The Open Championship with Jason Sobel of The Action Network, Sirius/XM

This is the best of the Adam Gold Show Podcast brought to you by Coach Pete at Capital Financial Advisory Group.

Visit us at capitalfinancialusa.com. This is the Adam Gold Show. I think that he's saying what he has to say for Sam's sake too, right? But they did not make this trade for Sam Darnold to beat Baker Mayfield out.

Yeah, that would be a loss if Sam Darnold beat out Baker Mayfield. It's the Adam Gold Show. I'm Adam Gold.

Dennis Cox on the ones and twos. Yeah, that whole thing makes me laugh that Scott Fitter is talking about, well, it's an open competition. I mean, may the best man win. Nah, man. The best man better be Baker Mayfield. He didn't do this for Baker to back up Sam Darnold. No.

I know it didn't cost you anything except $5 million in cap room, which you might need at some point. Anyway, we will hear from Baker Mayfield who met the media in Charlotte for the first time yesterday. We will also hear from the secretary of the RNA, Martin Slumbers, who had some things to say about the state of the game of golf in advance of the Open Championship, which is now under 12 hours away. The 20, I'm sorry, the 1999 champion, Paul Laurie, who won at Carnoustie when John Vanderbilt got lost. Went full tin cup. Holy cow.

Well, Paul Laurie will fire the first tee ball, but Charlotte's own Webb Simpson will be next on the team. All right. But I want to start with the wall of sound with an old friend.

The wall of sound is a function of this studio. There's no doubt about it. There's really no reason to play this other than it's Steve Spurrier.

Yes. So, I mean, we haven't really talked about this today, but Steve Spurrier talking about the state of college football and specifically the shiniest object left on the board. Notre Dame. I would think that they would get into the modern times and join a conference and play for the conference championship and go from there. But seems like they want to stay independent, but I would think it would really be a lot bigger deal if they did join either the Big Ten or the ACC and go from there. We'd all be a fan if they join the ACC. Look, I think there's a chance if Notre Dame joined the ACC. Remember, Notre Dame has been willingly making less money from athletics for a long time.

Willingly making less money. Because that's not what their priorities are. But there's a chance if Notre Dame was willing to join the ACC full time, which we'd all like, that we would have four major conferences. So the ACC could add Notre Dame, a 16th school, whoever that is. I got a note yesterday that somebody tells me that Connecticut, Jim Mora, who's the head coach of Connecticut. He is recruiting as though Connecticut is about to become an ACC school. I am not advocating for that.

I am simply passing that along because I chuckled. Anyway, it wouldn't matter who the extra the 16th school was if Notre Dame was 15. Regardless, if Notre Dame joins the league, the Big 12 can expand to become more stable.

We talked about Arizona, Arizona State, blah, blah, blah. That would certainly leave some attractive football properties out there. I don't think the Pac-12 would really be viable economically, but I don't know. But we could end up down the road with four conferences at 16 to 18 teams each.

It's very possible. But Notre Dame would have to be motivated to do that. The only way Notre Dame would be motivated to do that would be if the playoff included conference champions. You had to be in a conference to be in the playoff.

And with Jack Swarbrick on the committee, I don't think that's going to be part of the criteria. Alright, let's get to Baker Mayfield. We already heard him getting ready to have his first Bojangles. Why wouldn't he want a Bo Berry biscuit? I don't know. My dog loves the Bo Berry biscuits.

I'm sure. Oh, Earl. Devours them. Devours the Bo Berry biscuits. He always asks, if we go out for breakfast, bring me a Bo Berry biscuit.

Always does. Alright, so here's Baker Mayfield. What would be the first question you would ask Baker Mayfield? Are you looking forward to playing your former team week one? The second question might be, do you believe you were brought here to be the starter?

Nobody has the mentality of being a backup. We're at this level because we compete to be the very best. And that's why Sam's here as well. And that's why Matt Corral just got drafted and PJ Walker's competed and fought through a lot of adversity as well. And so, you know, my intention is to become the best quarterback I can be, help this team win. And that's why I'm happy to be in Carolina is this, you know, I feel like the team's very close to being really, really good. We just had to put the pieces together and come together as a team. And however that happens, you know, I'm going to do my job.

I'm going to, you know, fill whatever role is to be expected of me and be a great leader and a great teammate. I've said this before about Baker Mayfield, whatever you think about his talent. Mayfield, more so than Sam Darnold, carries himself like a number one quarterback. Not only like a number one, I think Baker Mayfield carries himself like a franchise quarterback.

I'm like, I'm not kidding. I don't think his ability is franchise quarterback, but I think his attitude is. Whether that matters or not, we'll find out.

All right. He mentioned that the Panthers are close to me in a playoff team. Well, are they, Baker? I can't say that for certain yet because I've only talked to guys over the phone, even when I came in the facility. Everybody's on vacation.

So, you know, I'm not going to put any predictions out there by any means. But just the feel of the guys that are so welcoming, it feels like this really good camaraderie. Feels like everybody's on the same page. And that's a great foundation to build something special.

So we'll see where we can go with it. Here are my quick thoughts. And I'm sure, Dennis, you have some thoughts on the Panthers, too. I like what they did with the offensive line. If Iki Iquanu can be a starter for them week one, he doesn't have to be awesome.

But if he can play, if he can get on the field and play week one and you can slide Christiansen inside to left guard. Yeah. And they have the makings of a legitimately good offensive line. Yeah. Right.

Here's the thing. Their whole line only needs to be like middle of the pack. Like if you were to rank them like 15, that's a far beyond upgrade where it was last year.

Well, how hard is it to upgrade? Well, like we talk about the bar being low, right? Their offensive line was terrible last year. I actually think they have the makings of a top 10 offensive line.

I won't disagree with you. And it hinges on how good Iki Iquanu is basically by, let's just say, week five. OK, so offensive line is taken care of. Christian McCaffrey obviously needs to be healthy. I don't love their receivers.

I'm not going to move off that. I think they have a bottom 10 receiving core, not just wide receivers. And I'm removing Christian McCaffrey from that, although maybe I shouldn't. D.J. Moore, really good.

Robbie Anderson, I could do without. We'll see if Terrace Marshall becomes a real player. But I just don't love the receiving options for that team. And that is my biggest fear with them offensively, defensively. I think they could use first of all, they have to stay healthy in the interior of the defensive line. I don't think they're their defensive line is awesome. I think if they stay healthy, they'll be good. Yeah, but it's so I don't believe it's the best part of that team defensively. We'll see if they're good in the middle of the field in terms of linebacker. I think they're better on the edges with the linebacker. And I think their secondary can be good. Yeah, right. I think their secondary can be legitimately good.

Again, probably need some help. But I think I'll be surprised if they're really challenging for a playoff spot by let's just say like we get past Thanksgiving and we go, hey, that team has a legit chance to make the playoffs, not winning out to make the playoffs, but to go. I don't even know how many games are after Thanksgiving. Let's just say they go four and three after Thanksgiving to potentially to make the playoffs. I'll be surprised if we get to that point.

But I like I like Baker Mayfield's attitude. Adam Golden Studio with my friend Coach Pete DeRuta with the Capital Financial Advisory Group. We are talking retirement. Coach, how does longevity risk figure into our retirement and income plan?

This is the best of times and the worst of times, Adam. The longevity risk means we're going to live too long. But to me, every day I live is not too long. Right.

Absolutely. So we want our money to outlive us. And unfortunately, many people have seen you out there listening, maybe one of them. Your money is not designed to outlive you. You might outlive your money. And that's not what we want to have happen, because when we get to that day after you run out of money, it's not going to be a fun time. So let's design a plan that guarantees you'll never run out of money. We call it the GPI plan, Growth Protection Lifetime Income. For the next 10 people, this is a golden ticket, Adam. $1,000 value, we're going to do it at no cost or obligation. And all you have to do is call. We make it so easy.

Would you like financial independence into your retirement and beyond it? 800-661-7383. That golden ticket is a $1,000 value.

Or you could text Adam to 21000 for Coach Pete DeRuta. Alright, to the Royal and Ancient. They're at the Old Course. Did you know the home of golf? Yes, the home of golf. It's interesting.

We won't sabotage this. We'll see how many times Jason Sobel is in violation of not mentioning that we're at the home of golf. See that. Alright, Martin Slumbers is the, I guess the secretary of the RNA. He is the leader of the governing body of golf for the rest of the world.

The USGA here, RNA everywhere else. And the main conversation around the sport has been PGA Tour and Liv. And Slumbers is not a fan of the Breakaway Tour. Professional golfers are entitled to choose where they want to play. And to accept the prize money that's offered to them. I have absolutely no issue with that at all.

But there is no such thing as a free lunch. I believe the model we've seen at Centurion and Pumpkin Ridge is not in the best long-term interests of the sport as a whole and is entirely driven by money. We believe it undermines the merit-based culture and the spirit of open competition that makes golf so special. So that's talking about the Liv tournaments and a format. It leads into the next thing. And that is official World Golf rankings points.

So let's get to Slumbers talking about the potential for the RNA. We've already heard this from the USGA to re-evaluate qualifying to get into the open. Looking ahead to the open next year, we have been asked quite frequently about banning players. Let me be very clear.

That's not on our agenda. But what is on our agenda is that we will review our exemptions and qualifications criteria for the open. And whilst we do that every year, we absolutely reserve the right to make changes as our Open Championships Committee deems appropriate. Players have to earn their place in the open, and that is fundamental to its ethos and its unique global appeal. So here's where I say the RNA is not in competition with Liv. People need to understand that it's not about competing.

The RNA is a governing body like the USGA is a governing body. They are free to change their qualifications, but they won't have to. Even if the World Golf rankings award points to Liv events.

And they could do that. Now, Liv events would have to change. There will be no rankings points at all afforded to Liv events if they stay at 48 player fields.

Forget about the cut. 48 player fields over 54 holes. No chance of getting World Golf rankings points. If they expand their field to 70 players and 72 holes, then maybe.

They'll be reduced, but they have a better chance of getting points at that point. Also, you need to play more than eight events. You need to play more than 10 events actually to qualify as a tour for official World Golf rankings points. And once you qualify, there's a one year lag before you actually earn points. So with all of that said, the earliest that live events would gain points would be for the 2024 season. By that point, there isn't a player on that tour who would qualify for a major championship.

None. They'll all be ranked outside the top 200 based on the way the rankings are tabulated, even if they were to get points. So it's going to be difficult for these current players without playing on another tour. And I would offer that a lot of these guys will probably play Asian tour events where points are available and you can stay in the top 100. That's where I think a lot of these players will end up playing if the PGA Tour and the European tour do not allow them into their fields, which is within their rights, I believe. Anyway, that's where we are with that.

And I'm still looking forward to golf. And I'm not rooting against Dustin Johnson or any of these guys for the decisions that they made. Truth is, is that none of those guys really played all that well.

It's kind of amazing. None of them have played well. DJ has not had a good year and a half. Brooks Koepka has been hurt.

Patrick Reed's not played well. If you go and look at the best players in terms of performance who are playing live golf events, you've never heard of the players who have won. Yeah, I don't know.

I'm like, I'm serious. Legit don't know if you look in the last 12 months. I promise you, most of you have never heard of the live tour players who actually have victories anywhere on any tour in the last 12 months.

And that is maybe in large part why some of these guys went. June 19th, 2006. But it all started May 6th, 1997 with the announcement that the Hartford Whalers were coming to North Carolina.

It's a story of transition, of heartbreak, of figuring it out on the fly. The Canes Corner look at the 25th anniversary of the move presented by the Aluminum Company of North Carolina. Listen now. Find Canes 25th anniversary wherever you get your podcast.

Before we get to our next guest, Jason Sobel, Action Network and Sirius XM. Remember that good feeling we had when the Hurricanes looked like they were going to be signing Mason Marshman? Yeah.

Yeah, well, didn't work out. He signs a four year, four and a half million dollar annual deal with the Dallas Stars. So the late bloomer, offensively productive winger, great size, 6'4", will play with Dallas. Make them even harder to play against than they already are. And the Hurricanes still out there looking for somebody, maybe to play with Jordan Stahl and Jesper Fosse, but somebody to add to the forward mix.

And they desperately need them. Oh, brother, this guy stinks! That's unfortunate because I think Marshman would have been a really good addition to the Hurricanes, but... You know what? Don't want him anymore. Don't want him.

Don't like him. You're over. That guy stinks. You're over. Didn't even want him in the first place. He stinks. You're over, Mason Marshman. Dallas stinks. He had like 10 points in one week or a short stretch of games last year.

He was incredibly productive in a short period of time. All right, it's time to talk a little bit about the open championship. For that, Jason Sobel from Action Network at Jason Sobel, T-A-N, on Twitter, also with Sirius XM. And I was listening, Jason, as I drove home yesterday, and I thought we would maybe not start with talking about antitrust claims. I have done a few other radio interviews this week, Adam, where I was asked about this antitrust investigation from the Department of Justice, and my answer to this is I'm not the brightest dude in the world.

I got into this business because watching other people play golf is about all I'm qualified to do. So when we start talking about, like, smart people stuff and, like, law-talking stuff, I am out of my depth. So, I mean, I can sit here and talk about it, but I'm not going to make any sense. Right.

Like, I think I have a grasp of it, but I'm certainly not an expert, and I don't want to talk about it right now anyway. But let me ask you this, because Tiger talked about – and this is not about antitrust – Tiger gave his thoughts on Liv yesterday. What did you make – Tiger doesn't, you know, essentially point the finger at anybody. Tiger has been the double yellow line in the middle of the road forever. What did you make of Tiger yesterday? From what I've heard, I think we all like to believe that Tiger sort of abides by the old Michael Jordan law of, you know, Republican where seekers do.

And, you know, I've got a sell product, and I'm not taking a stance on anything because I don't want to push anybody away. And the fact that Tiger in the later stages of his career has not only gained perspective – I mean, he spoke so eloquently about the celebration of the 150th Open Championship this week and what it's like to be back in St. Andrews. But he's also sort of gotten this voice of, you know, hey, I want to speak out. And I think a lot of this might have to do with the fact that his two good buddies, maybe his two best buddies on the PGA Tour right now, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas, guys that he hangs out with a lot back at home, guys that he talks to nearly every day. They have been very vocal in their support of the PGA Tour. From what I've heard, and I might have gotten this from one of those two players, Tiger has been very involved behind the scenes, speaking with PGA Tour brass, speaking with players. I think Tiger's influence probably isn't recognized by the public as much as it could or should be, and probably he doesn't want it that way. I've said for years that I could envision a scenario where Tiger's never the Ryder Cup captain, except Tiger's the Ryder Cup captain. What I mean by that is, hey, that guy could go fly over to Rome and do some press conferences and some photo ops, but on Thursday night when we're putting the pairings together for Friday morning, that's me.

I'm doing that. And so I think Tiger likes working behind the scenes. Tiger doesn't need any more fanfare.

He doesn't need any more adulation. He doesn't need to get any credit for anything he's doing, but I think he likes sort of being involved and being influential on this stuff. And don't underestimate how involved Tiger has been within the PGA Tour. I wouldn't be surprised based on his words about Greg Norman and how he supported the RNA cessation. I wouldn't be surprised if someone with the RNA, maybe they're not necessarily listening to Tiger and doing what he says they should do, I wouldn't be surprised if he spoke with someone from the RNA at some point over the last few months, so they say, hey, you think Greg will be a distraction? What's your opinion here?

What should we do? And Tiger voiced his opinion. He is very influential in the world of golf, not necessarily publicly all the time, but I think behind the scenes.

And so I think we're sort of getting a taste of that now. Yeah, he's very vocal about Liv. And it's about what I expected.

I thought he would sort of mirror the comments of Worry and Justin Thomas. And he really did that, you know, speaking out in favor of the PGA Tour saying, hey, you know, I got into this to be competitive, to play real events, to win big titles, to have a legacy. I know that a lot of people sit here and say, yeah, that's easy to say when you've got a billion dollars in the bank already and these guys are trying to collect a nice paycheck at the end of their career. But a lot of it makes sense from Tiger's perspective. I get it.

No, I absolutely get it. Number of things I want to get to, but I want to get to players too, like who could win. First of all, what chance do you give Tiger, not of winning, of getting to the weekend with, hey, if he goes 66-66?

I think there's a decent chance of it. I think Tiger plays very similar to what he did at the Masters, but on maybe a bit higher level, if that makes sense. So, Tiger played pretty well for the first round, pretty well for the second round, got it around on Friday that week and made the cut and then fell off the pace a little bit.

I can see him doing the same thing but a little bit better. I think maybe the issue for Tiger this week, if there's going to be an issue, is that St. Andrews is going to play easier, I believe, than it has in the past. There's no sideways rain.

It's going to be 70 degrees and sunny. It's going to be a 10-20 mile an hour breeze flowing through there, which isn't going to be that detrimental to score. I think Tiger's best chance to win an Open Championship, it's not going to be 45 degrees and the wind blowing 50 miles an hour. I don't know that his body can handle that. It's probably better for his body, but it's going to be something in the 10-12 under par range where, hey, I can grind out some bars. I don't have to keep up with everybody making those birdies. I don't know that through 72 holes, Tiger can make as many birdies as rewarding McElroy as a John Rahm, a Scotty Shepper. I don't know that he's got that offense of firepower still, but I do think he's going to play very well this week. I do too.

I think the winning score could be somewhere in the 20s, which is going to shake people down, because the wind looks like it's going to be across, not in to anybody, so the holes are going to play pretty short. Jason Sobel of the Action Network and Sirius XM is joining us here. Do you think Rory is in any way exhausted from carrying this torch at all? Yeah, a little bit. I do. I spoke with him at length a few weeks ago after the first round of the Traveler's Championship. It's kind of off to the side.

We got there and talked for maybe 45 minutes or so, me and him and another writer. And yeah, I get the sense that he's pulling two directions, and it's not by anyone else. He's sort of pulling himself in two directions. One is, I want to be a leader. I want to voice my opinion.

I want to tell people what I think. And the other part of it is, man, it's getting really tiring when I shoot a 62 at Hartford and I walk off the golf course with people like, hey, what do you think about this Lib thing? And I've got to make my opinion stone again, because that's all anyone seems to ask about. I think that Rory does understand probably better than other players. And you get this, Adam. And I don't know how much the public gets on how much your listeners get it, but there are different media outlets at every single event. And so when Rory walks off the golf course in Hartford, maybe the people that have asked him about this over and over and over again in the previous week aren't there, but it might be new reporters from a new outlet who are there.

They say, oh, here's my one chance to worry about this. And so I'm here. He's here. I'm going to ask him about it. And so I think he understands that. But, yeah, I think he's a little exasperated, might not be the best term for it. But, yeah, it's wearing on him a little bit. But he does such a good job of speaking his mind. And it's not about whether you agree or disagree with Rory. It's about just respecting the fact that he has an opinion on this. He stated his opinion very eloquently. In that time that I spent speaking with him, I can tell you that not only is he intelligent on all these matters, he has educated himself to the point where if I didn't know he was Rory McElroy and he told me he was a PGA Tour vice president of business affairs, and he was breaking down all like the 501 that the PGA Tour is and the positives and negatives that come from it and what they could change and why they would change it, I would have believed that he was a PGA Tour executive. I mean, he is very knowledgeable and I give him a ton of credit for arming himself with such knowledge because he knows he's going to be asked about it all the time.

And you like him. Is he your favorite to hoist the claret jug? Yes.

By a mile. There's so many narratives out of this week that are pointing directly at Rory McElroy. He's been eight years since he won his last major championship. He was the defending champ going into the 2015 edition at St. Andrews, but he had a little soccer injury.

I don't know. It happens to the best of us. So, couldn't play that week, couldn't defend his title, wasn't able to play on this golf course. Remember, in the open championship at St. Andrews prior to that in 2010 when Louis Ute won, Rory finished in third place with an 80 in the second round, got the bad end of the draw. He was maybe had a tee time on the other end of the draw. He might have won that thing by six. He was playing so well that week.

So, I think the court sets up well for him. And here's a little nugget for you. The 50th anniversary of the Masters Tournament was in 1986. Big celebration for the 50th. Jack Nicklaus won that year, which you probably knew. The 100th U.S. Open Championship occurred in 2000.

You probably knew that too. Tiger Woods won by 15. These big celebrations, these big anniversaries, when we celebrate what the game means and celebrate the historical perspective of it, they aren't won by, no offense, the Sean McKeels or the Ben Curtis's or guys like that. They aren't won by guys who just sort of have a good four days to happen away. They are won by licks for the game, and I think there's a lot of parallels to see with a Jack and then Tiger and then Rory.

It will be a great win because I think he is the best, he's kind of the face of the game at this point, whether he has done so by choice or not. A couple of other players. I mean, I like Rory too. I like Jordan Spieth this week. Tell me why I shouldn't love Jordan Spieth, especially at plus 1,600. The only reason I don't love Jordan Spieth is because Rory McIlroy is playing as a golfer, but I've got them ranked 1-2 in my ranking this week. And so, you know, if Rory does happen to falter, Jordan's my guy this week. I think creativity is so important at St. Andrew's, especially around the greens.

And when I sat down and I'm looking at all the names, okay, we kind of understand this. Doesn't take someone who watches a lot of golf to understand that. Who's the most creative player in the game right now? I think it's Jordan Spieth. And I fully am aware that if you're betting Jordan this week, you're going to ride the Jordan roller coaster. You're going to see, like last week at the Scottish Open, hole outs from the fairway where he's celebrating and high-fiving Michael Greller and Caddy. And then he's going to miss a four-footer-per-par on the next hole. You're like, what are you doing?

It's going to happen at some point, but I do think the positives are going to outweigh the negatives this week as well. Jason Sobel, thank you very much. You can follow him on Twitter, at JasonSobel, T-A-N. So he's got Rory Jordan Spieth going 1-2. I am rooting for Rory McIlroy.

He is the player I want to win. My pick is Jordan Spieth to win his second Clara Jug in 2015. By the way, a sneaky good longish shot pick is Marc Leishman. I think Leishman, Zach Johnson, they were in a playoff trying to think who else was in that playoff. Paul Dunn, I think, was a young kid, maybe even a rookie, who is not nearly as an accomplished, that accomplishes a player now. But Jason Day missed the playoff by a shot.

Jordan Spieth, I believe, missed the playoff by a shot. Should be a great event. And Webb Simpson, Charlotte's own, will be off the first tee in 11 hours. Looking forward to all of it. Well, I will give you updates tomorrow. Hayes Permar will give you updates tomorrow.

Real quick, and I don't know, maybe I'm scarred. Have you noticed that we have not seen anything official yet about Brett Burns? Stop scaring me, man. Don't put this out there. No, no. I think it's going to happen. It isn't final. Yes. Physicals have to be pending physicals, right?

No, they're still kind of working through some things. I have no idea, but my guess is it's probably the money that's being retained. Anyway, and the reason I'm bringing this up is because my understanding is that the Hurricanes, and they're offered a Mason Marshman. It's exactly what Dallas's was. They thought, I believe the Canes believed that Marshman was a done deal. Until he signed for the same deal in Dallas.

Well, we don't like him anymore because he stinks. We're going to wait to see what TSN says. Arturi Lekkonen, that is a great signing for Colorado. Five years, four and a half million a year.

Dynamite player. By the way, Canes announced that Don Waddell's media availability is being pushed back from three o'clock to four o'clock. Let's hope he doesn't push it back to five. You're scaring me, man. I like this.

You're putting things out there. I'm starting to sweat. This is the Adam Gold Show. Off of the crossbar, and the Hurricanes have won the Stanley Cup. June 19th, 2006, but it all started May 6th, 1997 with the announcement that the Hartford Whalers were coming to North Carolina. It's a story of transition, of heartbreak, of figuring it out on the fly. The Canes Corner look at the 25th anniversary of the move. Presented by the Aluminum Company of North Carolina. Listen now. Find Canes' 25th anniversary wherever you get your podcasts.