Scottie won’t stop, Ryder Cup Europe sets sail for America with VR headsets, and welcoming KVV
The combined 0-6 Bears, Browns, and Jets lost by a combined 74 points on Sunday. But it is still a victory Monday around here as we welcome Kevin Van Valkenburg to the Fried Egg Golf team. Though he has been a contributor to SGS in the past, he’s now on the FE ship full time so we bring him on to bat it around following the weekend of Brocore, Wentworth, and continued Ryder Cup hype. We discuss Scottie Scheffler — his mere presence — putting everyone around him on the fritz, like Ben Griffin, who could have, should have won the Brocore. Did it take a low stakes fall event to really convince us the Tiger invocations are not out of line? Maybe. They also discuss king mule Lanto’s involvement in the proceedings and Jackson Koivun needing to stay on Tour and not go back to school. At Wentworth, they discuss Alex Noren being a top 20 player in the world and for sure a top 12 option for Team Europe who will be relegated to the ass-cap role. Then the notion of VR headsets preparing the Euro Ryder Cup team for battle is also bandied about with some amusement. They close with some football chatter and laughs about PJ having to send cringe tweets for the Lions following the Browns wishing Deshaun a happy birthday on Sunday morning.
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1:26:01
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1:26:01
Lessons from Ryder Cup disasters past, Golf Advice on extremely weird rounds
This Whiparound Friday episode might as well be a show about nothing with not much going on in golf this week. Andy and Brendan start with a quick rundown of an early leaderboard at the Procore with players like Mackenzie Hughes and Matt Kuchar leading the way. They then move to the BMW PGA on the DP World Tour where auto-qualifier Rasmus Hojgaard struggled on Thursday. Andy takes that baton and runs with it, explaining that the Ryder Cup captains need to be more cutthroat and sit struggling players until Sunday singles if that's what is best for the team. This leads into an impromptu Flashback Friday on the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National in Paris, France. Andy and Brendan remember some crazy decisions made by the American side, such as making a "celebratory" Tiger Woods play four times that week and pairing a rookie Bryson DeChambeau with a wild Phil Mickelson. They bring up supporting characters such as Thorbjorn Olesen playing with Rory McIlroy and the European team of "Moliwood" that effectively won the event on their own. As for the 2025 event, the Americans are out in full force in Napa and Keegan Bradley is calling this the "closest team he's ever seen" - despite only seeing two teams prior to this. After a bunch of winding Ryder Cup chatter, some legendary Golf Advice emails send us into the weekend. A #HedgeBoy story from Cypress jogs Andy's memory about a horrendous round in the area before Brendan reads an email about a member-guest caddie's interactions with nature.
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1:07:00
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1:07:00
Ryder Cup pairing hints at BroCore, Rory’s future, Tiger appears, and Bears angst
It is NOT a Victory Wednesday (or Tuesday) episode for Andy, but he's back to join Brendan! for a preview of some September golf throughout the world. Things kick off with a quick Champions Tour Minute highlighting Thomas Bjorn's win in St. Louis that was ignored on Monday's Walker Cup recap. Bjorn took home one of the more interesting trophies in golf at the Stifel Charity Classic before working as an AssCap for Team Europe in a few weeks. Speaking of Ryder Cup preparations, 10 of the 12 Americans are in the field at the ProCore Championship in Napa. Tuesday's practice round has already brought some early "pods" and potential pairings. Scottie Scheffler looks like he'll run it back with Russell Henley after a strong showing at the Presidents Cup while his deputy, Sam Burns, played a round with Mr. 1,000 and No-Hat Pat. Team Europe is also gathering this week - they're almost all in the field at the BMW PGA at Wentworth in England. Rory McIlroy had some insightful comments regarding his future schedules in his pre-tournament press conference and stopped just short of naming some events he doesn't particularly care for. Also teeing it up at Wentworth is defending champion Billy Horschel, who makes his return to competitive golf following a mid-year injury. To preview this week's Champions Tour event in South Dakota, Andy runs down the Schwab Cup standings and once again wonders who Ricardo Gonzalez is. In news, future Champs Tour star Tiger Woods was seen hitting balls on a New Jersey range on Monday, sending the internet into a storm, per usual. To close the show, Andy comments on Monday night's Bears loss to the Vikings and has some questions about Caleb Williams.
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1:07:13
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1:07:13
On-site Walker Cup takeaways, Rory magic in Ireland, NFL souls crushed
Andy joins Brendan! fresh off a weekend at the 50th Walker Cup with a notebook full of observations from Cypress Point. The United States won for the fifth-straight time, securing a blowout margin with a strong performance in Sunday singles. Andy shares some tales from the ground, including notes on Mason Howell, Niall Shiels Donegan, and Michael La Sasso. Brendan provides some color on the broadcast side after two days of watching at home. Not to be outdone by the amateurs, Bryson DeChambeau showed up for the weekend to be a thirsty boy and share his thoughts on Dr. MacKenzie's masterpiece. Andy also spent some time with a legendary light-hitting first baseman as well! On the professional golf side of things, Rory McIlroy won the Irish Open on Sunday morning, making an eagle on the 72nd hole to send the event into a playoff. It was an emotional week for Rory, who brought his green jacket to show off to the home crowds at the K Club. Andy and Brendan try further contextualize Rory's rollercoaster of a 2025 following this latest win. In news, a podcast favorite throws out the first pitch at a New York Yankees game and Xander is the only eligible American Ryder Cupper skipping out on the Procore. We wrap things up with a Football Minute following disastrous Browns and Jets losses on Sunday, because how would an NFL season start otherwise?
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1:12:36
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1:12:36
Stories from Cypress, Ryder Cup gouging, more Walker Cup Crime files, and "Golf Channel Games"
Andy and Brendan return with a mega-episode to kick off a big weekend in sports! Andy is especially excited about his trip to the Walker Cup at Cypress Point and previews some players to watch in the 50th playing of the competition. The two discuss golf's resurgence in popularity, using Sergio Garcia's decision to skip the Irish Open to play with tennis star Carlos Alcaraz as a prime example. After a lengthy Walker Cup discussion and an all-time story from a trip to Cypress, Andy and Brendan dive in on the first round of the Irish Open. Rory McIlroy found himself on the clock on Thursday and was quite upset, but not as upset as Pablo Larrazabal was at Marco Penge missing out on the Ryder Cup team. Larrazabal's tweet is a perfect transition into some Ryder Cup commercialization news on a slow week in golf. PJ is appalled that there will be an outdoor takeover of Rockefeller Center for Ryder Cup weekend and Brendan shares details of some very expensive "at-home" kits for those watching on TV. Following the Ryder Cup, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy will lead another set of teams at the "Golf Channel Games" in December. Andy is already excited for the potential of some takes surrounding any pro's performance in this made-for-TV exhibition. In a follow up from the legendary "Dunky" on Monday's episode, Andy shares another Walker Cup crime file - with this former player ending up absolved of any wrongdoing. To wrap things up, there's some brief NFL chatter before we send it to an old Flashback Friday segment from 2019 on the first-ever Walker Cup.
The Shotgun Start with Andy Johnson and Brendan Porath of Fried Egg Golf is a podcast waiting for you early in the morning that quickly blasts through a variety of topics (usually) related to golf and (ideally) relevant to the day. It covers news from the pro tours around the world, amusing and important topics from the amateur game the rest of us play, and some irreverent stuff in between. There will be short interviews, previews, reviews, and dives into the archives. It provides what you need to know on golf through a rapid and fun catch-up discussion.
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