Episode 854 - Bob Harig, Senior Golf Writer, SI.com

0:00Holly G with the golf insiders, as we hit the second stage of the Florida swing, where at Arnie's place this week, the Bay Hill Lodge and Club. This is a signature event, and so we've got a field of 72, the best of the best, and we're going to break it all down with my special guest today, former president of the Golf Riders Association of America, and senior golf writer for SI.com, Bob, Harry, good morning. Hello there. Good to hear your voice. Thanks for having me. Good to be back. Let's first recap, Bob, the cognizant last week down in West Palm Beach, and just a heartbreaking collapse by Shane Allauri on Sunday. He had a three shot lead with three to go, and double bogie 16 and 17.

1:01The bear trap bit him in the butt, Bob. It was just so sad to see him go down like that. Yeah, it was really a kind of a shocking end there. As shocked as he was, I think all of us were to miss hit his tee shot with an iron on 16 like he did, and where he hit it. Almost a shape. Right, probably, or certainly off the end or something. And nobody hit a ball there all week if you look at the shot link stats and graphics. So he just hit a horrendous shot. I mean, he's 95% of the time. Maybe he doesn't hit a great shot, but he gets it in the fairway or on dry land. And then maybe the worst, he's going to make a bogie. As it was, he had to make a nice putt to make double. And then, of course, now he's tied.

2:02And I don't know if he just was so thrilled by that. Exactly rattled because 17 is no easy hole, but he did have a seven iron. And there's a lot of green to the left. Yes. And I know that you don't want to be defensive, but you can't hit it in the water there. And he did. He missed by a mile. He missed by 10 yards to the right of the green. It was ugly. It was ugly. So, you know, and then he needed the eagle at the last hole. And that, once he was in the bunker, that was pretty unlikely. And then didn't even get the birdie, which was at least given a second solo. But not that he cared about that. I mean, that was a tough loss. I mean, you know, I was saying that a friend of mine, you know, these guys don't seem to make those mistakes in the rider cup. You know, Lowry clinched the winning point at Beth Page with a great approach to 18 and plots beat Russell Henley when the US was making that great comeback.

3:06I mean, that was his pressure pack as it gets. Absolutely. And here he's got room. He's got, you know, wiggle room. You did not have to have to hit great shots there. And so, yeah, it's tough. But to his credit, and I think if there's any karma, good karma, he talked about it afterward. And good for him. You know, it's interesting because this is the week last year where Moore College did not speak afterward. Right. And I thought that was bad karma for him. You know, a couple of minutes, I know it stinks. It's awful. But look at how that endeared Lowry. And obviously, everybody knows it stinks. Nobody was grilling him. It was just emotion. And that was compelling. And so, you know, he'll have a lot of fans because of it. And he mentioned that, you know, he had envisioned winning and his four year old daughter Ivy racing out onto the green.

4:11You don't think these guys have a human element in all of this? You know, you've heard of the announcer's curse, but my goodness. To think that, you know, he put that kind of pressure on himself from a personal level. Yeah, and let's be honest, that probably was not a good way to be thinking. No. You know, I mean, there was still work to be done. You know, maybe you're thinking that on 18, if you've got your tee shot in play and you got a two shot lead. But with those watery holes still to go, I mean, it didn't help him that etch of varia birdied 17 with a nervy tee shot. It could have gone in the water and ended up being 10 feet and he makes it. You know, so that's three shot difference there. You know, a double for Lowry. And that was the other thing after the, you know, after he did hit it in the water and had a drop. He didn't hit a great wedge shot in there.

5:12He probably needed to hit it closer to give himself a chance to make both. You know, unfortunate series of errors clearly at the wrong time and on a big stage. And not to take away from etch of varia's win, right? I mean, he's been an up and coming player. This is his third PGA tour win. He's won on the Latino America tour and the Colombian tour. So, you know, good solid player for sure. Yeah, look, and he, he, he's in the signature events this year. You know, he's, he was top 15 FedEx points last year. He's no, he's, he's certainly, you know, this is the thing that I think is also lost with some of these, so-called lesser events. There's still a ton of good players in them. You know, the, the line between 20th of the world and 120th in the world is very thin.

6:14You know, there's, those, you know, a guy who's 20th in the world can get beat by 100th rank player many times. There's just not that much of a difference. And so, you know, look, he did what he had to do. He played solid towards the end. He makes that birdie. And then, you know, he didn't do anything silly on 18. He got word that he was tied, uh, that, that he was ahead, uh, after Lowry hit it in the water, played up 18th smart. Very smart. So, um, yeah, good on him. It's, uh, it's no knock on him, you know, that, that, that he won that way. He shot the lowest score. So, we turned to one of our favorite tournaments. Arnie's place, of course, the king, uh, the legend lives on. I love just coming and walking the golf course, Bob, because they do such a great job, uh, presenting the history, you know, Arnold's, uh, career around the golf course. And there's just so much, um, of his, of his presence still, uh, on the fairways, if you will.

7:20He's a chefler now two time winner out of four events at Bay Hill. You know, it's hard to believe we, we saw him win in 2022. And he, he was seemed so young, Bob. And we're only talking four years. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, that was, I believe that was his second win. Or maybe it was his third win. Um, you know, he went on to win the Masters that year. If I'm not mistaken, he won here in 24 and went on to win the Masters. So, he's, look, he's, he's racked up so many. I'm having a hard time keeping him straight. Right. Um, but he just, he definitely has won Masters in even number years, which is very much like Arnie. Arnie did it 58, 60, 62, 64. Um, so that meant that what he was involved in seven consecutive green jacket ceremonies, I believe. It's a little bit, a little mini version of that for Sheffler.

8:2022, 24. Would any of us be surprised if he were right there? This year, people forget that the Masters last year, he, he finished fourth. Right. When he wasn't at his best because he was still kind of working his way back from that hand injury. So, um, you know, I would be not surprised at all to see him up there this week at Bay Hill. He seems to thrive on these tougher courses. Um, you know, and this one's tough. He even talked about the greens being dead. What he meant by that is just firm and hard, you know, fast. And we're certainly not going to see any rain. So, imagine what they're going to be like on Sunday. Yeah, the rain's over with and it's probably for the best that they did get some rain. They got some rain, what I choose to, you know, which maybe, maybe helped a little bit. But I would not be surprised to see him up there. Obviously, as you know, it's 72 players. This is the best of the best. Everybody from last year's top 50 is in the field, except for the one player who left to go to live.

9:27That's Thomas Detrie. This is good stuff. You know, this is what they wanted. You know, then you had a couple of guys that qualified their way in through these various avenues like Adam Scott and Jordan. And Jordan is in the field. Look, this is what these things are all about next week's the players another big week. Talk for a minute. The new CEO of the PG tour, Brian Rollout, who came from the NFL. Great get for the PG tour as they, you know, take on their new era, if you will. And, you know, he talks about scarcity about the importance of these signature events. You know, the impact on other tournaments like the cognizant, what you're feeling there. Yeah, look, I'm a little concerned. I'm not against some of the ideas that they have. I understand them. I think a little bit of contraction is probably good in that we do not give fans a chance to miss golf.

10:34And because there's so much of it, a good bit of it just becomes routine and it doesn't have as much meaning. Even this week, let's be honest, when the person gets the winners check and is told they've got, I believe 700 FedEx points. Is anybody really thinking about the FedEx cup? It's just too early. The meaning is not a parent of fans. They don't understand. In other words, you know, in the NFL, you understand what it means when you win or lose a game. Yes. You know where you are in the standings. You know that, okay, now I'm a game or two behind the division leader. There's, you know, all kinds of things about playoff, especially as you go on. It's very hard to replicate that in golf with so many events. And so I think they're going to try to come up with a different competitive model that will make every event more meaningful. I don't know what that is. I'm wondering if they're dividing the season into segments or something where you could win a segment or to make it a little bit more meaningful.

11:41And you know, if there's fewer events, the events are more meaningful. So, but what events do we lose possibly or what events are made to be less significant? Like there's some talks of tears. You know, like these bigger events, like the signature events would be what they are. But then you would have not to pick on it. But the cognizant might be a second-tier event and the big stars wouldn't necessarily play it. Well, how's that going to work out? You know, I mean, how are we going to do that? How's that going to be managed? Are the person going to be less? You know, it's just so many things that we don't know and that they need to tell us. And like this week, a lot of people don't realize there's an alternate field event in Puerto Rico. So, do you create more alternate field events with that expand? But then of course, do you get into TV and managing all of that? Exactly. How do they manage that?

12:42Like, how do they figure all that out? Where do they go from there? Like, are the persons less? Is a Scotty Sheffler allowed to play that event? Or is it only for guys who aren't in the so-called signature events? Like, these are all the things that they're talking about or that we're hearing about. And, you know, part of it is a little... The reason I say concerned is, you know, there's been a kind of a cadence and a way they've done it for... 70 years, basically. And I'm not opposed to these signature events, but boy, if you start messing with some of the history, is that good? I mean, they've talked about going to bigger markets. Well, what does that mean for a place like the John Deere? You know, that tournament is really successful in its community. Agreed. You know?

13:42I've heard talk about, well, they need to go to New York and Boston and they don't need to go to Hartford. Well, what are you talking about? Hartford is a terrific tournament. Absolutely. It's between New York and Boston. They've been in New York and Boston for whatever reason left. Yeah, same with Philadelphia. Right. And so why would they get penalized? I mean, there's so much to this. I mean, yeah, it's true that it might be... Look, FedEx is based in Memphis. Having a playoff event in Memphis in August is, frankly, ludicrous. All right. That's not a good idea. They need... The idea of playing at Riviera or Tori Pines in August makes a ton of sense if they could pull it off. But... And also moving out of Atlanta once in a while. Atlanta's gone stale. There's been talk about playing in Atlanta the week before the Masters.

14:43Interesting. Would you actually... Would you actually be pretty cool? I think. Makes sense. You know? So anyway, look, there's a lot... I think we're going to hear some more at the players next week. I don't necessarily think it's going to all be sorted. But it's going to be... I think some of it's going to be eye-opening. And I'm not sure who he's going to be happy. So speaking of not happy, of course, you mentioned it briefly. Colin Morakawa finished second at Bay Hill last year. Russell Henley was the winner. Colin was in the press room. A difficult year last year. And then Wins at Pebble Beach. So it looks like perhaps he's got his game back on track. Yeah, a great win at Pebble Beach. Good for him. Kind of, you know, get that off of out of his system. And look, last year, obviously he was incredibly frustrated to not get it done here.

15:45And look, it's not the end of the world that he didn't talk to us afterward. It just kind of blew up because he doubled down on it when he was asked about it and the TV people ran with it. It got bigger than it needed to be, frankly. You know, we'll survive if a guy doesn't talk. Yeah. And I'm one of those who believes that they should not be made to. But I think they need to understand how important it is. Well, and especially Arnold Palmer, you know, his golden rule was, you talked to the media, good, bad, or other... Yeah. Exactly. So I just thought it was, you know, an accentuated width. Yeah. It was, it was a, of all places to do it. And it was easy to seize on that, you know. And to, some took him task for it. And the thing is, a couple of days later, Maura Kyle explained his situation. And in context, you kind of understand it.

16:45Within the context of what he was saying, he said, you know, I don't really, I don't owe you guys anything. True. Probably not the best way to phrase it. You know, and I think some people latched onto that, including some of the talking heads. Yeah. And they, you know, what happened was, for a couple of nights that week, you saw clips of other players in defeat talking, norm in at the masters, or, you know, Vandeveld, after he blew the British open. I mean, there's numerous examples of people, you know, talking. And far more dire circumstances than, you know, losing Bay Hill by a shot because a guy chipped into Eagle on you, you know. So it was just unfortunate, because I think he's a good guy, and he's been good to the media. You know, that's, that's the thing that's amazing about it. Is it, he's actually a good guy in it. Now, he's just like, it's not, it's, it's not like this isn't like, it happens all the time.

17:45He's always, he's always been helpful to the media. I, I hope we've moved on from that, because he's too good of a player, and I think we're going to see a lot more from him. Yeah, absolutely. So, Rory, interviewed yesterday as, as well as JT. Rory had some comments about John Rom, and the whole live golf, and the DP proposition to the players. You want to break that down for my listeners? Yeah, it's, it's a, you know, we're still squabbling about all this stuff, right? Yeah. I mean, it's, it's, it's, and, and the sad thing is, is that, look, I understand why John Rom's upset. Basically, he could have been able to play, live this year, not, and not play the PGA tour, the DP World Tour. No restrictions, if he'd agreed to play two extra events,

18:47he has to play four, to be a member, they want him to play six, and they might even dictate them, where I would say, all right, let's negotiate on that. But the bottom line is, is it would have freed him of all these penalties. He wouldn't be getting fined this week, lives in Hong Kong, DP World Tourers in South Africa, because he did not get a release, which they will not give to play in live events, he, he is going to get fined, and that, that happens every time there's a conflicting event. If, if he'd have taken their deal, that wouldn't have happened. He wouldn't need a release, play the live events, then come back over to the DP World Tour, when it's convenient, play the four you want to play, and then add two more. And Rory's like, he didn't think it's a very big ask. You know, and so these are two Ryder Cup teammates, who, there's some friction there. Yes. And the other thing is, these eight guys did take the deal,

19:49including Terrell Hatton, who appealed the fines along the same time, that, that Ram did, and their teammates on live. So, yeah, it's just unfortunate. I mean, I get why he doesn't want to be dictated to. I understand some of his reasoning. He's like, look, I'm being fined for, or, you know, suspended for events that I would not play anyway. But the other side of that is, is that happens all the time, you know, on the 3J Tour DP World Tour, when a guy wants to play somewhere else, he still has to get a release. You know, just because you're not going to play it anyway, the rules say we have to allow you to do it. And they do allow them to do it to a point. I use this example to a few people yesterday. Back in the day, Ernie Ells would request four, five, six releases. You're allowed three.

20:49There's a reason Ernie played 20 events a year on the PGA Tour, is because they told him, we'll give you those, but we want you to play five extra. Five. You know? Yeah. So they're like, look, you know, these are the rules you sign on to. So the other side of it is, and if you want to just be kind of harsh, look, just go play on live. Play live, play your four majors, and be done with it. You know? I mean, he's a good enough player that he'll be able to stay in the top 50 in the world, playing live, and get into the majors. You know, and if he could accept some sponsor invites to play the Spanish open, or a couple of, of course, you know, if he's not a member, he can't play in the Ryder Cup. Well, 70 Mr. Ryder Cup weighed back in the day when he was fighting over this sort of thing. He didn't miss it because he wasn't a member. They decided not to take him because they didn't like the fact that he was being obstinate about all of it.

21:55You know, there's time to work it all out. I hope they do. Well, we know, you know, the Ryder Cup is so highly sought after, especially on the European side. John's had a great record. So certainly that would be a missing. And speaking of the European Ryder Cup team, Luke Donald stepping up for a three-peat announced yesterday, he will be the returning captain. I mean, they're one-up on the U.S. already. You know, they've got their system in place. They know what they're going to do. They've, you know, they've got their assistance. They've got their plan that's worked so well. And the U.S. hasn't even named a captain yet. And even if they do, how are they going to fix the issues that they've had? I thought Brandylshambley brought up a really good nomination. And that is Justin Leonard. And I thought, if you think of a guy who's got sort of a similar personality

22:59and makeup, maybe he's our guy. Yeah, I mean, you know, it sounds like they've offered it to Tiger. And I'm sort of wondering if this is such a hard decision. Maybe he shouldn't do it. You know, this is the honor for so many guys. Who sits there and dwells on it? Right. So the second time he's doing this, you know, if you don't have time to do it right, then that's the least, that's the last thing the U.S. needs right now. Is somebody who's not engaged, you know. And I think Tiger is engaged behind the scenes. Keegan said that Tiger was very helpful to him. That's great, but Tiger's not out here much, you know. And so... And he's got a lot going on, business-wise. He does. He's got a lot going on with the tour. And, you know, so I don't know. I'm torn about that. I do think if he's the captain, these guys will play their asses off for him.

24:00Yeah. You know. And that's something to be said for that. But, you know, I think Tiger's going to need some good assistance. I think he should bring Keegan back as an assistant. You know, to Keegan might make it if he gets his game back in shape. And, you know, they need a better analytics team to figure out their pairings. I don't know how Scotty Chef or in my wildest dreams could go O and four. Me either. You went one in four, and I think he was one, two, and one in Rome. I mean, it's just after having a great first Ryder Cup, and by the way, he beat Rob in singles. So in 2021. And he was sort of a wild card pick. He was the last pick. Yeah. You know, now that he's been that such a great player, he's not been very good in the team stuff. And some of that's his partner. But okay, find him a good partner.

25:00You know, they've just not been able to do it. I thought Russell Handley was a good partner for him. And they weren't very good. And Sam Burns wasn't a good partner for him. I don't know. They need to figure something out there. You know, I don't know what the captain could do that or not. But these are some things they need to work out. Your best players need to play better. Sheffler was O and four in teams. I believe Bryson was one in three, or one, two, and one, or something like that. Can't lay was one, three, and one, overall. He lost his singles match, but also lost two team matches. You know, those were three guys. We got smoked. Those were the three guys you played five times. So if they're playing five times, those are your best. And what did they do? They went like a combined, you know, three, nine, and two, or something like that. I mean, if just two of those guys turn around in a result, one result.

26:03The thing's completely different. So, anyway, you know, they've got their guy again, and that's great. He's been terrific captain. They're smart to bring him back if he wants it. Now we got, now we wait to see what the U.S. does. Well, we know one thing. Tiger does not like to lose. So on one hand, I don't think he'll step up it, step into that unless he knows. He's going to have the right team behind him, and I would say they need to figure that out sooner than later. Right. No question. All right, it's time to throw your dart, Bob, who you pick in for the red cardigan sweater on Sunday. I try to pick these things at the beginning of the year, where I only pick a guy once. And actually, you know, you can pick a couple. And I've found that this tournament, you know, it's not that easy. Despite all these, you know, the fact that it's a smaller field to pick who's going to prevail.

27:09I mean, I don't think too many of us had Russell Henley last year, even though he's a very, very solid player. But believe it or not, one of the guys I picked at the beginning of the year for this tournament was Shane Lowry. I also pick Corey Conner's because I think Corey Conner's fits this golf course really well. It's just a good ball striker's course. And I think I like Conner's a little bit better. I like the two for, well, you know, this is an interesting course because you have somebody like Tiger who's won eight times. And then we will have sort of this random winner that comes out, well, Henley wasn't out of nowhere. But we've had some interesting one-offs in the past. And the win can win can get Howlin, which I think it might also can you quickly explain what they've done to the greens. They've sort of shaved them off. Yeah, it sounds like there's a little bit more area around them for, you know, not only for the ball to run off, but for you to have some shipping areas as opposed to rough. Yeah.

28:09So I'm not sure how that'll play, but I'm sure we'll hear all about it soon enough. It looks a little, a little Augusta like in some places. So we will see, speaking of Augusta, you're going to be attending your 40th Bob before we let you go. I want to say congratulations. Do you get a special parking spot for your 40th Masters? It's amazing that they started credentialing me when I was 12. I'm still very appreciative of that. So yeah, I think so. I don't know. Pat on the back out of boy. I guess what I'll say is it's kind of amazing. It's been 40 straight. Yeah, that's phenomenal. I've never missed one. I'm sort of proud of that, I guess. Through several employers, you know, three different employers I managed to keep going. So yeah, it's always a treat to get to go to Augusta. We will be turning the corner here very soon as we continue through the Florida swing as always Bob HerregSI.com.

29:17Thanks so much for your time.