Fore Play

J.T. Poston (19:15) joins the show for the first time. We discuss a freak eye injury on the driving range at Winged Foot, flat brims, Bryson bombing balls into the equipment trucks in Vegas, and being the “other JT.” In Fore Play news, Trent’s been reading and Riggs claims he has been too, but there’s some debate around his definition of “reading.” Also: who’s the best current player on the pod, Phil’s decided to embarrass the seniors again, and John Daly makes an ace on a green with 11 holes!

Much has occurred in the world since our last pod. Sergio won while putting with his eyes closed. Aaron Rai won with iron covers. The president has COVID. Augusta went from brown to green. We discuss the possibility of Bryson flipping golf on its head by destroying Augusta National, debate if we’ve already shot our career lows or not, discussed whether putting with your eyes closed is insane or not, and how to handle missed “gimmies”!

2-0 baby, 2 and 0. The Fore Man Scramble has officially beaten Jake Owen, Darius Rucker, Morgan Wallen, and Hardy in a scramble match at Troubadour Golf Club and we recap the entire round on today’s show. We also answer some From The Gallery questions such as does a hole in one on the 19th hole at Payne’s Valley count, do we have disdain for muni and local courses cause we play so many nice ones, and more!

Justin Rose (33:20) joins the show for the first time to discuss poetic insight from a local caddie at the 2013 U.S. Open, being the 2016 Olympic gold medalist, & being a Ryder Cup stalwart. Then we breakdown the MASSIVE Fore Man Scramble match vs Jake Owen, Darius Rucker, Morgan Wallen & Hardy. Who wins? Who’s got the edge? Who doesn’t? We also get into Big Cedar Lodge, the Barstool Classic, the Barstool Golf Society on 2k, and much more!

Jack Nicklaus joins the show. Yes, the Golden Bear, with his 18 majors and 73 pga tour wins, sits down with Riggs to discuss distance issues in the current game, Tiger Woods chasing his records, how different the golf ball was in his day, how good his current golf game is and MUCH more. Then, the crew discusses Payne’s Valley and a potential HUGE interaction with Tiger!

We react to Bryson DeChambeau pulling off the ultimate vindication and dominating the U.S. Open at Winged Foot. Riggs & Frankie we’re onsite, spoke to Bryson, interviewed him, and even got a pizza review from him. In From The Gallery, if you got to play Augusta but had to use only special Augusta golf balls in the shop at $200 a piece, how many would you buy???

The time has come. The U.S. Open, at perhaps its most grueling venue, is upon us. We discuss the turf crew who has so tirelessly prepared the golf course, the players who know they’re in for something wild, and our expectations entering the competition. We met and chatted with Patrick Reed for the first time. We broke the ice with Rickie Fowler. We exchanged back-patting with Phil Mickelson. This and much more as the 2020 U.S. Open begins!

It’s here. It’s finally here. The U.S. Open at Winged Foot has arrived, and the hype is REAL about the course condition, the difficulty, the “classic” U.S. Open expectations. We speak with Jason Gore (24:16), the USGA’s senior director of player relations & a member of the setup team, about the course, what the players can expect, and how he manages those expectations. Then we’re joined by Winged Foot’s head superintendent, Steve Rabideau (73:42), to dive deeper into this iconic venue, its famous greens, and the stellar team and commitment it takes to keep Winged Foot’s 36 holes in championship condition day in and day out!

The PGA champ (6:03) rejoins the show after first coming on April 27th. This is a really, really good one. We discuss Tiger telling Collin “welcome to the major club,” the back nine at the PGA, the decision to hit driver on 16, beating JT in a playoff at the Workday, the upcoming U.S. Open and MUCH more!

The tour championship has concluded about exactly as everyone predicted. That’s cool. DJ is the best and it’s not close. We discuss Novak Djokovic smoking a line judge with a tennis ball and getting booted from the Open but we’re not a tennis podcast. We discuss Islanders vs Lightning but we’re not a hockey podcast. We’re onto Winged Foot and onto several From The Galleries including: do you wear headphones to the range, how loud do you yell “FORE,” and where did Bryson go???

The tour finale is here. Dustin Johnson will tee off 10-under par and the winner takes home $15M. It’s an interesting week to say the least. Speaking of interesting, Phil dropped a praising-Tiger tweet from the clouds. We discuss all this, Jack’s 5.6 handicap index, a match play major, deadly snakes on the course and much more!!!

Olympia Fields just delivered an all time finish with Rahm and DJ draining MONSTER putts on 18 with everything on the line. We breakdown the BMW Championship, the conditions of the course, the latest with the Barstool Golf Society on PGA TOUR 2k21 and the upcoming U.S. Open. We also take several From The Galleries, including: Could we beat an 80 year old Jack? What would you shoot at Augusta if you began every hole at the farthest point on each green from the hole???

The most recent Major Champion, Sophia Popov (43:23) joins the show to breakdown her win and discuss her career. From overcoming Lyme disease, losing her LPGA Tour card, missing a short putt to get status last year, to just last week being ranked No. 304 in the world and winning at Royal Troon, Sophia’s story is amazing. Before, we discuss Frankie and Lurch’s experience at Winged Foot as things get heated, BMW Championship, Bryon’s odd fake dog story, and more!

Doug Ellin (creator) and Kevin Dillon (Johnny Drama) (56:44) from Entourage join the show. We get tales of Kevin snapping Tom Brady’s driver, Doug’s first-ever golf round playing with Wayne Gretzky, how Kevin recruited Phil Mickelson for a cameo on the show, and much more. In Headlines, DJ shot 30-under and won by 11, a magician rocked the Barstool Classic, we have our own golfing society on PGA TOUR 2k21, Kiz finished T4, and a massive underdog won the women’s British Open!

We are joined by two very, VERY special guests for today’s episode. First, the most recent PGA Tour winner Jim Herman (60:41) comes on to talk about his outrageous 61-63 weekend, what this win means to him, playing with Kiz, and more. Then we’re joined by Christopher McDonald 86:32 aka Shooter McGavin and he does not disappoint. He tells us the story behind Shooter’s finger guns, becoming a better golfer to play Shooter, his viral moment at the Barstool Sports Super Bowl party, and more. Then we talk Northern Trust, the Winged Foot logo, and tons more!

Segundo Oliva Pinto (93:58) was eliminated from the U.S. Amateur at Bandon Dunes because his caddie touched the sand on the 18th hole. He joins the show to discuss the incident, his natural instinct to defend his caddie, and declare he wants a rematch with eventual winner Tyler Strafaci. In a second interview, we’re also joined by the CEO & founder of Whoop, Will Ahmed, (64:14) who breaks down the origin of the band, how it detects COVID-19, and why it hates alcohol so much. In Headlines, Jim Herman posts 61-63 on the weekend to steal the Wyndham, Tiger & Charlie Woods are dominating junior tournaments, Kiz finishes T3 with his moon boot putting practice, and MUCH more!

Shame on Justin Thomas for not thinking about the kids when a hot mic picked up him using the F word! Think about the kids! We dive into one of the hottest topics in the golf world this week, talk about the U.S. Amateur, and try to figure out which of us will get to play Winged Foot. Then we answer a ton of From The Gallery questions such as should the Open Championship always be played at St Andrews, what defines a long par 3, Is there any period in the future when you will be able to beat Tiger in a match, and more!!!

The PGA Championship just wrapped up. Collin Morikawa stole the show in phenomenal fashion. We breakdown everything that was PGA Championship week: Morikawa’s brass balls, Brooks’ dramatics, Tiger, Phil, ESPN+, Spieth’s demons, coverage, and MUCH more!

The first major in 13 months is upon us. We get into: Tiger using a new putter, Brooks going for the 3-peat, Riggs’ onsite encounters with Shackelford, JT, Kiz and more, Spieth going for the career grand slam, Rory going for his first major since 2014 and everything PGA. In From The Gallery, how does Tiger store his Elder Wand Scotty when he’s not using it, and what are the most important factors for you when ranking golf courses???

Riggs calls in live as he follows Tiger Woods’ Monday practice round at Harding Park. We hear an interaction with Joey LaCava, some Tiger shots, and get realtime insight from the first fanless major. How’s Harding playing? Who’d he run into? Who looks good? How’s Tiger look? In Headlines, we breakdown Bryson DeChambeau saying he wants to live to be 140 years old and calling for relief from fire ants, Brooks trolling Bryson again, JT winning and become no. 1 in the world again, and more. It’s major week!!!