The Shotgun Start

Ringer staff writer Kevin Clark joins for a wide-ranging and amusing discussion on golf, the NFL, and the prospects for two specific teams in the Great Lakes region in this Friday episode. But first, Andy and Brendan check in on some early news and action from the golf world, notably Bryson going deep in Las Vegas and the best of the women’s game already showing at Aronimink. They discuss Bryson’s stated plan to debut his new 48 inch driver at the Masters, how he says it looks like “a missile coming off the face,” and how he’s drawing inspiration from watching Happy Gilmore. They also giggle at the college event at the Tyson chicken tycoon’s course and how that tycoon allegedly made it hard to join and hard to play. In news, they hit on the Women’s PGA sending the leaders out on Sunday in the middle of the tee sheet. And then they wrap with the absurdity that is Pat Reed threatening to really win the Race to Dubai on a Tour that he barely plays. For the second half of the episode, Kevin joins to talk about how he got into golf later in his life but has turned into an avid watcher, gambler, and improving player, thanks to an assist from Shane Lowry. On the NFL side, he relays some amusing tales from reporting in the league, if there’s any football or other sports comp to what Bryson’s done the past year, and if technology has changed football in any way like it has golf. Also, is J.J. Watt now the Pat Reed of the NFL? Then they narrow the focus to their own teams, peppering him with questions about Mitch Trubisky, Matt Nagy’s basement wall, Baker, Freddie Kitchens, and whether the Browns or Bears have a better chance to make the playoffs.

This Wednesday episode begins with the tale of Andy getting a speeding ticket somewhere in rural Iowa before transitioning to a Brendan apology for his grievous socks code oversight from Monday. On golf, they begin with absolute rage over the bait-and-switch nomenclature of this week’s venue, a venerable Sam Torrance design, on the European Tour. There’s a back-and-forth over whether this offense means the event will be blackballed in SGS quarters for the rest of the week. Fortunately, a late discovery of the “Gavin Zone” keeps hope alive that it will be recognized. The CJ Plaque preview touches a bit on the garish and catnip-providing Shadow Creek as well as the odd capitalization scheme for the entire event. The Speed Golf Championships get event of the week, naturally. Some one-and-done picks are made and news hits on DJ’s positive test to get you fully unprepared for the golf week ahead.

After assessing the triumphs and ruins of another NFL Sunday, Brendan (begrudgingly) and Andy go into Sergio Garcia’s impressive win to rocket up the Courier Cup standings. They hit on the aesthetics of his win, his career earnings to date, why he’s playing the Sanderson, and how it could not have gone any better for the event. Peppy Peter Malnati is also given some time as the potential foil. At the Scottish Open, the deadpan Aaron Rai is given props for his two-gloved win at Renaissance. Rob Rock’s bumbling also prompts the question of whether the massive increase in purse size for the week had players uptight all week. And they also weigh in on the debate about waterlogged Lee Westwood getting the benefit of having his shots filmed for future search parties. Evan Harmeling is anointed as a great new character in golf after learn some Harmeling facts following his KFT win. In news, they hit on the breathless Augusta agronomy coverage, Takumi Kanaya turning pro, and the absolutely incredible origin story of Tom Kim’s name.

SGS closes out the week with some tales from the road as Andy drives around the country. There’s been another shoe incident and it’s a good one. There’s also some intel picked up on the PGA Tour's RV subculture, its interior design trends, and the variety of rigs and who commandeers them. Then they get to the golf and discuss Lee Westwood’s stirring round at the Scottish Open and what it means for the Masters, as well as his schedule heading into Augusta. Then comes the Sanderson, which goes in a mishmash of directions like the career of Kevin Chappell, the alligator population in the country, Texas Open winners, and the golf course offerings at The Villages in Florida. They forgot to put up a Fan Vote poll again, so they just proclaim William McGirt the winner and tell a very amusing story about him being grumpy at TPC Sawgrass. In news, they touch on Paul Lawrie’s retirement and Phil’s “speed training” at Cypress Point. They close it out with the return of Masters Fact of the Day from Bamabearcat now that the calendar has flipped to October.

This Wednesday episode begins with some thoughts on what new equipment we might see rolled out in the annual PGA Tour stop in Las Vegas, as well what’s become of Union Green. Then Brendan and Andy move to the event of the week, the Women’s PGA Championship played at Aronimink. They highlight the deep field as well as another venue pairing with the women’s game that should bring out the best in both. On the Euro Tour, they hit on some of the origins of the BMW PGA, how Euros claim it as the original PGA, and Patrick Reed’s late entry into the field as he fights for the Race to Dubai title. TPC Summerlin, this week’s venue on the PGA Tour, is discussed in context of where it falls in the TPC universe, if there is such a thing. The field has some real oomph, including the return of the Thicc Boi, who was bombing balls out of the driving range again. This brings us to the KFT event, which is at the 360 degree range at Orange County National, where we lobby for the Thicc Boi to attend demo day and launch balls across the circular range. Also, why are they only playing Panther Lake and not Crooked Cat on the KFT? They wrap with Masters fact of the day, which is more like a story of the day from Bamabearcat on how the land of Augusta National did not go through the sequence of ownership that is often told.