: and when he doesn't, it shows, and it is something
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: he has been struggling with his entire career. Sometimes he
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: finds it, sometimes he doesn't. But you know, that kind
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: of thing applies to all of us, right but that's
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: been Rory's thing and right now very clearly. Absolutely, when
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: he won last year and won the Masters after so
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: many close calls and completed the career Grand Slam after
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: so many close calls, it took weight off his shoulders.
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: It was visible. And Rory speaks openly about this, and
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: so he has come in. He has nothing to prove,
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: nothing to do. Everything that he does now in his
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: career is absolute gravy. He has complete freedom and it
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: shows in his swing. He is swinging freely. I've mean
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: watched hymns today and you can see it, and it's
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: putting up the results you would expect.
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: Sam Burns, who right now shares that lead, not quite
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: the name that Rory McElroy is. What should we know
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: about him and how this course maybe fits him or
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: by the end of the weekend maybe it won't.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: A couple things to know about Sam Burns. First of all,
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: statistically he's the best petter on tour and that can
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: do nothing but help you at augusta national difficult, brutally
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: difficult putting course. The other thing is Burns has not
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: yet won a major, but he is in the conversation
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: of best players who have not won a major. He
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: is a Ryder cupper, He is a top ten player.
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: He is absolutely an elite, top level player by every measure,
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: and and no surprise to see Burns up there making noise.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: It will be a test to see if he can
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: take the next step in his career, which is to
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: show that he can do it over four days in
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: the white Hot cauldron. That is a major championship. So
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: we will see when I look at this leaderboard though,
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: a couple things jump out as you just scan down it,
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: and that is Augusta National always brings the cream to
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: the top. And so let's just scan through the leaderboard
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  Speaker 2: right now. We've got McElroy, a Grand Slam winner, Day
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: a major winner Read, a major winner, a Master's Champ,
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: Scheffler a major winner, Master Champ Lowry a major winner,
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: Fleetwood the current tour championship winner, A Couples Rose, Thomas Woodland,
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: all major winners. This is not an.
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: Accident James put me onto this story, but really inspiring
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: what we're seeing from Gary Woodland to just a couple
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: of weeks ago qualified for this Masters by winning the
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: Houston Open. He's been dealing with the brain tumor and
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: then surgery and PTSD and fear of I mean, his
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: own mortality. He's had these feelings that he was going
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: to die, his brain working against him, and obviously golf
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: is one of the ultimate mental sports. How is he
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: how is he able to do it out there at Augusta.
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: He is a strong, committed man with people around him
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: who love him and help him, and he speaks openly
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: about that. He started speaking openly about the PTSD and
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: his mental health struggles just a couple months ago, and
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: he said doing so, speaking about it publicly has made
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: him feel a thousand pounds lighter. His words, the part
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: of his brain that was operated on is the part
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: that controls fear response, and it has had the effect
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: of making him fearful of things in life that the
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: rest of us wouldn't even notice. He has talked about
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: going into the porta potties that while he's playing and
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: breaking down in tears. Wow, that just sounds like a hard,
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: hard way to live. But he is very clearly a
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: man of great strength dealing with a superbly, supremely difficult
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: challenge and he's rising to meet it. And yes, James
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: is right, it's inspirational, it's beautiful to see.
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: And he's using the platform he has now encouraging and
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: we echo this sentiment. If you're having any mental health struggles,
• 11:46
  Speaker 3: if there's something that you've been trying to fight through
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: on your own and it's not working, talk to somebody.
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: There are people out there, I love you, that care
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: about you, that can help you. There are professionals who
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: have expertise in these areas, and it sounds like, you know,
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: the PGA Tour and the Masters and the security teams
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: and all this, they've they've found ways to help and
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: they're trying to make it as smooth and seamless as
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: possible for him, which is good to see because you
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: want to make it a level playing field. But when
• 12:16
  Speaker 3: we're talking about something like this reasonable accommodation, it's good
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: to know that the tour has his best interest in
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: the health of the players in mind.
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, I mean. In his post round interview after
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: winning in Houston, he said something that has just it
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: remains with me. He said, they asked him what it
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: felt like twin he goes. He says, Look, I'm an athlete.
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: I love to win, and it feels good to win.
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: He just says, but don't think I'm fixed. Today was hard,
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: Tomorrow will be hard to What I care about the
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: most is that somehow, somebody somewhere will find in my
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: victory today the motivation for them to keep going on
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: in their struggle. Man. That's powerful stuff.
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: It really is.
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: Paul Pugmyer is our guest here on The Sean O'Connell Show.
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: You could hear Paul on Utah Golf Radio on Saturday
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: mornings right here on ESPN seven hundred and ninety two
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: one FM.
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: Is he is as.
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: Dialed in as you're ever gonna find someone on not
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: only National golf, International golf, but certainly the local scene
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: as well. And that's why we love having him be
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: our Masters insider. And I think I've asked you this
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: every time we've talked about the Masters over the years
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: on the show, but this is the ultimate of all
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: the majors. This is the big tournament and winning that
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: green jacket is something that I have a hard time
• 13:41
  Speaker 3: trying to describe to sports fans what it's supposed to
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: be because I'm not as deep in the golf world.
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: The pressure, the weight, the intensity, the elation, whatever, how
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: much is it amplified at Augusta versus even like a
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: British Open or a US.
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: Open golf event. And I would argue no sporting event
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: is more connected to history than the Masters. And there's
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: a couple of reasons for this. Augusta National and the
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: Masters both were brought to this world. They had their
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: birth from the one of the greatest players of all
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: time at the conclusion of his career, that of course
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: is Bobby Jones. And so through Augusta, through the Masters,
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: we connect to the Bobby Jones era and all that
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: came before it. From there you have this superlative, genius
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: golf course that is shown on TV year after year
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: after year. It is the only one of the major events,
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: the major tournaments, that is on the same course every year.
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: Because of that, we all are familiar with it, We
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: all know it, and we all connect with it. And
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: it is so difficult that every year only only the
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: best players survived the test that is the Masters. And
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: so the list of champions is a list of the
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: greatest players in history, the greatest players of their day.
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: You add all that up and it means that it
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: is connected into the tissue of the sport, and I
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: submit of all sport more deeply than any other event.
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: And that's what makes the Masters stand apart.
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: It's been a while since we've talked to Paul.
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: What is the relationship between the players that left the
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: PGA to be in live golf and the sport at large?
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: Right now?
• 15:38
  Speaker 3: The injection of finance of money into the sporting world
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: from the Saudi public investment fund. It obviously hit golf,
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: it's hit racing, it's hit soccer, it's hit my world
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: in the sports, in the combat sports world, and you
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: know it was not always the smoothest.
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: Has that hired itself out at all?
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: Yes, and no, there's been no resolution. The Live Tour
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: continues to spin over in its universe and the PGA
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: Tour continues to spin in it. There's not much overlap,
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: and they kind of have reached a point where they
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: just do their own thing and and don't there's there's
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: there's not conflict. They're just not paying attention to each other.
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: It's is kind of where it is right now. So
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: with the fact that they just are both of them
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: looking inward and doing their own thing means that, yeah,
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: it's kind of gone away. But there's been no resolution
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: of any kind about the prospect of bringing the two
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: tours together. Like say, we've seen in other sports when
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: when established leagues end up merging with renegade leagues. We've
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: seen that in football, baseball, basketball. There's no movement of
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: any kind that to be happening in golf right now.
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: They just are ignoring one another, which means it's quiet
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: and peaceful. But it also means that the players on
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: the live tour are largely invisible, kind of anonymous. We
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: have lost track of even great players on live. John
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: Rang right now is very clearly playing some of the
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: best golf in the world, but nobody sees it doesn't
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: register because he's doing it on live. And that kind
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: of thing is really sad there for the top top
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: players on live. It's really too bad.
• 17:39
  Speaker 3: I saw a headline about a three D printed iron,
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: Bryson de Shamba with a three D printed.
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: I didn't know this.
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: I know that there's all these crazy criteria and a
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: bunch of rules about clubs. Have we seen these clubs
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: used in other major tournaments? Why is this aheadline?
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: They're just well, it's a headline because it's just so
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: dang interesting and it allows for the ultimate of minor
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: detail customization because you know, really each set, each club
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: can be customized by just tweaking the instructions that you
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: give the three D printer. So the Cobra company is
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: offering these on the marketplace right now. They're pretty pricey
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: right now, and they haven't established a great market share,
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: but they're very very interesting, and I think they are
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: that I think they will continue to gain footing in
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: the market as people learn more about them and learn
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: more about how to tweak the construction of the club
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: in such a way that matches what they want to
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: have for their swings. So I think it's a coming thing,
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: and I think it's really interesting.
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: For is it just the shafts of the club that
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: is three D protesad the head is three D printed.
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, which means also because of the way three D
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: printing works, they can make adjustments on the inside of
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: the head while they're printing it. It's really fascinating stuff.
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: Wild technology. That's one thing that always stays ahead of
• 19:15
  Speaker 3: us in these sports worlds.
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: True, all right, So maybe someone who's early in their
• 19:23
  Speaker 3: round or we're not, we're not talking about already, that
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: you think is going to have a great Masters.
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: Is there somebody a dark horse looming out there?
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, what a great question. We're we're getting late enough
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: in the day they of course, they are in the Eastern,
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: the Eastern time zone that most players are are actually
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: finishing up their rounds. There's the later tea times are
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: halfway through the front nine right now, and so they're
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: starting to get enough holes that we should have a
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: sense of how well they are playing. There are a
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: couple of names to really keep an eye on, and
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: let me first give some context. There are several mathematical
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: measures you can apply to the Masters more than any
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: other place, because it is the same course each year
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: when I say any other place in any of the
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: other majors, because it's the same course. And the two
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: that show up the most time and time again, and
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: the most strongly is that the players who win at
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: the Masters are in the top twenty in the world,
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: and they are in form right now, they're playing well recently,
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: and so you add those two things together and it
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: kind of points to a couple names that we're not
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: surprised to see up near the top. To Xander Schoffley certainly,
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: Rory McElroy, he's in a good form. Tommy Fleetwood is
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: playing well lately. You've got Matt Fitzpatrick coming off a
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: recent win and again a former major champion himself. These
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: are the kinds of names that you want to look
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: at and that would really be in position to make
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: a run at the Masters. In terms of those players
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: who maybe didn't get a lot of conversation from the
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: beginning very intrigued with Sam Burns right at the top
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: of the leaderboard. Like I say, he's in the conversation
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: of best player without a major. Does he take that
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: step this week? Totally can see that happening. I'm also
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: just cheering for and really intrigued with Justin Rose. Justin
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: Rose has three second place finishes, including last year he
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: lost in a playoff to Rory McElroy. Great guy, great
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: player of US Open champ. I'd love to see Justin
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: Rose make some noise, and he's within shouting distance, but
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: he's within striking distance right now, so he could make
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: a move. And there's so many stories of the Masters,
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: and I just got to say, you mentioned it. It
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: is so fun to see Freddie Couples on the leaderboard.
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: Now he's not going to win, but it's just fun
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: to see him there.
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: The conspicuous absence of Tiger Woods is something that's always
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: going to be talked about whenever it comes around at
• 22:14
  Speaker 3: the Masters, and unfortunately he was in the headlines again
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: for the wrong reasons, I guess a couple of weeks ago.
• 22:20
  Speaker 3: Now sounds like he's headed in the right direction with
• 22:24
  Speaker 3: some treatment and things like that. But I just wanted
• 22:26
  Speaker 3: to get your thoughts on Tiger Woods and the ongoing
• 22:30
  Speaker 3: battle for him and you know his place in golf
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: at this point, because you know, when we do hear
• 22:37
  Speaker 3: anything about Tiger, we click and we say, Okay, what's
• 22:41
  Speaker 3: going on?
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: But unfortunately it's not golf right now.
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, a couple things. First of all, of course, Tiger
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: is an absolute legend of the game, one of the greatest,
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: I would argue, one of the two greatest players ever
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: to touch a clubs, and absolutely electric. We love watching
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: him play golf. But I think we that means me
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: personally and even the entire sporting community. I think we
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: have placed the wrong expectation and asked the wrong question
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: of Tiger. His body has just been through hell, some
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: of it athletically induced, some of it induced through accident.
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: That his body has been just ripped apart more than once,
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: and all throughout this we always respond by saying, when
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: can we see you play again? In other words, it's
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: about us in our entertainment. Through it all, he isn't
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: saying this. This is me saying what I see. But
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: I think it's clear that what's come of it is
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: an opioid addiction to painkillers, and who is surprised at
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: that after all the surgeries, all the injuries. I think
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: all of us have family or friends who have been
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: affected by addiction, and I think now is the time
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: for us to be in support of Tiger and focused
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: on his health personally and his well being. And if
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: he never plays again, it doesn't diminish at all his
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: standing as a legend in the game. I think what
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: matters now is his well being.
• 24:14
  Speaker 3: I think that's well said, and I think since his
• 24:18
  Speaker 3: career started to slow down, the expectations that you just
• 24:24
  Speaker 3: mentioned have been misplaced or unrealistic or whatever. It's such
• 24:29
  Speaker 3: a unique dynamic in all of pro sport, and you
• 24:34
  Speaker 3: know there was before the comeback win. We were a
• 24:38
  Speaker 3: decade removed from Tiger's last major victory, and people were
• 24:42
  Speaker 3: still just like, what about Tiger. You don't do that
• 24:45
  Speaker 3: with anybody else. You don't do that with basketball players
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: or baseball pitchers or anything like that. But oddly enough,
• 24:51
  Speaker 3: because of who he was in golf, we did that
• 24:52
  Speaker 3: with Tiger, and we're still doing it in some regards,
• 24:55
  Speaker 3: even though it's very clear that his best days of
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: golf because of those injur as you mentioned, and other
• 25:01
  Speaker 3: reasons are well behind him.
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: It's wild, yeah, yeah, yeah, it is. Well. He has
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: shown an absolutely remarkable ability to come back from injury.
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: He has shown an ability to remake his swing and
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: look Tiger Woods, Remaking his swing is like Steph Curry
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: changing his jump shot. But Tiger has done it, and
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: he's done it successfully. And through all that, I think that,
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: like I say, I think we've landed on the wrong
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: place in our collective relationship with him and focused on
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: his coming back. Well, at this point, his coming back
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: has to do with something irrelated to golf at all.
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: It's about his health and well being. And I'm sad
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: that he has put that he has landed in this place.
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: But don't we all all oc all of us have
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: family or friends that have been affected by this. I
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: sure do, yeah, and if.
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: You if you don't, you're incredibly lucky.
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: And I'm you're paying attention.
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: Well that's all that's also possible, and.
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: It makes sense after all, he's been through that. At
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: the end of that trail is an opioid addiction. Well,
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: that just sucks, and that's so hard and my heart
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: breaks for him. But right now I'm just I'm concerned
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: about it getting well.
• 26:34
  Speaker 3: That is Paul Pugbyer. He is our master's expert. He
• 26:38
  Speaker 3: is our golf insider. You can hear him on Utah
• 26:41
  Speaker 3: Golf Radio on Saturday's right here on ESPN seven hundred
• 26:44
  Speaker 3: and ninety two one FM. He's also the president of
• 26:46
  Speaker 3: First t Utah. Paul, always love talking golf with you
• 26:52
  Speaker 3: because you educate me so much every single time.
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: Thank you for joining me today.
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: Appreciate it. Oh see, thank you.
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: That's Paul pug Byer. Great stuff.
• 27:01
  Speaker 3: Our conversation with Paul brought to you by our friends
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: at you went to golf