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Paul Pugmire on the Waste Management Phoenix Open going on in Arizona, The biggest party in golf + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

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  Speaker 1: You are tuned to the Sean O'Connell Show from the
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  Speaker 1: Murdoch Chevrolet Studio of ESPN seven hundred and ninety two
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  Speaker 1: to one a f M.
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  Speaker 2: Moving right along on the Shan o'connells show, no OC today,
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: he's out in like Dubai or something calling fights. They'll
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  Speaker 2: be back on a Monday. But it is Bryson Biannucci.
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  Speaker 2: I'm Bryce Larson. That's Jordan Bianucci filling in for him
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  Speaker 2: right here on ESPN seven hundred and ninety two to
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  Speaker 2: one FM. We're gonna talk a little bit about some
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  Speaker 2: golf here because the Waste Management Phoenix Open underway this weekend.
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  Speaker 2: Of course, our PGA Tour leaderboard update of the Phoenix
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  Speaker 2: Open is always brought to you by our friends that
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  Speaker 2: you into golf. So let's jump out to the ESPN
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  Speaker 2: seven hundred hot line. Welcome in, Paul, Pugmyer stands by
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  Speaker 2: to talk a little golf.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: Paul.
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  Speaker 3: It's been a minute since we last spoke. How are
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  Speaker 3: you doing?
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  Speaker 1: Doing great? And I've got to talk to you man.
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  Speaker 2: It's always great to have you on and have a
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  Speaker 2: great conversation about one of my favorite sports, the Waste
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  Speaker 2: Management Phoenix Open is one of the greatest, in my opinion,
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  Speaker 2: events of the golf year, and I just love watching
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  Speaker 2: this tournament. What are your thoughts on the Waste Management
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  Speaker 2: Phoenix Open. To open it up a little bit here
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  Speaker 2: and give us your thoughts on this tournament as opposed
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  Speaker 2: to the traditions of other tournaments.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I love it. I like you. I think it's
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  Speaker 1: a terrific thing. I love how accessible it is to
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  Speaker 1: people by virtue of the just unreal amount of space
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  Speaker 1: they have at the facility. This was a golf course
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  Speaker 1: that was designed for the purpose of having a huge attendance,
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  Speaker 1: and they've pulled that off. They've got tons of parking,
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  Speaker 1: the access is easy. Everything about it is designed to
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  Speaker 1: be a party that ask for a week, and that's
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  Speaker 1: exactly what they do. This is a little bit personal
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  Speaker 1: to me. I view this as my PGA tournament because
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  Speaker 1: I was living in Phoenix when they when they opened
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  Speaker 1: and developed the TPC Scottsdale and the Waste what is
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  Speaker 1: now the Waste Management The Phoenix Open moved from an
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  Speaker 1: old school downtown course up to Scottsdale to where it
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  Speaker 1: is now and so I watched it develop. I've been
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  Speaker 1: to it a lot, and it is fun. It is
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  Speaker 1: a rocket ride. Having said all that, I think it's
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  Speaker 1: really good that it is unique. I don't think the
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  Speaker 1: rest of the tours should try to be waste management.
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  Speaker 1: They're not. I think they should be what they are
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  Speaker 1: and honor their traditions. But I'm really glad that this
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  Speaker 1: event is on the calendar and I'm and I'm really
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  Speaker 1: glad that it is what it is.
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  Speaker 2: So for those that aren't familiar, the sixteenth hole, that's
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  Speaker 2: the party hole, right, That's the one where it's that
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  Speaker 2: the part three you can go and watch it. It's
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  Speaker 2: the stadium seating everything. How early does someone need to
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  Speaker 2: get there in order to get a seat at the
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  Speaker 2: sixteenth hole, because this is like a coveted hole that
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  Speaker 2: everybody wants to go watch it.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, there's two answers to the question, And first of all,
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  Speaker 1: some context. It has really developed over the years. The
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  Speaker 1: most famous shot hit at sixteen, of course, is when
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  Speaker 1: Tiger Woods made the hole in one and then he
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  Speaker 1: did the raise the roof thing with it pump in
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  Speaker 1: his hands. And when you look at the background on
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  Speaker 1: that video, don't focus on Tiger folks on the background,
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  Speaker 1: you'll see that there wasn't much infrastructure. There was some
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  Speaker 1: bleachers and people standing on the mounds that were built
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  Speaker 1: for fans to stand on. Now they have a three
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  Speaker 1: story stadium that made its temporary. They've got to take
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  Speaker 1: it down each year in order to meet the requirements
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  Speaker 1: of the fact that the land is in a flood zone.
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  Speaker 1: And so they three story building that circles the entire
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  Speaker 1: hole one hundred and sixty yard par three and there's
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  Speaker 1: ten thousand people there. Now. The two answers to your
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  Speaker 1: question one is there's a lot of pre sold seating,
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  Speaker 1: a lot of corporate sponsor seating, a lot of group
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  Speaker 1: seating that's quite expensive, and that they sell out. In
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  Speaker 1: order to get one of the general one of the
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  Speaker 1: GA seats, one of the seats that anybody can get to,
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  Speaker 1: you'd better be waiting in line by five o'clock in
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  Speaker 1: the morning when the gates open at seven, and you'd
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  Speaker 1: better be able to run, not walk, to get yourself
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  Speaker 1: out to sixteen to get one of those Seatsy Paul,
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  Speaker 1: I'm curious, how does this course play as far as
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  Speaker 1: the surface compared to other courses.
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  Speaker 3: You're in the desert. What's the difference down there?
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  Speaker 1: Oh? The course can run firm and fast, and I've
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  Speaker 1: played it a lot. This is kind of a fun thing.
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  Speaker 1: Back in the day when they first opened, they had
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  Speaker 1: a promotion where you can play that course if you
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  Speaker 1: had an Arizona driver's license, they'd let you play it
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  Speaker 1: for twelve fifty So I played a lot. Let me
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  Speaker 1: tell you, those days are gone, but it was fun
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  Speaker 1: while it lasted. So the course is a really terrific design.
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  Speaker 1: It's a Tom wise Coough design, saying the same great
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  Speaker 1: Tom wise Coough who designed Black Desert down in Saint
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  Speaker 1: George as his final project before he succumbed to cancer. Sadly,
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  Speaker 1: but Tom Wisecough designed this course and it is a
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  Speaker 1: course that can bake out. They totally can, and it
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  Speaker 1: can get really firm, really fast, and it can run
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  Speaker 1: out from underneath in a hurry, and that's its strongest defense.
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  Speaker 1: It's not a really difficult driving course. The green complexes
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  Speaker 1: are really good and which is a hallmark of a
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  Speaker 1: Wise Coough design, and in particular the three holes in
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  Speaker 1: a row that make up the real meat of the
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  Speaker 1: golf course. And that's fifteen, sixteen, and seventeen. We've already
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  Speaker 1: talked about sixteen the stadium Part three, with a tough,
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  Speaker 1: tough green complex. When that pin is on the left,
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  Speaker 1: if you try to go for the pin and tug
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  Speaker 1: it ever so slightly, that runoff down on the left
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  Speaker 1: side is so hard to get up and down from.
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  Speaker 1: And that's the design. It's made that way on purpose.
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  Speaker 1: At fifteen, a gettable par five, but with an island green,
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  Speaker 1: and so you know, take your chance and see how
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  Speaker 1: it works out. Buddy. You can make a birdie there.
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  Speaker 1: You can make a seven, both of them really quickly.
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  Speaker 1: And then seventeen is one of the great great holes
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  Speaker 1: in the game of golf. It is a Tom Weiscough
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  Speaker 1: signature hole, which is to say, a driveable, a gettable
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  Speaker 1: par four with a lot of risk reward on it,
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  Speaker 1: and the combination of water left and front left of
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  Speaker 1: the green and then the runoff into a collectionery on
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  Speaker 1: the right of the green, and then the shape of
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  Speaker 1: the green and the crown to the green. Yeah, these
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  Speaker 1: guys can They can get the ball there in one,
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  Speaker 1: but the window is like two steps wide, and if
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  Speaker 1: you miss it, you might not make four. And so
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  Speaker 1: coming down Sunday night, Sunday afternoon, I'm back nine. You're
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  Speaker 1: in contention. What club do you pull? On seventeen? It's
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  Speaker 1: a gut check and it's fun to watch.
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  Speaker 2: Paul Pugmyer is our guest right here on ESPN seven
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  Speaker 2: hundred and ninety two one FM and the Sean O'Connell Show. Paul,
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  Speaker 2: let's talk a little bit about the leaderboard currently Hideki
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  Speaker 2: Batsuyama in the pole position at the moment eleven under
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  Speaker 2: What have you thought about his game to this point
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  Speaker 2: and how he's been able to play this weekend?
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  Speaker 1: Well, First, first of all, some context here. This is
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  Speaker 1: the courses for horses situation. He Decky has already won
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  Speaker 1: twice on the golf course. He's won this tournament twice.
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  Speaker 1: He won it back to back in sixteen and seventeen,
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  Speaker 1: and so we know he can play here. In addition,
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  Speaker 1: he's had high finishes here as well. You know, it's
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  Speaker 1: not quite the same situation as Tiger at Tory and
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  Speaker 1: at bay Hill, I mean good Land. Tiger had a
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  Speaker 1: Hall of Fame career on just those two courses. He
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  Speaker 1: won fifteen tournaments between over the years on just those
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  Speaker 1: two those two tournaments, and then in addition to that,
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  Speaker 1: on Tory he won a major. He won the US
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  Speaker 1: Open so it's not quite to that level, but it
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  Speaker 1: is significant that Tidki Mantsiyama has won on this course
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  Speaker 1: twice already, and so to see him out there tearing
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  Speaker 1: it up, nobody is surprised, least of which he DECI.
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  Speaker 1: He goes into this tournament knowing I've got this course,
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  Speaker 1: he DECI. Also is a player who he can really
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  Speaker 1: bounce back from poor starts, from poor finishes and come
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  Speaker 1: on gangbusters quick. Not uncommon over Hdki's career to see
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  Speaker 1: miss a couple of TETs and then win. So he's
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  Speaker 1: that kind of player as well. No surprise to see
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  Speaker 1: him at the top of the leaderboard and by.
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  Speaker 3: Three for crying out loud, Yeah, no doubt about it.
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  Speaker 2: You mentioned that Chris got her up behind him at
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  Speaker 2: eight under, he's going to t off coming up at
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  Speaker 2: twelve fifty five pm akshay Batya is at seven under.
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  Speaker 2: Those are the top three out of these guys that
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  Speaker 2: are on the leaderboard chasing Matsuyama. Who do you think
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  Speaker 2: has the best chance to hunt him down and be
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  Speaker 2: able to pass him over the weekend.
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  Speaker 1: Well, first of all, for all the reasons I just said,
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  Speaker 1: they're going to have to go get Deki. He's not
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  Speaker 1: going to come back to him. But the one I
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  Speaker 1: am really intrigued with got her up and I'm glad
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  Speaker 1: for a chance to talk to him. Talk about him
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  Speaker 1: for a minute. This is a guy who is a
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  Speaker 1: former NCAA Player of the Year and he's one of
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  Speaker 1: these transfer portal guys. He had a great career at
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  Speaker 1: Rutgers and then for his senior year he went to
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  Speaker 1: Oklahoma State and they won a national championship. But this
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  Speaker 1: is an upcoming next star on the PGA Tour. He's
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  Speaker 1: got a ton of speed. He really hits it hard,
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  Speaker 1: beautiful soft hands with his wedges, and he can get
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  Speaker 1: the putter hot. This is a name to remember and
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  Speaker 1: a player to watch. So if somebody can go chase
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  Speaker 1: him down, it's Chris Godder Up.
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  Speaker 2: Give us your thoughts on how Tony's playing, because I'm
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  Speaker 2: looking at it here T ninety one right now, two
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  Speaker 2: over gone off later on this afternoon. A little bit
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  Speaker 2: of a slow start, not playing up to what we
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  Speaker 2: would love to see him play at.
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  Speaker 3: What are your thoughts on how Tony's played so far
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  Speaker 3: this weekend?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, Tony also has a real strong record on this
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  Speaker 1: golf course. Tony was in a playoff the year that
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  Speaker 1: Webb Simpson won it, and Simpson just got stupid at
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  Speaker 1: the end to beat Tony finished birdie, birdie, birdie, and
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  Speaker 1: then in the playoff went birdie birdie. He made five
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  Speaker 1: birdies in a row to beat Tony ultimately in a playoff.
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  Speaker 1: And and so Tony has a good history on this course. Uh,
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  Speaker 1: he has had a bit of a scraping start to
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  Speaker 1: the year. He's he's made one cut, he's missed another cut,
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  Speaker 1: he hasn't played great, had a good round at the
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  Speaker 1: MX to climb up the leader board, and I think
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  Speaker 1: he's snuck a back door top ten out of that.
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  Speaker 1: So that's really great. But Tony has to me, he
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  Speaker 1: looks like he has not fully got back into form
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  Speaker 1: from his foot surgery. And I hope I'm wrong. I
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: hope he's just totally healthy, but he just doesn't quite
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  Speaker 1: look right yet. And he'll he'll but he is Tony
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  Speaker 1: for now, pardon me. He'll find a way. He has
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  Speaker 1: shown that time and time again that he'll find a way.
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: All right, Hey, Paul, once again, appreciate you jumping on
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: with us here. What's coming up on Utaholf Radio? Tomorrow morning,
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: we're gonna.
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: Kick off our jet x JUG contest. This is the
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: backdoor fantasy game we play on Utah alf Radio. It's
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: exclusive to us, and the jet x JUG is where
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: it's a fantasy game where you're trying to identify the
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: players who will barely make the playoffs, not the top guys.
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: You're trying to identify the bubble boys, and so you
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: get a point in the game for every position you
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: finish up until the guys who don't make the playoffs,
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: and so number seventy is a cutoff and starting at
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: number seventy one you get no points. And it's a
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: year long play for us. We have a lot of
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: people play it and we're kicking that off on the
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: show tomorrow with a friend of the show, Rob Bolton
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: from pgatour dot com. He runs the fantasy pages for
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: the PGA Tour and he's a big fan of the
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: jet X obs gonna join us. We'll kick off the
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: jed x Jug. It'll be a lot of fun.
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: That's my favorite game to play.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: I play every year, DIBs on all the South African golfers.
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: That's my go to Okay, I love that approach. Good luck.
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: I'd love to give you a jug at the end
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: of the year.
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: All right, we'll see how it goes. One other thing
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: just came to my mind. Utah Tech just had a
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: freshman golfer win a tournament for the first time ever.
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: How big of a win is that, a freshman golfer
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: stepping in and winning a big time tournament.
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah, a couple of things. David Lichty and he will
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: be on the show tomorrow as well. So it's no
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: surprise that Lickti won. Lichty is a quality player and
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: he's got a terrific resume already at a very young age.
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: But this is the very first individual win that Utah
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: Tech has had since they became d one, what four
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: or five years ago whatever. It is so very very
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: significant in terms of the arc of the program. It
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: matters that they now have an individual winner. And it's
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: no surprise it's David Lichti. We're going to be talking
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: to him on the show tomorrow as well.
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  Speaker 3: That's really awesome.
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: Congratulations Tom, Hey, thank you again, Paul, thanks for jumping on.
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: With us so fun. Thank you guys.
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: That is Paul Pugmeyer and the Waste Management Phoenix Open
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: continues throughout the weekend. This weekend, a lot of fun
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  Speaker 2: stuff happening down in Phoenix. As we mentioned, Hideki Matsuyama
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  Speaker 2: currently eight under through the round and eleven under in
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  Speaker 2: total as he starts off round number two.
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  Speaker 3: He's doing pretty good so far.
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  Speaker 2: Everybody's chasing after Matsuyama, the twenty twenty one Masters winner,
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  Speaker 2: so it'll be interesting to see if he can continue
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  Speaker 2: to run away from the rest of the field. As always,
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  Speaker 2: the PGA Tour Leader Up Leaderboard updates brought to you
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: by our friends at you Win to Golf.