Jay Delsing spent 25 years on the PGA Tour and is a lifetime member of the PGA Tour and PGA of America. Now he provides his unique perspective as a golfer and network broadcaster. It's time to go On the Range with Jay Delsing.
On the Range is brought to you by the Gateway section of the PGA. Hey, welcome back. This is the Golf with Jay Delsing show. I'm Jay Delsing.
I've got John Perlis with me. Perli, good morning. What's going on today?
Nothing, boss. Just looking forward to talking more end of year golf and what we're looking to happen next year. So looking forward to it. Alright, so the show's been formatted like a round of golf and the opening segment is the On the Range segment and it's brought to you by the Gateway section of the PGA. These guys, these men and women worked long hours this summer. They're also doing stuff during the winter to make next year good and our experience memorable when we get on the golf course. There's over 300 men and women in our area that make up this section.
So we appreciate them and we appreciate them helping us grow the game. Perl, we're going to skip the meta report because last week we're still trying to unpack all the stuff you said last week about, you know, you slipped a little Jack Dorsey Twitter comment in there and my phone's just blowing up. That's fine.
You tell me when you guys are caught up and I'll be ready to go. Okay, perfect. I also want to thank Bob and Kathy Donahue at 314-805-2132 for their support of the show at Donahue Painting and Refinishing. Folks, if you need anything done on your home, inside or outside, call Bob and Kathy.
They're terrific people. All right, so, John, one of the things that we're going to talk about today is we're going to give a little preview. Our takes, our hot takes, our cold takes, whatever kind of takes they are, about what our predictions are going to be for which players are going to kind of step up, which players may take a step back. I mean, we've got some, I spent some time looking at what's happened to some of the players. Like Justin Rose has kind of fallen off the planet.
Then you get some, we got some great young players. Who's going to win their first major? All sorts of different things like that.
Also, let's just start off with this. How much have you been following the Greg Norman and the LIV Golf Investment, what do you want to call it? It's almost like a traveling circus.
Very little, and that's why I joined the J, the Golf with Jay Nelson Golf Show so that I could hear more about it, so let it rip and then I'll push back. Okay, so, so they're making some hires, right? So Greg is going to be the CEO and probably the commissioner of this new entity. What is the entity? They're trying to do, they're trying to go into conjunction with the Asian tour and form events and use some of their already existing events to pay, allure some of the top players in the world with startup money.
Show up money, appearance money, things like that. They're also talking about trying to do a team competition. There's a lot of things that have been kicked, the can's been kicked a lot, but it hasn't been kicked specifically enough to explain what the hell it really is. But what is fascinating to me, John, and I've been watching this, my buddy, good friend, Slugger White, who just retired from the PGA Tour last year after 40 years, he played on tour for I think a year and then became the lead official after a few years. He just joined the Norman squad. Why don't you get him on, Jay?
Get him on the show. I'm telling you, this news just came out, but I'm thinking, how is this going to work? So Slugger's the head of the rules and competitions, and I just wonder what Greg's mindset is. Is there a way, John, that he can truly unify through this thing, or is it going to be divisive? Well, I mean, I don't think he's wildly successful.
He was a spectacular player, entrepreneur, the whole thing. I don't think he necessarily cares if it's divisive, if it moves towards the end. So you think the thing they're after is creating more of a unified world golf tour? Because wasn't he after that years ago?
Oh, yeah. That's the reason that we have the World Golf Championships now, because he was trying to recruit Rupert Murdoch, fellow Australian billionaire, you know, and in the news and media world, and, you know, owns Fox, and get him to support this world tour. And the reaction from the PGA Tour was to form the World Golf Championships. And that's what happened.
Well, some good things come of it then. And, you know, Greg has no concerns shaking things up a little bit. So I think the key is to get Slugger White on here.
Let's see what we can do to ferret out the nonsense and figure out what are they after. I think it'd be a great story, and it would be fun to follow. I mean, he's a change agent, Greg Norman. He's a fascinating guy. So I think that'd be a great thing for this show to follow.
I want to. So let me ask you this in a world of disruptors, right? I mean, you'd have to call Greg Norman a disruptor, the guys that challenge the status quo, and oftentimes, you know, rocks and things are dirt and sand are kicked at these guys for, for the way that they have gone about things.
But in the end, the most successful stay true to their mission and can affect a lot of change that way, Pearl. Yeah, I think so. I mean, I don't think there's anything dastardly here. He's going to challenge the status quo. Good. It should be challenged. And if he can't hold up, then let's make some changes. I mean, I don't know, for me, that's the way the world works.
I've got nothing against it. If we just stay stagnant, like you said, we wouldn't have those world golf events. We wouldn't have a lot of things that's going on. And look at the value they're bringing the rest of the world into even the PGA Tour and the exposure, the Asian contingency, the European contingency. Look how different the tour is. I understand for some of the tour players, traditionalists, maybe they don't want to see that. Well, the bottom line is, if you want to see the best golf in the world, turn on the PGA Tour. That's just the way it works now.
And had they not done a lot of those things, plain and simple, you wouldn't be able to say that. Yeah, it's interesting, John, I guess in the world of golf, because they're so stayed in tradition and all of this, you know, stuck in kind of this slow, ultra slow move, moving object to change. When you get someone like Greg who wants to turn the whole thing upside down, it's almost like a double whammy, you know, because it's so different. Yeah, and you know, in some ways, it's been slow. In some ways, it's been pretty darn fast. So that's just the way the world's moving now. And again, I think it's exciting.
And the things that don't work, they don't work. So there's value in trying things. And I think that's where he's got the courage to do that.
And he's kind of got the thick skin to do that. And personally, I want to learn more about it, but I'm glad people do that. Yeah, absolutely.
It's pretty awesome. All right, so that's going to wrap up the On The Range segment. I want to do the tip of the cap. The tip of the cap is brought to you by my friend Colin Berndt and the Dean team of Kirkwood.
314-966-0303. My cap is tipped to all of the support that I've received this year. My friend Colin Berndt in particular, we do this segment for him. The folks at Marie de Villa, the folks at Vehicle Assurance, the Fogelbach agency, Pro-Am Golf, I'm going to forget some people, but Michelob Ultra.
The Donahue's painting and refinishing. Oh my gosh, the Gateway section. Michelob Ultra, I said that again. That's because I like their product a little bit. But I just want to thank those guys, the Ascension Charity Classic.
I mean, how great has Ascension been for this? I just want to thank all those guys for helping support the show. Whitmore Golf.
My gosh, Whitmore's been with me since day one. Joe Sheezer and the USA Mortgage folks are just terrific people, my friends, and I so appreciate the support. And the tip of the cap is brought to you by Colin and Brandy over at the Dean team of Kirkwood. 314-966-0303. Folks, that will wrap up the on-range segment.
Don't go anywhere. John and I will be back for the front nine. This is golf with Jay Delsing. This is Paul Leisinger and you're listening to golf with Jay Delsing. Hi, Jay Delsing here for SSM Health Physical Therapy. Our golf program has the same screening techniques and technology as the pros on the PGA Tour use.
That's right. SSM Health Physical Therapy has TPI, Titleist Performance Institute, trained physical therapists that can perform the TPI screen on you, as well as use the KVEST 3D motion capture system. It is awesome.
Proper posture and alignment can help you keep it right down the middle. There's 80 locations in the St. Louis area. Call them at 800-518-1626 or visit them on the web at ssmphysicaltherapy.com. Your therapy, our passion. Thank you, St. Louis, for making the first annual Ascension Charity Classic presented by Emerson a record-breaking success. The golf was incredible, your enthusiasm unmatched, and the only thing that will last longer than the memories is the impact you've made on North St. Louis County charities. To our sponsors, volunteers, and fans, thank you for welcoming golf's greatest legends and bringing professional golf back to St. Louis with record attendance.
See you next year at the Ascension Charity Classic. I want to give a shout out to my friend Colin Berndt over at the Dean team of Kirkwood. Folks, if you're looking for any sort of vehicle, I know it says Volkswagen of Kirkwood. Colin has a parking lot full of new and used cars.
I was just over there the other day. I bought a used VW Passat for my daughter, Jo, who just totaled it in an accident. She texted me, by the way, and said, Dad, I tapped a car in front of me. She tapped it so well that the car's totaled. Anyway, I talked to Colin, and he is working out a new vehicle for us.
But we went over and looked. There is a huge selection of cars over there. My buddy, Pearly, that does a show with me had bought a used Toyota truck from Colin and just loved the service and loved the vehicle. 314-966-0303.
This is like dealing with family over there. These are great people. Colin's there, his right-hand person, Brandy, is there to do anything they can to get you in the vehicle you want. Give them a call today.
The winner will be announced on January 9th. Powers Insurance is a family-owned agency here in St. Louis that specializes in robust insurance policies designed to provide coverage that's tailored to your personal needs. Hey, I know you've heard a lot about club fitting, but I need you to go visit my friends at Pro-Am Golf. They're a family-owned and operated golf discount shop in St. Louis that's been operating for over 40 years. They have a top-quality fitter in CJ over there and a very qualified staff with the most up-to-date, state-of-the-art technology in the industry and all. They've got a really cool ball program coming that will help you fit your swing speed to the right ball. But most importantly, they have the lowest prices in town on this fitting. And you know what's really special? They take the price of the fitting and roll it into the new clubs that you purchased over there.
So basically, the fitting costs you nothing. Visit Tom DeGrant. He's been in the business for over 40 years and a great guy. And they'll watch you hit balls in their simulator. So stop by and ask for the delsing discount and they'll give you even more money off their already low price. That's Pro-Am Golf, a family-owned business here in St. Louis. Grab your clubs. We're headed to the front nine on Golf with Jay Delsing. The front nine is brought to you by the Ascension Charity Classic. Hey, welcome back. This is Golf with Jay Delsing.
I'm Jay here. We got John Perlis with me and we are and Brad Barnes is taking good care of us here at the ESPN Studios. We're headed to the front nine brought to you by the Ascension Charity Classic. September 2022, baby. Year two, 2022. It's going to be at Norwood. It's going to be just another great show.
I can't wait. Are you going to qualify? Are you going to qualify or are you getting an exemption? Oh, I wouldn't ask the guys for another exemption. What do you do for qualifying then? I don't go.
I have no idea. Right now I have so little interest in playing. I was so bad. That's a perfect thing for us to track on the show. So we're going to track whatever the heck it was we said we were going to track before. Oh, the Greg Norman project. And we're going to track Jay Delsing's climb back to competitive toughness.
And that'll be a perfect thing. Meat, mark it down. We got to make sure we have a segment.
You got it. Cut his mic, Meat. I don't know how we're going to track that. How are we going to track that? Are we going to have markings on the wall? Yeah, exactly. How is your confidence feeling?
Let's go ahead and start down by the switch and where you plug your phone in down there. It's like a roller coaster. It's a little low. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
It's not that bad. You had a couple of shanks. We'll get those out of the system and the world will open up to you. The world will be my oyster once again.
Is that what you're saying? Anyway, so let's talk a little bit about some predictions for 2022. This is going to be fun.
All right. So let's start out with John, who, in your opinion, is going to have that breakout sort of year? We'll talk about a breakout sort of year where he takes the next step to prominence to, well, just that next step, whether it's winning his first event or getting himself in contention, maybe winning that first major.
Which player do you think has that sort of year in 2022? Well, I need to step back a second for that because I need to have the groundwork laid a little bit better for me. I want to know what's going on in the guys' lives in the off-season. You know, I'm a big guy about, first, it's all about our personal relationships and personal growth and capabilities before we're ready for it professionally. So I know a couple of things that are pretty life-changing going out there.
For some of the people, it will be in the running for what you're talking about. So Jordan Spieth and his wife are having a child, I believe. A lot of babies being born, yep.
So who are they? We've got Spieth and Fowler. And we also have the Days had another little baby.
I think that's their third, though. Okay. Okay. How about anybody else? Do we know? Do we have any input on that?
I didn't see any others. So Jay, talk about that a little bit for your own career. How did having children, playing the tour, having your first, playing the tour, and maybe just other major life events affect how you played? And what have you seen with other people other than just yourself?
Because we all react the same way to life changes. So for me, having children changed my career. It made it so much better.
I felt like I had another source to play for. I felt like I had, because of the responsibility of being the provider, of being the protector, there was something to be built around. You know, because I started off my first, what, my first two or three years, I kept my card. Then I lost my card a couple times and in there, always got it back.
So I retained status. And in like year four or something like that is when Mackenzie, my oldest, was born. And I'll never forget going to the tour school and she was like nine months old. And I'll never forget how the feeling when I got off the golf course and I got to go back and hold her and play with her. You know, on the ground with her and just roll around in there, all of the cares and all of the stress of that qualifying school, which was six rounds. And it was a complete pain in the ass that, you know, you never play a six round event. And it was for the entire year.
You know, if you have a bad Sunday, your entire year shut. I just remember that new life gave me so much, I don't know how it worked this way either. Because when I hear of it, I could see how it could absolutely do the opposite, but it just gave me so much freedom and so much more confidence. And more, she didn't care whether I shot 80 or 60.
She didn't care at all and they never have. And just, I don't know why, but just having that new life just made it great for me. And I have definitely had friends and Clarence Rose is a guy that comes to mind who had a really nice long career until he started having kids.
And he told me, he goes, I feel this pressure now and it's really hard to play. And there were a couple other guys like that that, you know, struggled once they started having kids and they eventually, you know, worked themselves off the tour. For me, gosh, I can remember, I don't know if anybody traveled with their kids more than I did back in my little era. And I just can remember going back to the hotel and being able to, you know, take the kids swimming and hang out. It was, we had fun. Well, it fits your personality. That makes a lot of sense because you like to have somewhere between five and 450 balls in the air.
So that probably was a fit for you. Okay, so that's a little bit what's going on. What else is going on that you're aware of out there as far as people recovering from injuries, other life things going on? Is there anything else that you're able to get to? I know Bud Cauley has been on a major medical and is progressing nicely.
I don't know about a whole lot other than that, John. What I looked at was watching these, watching a player progress and watching how they go through different stages of, you know, first year on tour, trying to figure out the golf courses, figure out where am I going, how do I do this. And then their second year, once they have an idea, they play the courses a little bit.
They understand what traveling to tour is like, you know, can they settle in and start really going after a career and building a career. You look at a guy like Colin Morikawa, he just came out of the gates just charging. It's like he had been there his whole life. He's won two majors now. I don't know how many, how many events he's won and, you know, he just wins the race to Dubai, the first American to ever do that. I mean, this guy is, I mean, he should be in the conversation. He should already be in the conversation for Hall of Fame and all these other things. He's been on tour for two years.
Just absolutely incredible what he's done. Well, when I look at the top hundred, to your point, right now it says that Rahm, Morikawa, Dustin Johnson, Cantley, Cauley, Thomas, DeChambeau, McElroy, Hovland, who saved them. So I'm with you. I don't know. I can't guess the order unless we were having to guess here. But I think Morikawa, Cantley, and Cauley are, for me, the three that are just going to absolutely take off from what they did last year, which was fantastic. Who's going to win their first major? Boy, I'm not great at remembering who's got what majors and stuff, Chase.
Sorry. Well, Cantley has no major. Cauley has no major. Justin Thomas has one major.
Morikawa's got two. Fowler's got no majors. Hovland's got no majors. My pick to get their first major this year is going to be Viktor Hovland.
I tell you what, this guy- Really? You pick him over Cantley and- I don't know why. It wouldn't surprise me if- There's something about the way Hovland drives the ball, Pearl. His putting can get in the way a little bit, but the kid's had a phenomenal year. He's already won three times on the PGA Tour. He just strikes me as one of these guys that's going to win. And Shoffley and Cantley are two of my favorite U.S. players, for sure. But I've got another sleeper who's going to come out and win their first- Not sleeper, but Scotty Sheffler's going to win an event this year. Scotty Sheffler's absolutely- What is interesting- Yeah. Interesting pick and interesting player, because he's one of those guys. It's not just that he's non-traditional in his swing, but it's also awkward, Hog.
It's got a lot going on, which is surprising. I guess he can just putt the eyes out of it day in, day out. And I know he can bomb it, but man, look at that swing.
I'm thinking, man, there's too much looseness in there. Can he really hold up? But I'll tell you, he's been fantastic. After what he did in the Ryder Cup, Jon, I think he's poised to come in and win his first event. And the other player who's kind of off the radar that I'm going to pick that's going to come on strong this year is Maverick McNeely.
So Maverick was a great player in college. I just have this sense that this kid is going to come out and make a big, big splash. Well, I hope you're right.
His name's been around for a while. I'm wondering if he's got, as we would always reference, a little bit too much scar tissue at this point. But hopefully he does. I honestly root for all of them. Where are you at with Jon Rahm?
Where's your head on that? I mean, here's a guy that if you had a game built that could play day in, day out, and an attitude built, especially now that he's kind of chilled and kind of got some control over the last couple years of his mental part. Tough, tough, tough guy to beat.
Absolutely. Oh, Pearl, he just had a baby. He just had a baby as well. Okay, I'm taking him off the list. I'm taking him off the list. Well, it's a big deal.
If anybody were to take a step back, it wouldn't surprise. So Jon Rahm, I love this guy's mentality. I love the fire that he brings, and the golf swing is so unique. He's so powerful. His putting stroke, I don't like at all, and it's extremely effective.
It just is very homemade, and I could see some trouble there. But he's a stud. That's going to wrap up the front nine, but don't go anywhere. Pearlie and I will be back for more golf with Jay Delsing on the back nine. Hey everybody, it's Vince Gill. You're listening to Golf with Jay Delsing.
I want to welcome Rapsodo Golf to the Golf with Jay Delsing show. Folks, this device is super, super cool. It's small, just a little bit bigger than your cell phone. It works in conjunction with your phone to help track your shots. It talks about launch angle, spin rate, dispersion, how far the ball goes.
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Rapsodo.com. Hey, in our spotlight this week, I want to give a shout out to the great golf instructors in the state of Missouri. First and foremost, my buddy Bobby Pavolonis over at Norwood Hills got number three instructor in the state. Congratulations, Bobby.
He's a great guy, does great work. Our staff at Norwood has really got an all-star lineup. Rapsodorchik came in second, ranked second in the state of Missouri, and he's over with Adam Betts over at the Family Golf and Learning Center.
My buddy Brian Fode at Bell Reef needs no introduction whatsoever. He got the top billing. Those are the top three instructors in the state. But Maria Palazzola, great girl.
She got ranked number seven. There's just a lot. Todd Meyer out at Boone Valley got number eight. There's just a lot of opportunities, folks, for you to visit people and get to see them do their thing and help you with their game.
And don't forget about Ed Schwinn. Great guy. Been helping people with the game forever.
He came in at number 12 out at Old Hickory. And that is this week's Gateway PGA Spotlight brought to you by the Gateway PGA section. Marcon Appliance Parts Company needs to recognize the sponsors, staff and volunteers who made the inaugural Ascension Charity Classic in St. Louis a huge success. Without the tireless effort of hundreds of dedicated people this past year, this PGA Champions Tour event could not have achieved the success it did.
The winner in golf is the person with the lowest score. But the big winner of this event is the people and communities of need in the St. Louis area and the tremendous boost to the St. Louis economy as a whole. Well played by everyone who put in the time to make this a wonderful event. It's great to live in your community.
Marcon Appliance Parts Company is based in St. Louis, Missouri and is the largest distributor of major appliance parts in North America and a proud distributor of General Electric parts. I want to thank the Gateway section of the PGA of America for supporting the Golf with Jay Delsing show. There are over 300 men and women PGA professionals and over 100 golf facilities in the greater St. Louis area supporting us. They're experts in the game. They know the business of golf. And at this point in time, this pandemic, the golf courses are jammed.
These folks are working 10, 12-hour days and just doing great stuff and really appreciate them. Every time you pull up to a public course or a private course, a driving range, there's a really good chance that that facility is run by a member of our section. Some of the examples of the programs that are run by these PGA professionals in the Gateway PGA section include PGA Reach, Drive, Chip & Putt, PGA Hope, and the PGA Junior League.
To learn more about the Gateway PGA, go to gatewaypga.org. To find a local PGA professional coach for your next session, go to pga.com. PGA, growing this game we love.
We're halfway there. It's time for the Back Nine on Golf with Jay Delsing. The Back Nine is brought to you by Pro-Am Golf. Hey, welcome back. This is Golf with Jay Delsing, and we are headed to the Back Nine. Pearly's with me, and the Back Nine is brought to you by our friends at Pro-Am Golf. This is a family-owned company.
The DeGrants are great people, support the game, grow the game. But they've got CJ, who's the best club fitter in town, over there. Call him at 314-647-8054. Get yourself fitted. Ask for the Delsing discount. They'll take a discounted price off of the already low price, and they'll also roll that into your new set of clubs, so the fitting will be for free.
So give them a call, or you can visit them at pro-amgolfusa.com. Alright, so here's what we're doing, guys. Pearly and I, and Meat, we're tossing you in the fire on this as well. We're going to pick two players. We're going to pick one player from the top 20 in the world golf rankings, and one player below the top 20.
And we're going to track their progress and see how well they do. Alright, so Pearl, you get first pick. Patrick Ice Cantlay as my horse for the year. Yeah, that's a really good pick.
That's a UCLA Bruin, that guy. I'll pick my other guy that is below the top 20 as my, we'll call him kind of the dark horse. Because I think he will have done the work offseason.
Been able to, I'll call it, settle himself, because he's got some legitimate challenges with, I think, anxiety. But I'm going to say that Matthew Wolf is going to make the, I know, I know, but I'm a fan. I'm a fan of his coach. I like the young man, and I think it might be time for him to just be able to handle the personal and the professional at the same time.
And I want that to happen too, so I'm rooting for him. I like those two picks. I love those two picks. Alright, so I'm going to go, my pick above the line, I'm going to go with, gosh, it's hard to, I can't really pick Victor Hovland because he's already won three times unless he takes that step up for the next team matchup. No, we're just picking on who's going to do the best next year. We're just going to pick who's doing the best next year. You can pick him. Right, alright, I'll take, I'm going to stick with Hovland. I love his youth, his exuberance, I love his attitude, I love the way he drives the ball.
He works his ass off. So I'm going to pick Victor Hovland. And the guy from below the line, that is going to be interesting. You've got Matthew Wolf. I'm going to go with my other pick in Maverick McNeely. I'm going to go way down the list and pick Maverick McNeely and see if he doesn't come out like a house on fire this year.
That would be great, that would be great. Meat, you're on my man. No pressure now.
No. You can't pick Norman, you can't pick Jack Nicklaus, they don't play anymore, Meat. So who are you going to pick?
Jack doesn't play, dammit. Okay, so top 20, I'm going with the guy who plays a lot, plays in a lot of events, Colin Morikawa. Oh man, that's a good pick. That's an easy pick, but he plays in a ton of events, he's scoring a hell of a lot of points, he's consistent. I think that's a no-brainer in the top 20. He's a stud, I mean he's ranked second in the world, I love him.
Great kid too. Now out of the top 20, this pick, it may have an asterisk next to it, but I'm going Philly Mickelson because he wins at everything. The guy is making money left and right, he's got commercials, I don't even care what he does on the golf course anymore.
But every time he's out there, people love him, he is always winning. You know, it's interesting, it's interesting. That is a fantastic pick, I gotta hope.
Let's talk about this for a minute. There's a really good chance that Mickelson comes to St. Louis next year for the Ascension Charity Classic. Would that be awesome? That'd be great.
That would be awesome. I shouldn't say there's a good chance, there's a fair chance that he comes. But does, here's a question for you. Does Mickelson, let's say meet is not correct and he doesn't play great on the regular tour. Does he, is he the sort of guy that would only focus on the Champions Tour, in your opinion John? Absolutely not. If he's got his game, there is no, who more so than him wants to go out on the regular tour and win a tournament.
Or even be significant. Nobody, nobody, nobody. I don't see it.
I don't either. Does he want to play out well on the Champions Tour? Absolutely, that's great. But relative to the regular tour, not a chance. And by the way, when you pick Mickelson, his Champions Tour money doesn't count towards this.
So don't be playing J9 here. I think it all counts. No, I knew you did. It's all in the bank, right? You thought the game, the gaming and the gambling money counted too, but it doesn't.
Or it's commercials or anything else. It all comes back to the same wallet and the same bank account. It's big, it's a big fat one too.
I can tell you it's a big fat one. Well that's going to be kind of fun to see what happens. We're going to have to make some notations and maybe a few updates from time to time.
And that'll be unusual for the show because we usually don't get any of that stuff right. Hey, okay, but just out of the hat, we've got another minute or two. Let's, out of the hat here. We don't wish bad on anybody, but who's going to have a tough year? Who in the top ten is going to have the toughest year of those guys? And let's say drop out of the top ten certainly, maybe even drop out of the top 30 or 40 or 50. Who are we seeing that's most... First of all, if you were going to tell me that Justin Rose was going to have the sort of year that he had this past year. I mean, Rosie, he got left off the Ryder Cup team, didn't he John? Yeah, yeah.
Could you ever imagine? Well I'll tell you Jay, that's why it's interesting to do this stuff. When life things change and some injuries, I think he was having some kind of chronic on and off back troubles over time. You know, then you make adjustments, you say my back's better, but what kind of adjustments did you make?
That's why, you know, it's the nature of the beast. So, when I look at the list, and I really like this guy, and he's third for this year, I'm going to have to say Dustin Johnson. I think Dustin's priorities in life have changed. I don't see him as fit as I've seen him in the past. I think it might be a little bit of been there, done that.
He's got a, I would assume, an extremely healthy bank account. I'm unfortunately going to have to pick Dustin as my guy who's going to have a big slip this year. It's interesting, you know, it's interesting when the way that he played at the Ryder Cup, the oldest player on the Ryder Cup team, they were kind of calling him grandpa up there, how old is he, 35 I think? Yeah, yeah.
I'll tell you who I think is going to fall off the planet is Brooks Koepka. I don't know why I'm saying that, but I'm going with that. I, it's just odd, there's just something odd about this guy. He's uberly talented.
And, but I just, I don't, I don't see this thing having a lot of longevity. Well, he had been so caught up into minutia, it appears, and maybe that's just part of the game. Maybe he enjoys that, but it seems to me to be a distraction. Now he's, he was only 16th this year anyway, but you think he's going to fall, fall off that 16th. There's another guy that doesn't necessarily play a whole ton. I think he's healthy now. I don't, I think that's accurate. I know he has some issues, but I think those are behind him.
I'm not sure, but that's who you're saying is going to have a big drop. Well, that, that would be something if he did, that would be something meat. You want to toss your iron in the fire on who's going to can't be, can't be Nicholas and it can't be Norman meat. Can't be Nicholas and can't be Norman. What kind of, what kind of situation you put me in here? Here's one.
No helping, no helping me. He's got to give us a name. I'm wondering about Rory. Ooh, that's a good guy. That's I got to, I tell you, I really, really like him as a human. He's a great guy. He's definitely got, um, man, you know, John, when I look and see how he kind of broke down at the Ryder cup and, and was emotional at the Ryder cup, I felt like my love for him as a player just went way up when he was that honest. And, um, and it meant that much to him. Uh, you know, he was also the sort of guy meat that said, I don't really, I don't get that upset about my own personal, you know, failures or the things that I've kind of gaffed. Um, but this thing for the team, it really, really kicked his ass.
And I was going to say Sergio, but he's already fallen. You know, I'll go, I'll go to talk about Rory for a second to what you just said, Jay, I am definitely a Rory fan. I think he's battling significance big time. Again, I think it's just the guy that's got a pocket, like a pocket, a bank full of money. I've been there, done that, uh, establishing and setting a family, uh, has other priorities. And I think what we've seen is that struggle between, you know, how, how, how much do I want to give of myself to, to do this again? And obviously I'm playing a long distance, a psychologist here. But I think meat may have picked a very, very interesting strategic look because I'm, my bet would be he could also rise and absolutely dominate again, or he could fall off the ledge.
I think it's interesting. So as usual, meat could either be extremely right or grossly wrong, but I'm usually right. That's usually how that works out. That's right. It sure does.
Oh, well, I'm often wrong, but seldom in doubt. So that's the way that I attack this thing. And we'll see what happens here. Uh, that is going to wrap up the back nine.
So don't call anywhere. John and I'll be back with more, uh, golf with Jay Delson. Hi, this is Bob Costas and you're listening to golf with Jay Delson. I am with my buddy, Joe Schiezer from USA Mortgage. Hi Jay, how are you?
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An ultrasound is really, really good. All right, guys, we're going to have to wrap up our player take, our previews. And all in all, you know, as we wrap up 2021, the Ryder Cup, I thought it was a great year for golf. And I thought that the way that it ended for the red, white and blue and the thorough thrashing of Europe up at Whistling Straits was just almost like the perfect cherry on top to a really interesting year of golf. We lost Tiger Woods in terms of a competitor. We almost lost him as a human.
He's back. He's kind of teasing people with a little bit of where he is in his life and what's going on. And now we're going to go to 2022 and we got some predictions. And I think it's going to be fun. Absolutely. I think the other thing we didn't talk enough about is the Ryder Cup. I'll just throw it out there a little bit. Jay, don't you think there's a couple of guys that kind of took the next level of confidence in themselves, their game, their being able to be on the world stage, because that is a unique world stage.
It's not like a regular tour event. And I think guys like some of the younger guys, Patrick Cantlay, some people like that who was already great, already had a lot of confidence. You come out of that cauldron, that pressure, and have competed and done very well. There's no doubt in my mind that you're taking the next step. And I think that's super, super interesting. I call him Omar Okawa, not that he needed more confidence. But I think he's another one of those guys. And I think we're going to see that much better things from those guys because of that. Yeah, for me, it was Scotty Scheffler who stepped up in a big way.
And he took down John Rahm in the individuals, the world number one. And he just did a lot of great things, played with Bryson DeChambeau, which could not be easy, and took it all in stride. And so, great pick by Captain Stricker, by the way, to put him on the team. Well, that was even more pressure on Scheffler because there's not a player in the world that's not going to feel that next level. Nobody else in the field is going to have that unless you've been that captain's pick because you don't want to let people down. So he's actually out there with a little bit more pressure than just about anybody else, and especially getting thrown in with Rob. So that's a great call, Jay.
That guy just had that next level of boost of injection of his confidence, which is probably why you're picking him to do great things this next year. Yeah, yeah. Okay, so John, I ran into an old friend, and we started talking about some stories, and he said he loves this show because of some of the stories we told. And I told him the story about the caddy out at Pine Valley. And I don't know if you've ever heard this story before, but there was a really famous caddy out at Pine Valley, and I think his nickname was the captain because he was kind of always in charge. And what he would do is that he'd watch the guys. A member would come up and maybe bring a guest, and he'd watch him play on the range.
And after four swings, he pretty much felt like he could club this guy. One of those caddies. One of those caddies. Yeah, he's driving. He's driving the bus.
This caddy's driving the bus, right? So they go on there having this day, and he's handing a guy a club, and the guy's just swinging, and the guy's having the best day of his life. And I forget which par three on the back nine that's got the water on it, and the guy's like one over par at Pine Valley, and he's like, man, I'm feeling so good.
You know, how far is it? He says, well, it's 165 yards. He goes, all right, that's perfect. Give me my seven iron. And the captain walks over, and the guy's got his ball teed up already, and the captain walks over with his six. And he hands him the six, and the guy goes, no, man, I'm feeling really good.
Give me the seven. And captain holds the six out in front of him. And he goes, you don't understand.
I'm hitting the seven. And he walks around captain, goes to the bag, and grabs his seven iron out of there. As he's doing that, captain walks over to his ball that's already teed up, and he squats down right in top of his ball and says, all right, Whitey, get ready to hold your little nose.
And the guy hits it straight in the water. And, oh, my gosh, we laughed at that. It's funny, the caddies, John, we've talked about this before. We've had, we've kicked around having a segment called Caddy Tales. One of the things, when, before COVID, and the business that I had was still up and running and thriving, and I don't know if it will ever come back.
I hope it does, but there are not many signs of life in that space. When we would go to different places, John, and have a cat, have a caddy and do play golf the way it was meant to be played, walking and things like that, the experience was off the chart. There's something that those, a good caddy brings to the table when you're playing. That's just, it's hard, if you've never experienced it, it's hard to get people to understand that. I think if people could be open to it, in other words, enabling them to be a little bit comfortable with it, I am with you.
I think it's the way the game needs to be played. I enjoy being a caddy. I absolutely love having a caddy when I play. I was even one of the few guys at our little course back in central Illinois that actually went out and recruited a kid or two to caddy, and I would be the only guy to have a caddy.
I just liked it. The other reason you and I are going to completely buy into this, it was good for the kids. They learned a lot. They could be around the professionals from their area to kind of have some of that rub off on them. They learned the game that way.
They learned etiquette, work ethic, et cetera. I think it fits, Jay, across the board. And relative to a bucket list, when you're telling that story, I think that could be another golfer's bucket list.
You don't even have to go anyplace necessarily way out of the way or crazy, but have a bucket list if you've never had a caddy to go have a caddy for a day or two. Yeah. It's pretty neat. And most caddies, we joke about them, and boy, there's some characters out there, but for the most part, good people. And, man, they work hard, too. That is a hard, hard job.
It is a hard, hard job. I can remember when I was playing in the Scottish Open the year that I was playing at the British Open. So I went over and played Carnoustie for the Scottish, and I went over and played St. Andrews, qualified the next week, and played St. Andrews for the British Open. And I had a guy that, Ferdy, hooked me up with a caddy, an Irish guy named Irish John. And I think I've told this story a hundred times, but I'm like, David, I'm like, Ferdy, how am I going to know how to meet him? He goes, well, he has summer teeth. I go, he has summer teeth? He goes, yes, summer over here and summer over there, but none of them are together. And I'm like, dude, how the hell am I going to meet this guy?
Quit making a joke of everything. Anyway, we got connected, and we're playing out of Carnoustie. And I remember specifically one of the first things I said to him, can I get there with this club? And you know what he said?
Eventually. And I'm like, are all you Irish guys, are you guys just a pain in the ass with all the, and we laughed so hard that he would tell stories. Irish John had 11 children from two different marriages. He was like the, one of the few Irish people divorced, you know, because Irish, the general, just do not believe in divorce. And he was telling me stories about his kids and just a, I mean, just a character.
He was also betting on me while I was playing, which I didn't know. Well, I think, I think, I think that's awesome, but there's another guy to get on the show. Track down Irish John. Pearl.
He would be the king of the caddie band. There's not a chance that Irish John is still with us. There's no chance. Oh, really?
No, there's no chance at all. If he is, he doesn't remember much. I get, because he was, I can tell you that fourth day when I was playing in the Scottish Open and the guy I was playing with was shooting a quartz record out at Carnoustie and I, he had laid all his shekels on me against him that day. He could barely walk.
He was so sad. It was anyway, but it was a hell of an experience. And the caddie portion, you know, that story of Pine Valley just reminds me of some of the fun things that happened while we were caddieing. And yeah, just, just, just, it just enhances the experience.
That's all there is to it. Is there any courses around St. Louis, Jay, that have kind of full-time caddie? Yeah. Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah. Bell Reef has some. Old Warson has a very well-established caddie program. Norwood is working on it. You know, it's a big endeavor to try to get the younger folks to show up and whenever there's a caddie there or something, I'll take them at Norwood and, you know, go have that experience and try to actually help them from a player's point of view, understand how to be a good caddie. I mean, the first and foremost is you can't lose the ball. You got to find the ball and that is really hard for some of these kids when they're not familiar with the game. You and I played the game, so we got a sense of it.
I can remember growing up with my sisters. It used to just drive my dad crazy because my sisters could never find their ball because they didn't watch it. Well, a good caddie carries an extra ball, but that's another story for another show.
Yeah, that's another story for another show. But, yeah, it's pretty interesting to just how that whole caddie thing comes around and has come around. But, yeah, there are definitely places that will let you have a caddie and let you have that experience, for sure. Well, it certainly was huge for me to learn the game and then to be able to stay in the game to be able to caddie for you the last kind of 20 years of your career, a couple, several times a year. It was a big piece of it, so... John, what do you think about... Talk just briefly, we only have a couple minutes left, but talk briefly about, do you remember any specific conversation that went in that happened in your group while you were caddying that sticks out in your mind like, whoa, because I can remember when I took Fred Kuppel's place in a pro-am out in L.A., when Fred, remember back when some of the stars would pull out of the pro-ams because they acted like they were hurt and because they didn't really want to play, and I took Fred Kuppel's place, and I can remember stepping onto the first tee and all these people are standing around expecting Fred to play, and they get me.
You know, I'm like, damn. But I remember specifically, I was playing with John Elway, who I'd played with before, and I was also playing with the president of Nissan, North America, and then the president of Nissan worldwide. He happened to be a Japanese fellow that didn't speak much English. But Bob Thomas was the president of North America, and the conversations that went on that day, John, and I was a player, not only a caddie, but not only from the caddie's perspective, it was pretty significant. And I was just starting on the PGA Tour, and I was like, wow. There's a lot of action going on inside the ropes that isn't golf-related. Well, we've talked about that a lot.
That's a great point. I think that that's one of the beauties of golf. And you can't talk about superficial nothing when you're playing golf with somebody because you're with them for four, five, six hours between practicing, playing, lunch.
You're having a beer, whatever the case might be. So you're going to get into real stuff. And so, yeah, nothing, sorry, off the top of my head, kind of completely jumped out there other than just so much of it was beyond the superficial, which is the beauty of it, what I loved. I mean, that's where you got to know these people and the humanness, the part. Yeah, they're the superstar business person and superstar athlete, but then they start talking about family and challenges and other things going on in their lives, and then you realize, yeah, they're a superstar, but guess what?
They've got the same problems, challenges, and things that I've got. And I think that's where the value of all that is. So, yeah, great, great, great point on that. That's absolutely, and again, that's what your show's about here. And that's going to wrap up another show.
That was, I can remember, Pearl, to that point, just putting a bow on this thing. I can remember these guys that I held in high esteem as a 13- and 14-year-old kid talking about some of the challenges, talking about business challenges that I didn't particularly or completely understand at the time, but realizing, like you said, no different. Everybody's facing down the same sort of battles and trying to figure it all out. Yeah, when the truth comes out, that's worth that. Not that people are hiding it, but you need that opportunity, that time for the trust and stuff to build, and again, that's what golf can do for you. Yep. All right, Pearl, that's going to wrap it up. Thanks for being with me. Come back next week for more of Golf with Jay Delsing. Let's grow this great game, St. Louis.
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