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Episode 51 - Harman Single Handedly Ruined my Open
25 Plays10 months ago
The boys discuss the week of golf in Dubai and Hawaii. They also reflect on the good and bad of the 2023 golf year. Enjoy!
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Transcript
Tough Week in Golf and AC's London Struggles
00:00:15
Speaker
Hello and welcome back to the Off The Tips podcast. It was a bit of a rough week in a week ago, but look, we're going to try dissect it the best we can and
00:00:29
Speaker
Joining me, as always, from the other side of the world is AC. AC, I hope you're having a good night, mate, and I'm glad you've picked up the phone after a pretty poor week of professional golf.
Weather Woes and Dubai Invitational Focus
00:00:41
Speaker
Thanks, Cal. Good day, listeners. Yeah, it's a bit bleak at the moment on the golf front, as well as this weather here in London. It's very cold as I'm sitting here wearing a woolen jersey inside. Yeah, unemployed again, mate.
00:00:58
Speaker
Got a couple interviews this week, but it's just been a bit of a stop start sort of experience in London so far. How have you been? Look mate, good. Been back on the tools for a week and a bit now. So, you know, it's, I've been punching my ticket. I've been getting stuff done. There's a fair bit starting to happen in the world of golf over kind of here, you know, the order of merit races, ramping up a few big events.
00:01:28
Speaker
about to happen, so hopefully get out on the ground and see how we go. But all's really the same, mate. It's absolutely the complete opposite to London. Sweaty, hot, humid. So it's pretty tough to escape sometimes, the old heap. But look, let's stop talking about the fucking weather, right?
Dubai Invitational Recap
00:01:51
Speaker
Well, mate, we'll kick off with
00:01:55
Speaker
the Dubai Invitational on the DP World Tour.
00:02:00
Speaker
for being honest was always going to be a two horse race and that's what it ended up kind of being. Although Thurston Lawrence kept himself in the mix. For those of you who didn't catch it, Tommy Fleetwood held off a surging Rory McElroy on the final day to claim the Dubai Invitational. His first win since the Ned Bank Golf Challenge in 2022. It is always good seeing Tommy Fleetwood win but
00:02:30
Speaker
AC, what did you see from the Dubai Invitational, the first time it's ever been held, and what did you think of the big guns games? I think a good return, right? You'd expect those two to rise above this field.
00:02:53
Speaker
Not all of them, but you know there's a lot of it's kind of mules in this event as well, and I don't know I Don't really not to make of
Tommy Fleetwood's Major Ambitions
00:03:02
Speaker
it. I don't think it changes too much for Tommy I don't think it changes too much for Rory, but it's good to see Tommy get one over the line I think he's in for a big year and He's just it's kind of time now isn't it? He's we've given him
00:03:19
Speaker
I've been a bit hard on him about him kind of fluffing it on final rounds and I just think it's time for him to just win a major, win something really substantial because he definitely has the game for it. Yeah, and you say fluffing final rounds and it was something you didn't do on the weekend, you know, like had a 16 footer for birdie to win in regulation like
00:03:44
Speaker
I'd imagine Rory's not a guy that you want to be taking the extra holes. Lucky just slammed that 16 footer on the back of the cup and said, give me that big fuck off trophy that they dish out in the UAE. I'm kind of in the same boat for his season. I think, like you said, it's time.
00:04:07
Speaker
Something big, look, I'd love to see him just get over the line in America before we start talking about him winning something big. Although he always is there or thereabouts in the majors. So, you know, why can't it be one of those? But yeah, look, he's just got some of the better game.
00:04:28
Speaker
going around one of the better ball strikers floating about it's just it's so surprising that he he hasn't won more like and he said that in his in his post-match kind of interview post-match post-round interview he said he doesn't win anywhere near as much as he'd like and well he should be winning more yeah and I was thinking about it today if he
00:04:55
Speaker
goes his career and doesn't want to major. He'd be riding that sort of top echelon of best players not to want to major.
Analyzing Rory McElroy's Performance
00:05:02
Speaker
I think he'd be in the top 20 maybe. Yeah. Yeah. Like a fantastic Ryder Cup player. Really good on the European tour. Like there's been a handful of those guys that are, you know, floated around over the years and haven't been able to get over the line. But
00:05:24
Speaker
The only thing is the other guys like Monty and Westwood and stuff did find ways to win in America before they were classified as those greats of the game. But Rory, mate.
00:05:42
Speaker
Obviously a good week to start the year. It was a little bit rusty coming down the stretch, although he made a lot of birdies. He just made a couple of costly errors and it's probably the right event to get those out of the way in, isn't it?
00:05:59
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. Definitely things like three-parting from two feet, a quad, that shot he hit on 18. I don't think there was any nerves there. It's a pretty mickey mouse event.
Fleetwood's Strategy Critique
00:06:13
Speaker
I think it's just rust, to be honest. He does have a bit of scar tissue. He's not the best closer. He's obviously, there's been times like Scottish Open last year where he was absolutely nails, but he's not
00:06:29
Speaker
Yeah, I don't, considering how good he is, I think he's just like kind of in the middle tier of clutchness, I'd say. Yeah, that's probably fair enough. And just before we talk a little bit more about Rory, I saw, cause I watched them come down the stretch and it came up with Tommy Fleetwood. It was the first time he had held the 54 hole lead on the DP World Tour since 2014. Wow.
00:07:00
Speaker
That's really surprising, isn't it? Yeah, I like almost... It was like, that can't be right. Stats! Yeah, that's... I'm sure it's not a lie, but yeah, that really surprised me too. What? Do you reckon... What do you think about the play on 18? I don't... I know it's easy to say in hindsight, but I hated Driver on 18. I thought it was... I didn't like it. Yeah, it probably wasn't the play, especially when you were leading, but...
00:07:30
Speaker
I haven't done it. But the only way he was missing a playoff was putting that in the drink. And he could have made it. The hole was one of thirty yards. I thought maybe like get your driving iron out. Hit one two seventy and he'd still have seven iron in. Look I hadn't really done a deep dive on the hole but when he was lining it up, when he put the board out on the tower I was like fuck surely that water just
00:07:59
Speaker
isn't in play. It looked pretty left. It was left, for sure. But if you hit that with your driving iron, you're fine. You're driving. Yeah, you're right. He's proceeded to just, you hank the absolute bajeebies out of it into the piss. But, you know, yeah, it probably isn't the play. But yeah, like you said, easy to say in hindsight, isn't it?
Is Rory McElroy a Golf Legend?
00:08:25
Speaker
Like Tommy stood up and
00:09:12
Speaker
And also, Cal, while we're on it... So I was kind of listening to that podcast Rory did with...
00:09:35
Speaker
Gary Neville, and they keep referring to him as a great, and it kind of made me think, well, is he a great yet? And I thought I'd ask you, what do you think about that? Look, without having all the stats in front of me, I'd say, yeah, he is a great. Just talk about the only quotation marks, four majors, which is still
00:10:01
Speaker
very impressive but like just the weight of wind worldwide is I think enough to say that he's an absolute great of the game you know you've got the consistency as well he's done it for nearly 15 years it's maybe even longer it's just yeah people do get hung up on the majors and at the end of the day that is how these greats are judged and considering
00:10:32
Speaker
I don't think he's done in the majors by any stretch of the imagination, but if he was to finish on four, I think he'd still be a great at the game, for sure.
Predicting Rory's Next Major Win
00:10:41
Speaker
And you've got to look at other aspects, like the wins and national opens and what he's done for the game, without saying grow the game, but the way he stood up for the PGA Tour, I think his legacy will be
00:11:00
Speaker
great and short, you know? Well, what do you think? I was thinking about the other day and I was like, would I consider Brooks a great? He's got five majors. I'm like, probably not. So then I was like, can you dish it to Rory with four? I'm on the fence. I think, I think he needs one more major for me to be like, he's 100% a great. But I do,
00:11:28
Speaker
agree with the parts where you mentioned that he's won basically everywhere and I think that says a lot. That's something that Brooks hasn't done. But yeah I don't know the way that they were throwing it out I was just like yeah he is a great at this era but then when you look at the greats of the game I think
00:11:51
Speaker
You jump quite a few players when you get to five. I think he will become a great because I think he's going to get another major. But I don't think he is quite yet. Yeah mate, I think our all fair points and without having a list of people who are at four in front of me, it's still a chore to get to four.
00:12:17
Speaker
leads me to my next question. I had a bit of a take on Rory. It's a little bit romantic and I don't know if you'll like it because there's a bit of a delay on it, but I don't think he's going to win a major this year. I think his first one is going to come at Portrush. I think his first one is fifth. He's had that delay and he had that heartbreak in Northern Ireland last time. I think he's going to get back there
00:12:46
Speaker
And I think that'll be the one that takes him from four to five. Oh, the romantic of me would just absolutely love that. Oh, wouldn't that be one of the great golfing moments? And that would be sensational.
00:13:05
Speaker
Yeah. I've kind of stopped trying to pick when he's going to win his next one. I've been doing it for 10 years. Yeah. And to be fair, like you don't have to wait long because they're at Port Rush next year.
Sony Open Highlights
00:13:17
Speaker
So I think maybe one more year of heartache. And then look, I think that'd be maybe I should go. Hey, maybe you should. I think he should go. That'll be. Oh yeah. That'd just.
00:13:34
Speaker
That'd just be the beast. But yeah mate, look.
00:13:38
Speaker
Do you want to head over to the Sony Open, where we saw two heavy hitters of a men's game, Grayson Murray and Keegan Bradley, two of the probably more well-respected human beings going around the PGA Tour, and Bernard, getting the playoff at the Sony Open. Look, mate, I didn't catch a heap of the middle rounds here, and I know it would have been a poor time zone for you, but
00:14:07
Speaker
At the end of the day, Grayson Murray got the job done for the listeners who may not have tuned in because, you know, tuning into this event might have been some serious nutty behavior, which I did in the first and fourth rounds.
Will Zalatoris's Struggles
00:14:24
Speaker
And look, I got a few notes from the first round I was watching it, and geez, just Zell Taurus just
00:14:33
Speaker
It's a bit of a sad state of affairs, what's going on with his golf game at the moment. I know he's only just coming back, but... Give me some comms. I'm obviously a Big Will Z fan. What looked off? Everything? Yeah, it just... It did. In all honesty, it looked like a guy who hadn't...
00:14:51
Speaker
been in that cauldron for a long time, which he hasn't. So, look, I'm not prepared to put a fork in him or anything. I think he's a seriously talented player and it'll come back. But it was actually pretty difficult to watch, just a parting with chipping. And just off the tee, he just couldn't get going. And admittedly, it was fucking tough conditions.
00:15:19
Speaker
It was hat backwards wind as we'd call it on the pod, but he was struggling big time. But look, hopefully just get some regular reps under as about coming into the, you know, the big season. I think it could be a bit of a breaking year for him too. Yeah, that's absolutely fine as well. He's probably going to learn how to swing with
00:15:43
Speaker
Like, he had the surgery Tiger had, didn't he? So that's also, you know, that's going to take a while to kind of adjust your body to, and the layoff he's had.
Cam Davis's Potential
00:15:54
Speaker
So it could be a bit of a tough year for him. Yeah, well, Tiger had to completely recraft his move. So, Jesus. Yeah, it's not going to come right overnight, but it was just, it was a little bit tough to watch for me. And then,
00:16:13
Speaker
Say Figala was absolutely spraying it everywhere on Thursday, and you know how he had quite a good Sunday at the century? He proceeded to sport the same floral hat, which I thought maybe a superstition from the Big Mat. Oh, I hope we don't see that outside of Hawaii. Oh, yeah, I agree.
00:16:38
Speaker
But yeah, it was just the weather on Thursday was really tough. It was actually, it was good to park up and watch those guys, you know, struggle a bit. But the only guy that really I thought didn't struggle was Cam Davis. And I wrote here on my notes, you can check it down here, Friday the 12th of January. I was like, Cam Davis was flawless. Just, I think he's in for a big season. He's absolutely flushed it today.
00:17:04
Speaker
And he'll absolutely belt everyone in this event. I'm pretty sure he proceeded to fall outside the top 20.
Grayson Murray's Surprising Victory
00:17:14
Speaker
I was sitting there watching him. I was so impressed with what I was watching. Every time I kind of looked up from my laptop, he was holding everything, just a bull striking clinic. And yeah, I was like, man, this guy's not getting beaten.
00:17:34
Speaker
Little did I know that Grace and Murray would just come out of nowhere and run them down. And Grace and Murray are obviously a name that a lot of casual golf fans won't be familiar with, but maybe to re-job your memory, he was the guy that Rory told at that, was it the meeting in Delaware when he was kicking up a stink to just play better? It was the meeting in Canada after the merger, I think.
00:18:03
Speaker
Yeah, Rory told him to play better and, allegedly, Grace and Murray told him to fuck off.
Reflecting on 2023 Golf Highlights
00:18:10
Speaker
So, that's the only reason I know this guy. Seriously. He would not pass the airport test. I would not know what he looked like. That's probably fair enough, to be honest.
00:18:32
Speaker
hadn't won since 2017 and that playoff hole putt that he made was pretty nails. It was about a 35 footer and then Ben Arn with his big mop putter just proceeded to ran one pass from about four feet to
00:18:56
Speaker
reject himself and Kegan Bradley couldn't make his birdie either so the playoff was one hole in Grayson Murray you know maybe he took a took something out of that that advice from Rory and he started to play better but a guy who has been playing better over the last couple of years and we've talked about him but it's Kegan Bradley Jeez he's starting to find some consistency yeah there's obviously a lot of song and dance about him not being in the Ryder Cup as well and
00:19:25
Speaker
I imagine those people would be beating that drum even more now. Yeah. Would he have made a difference? Probably not. No. Absolutely not.
00:19:37
Speaker
Monty and I actually saw a lot of Benan at the Open because he was with Foxy. And he hits it so good. I was impressed with him. And he plays a draw, which was like a bit of a stand out there because most pros were hitting cuts off tees. And he's had a good start to the air fourth last week and playoff this week. So he might be someone who's just like a sneaky top 20 bet every now and then.
00:20:07
Speaker
Yeah, that's that's pretty fair call. As we've said before, there's a collection of those Korean golfers that are just really, really good. So how lucky we forgot about our bets. So we're going to start that stuff again this week, and I can give you a hot tip. I wouldn't have picked Chris Kirk and Grace and Murray, so I'm glad we've forgotten. Would have been up behind 8. Yeah, I am.
00:20:36
Speaker
Yeah, and I think the boys probably would have hammered either Foxy or Rory this week as well. So look, I think we're probably coming back in at a good time after a tough 2023. And look, hopefully we can turn that around and win the punters some money. But while we're on 2023, we're just off the cuff kind of reflections. Do you have any...
00:21:03
Speaker
Any standout moments from the last 12 months they see? There isn't many when you try rack your brain. It was a bleak year in golf 2023, other majors in particular, but maybe the highlights for me when I was just flicking through was
00:21:23
Speaker
I think the ramen homa jewel at Riv early in the year. The signature vents early in the season were really good watches. The farmers was good.
00:32:20
Speaker
That's your home