Does how Rory won matter?

Jason Sobel from the Action Network covers golf, but did you see, before we get to anything else, did you see the scene? Because I know you're based in Florida with Messi being introduced to 20,000 crazy fans in the pouring down rain when there was no game. Did you see that?

I did, yeah. You and I were texting about this last night and I'm a big soccer guy, which most people don't know. I still play and I've been watching my entire life and so I think it's great that he's coming here. I am sitting on a handful of Orlando City tickets. I'm a season ticket holder. We host Miami on September 24th, so if anyone wants to make the trip and wants to pay thousands of dollars to me, I will gladly accept.

Oh my gosh, I was so gonna end up on Stuff Hub. That is fantastic. The only equivalent I could make, as I flip it to golf, the only equivalent I could make would be if let's just say a tournament announces that Tiger Woods will be in the field, but before the event even starts, they have a welcome party for Tiger Woods because Tiger is the only equivalent to Messi. I believe it's Tiger Woods joining Liv, which is where you want to go with this. No, I don't.

I don't. I absolutely don't, which is funny because I was going to get to that eventually, but yeah, Tiger would be the only equivalent to Lionel Messi anything and he's probably not even, as much as we revere Tiger and what that era was all about, I'm not even sure it approaches what Messi is still doing into his mid-30s. All right, let me fold it back to golf and I'm going to ask you a goofy question about the sport in a little bit. So Rory McIlroy birdies two of his last three holes. He shoots 31 on the back nine in a pretty sustained, you know, 20 to 25 mile an hour wind at the Scottish Open yesterday. Does how Rory won matter?

Oh yes, absolutely. I think that if Rory had a four shot lead going into the final round and holds on bogeys the last two holes and wins by one, we sit there and go, I'm not so sure Rory can handle the pressure. I'm not so sure that Rory can come through in the clutch when he needs to anymore and I think there's a lot more criticism than of course winning the way he did, which was fantastic. A beautiful shot on the 17th hole to make birdie there and then a shot that he called one of the best he'll remember in his entire career from I believe 202 yards out, stuck it to 10 feet.

The video's gone all over social media, just, just the swing. I mean, I, it honestly, it looks tigress from behind when you get that angle of worry swing on 18 yesterday at the Renaissance club for the Scottish Open and you want to make it the button wins the golf tournament. I mean that the whole, the whole entirety of that 30 to 40 minute scene was, was very tigress itself and so I think Rory goes into the open this week brimming with confidence, filled with momentum and yes, I do think absolutely it matters the narrative that is Rory McIlroy that he did it the way he did it yesterday and not sort of backdooring his way into a victory.

Jason Sobel from the Action Network at Jason Sobel T-A-N on Twitter. Rory has actually admitted that at some point, at some times, sometimes he almost gets in his own way. I think he wants it so much. We really could be sitting here talking very easily about a guy who has won two of the last five majors, the Open last year, the U.S. Open this year or two of the last, yeah, two of the last five but we're obviously not. Rory has not putted well but I think more than anything he just hasn't, he hasn't been quite as sharp from, you know, his approach shots to give himself great opportunities.

I thought that was more the issue at the Open Championship. Does this maybe unlock him? I think he alluded to it after because if it unlocks him and he starts to win majors again, he's certainly at the top of his game. He could go on another run.

He certainly could. I mean, look, you and I both host sports radio shows where we're going to say if Rory wins this week, boy, he unlocked something. Yeah, yeah, this is just the start of another era of Rory McIlroy where he could get up to 10 major championships and if he doesn't win this week, the narrative is going to be, well, he peaked one week too early and boy, Rory can win those non-major events but he gets into majors and he can't get it done anymore. We'll go into next year encroaching on a full decade since his last major victory and so essentially, whatever happens this week, we've got stuff to talk about.

That said, I don't know that it's necessarily as black and white as that. I think that it would be very surprising if Rory is not in the mix at Royal Liverpool this week, the last time a player won the week before a major championship and then won that major championship. It was Rory McIlroy back in 2014 when that major happened to be the open championship at Royal Liverpool where they're playing this week. So, there are a whole lot of parallels to what he's trying to do again this week and so again, I think that we'll probably be too far on either side of this, Adam. If Rory wins this week, we're going gaga about what it means for Rory, what it means for the sport. I don't know if he's ever going to win again. I don't know if he can get it done. I don't know if either of those things are necessarily that's true.

I don't know if it's either that far to either side of things on the spectrum. I'm going to take it one step further. The last two winners at Hoylake, Royal Liverpool, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy each won the following major, Tiger and the PGA Championship in six. Rory won the PGA in 2014 at Valhalla and the Masters would be the next major. Look, I'm admittedly in the bag for Rory McIlroy.

I like him on many levels. Real quick, because I know Rory has been super outspoken about being anti-live golf, but without getting into Rory's thoughts about this, do you get a sense that we are going to see some sort of a blend of these two circuits anytime soon? Not soon. The more this lingers, the more I get a sense that 2024 is status quo and another transition year in 2025 is when we really see any palpable changes in the world of golf.

I think that we're almost too far gone at this point. It's mid-July right now. The season ends for the PGA Tour at the end of next month. They're going to want to put together a schedule for the next season, which starts up very, very soon thereafter.

The schedule ends for the DP World Tour in the fall and for live golf in the fall. I just think it's too much for them to put together without necessarily having all the right legal jurisdictions to do this as well. Whether it's the Department of Justice, whether it's these Senate hearings that are going on at some point, they're going to need some finality on that. I don't think that's happening anytime soon. Either Jay Monahan, PGA Tour Commissioner, is back on the job for the first day today in about three or four weeks. That's certainly halted some of their plans as well. The more this lingers, like I said, the more I think that 2024 is essentially going to be the PGA Tour as we've known it over the last couple of years, live golf as we've known it, the DP World Tour as we've known it. Then we essentially give ourselves another year to try to figure out what all of this is going to be moving forward in 2025 is when we see those changes.

All right, because you do this for a living. Who do you like and who are the best values? We know Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm right now I believe are the favorites at plus 800. Rory would be next at plus a thousand as odds I saw this morning.

Who do you like? Yeah, I think Rory's at the top of the board. Rory and Scottie are a little bit ahead of Jon right now with everything that I'm seeing, but in any case it's close between the three of them. At the top, I think it's going to be a very chalky week, Adam. I hate to say it or actually, you know what? I hate to say it from a betting perspective.

I love to say it from a fan perspective because if it's a chalky week, what that means is, okay, we're probably not cashing lottery tickets, but it's going to be really fun to watch with a lot of superstars in the mix on Sunday afternoon. I'm going just below those top three players to a guy who's still got a fairly short number, right around 20 to one, but I've had Victor Hobbins circled for this golf tournament for a long time now. Victor Hobbins guy that Tita green is just about as good as anyone not named Scottie Scheffler.

It does not take out a wedge around the greens on a links golf course, which I think can neutralize his disadvantage on courses like this. And so I think that he's got all the makings of being a top four, top five player in the world with those top three solidified where they are right now. And I think that he is ready to take that next step and become a major champion.

So like I said, I think it's a chalky week. I think Rory plays well. He's in the mix.

I think Scottie plays well. He's in the mix. Rom plays well, really like Terrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Ricky Fowler.

I mean, these are all big names. They're all guys with pretty short prices next to their names, but Victor Hobbins guy for me this week. You mentioned Ricky Fowler. Fowler's obviously had a breakthrough season or break, a re-breakthrough I guess. I saw him at plus 8,000.

I love that number, but also if I could just kick it forward a little bit, your thoughts on whether or not he'll be part of Team USA. Hang on. Plus 8,000. Adam, you need to refresh on your browser. What is it? 8,000. You may have had the same website up since January. What is he at now?

Plus 1800 to plus 2200. Maybe I just can't see Jason. It's very possible that I can't see. Yeah. Plus 8,000 to be a very good number on Rick.

Yes. I would say that as of right now, I would be more surprised if Ricky is not on the team than on the team. This always becomes a numbers game, so it's less about quote unquote who deserves it. Really, I think the captains have largely done an average job over the years. I will say this is both the American captain and the European captain over the years. This tends to be not just a popularity contest, but a contest of when it comes down to the captain's picks of which there will be six this year.

Six automatic picks and six will get chosen and picked for the team. That said, I feel like it too often goes to the players who quote unquote deserve it and not the players who fit that golf course. I mean, we're looking from a betting perspective every single week on course fits and who might play well in a certain place when it comes to captains picking their teams for the Ryder cup. I feel like too often they're like, well, so-and-so had a really good year. What does it matter if a guy played well at Torrey Pines back in January to see if he's gonna play well in Rome in the fall?

There's no bearing on that whatsoever. That said, all those things said, I think Ricky has, first of all, popularity and marketability on his side, which don't underrate the fact that captains might be pushed just a little bit in a certain direction to get a certain player on the team, which Ricky's been one of those guys in the past. He's got the, he deserves it on the side. He's had a huge year, not only that victory of the rocket mortgage, but for those who haven't been paying attention, Ricky's played like a top 10 player on the tour throughout the entire year. And then he's got the course fit, which is, you know, the Marco Simeone golf course that's hosting this in Rome is not a bomb and gouge type place. It's going to be a shot makers golf course should fit Ricky Fowler as well.

So with all of those things working in his favor, I'd be very surprised if he's not on the team. Ricky. Okay. I cannot wait, by the way, for some reason, I use draft Kings sports book and all they had up were odds for the PGA. I did. Well, why would I think their odds were for the PGA for next year? For some insane reason. But yes, Ricky I've, I've seen now at what, like 22 to one.

So that's, that's a lot more, but I still like that. And I'm, I'm also team Fowler, but not over team Ricky. Jason Sobel. Good luck selling your, your tickets for the inter Orlando match coming up in September. I will talk to you soon. Thanks buddy.

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