The Smylie Show

Smylie welcomes Robert "Bobby Mac" MacIntyre to the show (filmed ahead of the FedEx St. Jude Championship) for a deep dive into what makes Bob tick. Bob opens up on some close calls in 2025 — Scottie Scheffler's stunning chip-in at the BMW Championship and J.J. Spaun's dramatic birdie putt at the U.S. Open — and what those near-misses taught him about handling major championship pressure. He also talks candidly about becoming a father to son Finlay, why home in Scotland means so much to him, and his dream of winning a major.
Plus: what Shinty (Scotland's Highland stick-and-ball sport) is actually like, the scholarship that took him to McNeese State, life inside the European Ryder Cup team room (including a prank-call story), three hidden-gem Scottish links courses to add to your must-play list, and his surprisingly strong feelings on private jets.
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Chapters
0:00 Intro
1:00 Bob, Robert, or "Bobby Mac"?
3:09 FedEx St. Jude & Memphis heat
4:47 Adjusting his ball flight for American golf
7:03 McNeese State: the scholarship story & Cajun culture shock
12:04 Shinty 101
22:31 Playing with an edge
25:32 Defining happiness: chasing tour success vs. being home
29:37 The BMW Championship battle with Scottie Scheffler
34:44 U.S. Open pressure & J.J. Spaun's stunning finish
36:11 Two Ryder Cup wins, the Scottish Open, and chasing a major
39:21 Inside the European Ryder Cup team room (the prank-call story)
43:04 Scotland's college golf pipeline
46:01 Fatherhood: son Finlay's arrival
50:14 Three hidden-gem Scottish links courses
54:40 Scottish football & Premier League predictions
57:23 Private jets vs. Ryanair

Smylie Kaufman is back home after broadcasting the U.S. Amateur at Merion, and he and Charlie Hulme spend the front half of the show breaking down the course — its unusual routing, the brutal 14-18 closing stretch, the debate over how much green-complex slope can survive modern speeds, and why it's such a compelling preview for the 2030 U.S. Open there. Jack Whaley beat Jay Leng Jr. for the title, with Ryder Cowan and Carter Loflin standing out as names to know.
From there, the guys run their favorite trees in golf — a loose, hilarious countdown through Merion, Pebble Beach, The Renaissance Club, Cypress Point, TPC Sawgrass, Panmure (where Ben Hogan prepped for the 1953 Open), Prairie Dunes, Seminole, Monterey Peninsula, and the tree at Augusta National.
Plus: the case for Scottie Scheffler as the clear Player of the Year after his 8-shot win at TPC Southwind, what the PGA Tour's new playoff points structure means for players fighting to stay inside the top 50, and the fallout from Jon Rahm's reported LIV Golf exit — including what it means for the DP World Tour, the Challenger Series, and the sport's shifting global landscape heading into 2027.
Don't forget to like, comment, subscribe, and follow us on socials @thesmylieshow!
Chapters
0:00 Intro & catch-up: fresh off the U.S. Amateur at Merion
2:59 Merion's unique routing and standout holes
7:47 Tangent: the Bobby Jones cinematic universe
11:33 Merion's brutal closing stretch and the 17th green debate
12:49 Setting up Merion for a 2030 U.S. Open
18:46 The story behind Merion's wicker-basket logo
22:27 Merion trivia: director-of-golf tenure & clubhouse details
27:05 Best trees in golf: the debate begins (Merion's 8th)
29:03 Pebble Beach's 18th hole cypress
31:58 The Renaissance Club's 11th hole
33:16 Cypress Point: Walker Cup picnics & the 17th tree
36:47 TPC Sawgrass's tree-lined holes
38:29 Panmure: where Hogan prepped for the 1953 Open
40:08 Prairie Dunes' "The Shoot" at 15
42:15 Seminole's 16th hole palms
43:42 Monterey Peninsula's 11th hole
45:54 The Tree at Augusta National & honorable mentions
48:10 U.S. Amateur standouts: Ryder Cowan & Carter Loflin
50:26 The case for Scottie Scheffler as Player of the Year
59:07 PGA Tour playoff points shakeup & the scramble for top 50
1:04:41 Jon Rahm, LIV Golf, and the DP World Tour's shifting landscape
1:19:11 Sign-off: Bob McIntyre preview, Ryder Cup to the South & JT's Firestone flashback
#golf #pgatour #smylieshow #scottiescheffler #Merion

Six-time PGA Tour winner Hunter Mahan joins Smylie Kaufman and Charlie Hulme to talk about his unexpected return to golf. Mahan opens up on why he stepped away from competing in 2021 — burnout, the grind of travel, and an envy that "took over" and wasn't good for his soul — and what's pulled him back into playing after several years coaching high school golf at Liberty Christian in Argyle, Texas, alongside football coach Jason Witten. A few months of posting practice-round videos to social media turned into a full comeback arc, complete with a new equipment deal through Grant Horvat's Primo.
Plus: Hunter breaks down the swing videos he's been posting — his takeaway feel, getting the clubface more shut, and clearing up the Justin Rose "shallowing" myth — and walks through his short game reboot under Stan Utley (of Parker McLachlin's Short Game Chef), including the shaft-angle and forearm-rotation keys that turned his chipping around. The guys also get into a wide-ranging Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup conversation: why Team Europe consistently looks looser under pressure, Mahan's own Presidents Cup debut alongside Justin Leonard and Paul Azinger, the case for a real U.S. national team pipeline, and a frank look back at the U.S. team's collapse at Bethpage in 2025.
Before they let him go: Hunter's top tips for teaching your kids golf, and a very serious debate over which foursome wins — the Golf Boys or the 2016 Spring Breakers.
Don't forget to like, comment, subscribe, and follow us on socials @thesmylieshow!
Chapters
0:00 Intro & why the beard came off
1:41 Why Hunter Mahan stepped away from the tour — and what's pulling him back
3:03 Coaching high school golf with Jason Witten at Liberty Christian
7:42 The burnout and envy that pushed him away from competing
9:56 What went wrong with his swing after 2015
15:11 Breaking down Hunter's Instagram swing videos 
21:53 Inside his short-game reboot with Stan Utley
27:16 Who spins it best around the greens on tour? 
29:33 Utley's keys: shaft angle, forearm rotation, hitting it high vs. low
33:09 The "level eyes" fix and driving through the chip
40:33 Ryder Cup vs. Presidents Cup — why Team Europe has the edge
49:44 Mahan's Presidents Cup debut: Justin Leonard & Paul Azinger
52:42 Building a real U.S. national team pipeline
56:18 Bethpage 2025 post-mortem: "everyone's got a plan till they get hit in the mouth"
59:06 Hunter's top tips for teaching kids golf
1:02:32 Hypothetical: Golf Boys vs. the 2016 Spring Breakers
1:06:03 Sign-off
#golf #huntermahan #pgatour #smyliekaufman #smylieshow #golfpodcast #golfhighlights

Smylie and Charlie dive deep into LIV Golf's uncertain future, breaking down the reported $250 million investment from BC Partners, the shift to a player-equity model, and what a 10-event "LIV 2.0" schedule would actually look like. They also unpack the confirmed cancellation of the Team Championship in Michigan, leaving Indianapolis as the tour's lone remaining event of 2026.
Plus: Bryson DeChambeau's headline-grabbing New York Post quotes, why he might be the one player who keeps LIV alive no matter what, the brutal math facing Jon Rahm if he wants back on the PGA Tour, LIV's business missteps (from its team-branding strategy to its mounting legal bills), and a fun hypothetical — could a Bryson-led YouTube golf tour actually work?
Don't forget to like, comment, subscribe, and follow us on socials @thesmylieshow!
Chapters
0:00 Intro & why we're breaking down LIV's future
1:52 LIV 2.0 restructuring — bankruptcy, equity, and the "$250M mini tour"
5:12 Who's funding this? BC Partners and the players-investors standoff
8:30 Which players get a fast track back — Rahm and Niemann
9:24 Bryson's New York Post quotes, dissected
10:26 Bryson's YouTube empire and why he's all-in on LIV
14:56 The failed $500M ask from PIF
16:14 Bryson's major exemptions status through 2029
17:41 Bryson is the engine keeping LIV alive
19:50 The Q-School pathway back to the PGA Tour
22:24 LIV 2.0's reality check: purses shrink from $40M to $15M
24:37 Who pays the penalty? Koepka's buyback and Rahm's price tag
27:37 Jon Rahm's business decision
29:09 LIV's mistakes: legal fees and a fumbled team-branding strategy
33:25 The road not taken — a joint venture instead of a rival tour
36:34 Could LIV become a YouTube-native golf brand?
38:21 Selling YouTube golf to sponsors — the measurement problem
40:36 Hypothetical: a Bryson-led touring roadshow
42:28 LIV's other lawsuits: Premier Golf League and Mobii Systems
47:17 Prediction: Rahm's decision and a September deadline
#golf #LIV #pgatour #jonrahm #brysondechambeau #smylieshow #smyliekaufman

PART TWO: LIV GOLF SEGMENT: Dropping tomorrow morning (08/11/26)
With a third straight PGA TOUR winner under the age of 24 in the books thanks to Michael Brennan's Sunday birdie streak, Smylie Kaufman and Charlie Hulme look back at his year, and the continued emergence of young American talent on the PGA TOUR. SK and CH also discuss which big names made or missed the FedEx Cup playoffs, discuss the origins of "AimPoint" green reading, and review some comments from Brooks Koepka after missing out on the playoffs.
Don't forget to like, comment, subscribe, and follow us on socials @thesmylieshow!
Chapters
0:00 Intro & this week's storylines tease
1:19 Spotting a Smylie Show hat at the Wyndham Championship
2:45 Sick kids and a rough week at home
6:37 Michael Brennan wins the Wyndham Championship
8:13 Brennan's rise: Korn Ferry Tour to PGA Tour winner
11:09 Brennan hires putting coach Marcus Potter
11:27 Young Americans and the Presidents Cup conversation
13:03 Ben James, Miles Russell & American golf's next wave
14:02 Brennan's FedEx Cup jump and Presidents Cup odds
15:06 Why winning on the PGA Tour still matters most
16:33 Heat, humidity, and the "worst month" debate (plus a daylight saving tangent)
20:47 Jackson Koivun sneaks into the FedEx Cup top 70
24:26 The AimPoint putting debate
30:45 Tom Kim climbs to 26th; three playoff streaks snapped
31:42 Brooks Koepka's brutally honest 94th-place assessment
32:55 Diagnosing Koepka's season & his road back from LIV
#golf #pgatour #golfrecap #golfhighlights #smylieshow #smyliekaufman #golfpodcast #wyndhamchampionship #michaelbrennan #fedexcup