Love or hate the 3-hole aggregate playoff; do players 'owe' anyone?
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Hello and welcome to the Golf Channel Podcast with Rex and Lab. I am Rex. As you can probably tell, that is not Ryan Ladner. He is out gallivanting around somewhere in South Florida on spring break with his family. I'm sure we'll hear more about that when he returns. But our very own Todd Lewis has agreed to join us, the co-host. Thank you, Todd. Thank you for joining us. Anytime, my friend. Glad to fill in.

I usually have the buzzer that if you do TV voice, I'm going to lean into the buzzer. I don't have that available to me today for some technological issues, but I'm sure to call you out. No TV voice. This is only podcast voice.

You got it. Thank you. There it is. TV voice. Maximum TV voice. I appreciate that. We did a post-game pod on Monday, of course, after the finish at the Players' Championship. Lav and I sort of batted around everything about the finish, everything about Rory McIlroy. But I did want to get your thoughts. You were there. First off, what did you make of the playoff?

Well, you know, actually, I've heard some heat about this three-hole playoff, 16, 17, and 18, from some national media members. And I like the three-hole playoff. I want to start with there, especially 16, 17, 18. Right there, you've got a great stadium. There are more than 6,000 fans that showed up Monday morning, by the way, at Ponte Vedra Beach and Stadium Course to watch that playoff. So first off, let me say that.

But I think you and I talked about this on Monday. I think Rory McIlroy won it with his very first shot he had in that playoff because he was downwind. He was nervous.

He had been a little erratic all week with his driver. He actually said Sunday night, I've got to find the fairway. He said this in his post round comments. I've got to find the fairway on 16. So immediately, you know, an indication to us and to fans that he does have some internal pressure to find that fairway. And he just writes it three 50. He's got a wedge into a par five and it's kind of ball game at that point. But yeah, I mean, look,

It was a tough day, tough, windy, cold morning, different wind. But yeah, I think Rory, in regards to the playoff, played with control. When JJ hit into the water on 17, obviously he became a little more conservative and that changed his strategy. But I think he played with better control than JJ. He was more comfortable in that moment than JJ. That was JJ's first ever playoff. So not a shock that Rory won, but I think JJ gained a lot here.

created some great building blocks for him moving out this season. Who had a problem with the four hole playoff? I thought that's the best part about the players championship. Well, it's a three hole playoff, right? I'm sorry. Four, three hole playoff. Who had a problem with that? Tony Kornheiser.

on PTI came out. I was watching Monday. I love that show. It's a great show. I love him. But Tony Kornheiser, who I really admire and respect, came out and just kind of ripped the PGA Tour for having a three-hole playoff, said that they should play 17, and he said, bring lights out there. He even, I think he said, if you have to bring cars out there on 17 and show the headlights or turn on the headlights to finish that night. First off, I don't think cars will fit around 17 green. No.

Let me just say that. But yeah, he was not a fan of the three-hole playoff. That sounds like a very get-off-my-lawn kind of thing to say. He just got it in the way.

Because I will say, and again, we talked about this on Monday, so this is a little repetitive, so I apologize. But those three holes are so iconic. I equate it, and I hate doing this, but to the Masters. Everyone knows what 16, 17, and 18 at TPC Sawgrass are like. Everyone knows what it must feel like to play there. Everyone can put themselves in Rory's position, certainly. Not literally in his position off the tee, but...

I made the comment, I think on Sunday night, that if you were going to design a hole in a lab for Rory McIlroy, it was going to be number 16. No disrespect to JJ at all, because I think anybody in the field would have been up against it on that particular hole with the way Rory was playing downwind, relatively big fairway. He's got to just move it from right to left. And he was just able to launch it. It almost felt like Rory was starting with a one stroke lead. And that's kind of the way it played out. But man, I actually love it.

the three-hole playoff. We called up Mark Russell, it turns out, was very instrumental in that decision. So we gave Mark his victory lap. Not only do I also like the three-hole playoffs, but those three particular holes. I mean, you've got a very good birdie slash eagle chance on 16. 17 is the iconic challenging par three. But then 18, I mean, that's no picnic. I mean, a lot can swing there on 18 too. So a par five, a par three, and a par four. So you've got a variety of holes there. So I love that playoff.

Now, looking ahead to Rory, and clearly the conversation has turned to the Masters, and we all know what he's trying to accomplish there. What, if anything, does this do to sort of help that effort? Well, it validates his hard work that he did late last season. I had a chance to talk to him after he won on Monday. You know, going back to work on his game by himself, well, he did have Michael Bannon come in from FaceTime, but to go into a studio,

not hit balls on the range and just literally just kind of in slow motion, walk through his swing by himself and work on some better technique and dedicate himself to, to these better postures, better setups, better movements. I think that was very important for him and it showed the dedication. And I think he's in a pretty good headspace right now too. There's not a lot of calamity like he had last year going on, both on and off the golf course. Yeah.

And he talked about the fact that he wanted to be more committed to his golf game, have a freer mind because of what Scottie Sheffley did. And, you know, Scottie Sheffler's kind of forced the issue for Rory McIlroy and for all of the PGA Tour, for that matter, because he seems to be setting a new standard for excellence. So, yeah, I mean, Rory has instant validation, winning a signature event in Pebble in tough, windy conditions.

Winning the players. This is, in my opinion, this is the best mechanically and mentally I have seen Roy McIlroy in quite a while.

Yeah, I think that's 100% fair. And I think I go to the idea that what he did at Pebble, where he talked about playing much more conservatively than maybe he had in the past. It's clear at TPC Sawgrass, he did not have his best stuff. I kind of prepared his victory in 2019 at TPC Sawgrass versus this year was completely different. In 2019, he did quintessential Rory stuff, which meant he led the field tee to green. He led the field in driving distance. He just overpowered that golf course.

in that field. That was not the case last week at Sawgrass. If you look at what he did, he was dead last in the field and driving on Thursday. He was close to dead last on Friday. It was really all about his short game. And I think it's impressive. You actually had the opportunity to spend some time with him. And I did want to pick your thoughts on this. You had to run off the desk. You left me alone on the desk.

late in the afternoon i was panicky i i can't do it if my todd lewis is not there but you had to run down to do a comcast q a is my understanding was there any revelations that came up between rory and that q a um well like i said i i think an indication to us of his commitment to being you know he's not coasting right now i mean i think he sees his window at 35 and

That's not old, in my opinion. I don't think he thinks it old is old either. But let's say he's kind of in the maybe entering the fall or late summer of his PGA Tour career. Well, you know, maybe he's seeing that and that window is not quite as as open as it was five, 10 years ago. And I see a better commitment of excellence from him.

So I think that's incredibly important for him to have the success, and he's obviously doing that. And again, I think having that freedom of mind too as well as not being involved in the PGA Tour policy board as much, although he's still in the conversations in regards to negotiating with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. I think that has taken a lot off his plate, and I just think he's in a better – in a happier place. I just really do. I don't think – I don't see the stress with him as much.

I will say this. I noticed one thing from Sunday night, Rex, and you and I were there when he talked after his round. He had a three-shot lead on 12th hole. And suddenly he's tied. And so I thought he might be a little...

A little frustrated, a little negative, a lot negative, you know, didn't, but he really, he really wasn't. He was kind of, you know, okay, all right, could have won it Sunday. I didn't. I'm going to come out here and try to win it on Monday. And the fact that he talked about how nervous he was on Monday, he said, I haven't been that nervous on the 16th season, which was his first playoff in a long, long time. I, you know, I, that shows how first, how much he cares. And secondly, you

you know, to have the better attitude because if you care when you're nervous, you're nervous when you care, I guess is what I should say. So, you know, I'm kind of impressed with the way Roy handled himself the Sunday and Monday. Certainly Sunday night when he boiled it down to the simplest terms, which was I just need five good swings.

And it turns out he needed six. It turns out, I argue, he just needed one off the tee box. He just actually needed, he said he needed three and he got, he did three. So, but you're right. That first one was, was great. Someone who was pissy, and this is a very good transition. I appreciate you throwing that word out there for me. It was Kalamore Kawa. And this is based on what happened Sunday.

at Bay Hill the week before where he did not speak with the media. He was requested for an interview and didn't do it. It turned into a back and forth between him and our colleagues on the live from death. Randall Chamblee and Paul McGinley had some very pointed thoughts about it. And it was based on the idea that Colin Morikawa and his Tuesday press conference at TPC said he doesn't owe the media anything. I have said this repeatedly, so I'm going to get my thought out of the way quickly. He's right.

He does not owe the media anything. And the fans don't care about what we as the media think we're owed. So I'm not even going down that road. My argument was he does owe the fans something. He does owe the sponsors something. MasterCard pays a lot of money. The

to sponsor that event at Bay Hill. He certainly owes the media partners something. So where do you stand on this after watching it from 30,000 feet last week?

Well, first off, I'm not going to sit here and bash Colin Markow. Then forget it. Hang on. Let me finish. I'm not going to completely. But I do have some criticism for him. I mean, look, I think he's an asset to the PGA Tour, to the game of golf. Obviously, he's a tremendous elite player. He's won two major championships. From a media perspective, I want to go back to the century in Hawaii this year.

We started these in-round walk and talk interviews on Golf Talent NBC. And to Colin's credit, he agreed to give us

at Walk & Talk on Saturday. He was in the final group. So this was not some kind of, you know, random, easy Thursday or Friday. He was in the throes of the competition and he had just birdied, I believe, four of his first six holes. So now he was leading. And he walked with me and gave me an insightful interview on what it's like to try to win on the weekend. So he agreed to do that. So he has these qualities of wanting to give to the media slash

to our audience and so on. Yeah, but when he said, I don't owe you guys anything, well, he's right. He doesn't. He doesn't owe me anything. He doesn't owe you anything because you're one of the best reporters on the planet. He doesn't owe us anything. We're reporters. We're here to gather information. But I completely agree with you. He does owe the fans. And we, as media members...

We're an extension of the fans. We get his information, his quotes, his thoughts, his video, his comments, all to those fans. And without those fans, Colin Morikawa wouldn't be a multimillionaire living in a really nice place in Las Vegas. I know he's a great golfer, but, you know, I think he's missing the mark here.

It's I'm not you and I, I know you and I, you and I feel this way. We didn't get into television or print for our ego. We got into this industry because we want to, we have a responsibility to give our viewers, to give our listeners, to give our readers the best information we can, because that that's our passion. And, and I think Colin needs to understand that.

So I think he doesn't owe us anything. But again, we are not media in a group that this is a pack you're feeding. This is a broad perspective of we are indeed giving to the fans, which ultimately we are the vessel that does it.

And it felt like it was the Royal we, when he said it, I think any, anytime a player, an athlete says you guys, it just lands generally on the media. It's not specific. And I think in some follow-up questions, I think he did kind of clarify that was meant more to more towards Brandel and Paul and their comments on the desk and Jaime Diaz, the great Jaime Diaz was also on the desk during that conversation as well. I will say, and again, if he chooses not to talk to us on Sunday, I'm,

I'm fine with that because it happens. It's not the first time it happened. It certainly won't be the last. It did not escalate, at least in my mind, until he made those comments on Tuesday at TPC Sawgrass.

And he seemed to want to double down and say that because I have argued in the past that we don't get Rory McIlroy sort of cutting the vein open a few weeks after Pinehurst last year at the Scottish Open. If we don't give him that week or two to unpack everything that happened and to come to terms with everything that happened in the heat of the moment. Yes, I would have loved Rory to have stopped at Pinehurst when he lost that U.S. Open to Bryson DeChambeau. But we're not going to get anything from him in the heat of the moment.

Well, no, you, I mean, you're right. And if I remember correctly, Rory McIlroy, I think the next day put out a statement kind of apologizing, saying, look, I was emotional. I didn't really want to talk. But he didn't kind of like,

scold the media, which I feel like Colin did on Tuesday. But if I can pivot to this, I mean, obviously this generation of tour player, and I think Colin obviously fits into that category considering where he grew up not too far from where this guy grew up, and that is in Southern California. You and I have covered Tiger Woods in the height of his powers and when he was shooting 80s on the PGA Tour.

I have so much respect for Tiger as a player, but also because of his position with the media. He showed up at the tournament. He always, always had a pre-tournament press conference. And 99.5% of the time, whether he shot 65, 75, or I think there may have been occasion where he was close to 85, he talked to the media.

And he did that because he understood his position in the game. And I really do feel like he feels that there's an obligation, considering where he is, to reach out to the fans, to reach out to the media. I mean, he talked when Y.E. Yang beat him at the PGA Championship. He didn't storm off. So, you know, I feel like this generation of player needs to look at Tiger Woods. Here's another thing to look at Tiger Woods and what he did. And that is to realize that we as the media, again, are –

again, an extension of the fans and that you owe something to them.

That's a really good pull, and I appreciate that because I can probably count on one hand how many times Tiger Woods has just not spoken with the press. I remember after he lost in the first round of the match play one year, I believe it was Nick O'Hearn, where he actually turned down interviews, but a couple of us followed him into the locker room, and he ended up stopping and talking for five minutes. Now, look, he probably didn't say anything that was revelatory or anything that was wildly insightful, but you're right.

I think that's a really good example of how players, even in the heat of the moment, probably just need to understand that I need to give something. Can I follow up on a story? Yeah, I remember at Torrey Pines, you remember when Tiger Woods walked off the golf course and

And his agents protected him from the media saying he's not talking. And Tiger turned around and said, no, I'll give comments. He told his agent, hey, get out of the way. And that's when he said, you know, my glutes didn't fire and all that, which is quite interesting. But that's my point. He understands that this is a big story and he does have a responsibility and maybe even an obligation to reach out and explain his situation.

I want to play a game now as we pivot ahead to this week's event, the basketball championship at Innisbrook. There are three players in this field that I wanted to get your thoughts on. All right. And I want you to do this rat-a-tat-tat style. Here we go. All right.

We're going to start with Justin Thomas, who had an on-again, off-again week. He could have set the course record, and then he opened with a 78. There was a lot of things in between that. What are your thoughts on where his game is right now? I think it's still slightly trending, not quite where he wants it to be. But like you said, he's got to be more consistent. You know, when you go from 78 to 62 –

Hats off to the 62. But he did this last year, if you remember. He had one really bad round, and it just kind of throws him off. Somehow he's got to find some consistency, and hopefully he can find it on a tough golf course this week. And I think if you find a way to make 10 birdies like he did on TPC Sawgrass under those conditions, your game's probably in a pretty good shape.

We hear players talk about this all the time, where if you make the birdies, the easy part is to get rid of the mistakes. At least that's the way it works. And they're mine. Not in my mind. Getting rid of the mistakes is part and parcel with my game, which brings me to Xander Shoffley. Had an absolutely awful weekend. Didn't particularly have a great week. Clearly coming off the injury. Clearly not 100%. This is probably going to be his last start before the Masters. What are we thinking on him?

Oh, man, he's got he he's down. I mean, his confidence is pretty low and he didn't play well in that final round either. Yeah, I feel like Xander, who I completely admire as a player and as a person, he is searching right now. And it's a tough situation. I don't I mean, he's going to really have to pivot in a positive direction if he wants some momentum heading into Augusta National.

I was talking with his manager Sunday as he was warming up and he had made the comment, I believe the day before that he was asked, are you on a ball count coming off that rib injury? And he said, yes, I am. I'm about to go blow that out of the water right now as he made his way to the range. And I asked his manager, he said, absolutely. Like he realizes where he is right now is not going to work going into the year's first major championship. And I give Xander just so much credit for there are so many players. You've seen it. I've seen it throughout the course of our careers. It seems like every player comes back too soon.

from an injury. They always, they're athletes, they're type A personalities. They hate sitting on the couch, especially when it comes to a rib injury where there's not a whole lot you can do to speed up that process. I felt like Xander put in the effort, put in the time to make sure when he came back, he was 100% or as close as possible to that. You're right though, about the level of frustration. And when you look at what he did last year,

at the major championships. I think there's a big question mark over his game. I think the second player may have an even bigger question mark, Jordan Spieth.

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I actually don't. I don't think Jordan's – look, I didn't have high expectations. This is different. I don't have high expectations for Jordan Spieth like I have for Xander Shoffley. I think let's start there. Let's start there. But I think Jordan is still slightly recovering, still trying to –

continued to establish some trust into that wrist that he had surgery on because it was a pretty serious injury or surgery, I should say. But I don't think Jordan's in too bad a place right now. I think he understands it's going to take some time. And I think he's seen a lot more positives than negatives in his game so far this season. So I think I'm not too concerned about Jordan right now. It doesn't need to.

play better? Yes, he'll be the first to say that. But I think there are some positive steps that he can build on. Every time you come on the pod, it seems like you're outside. I'm guessing that's your back porch at your house? It is. That's my power lines right there. It gets me cable. Sure. Is it just because it's chaos in your house and you have no privacy, you just can't do this in the house?

No, Rex. It's because it's such a nice day out. That's why I'm out here. My colleague, Ryan Labner, can only tape at certain times during the day because there's always chaos in the town. It's spring break here for us, too. And we're still here.

I had a hot take. Let's move on to the hot take section. Let's just do this. I had a hot take. I would argue that this week at Innisbrook is the best course out of the four Florida Swing courses. Hot take or no take? No, I mean, you can easily make that argument because it's so unique. And from what I understand, at least according to last year's statistics, it's the most challenging golf course, which says a lot because Bay Hill is really hard, obviously. Yeah.

TPC Sawgrass, the stadium course is challenging and frankly, well, it wasn't the case this year, but usually PGA National is no pushover either. But the fact that it has elevation, the fact that it does kind of feel like Pinehurst of Florida,

Yeah, I think it's maybe the best, most challenging golf course in the rotation in regards to the Florida swing. And I would argue it's probably one of the better courses to get ready for Augusta National. You're never going to have a perfect fit. Augusta stands alone. It's very unique. But when you look at the way that golf course sets up, the elevation changes, what it requires off the tee, what it requires around the greens, I think it's going to be one of those weeks where we can glean a lot after the game.

after four rounds at Innsbruck about what we might be able to expect to see at the Masters. Now, speaking of hot takes, and Goldie, if you can throw this tweet X up from just a few days ago, Phil Mickelson decided to take a very, very deep hot take, and it essentially had to do with

He was comparing to Joaquin Neiman, who was just coming off a good week on the live golf tour to Scotty Scheffler. And his take was Joaquin Neiman is the best player on the planet right now. And he went even so far as to say that Scotty Scheffler will not win. I believe it's before the masters. Phil seems that was a Ryder cup. Yes. I'm sorry. Before the Ryder cup. Yes. I had to think about that for a minute. Thank you. It seems to me Phil should probably stay off Twitter, but what are your thoughts?

Yeah, I mean, that is not a very wise take. Obviously, Phil is living in some kind of live bubble. And usually he's, you know, I wouldn't say usually, but there's sometimes that he's very wise and poignant over his career. You know, he's actually said some intelligent things. This is not one of them. I think Joaquin Neiman is a talent. There's no doubt about it.

But if you're going to go out and you're going to be half the players on live in three rounds, um,

in an event that really doesn't have the intensity of like, let's say the players this past weekend, or, or actually any of the nine tournaments that, that Scotty Scheffler won last year worldwide, maybe with the exception of hero, there was only 20 in that one. So I'll, I'll give you a pass on that one. But I mean, Phil, what are you, what are you talking about? Scotty Scheffler led the PGA tour and more than two dozen statistical categories last year. Uh, and including scoring average, uh,

Money won, which was close to $65 million. I mean, this guy, I mean, he had everything and he had a phenomenal year. I don't know where he's getting this from, but good on you for making us talk about it, Phil.

Yeah, no. I mean, he did what he probably wanted to do. I keep going back to it. It was right after he had joined Libs and someone put a meme out there, which was Phil and he had some sort of weird haircut. And the meme was, Dad's not doing well since the divorce. Meaning the divorce from the PGA Tour is what I'm referring to here. It is interesting. And here's the context I think I wanted to get at. I was...

I did a story last week on Laurie Cantor, who you know very well from the DP World Tour. He was the first former live player to play in a non-major, non-co-sanctioned PGA Tour event last week's Players' Championship. And speaking with him, he had never been a member of the PGA Tour, so his suspension, his penance, was essentially a year from his last live event until when he could actually play in a PGA Tour event, which turned out to be around February of this year. It was right after the Mexico Open.

It was interesting to me because as a non-member, the tour has created that pathway for these players. But speaking with people behind the scenes, it's clear that the pathway for those who were members before they left to go to live is going to vary. It's going to be a la carte. And this is probably, along with a lot of other things, going to put Phil probably at the bottom of that category as far as if he ever would want to come back.

to the PGA tour. I'm not even quite sure, even if we end up with some sort of agreement, even if we end up with unification, I don't know that Phil would ever be welcomed back. I don't know if he'd want to come back. Probably not. You know, I mean, because he would get so much heat, not only from the media, from fans, but from his fellow players. I don't, I don't know if he would want to come back. I, I, I actually would lean toward he wouldn't.

But again, as with these comments about Scottie Scheffler and Joaquin Neiman, he likes to stir the pot and would probably like the attention. So who knows? And I think it's going to, if you start going down that road, and probably Brooks Koepka last week got us all thinking about it, because when he was asked specifically about his future at Live, he left it wide open. And I think there has been a lot of speculation that he would probably be the Pied Piper.

He would be the one that the tour would want to find a pathway back. He would be the one that would have an interest in coming back for no other reason than legacy. He wants to win majors. It's been clear since the very beginning of his career, certainly until now, that he doesn't have much interest in the Phoenix Opens of the world. No disrespect to Phoenix or any other tour event or any other live event. That's what he deems as important. I think the pathway back for him would look much different than, I'll even throw it into another category, any of the players who were involved with the lawsuit.

Yeah. And I think also riding in his wake would be Bryson DeChambeau. He's actually said he wants to play some PGA Tour events. And the PGA Tour could instantly create a category if you've won a major championship in the last five years. Sure. With some kind of, and this is just a hypothetical, by the way, with some kind of probably monetary advantage.

fine you'll have to pay or something like that then you can come back on the PGA Tour and that would fit Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau that they could come back immediately but yeah I mean I think there are some stars that the tour would absolutely welcome back in a second and create a category for them so I don't know if Philip Mickelson is one of them

And some that will not be welcome back. I think that's pretty clear as well. Phil Mickelson being one of those. Well, now two of those players that will probably have a say in this discussion that you and I just talked about will be those three players who are on the player advisory council who are currently running for Pat Co-Chair. The Pat Co-Chair

after a year on the pack, will move up to the policy board, which means they'll be the ones making this decision. Now, this vote is going to boil down to three players on the pack. It's Maverick McNeely, it's Ricky Fowler, and it's Keith Mitchell. What do you make of those three names going on to the policy board during a time that it's important to be on the policy board? Yeah, look, I like all three of those names. I...

I think they represent a variety of categories on the PGA Tour. Keith McTool is not in signature events, nor is Ricky Fowler. Maverick McNeely is. I will say Maverick McNeely has been instrumental in the pack, too. So, yeah.

When this announcement came last fall that the PGA Tour was going to limit fields, was going to cut the exemption status for players from 125 to 100, Maverick McNeely also was very instrumental running a lot of mathematical equations

in changing the FedEx Cup point structure in signature events. In other words, the better you play, the more points you get. If you finish 40th or 50th, you get fewer points. That was him that did all that. So he has made a pretty significant impact on the player advisory council. So any three of those guys would be great. But, you know, Maverick McNeely has been really, really strong with the pack over the last year.

And I think it's interesting, and Mav is the one that stands out in that crowd as well, simply because when I spoke with Mav about why he wanted to run for chairman and move on to the policy board earlier this season at Torrey Pines, you pointed out, like, he's the one that found the flaw in the point system. No one else. And the tour has a lot of really smart people

who do this for a living, who crunch those numbers on a regular basis and did not see this where Mav does. I think he sees things much differently, not just than a normal PGA Tour player, but even differently than people who may be at the PGA Tour right now. We all know that Mav's got a big brain. I asked him point blank at Toy Pines during this conversation, what would you do about slow play? And he said, twosomes.

twosomes and my comeback to him was that's quite creative yes one less player you are going to play fast like I sort of I was a little flummoxed by the simplicity of it but then he ran through twosomes on the weekend every time instead of you and I both know the way it works out on the west coast some events earlier in the season because of daylight savings time you still end up with threesomes on the weekend and he pointed out that the difference between his Friday round at Torrey Pines

And his Saturday round at toy pond, his Friday round was a threesome. His Saturday round was a twosome was over an hour. If you want to make a real cut and difference, then that's the way to do it. And then he broke it down even simpler that this is not taking away playing opportunities, which is what the PGA tour essentially did starting next year by reducing field sizes, signature events, all of the things.

that we can get into. His argument was you still get into the events. We would just reduce the cut from 65 and ties to 60 and ties. And that makes it, he had crunched the numbers mathematically more likely that you're going to end up with a field that allows you to play in twosomes. It was as simple as that, but it was an explanation that I had never heard before. So I think he could add a very different dynamic to that board.

Yeah, he's obviously invested in making the tour a better product, the PGA Tour. Not to say that Keith Mitchell and Ricky Fallon aren't either. I think they very much are as well. But, yeah, again, I have faith in all three of those guys. I'm not in the rooms. We're not in the rooms during those PAC meetings. But I think if that's your three choices, I don't think you can make a bad decision there.

I think all of them are really good, but I will finish with this, and I would be curious to get your thoughts. I remember a manager told me this years ago that one of his players wanted to go on the pack, wanted to become chair, wanted to move up to the board. And this manager's response was, do you know how many members of the policy board have won major championships while they're serving on the policy board?

I can tell you that answer. It's zero. No one has ever done that. So if you're a player like a Maverick McNeely or a Keith Mitchell or even Ricky Fowler, it is something you need to consider. I appreciate the idea that they're willing to maybe put their career, I don't want to say on the back burner, but on a side burner to what is very important discussions right now. But it is a sacrifice.

No doubt about it. I mean, we opened this podcast talking about Rory McIlroy, and you can make an argument that his game kind of suffered when he was on the PGA Tour policy board. You know, he did win. Peter Malnati did win while on the policy board. I mean, but major championships are obviously different than a regular season or signature event. But you're right. It does. It takes a lot of time, especially now.

I mean, let's say hypothetically there is a deal in the kind of near future between the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia and the PGA Tour. Then you have to, as a policy board member, try to figure out if there are players from LIV that are going to play on the PGA Tour, how that works. And then, you know, all the voices that you're going to hear from because they may be taking playing opportunities away from kind of the rank and file. I mean, you're going to be consumed. There's no doubt about it.

All right, buddy. I really appreciate you taking the time. Give me an idea what the next two weeks as we get ready for the Masters look like for T-Lib. Well, I'm actually off in the next two weeks. You know, Rex, you know, I think I told you, you know where I'm going on Friday? You did not. I didn't tell you. I'm going I'm going on a cruise, not just any old cruise. I'm going on a Disney cruise. Oh, my. That sounds awful.

Yeah, maybe. We shall see. I'm hoping that by the time I'm about to debark, I'm not ready to punch Goofy. But I don't think that's going to happen. But my nine-year-old daughter is very much looking forward to it. And so we're going to make the best... No, I'm going to look forward to it, actually. It's going to be fun. I'll be consumed with...

With Stitch and Sleeping Beauty. But okay. That's all right. Are you staying in the goofy room? Or is it like the Cinderella room? I don't know. I have no idea. I've never been on a Disney cruise. So we're going to find out. We'll have some fun. We're going to go see the Magic Play here in Orlando. And then it's back to school. And then I'll play a little golf and head up to Augusta National the Saturday of ANWA. And the cruise you leave on Friday.

Leave on Friday, get back Monday. So it's not long cruise. Well, we may have to get you on the pod on Sunday. I just, I got it here. How badly this is going. Cause this cannot be going well. I'm not a cruise person. It could be all awesome. No, no, no. I just don't like cruises.

No, I feel like you're in a Petri dish. You get the drink package. You get the food package. You're a marine. You've been on ships, right? I have been on a boat is what they call them. But yes, I have been. But it wasn't like that. I didn't have the drink package and the food. Well, I did have the food package, but not the drink package when I was on the boat. Oh, OK. All right. Well, let's do it. So you don't like cruises?

I do not like cruises. No. You feel like you have to get all your money back and drink. So you drink too much. You eat too much. Again, it feels like a Petri dish. I just don't enjoy them. So you're undisciplined. That's why you don't like cruises. Okay. That's exactly what it is. All right. We will check in with T. Lou on Sunday night when lab returns to do our pod. Until then, be sure to check out all the news and notes at PC sports.com. Thanks for joining us. At Amiga insurance. We know it's more than just a car or a house.

It's the four wheels that get you where you're going and the four walls that welcome you home. When you combine auto and home insurance with Amica, we'll help protect it all. And the more you cover, the more you can save. Amica. Empathy is our best policy.

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