Golf Nuts

Today, we tear into the Player of the Year debate—dominance vs. history and dive into an opinion breakdown of strokes gained and what it means for you. Then, we test some wild 1 million to 1 odds on our 2026 predictions with $600 on the line and share outlandish scenes from golf’s strangest stories around the globe.

Golf Nuts keeps it tight, confident, and sharp. Never afraid to roast a hot take or test the limits. Get in the mix—comments fuel our madness.
See you in the fairway.

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In EP 5 We Cover:
  • Rory’s career Grand Slam vs. Scotty’s record-shattering season
  • How Player of the Year is voted—peers, media, or narrative-building?
  • What strokes gained really tells us—beyond the vibes
  • 2026 predictions that could change the golf nuts studio forever 
  • Some golf stories so bizarre we fall out of our chairs
Community & Engagement:
  • What’s the most criminal golf story you’ve heard? Drop in the comments.
  • Rank these predictions 1-4—who’s most likely to flip 2026 golf on its head?
  • Would you try hitting approach zones like Scotty? Or fold like Rory?
Resources & Links:
Sound off in the comments and let us know your take on the future of golf! 🎙️
👍 Like what you hear? Hit that like button and let us know!
🔔 Don't miss out—subscribe for more episodes and stay in the loop!
📢 Share the love! Pass this episode along to your fellow golf enthusiasts.
💬 Got thoughts? Drop a comment and join the conversation!
🎁 Exciting news! We're unlocking giveaways at every milestone—stay tuned and be part of the fun!

00:00 - Why the Rory vs. Scotty debate is the real “battle of the season”
02:12 - How Player of the Year is voted—peers voting versus media narratives
04:22 - Stroke Gained 101: The stat that exposes what actually wins tournaments
06:12 - Rory’s legacy: Grand Slams or dominance—what matters more?
09:02 - Will Rory lose motivation now that he’s ‘crossed the big one’?
11:43 - If Scotty had won double majors and Rory only two, who takes POY?
14:16 - Stroke Gained explained: The secret sauce behind elite performance
17:05 - Origin story of Stroke Gained—Mark Brody’s genius stat
19:53 - Why green zones matter—approach strategies of tour pros
22:10 - The wildest golf stories—unexploded ordnances, secret poopers, and 11-hole-in-ones
39:37 - Golf’s secret societies and bunker mysteries—2025’s craziest tales
43:14 - Next episode teaser: How YouTube golf is taking over pro tours
  • (00:00) - - Why the Rory vs. Scotty debate is the real “battle of the season”
  • (02:12) - - How Player of the Year is voted—peers voting versus media narratives
  • (04:22) - - Stroke Gained 101: The stat that exposes what actually wins tournaments
  • (06:12) - - Rory’s legacy: Grand Slams or dominance—what matters more?
  • (09:02) - - Will Rory lose motivation now that he’s ‘crossed the big one’?
  • (11:43) - - If Scotty had won double majors and Rory only two, who takes POY?
  • (14:16) - - Stroke Gained explained: The secret sauce behind elite performance
  • (17:05) - - Origin story of Stroke Gained—Mark Brody’s genius stat
  • (19:53) - - Why green zones matter—approach strategies of tour pros
  • (22:10) - - The wildest golf stories—unexploded ordnances, secret poopers, and 11-hole-in-ones
  • (39:37) - - Golf’s secret societies and bunker mysteries—2025’s craziest tales
  • (43:14) - - Next episode teaser: How YouTube golf is taking over pro tours

Creators and Guests

Host
Brian Harstine
A passionate player and creator, Brian lives deep in all things golf, bringing the game’s most relatable conversations to the channel—on the course and behind the mic. A former junior tour standout with more than a few scholarship offers, he shifted into a career as an award-winning film producer/director before spending the last nine years leading innovation in financial technology. Brian mixes business insight with a 2-(sometimes 4) handicap, diving into gear, pros, courses, culture, and everything that makes golf addictive.
Host
Josh Lynn
That big swing energy part of the team, and a strong +/- 7 handicap killer in a low key money game. He is the natural and sometimes odd voice of the modern golf fan; From Youtube's latest, to gear talk to course stories and the chaos of weekend rounds, Josh brings perspective, humor, and personality to the Golf Nuts crew.
Host
Patrick Baird (PB)
By day, Patrick lives in the world of venture, but he found his second calling as a true golf nut. An enthusiast rocking one of the best 7 Handicaps, who loves the heart and tradition of the game, helping shape the show’s signature style with quick takes, thoughtful analysis, and a competitor’s mindset. His perspective brings balance and depth from gear and culture to the guts of the game itself.

What is Golf Nuts?

Golf Nuts is the golf worlds group chat; where golf culture, competition, and golf entertainment collide. Real takes, real debates, and zero corporate nonsense. We discuss the shots, the gear, the trends, and the moments every golfer knows / wants to know—whether you’re a scratch player or just here for the vibes. Where a perfect blend of real love for the game meets laid-back, entertaining YouTube golf vibes lives.

👍 Like what you hear? Hit that like button and let us know!
🔔 Don't miss out—subscribe for more episodes and stay in the loop!
📢 Share the love! Pass this episode along to your fellow golf enthusiasts.
💬 Got thoughts? Drop a comment and join the conversation!
🎁 Exciting news! We're unlocking giveaways at every milestone—stay tuned and be part of the fun!

Follow Golf Nuts Everywhere ⛳️
▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@golfnutsofficial
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/golfnutsofficial
🐦 X (Twitter): https://x.com/golfnutsx
🌐 Official Site: https://golfnutsofficial.com

Speaker 1:

Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. In today's episode, we take a shot at killing a few myths. We're breaking down what strokes gained is and why it lies to your ego.

Speaker 1:

We're sorting out the player of the year debate, dominance versus history, Scottie versus Rory, and we're putting real money on the line with wild 2026 predictions that we'll have to answer for later.

Speaker 2:

We're also giving away the Rapturdo launch monitors. So like, comment, subscribe. Follow us on on YouTube. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, all the major socials. First 200 subscribers, one of you all will text this out.

Speaker 1:

That's right. So share it with your friends guys because the faster we get to that 200 number on both Instagram and YouTube, the faster we're gonna announce that giveaway. We're gonna make these as often as we possibly can and we're gonna keep leveling up those prizes for you guys. So, get in there, get in the comments, share with your friends.

Speaker 3:

So, first on the show, we're talking about a little bit of controversy in the most recent PGA Tour Player of the Year award. What it really boils down to is, should this player of the year recognition really reward the most dominant season or the more historic season because you have what it came down to was Rory McElroy, obviously, a four time winner, I believe, won at Pebble, the players and the Masters completing the career grand slam versus Scottie Scheffler, six time winner, two majors taking him to PGA at Quail Hollow and the the the Open Championship this past year. Scottie ended up winning the Jack Nicklaus award. It is voted on by your peers while Rory obviously created the Grand Slam, therein lies the controversy. The players themselves clearly voted for dominance in the form of Scottie Scheffler, But, large parts of the media and many golf fans that are read into the history of the game, argue that this historic accomplishment by Rory should outweigh a single season of stats.

Speaker 1:

So, this is a really interesting subject because you did have two pretty incredible seasons from two guys, but it's important to note how you actually get voted as player of the year. Right? So it's voted on by PGA Tour players themselves, specifically those members who have played in at least 15 official FedEx Cup events during the season. How it works? Towards the end of the season, a ballot is opened often after the tour championship occurs, within a short list of nominees selected by tour directors.

Speaker 1:

So, it's not just anyone on tour that they can vote for, the tour directors kind of put up a couple of names, and the player advisory council has a a play in that. Eligible players can cast their votes during a set window. The outcome, the player who gets the most votes from his peers wins the Jack Nicklaus trophy as player of the year.

Speaker 2:

Guys, this isn't even a debate. The PGA media apparatus has put together this. They want Roy to be such the sponsor, the main person for the league that they all backing him to be the player of the year. But Scottie's the better player. Scottie had the better season.

Speaker 2:

He had a world record season this last year, six wins, two majors. Yeah. Roy had a great year. He finally closed out the career grand slam. He had three wins in the PGA tour, but Scottie's the better player.

Speaker 3:

Better player right now. And statistically, absolutely the better player overall. I think the argument to the contrary would be, again, this because this is a career defining moment for Rory. Again, we're only talking about a snapshot in time. Right?

Speaker 3:

It's how did he play in 2025. But if you look at the bigger picture, Rory is now one of only, I believe, seven players to have ever won the career grand slam. And off the top of my head, oh, wow. I'm really gonna test myself here. Bobby Jones, Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Walter Hagen, Tom Watson.

Speaker 3:

Was it Sam Snead? Sam Snead did not win the career grand slam and Rory McIlroy. Someone can fact check me on that.

Speaker 1:

But Did you say Samson? I

Speaker 3:

did not say Jean Sarison.

Speaker 1:

Said Walter Hagen.

Speaker 3:

Hagen may have been before.

Speaker 1:

Hogan, not Hagen. Hogan. Ben Hogan. Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Rory McElroy. And there's quite a few that are living, and I know Rory's been on a couple podcasts, would love to get them all together, I guess, at the masters this year and do I think it was a photo shoot or something he put he he proposed.

Speaker 1:

That would be really neat, especially if they get, you know, kind of artistic with it, especially. I mean, that'll be hanging right here behind me.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. So, missed on I missed on Watson and Walter Hagen. If Scottie Scheffler didn't exist, he obviously did, it would have been Rory's beyond a shadow of a doubt. You know, just just some sound bites from him. Completing the career grand slam at Augusta is something special.

Speaker 3:

It was a heavy weight to carry and thankfully, now I don't have to carry it and it frees me up. It feels incredible, you know, this is my seventeenth time here and I started to wonder if it would ever be my time. The last ten years coming here with the burden of the grand slam on my shoulders, it was all relief. 2025 has been the year I made my dreams come true. It's the year dreams are made of.

Speaker 3:

So, obviously, a lot of deep psychological impact and personal significance there. I know we've talked a little bit on this show before about predictions for the upcoming year. What is Rory gonna do? How is he gonna perform? Does he now that he has donkey, the monkey off his back rather, not the donkey, does he go out and rip off another major or two this year and continue going on, down that path in subsequent seasons?

Speaker 3:

Or now that that weight has been lifted, does he lose motivation to go out and get it? Time will tell.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. But you also have Scotty, you know, and he praised Roy as he should, as saying he had a historic year and it seemed like it was a he said that it seemed like it was a a lot of relief for him to win. And I agree with that. He had a history he had a great year. He closed out a few that very few have ever done.

Speaker 2:

But the problem that in going off of what you just said, though, I think Roy this year 2026 is gonna let his foot off the gas. I don't think that because the monkey's gone now, of a he's going to be able to play loose and 40. I think that he's just gonna have a fall off year.

Speaker 1:

See, that's that's what we've talked about in the past. If you tuned into a couple prior episodes, you hear some of our takes on this. And, I mean, if you've played tournament golf at a very high level, you understand the pressure, Especially for some guys that are just coming on tour or they don't have big sponsorships, these guys need to make a career earning out of it. Once you get to Rory's level, they don't really as much worry about where they're gonna end up, you know, if they're gonna be selling insurance in a couple years or or not because he's he's made his career. It's huge.

Speaker 1:

You know, he's completed everything he's wanted to complete according to Scotty.

Speaker 3:

And winning an away Ryder Cup after that.

Speaker 1:

In this in the same year. Something he called out what he wanted to do. You know,

Speaker 2:

so That's a great point you just made though, Brian. What else does he have to go prove?

Speaker 1:

See, I don't think it's anything for proving to anyone else but himself now. I think that other players now this controversy around player of the year, for example, is new fire for him. There's quite a few things that are new fire for him that are not gonna be, oh, I want to accomplish a career Grand Slam. You know, now it's going to be, oh, yeah, I'm still Rory. Don't you shut your door on me.

Speaker 1:

Right? I think he's got that head.

Speaker 2:

Rory had to win the Masters, and he had to prove everybody that he could do it. He's gotten close before and he's blown up and could not close the big one. But then you got guys like Scottie and they say that he just loves practicing more than he loves. Remember the interview that he did last year where he was talking about how he wants to be remembered as being a great father more than he wants to be remembered for being a great player.

Speaker 4:

If my golf ever started affecting my home life or it ever affected the relationship I have with my wife or with my son, you know, that's gonna be the last day that I play out here for a living. You know? This is not the be all, end all. This is not the most important thing in my life, and why I wrestle with why is this so important to me because, you know, I would much rather be a great father than I would be a great golfer. You know, that at the end of the day, that that's what's more important to me.

Speaker 2:

And I think that's what separates Scotty from these other guys is that he does it because he loves the game and because he loves practicing. And he's out there and you just see it in his body language. And I think that the guy just loves being out there with the with the fellow players, and he's really because he has a lot of fun

Speaker 3:

with Let me ask this, if you're so certain about it. Roles are reversed. Scottie, this past year, wins the career grand slam, only has four victories. Rory, statistically more superior, wins two majors, doesn't win the career grand slam. Who gets it?

Speaker 2:

How old is Scotty, by the way?

Speaker 3:

You just take Scotty's name and replace him with Rory Stats I and vice

Speaker 2:

get that.

Speaker 3:

How old is he right now? Yeah. He's 28 or 29.

Speaker 2:

29 years old. I think he just turned 29. Roy's been around, it feels like, my whole life.

Speaker 1:

Roy's 38, 39.

Speaker 2:

But he's been we've known his name since he was a junior golfer because it was one of the best in the world. The guy's been around forever. Scotty has got so much upside to come. And again, I think that he is a great spokesperson for the entire league. And I get your question, but right now the fact that your peers and other tour players voted for this award to be given out shows where their their allegiance is going.

Speaker 2:

I I think that they want Scotty to be the future. Unfortunately, back to what we've talked about in previous episodes, does Brian, the head of the PGA tour, does he think should be the spokesperson?

Speaker 1:

I I think that that is

Speaker 3:

I don't think it's relevant to the discussion.

Speaker 1:

It's not relevant. So in

Speaker 3:

terms of what you're saying though, you think that in that case Rory or that that Scotty would still should still be player of the year if the roles reversed?

Speaker 2:

Roles reversed. Scotty had the better year last year. Think you have to give it to Roy. Yeah. Six wins, two majors.

Speaker 1:

Okay. So six wins, two majors, the PG championship, open championship. He gained 7,550 456 FedEx Cup points. Rory to Rory's 3,687. So from a point standpoint as well, pretty dominant, nearly double.

Speaker 1:

Number one in strokes gained total, 2.73 four 2.743 on the field across all of his tournaments. Number one scoring average, we're talking 68.131 to Rory's 69.083. So that's nearly a full stroke on Rory. Pure voted, so it's kinda hard to argue when the best players in the world get together to decide who is the player of the year.

Speaker 2:

What you are talking about over here is strokes gained though. Can we go into for the audience, what is strokes gained so they can have a better understanding of that?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so in this segment, we're gonna break it down for those of you that don't understand strokes gained, what it is, how it can be useful to you, as well as what does it mean when you're watching it on tour. You tune in and they say, okay, strokes gained on the field or strokes gained on a specific hole. So, strokes gained measures whether a shot helped or hurt your score compared to what an average golfer would do from the same spot on the course. If you take fewer strokes than expected to hole out from that position, you gain strokes. If you take more strokes from that position, you lost strokes.

Speaker 1:

It ignores how the shot looked and only cares about one thing, did it actually help you score better?

Speaker 3:

So, really quickly, just to go into and explain what exactly is Stroke Stained. Stroke Stained comes from a guy named Mark Brody, who's a Columbia Business School professor, who's an absolute golf nut like us. Realized the stats that were you'd been using for decades were lying. Fairways hit and greens in regulation, treated every shot the same, even though a miss from 200 yards is nothing like a miss from one twenty out. Mark Brody built a system that measured how many strokes should it take to hole out from any spot on the golf course, then compared that to what you actually did.

Speaker 3:

PGA Tour adopted it through ShotLink in the early twenty tens, and then, basically, overnight, it exposed what actually wins golf tournaments. This isn't vibes, this isn't beautiful golf swings, it's what shots really move the needle when it comes to scoring, which at the end of the day, is what wins golf tournaments. Right?

Speaker 1:

Yeah. I mean, it's if you akin this to racing or like f one or something, if you're trying to shave off a millisecond on the field by cutting the corner or taking a slightly different line into that corner or out of that corner, you know, and you switch to certain tires or whatever it is so that you can gain that extra millisecond. I mean, that's really what strokes gained is. It's how do you edge ahead on lap one, two, and three. If you think about every hole, right, leading up to round one, leading through round two, through round three, you know, you wanna be looking at each hole, looking at each round as how do I perform strokes gained.

Speaker 1:

And that doesn't just go for PGA Tour players. Like, we can learn from this too. All of us can log in to golf. There are golf apps, Golf Shot or, you know, the Gin app. Unknown Golf is a great one too.

Speaker 1:

Whatever you guys use to track your scores and help understand your game better. That's gonna spit out some of these strokes game numbers for you. And it's gonna tell you where to focus on your game. It it'll say, look, your strength is driving. You're hitting good fairways and you're hitting it far.

Speaker 1:

So, man, you gotta, like, get your putting under control because that's the thing holding you back from scoring well. Right? You're losing to the field on putting because the next guy over, he just beat you by a stroke because, literally, he had one fewer putts even though you were proximity to the hole closer than him, you know, he he just is a better putter.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. At 2020 end of the season for 2024, doing it to 2025 season, Golf Digest had a great video that they put out and they analyzed every single one of Scottie's shots for the entire season. All 1,035 shots that he had coming into the green. And Scottie adapts something that Ben Hogan perfected years ago and it's called the green zone. And so when he's approaching and attacking at a green, what he does is he breaks it up into segments.

Speaker 2:

He's not pin hunting and a lot of amateur golfers keep trying to hit right towards the flag. And then they don't understand that the slope behind the green and they hit that slope and all of sudden it runs off. What Scottie does is he his tour players are so good at putting. He knows that if I can approach this green right here, it's gonna feed. I know I'm gonna carry an x number of distance.

Speaker 2:

It's gonna roll out three feet, and then it's gonna move towards the hole. So these guys are so good that once you're on the green, what he wants to do is take out any of the potential of the danger zones that are out there. So again, it's called green zones. And even when Jordan Spieth was having his first time that he played in the Masters, just before he went out on his first round, he talked to Jack Nicklaus. And Jack had told him, Play towards zones on the green.

Speaker 2:

So this is something that they used to do back in the day and we're already seeing this take off in the Asian tours right now. And there's so many good Asian players coming out, especially in the LPGA that are using this old style of attacking towards zones on the green. And I think that right now, the American player, we've been, again, pen seeking for so long that we need to go back playing a better game of golf where we just take out the doubles for us amateur golfers. Try to get it where, how do I make sure that only two putt when I'm on a green? That's how you can bring your average scores down and have a better handicap.

Speaker 1:

100%. I mean, to your point, Rory actually came out. Tiger said this too during the Hear World. What Scottie does better than anyone I've ever seen, and he was talking about legitimately, he said Tiger and so on, is that he just doesn't make mistakes. And that is why he doesn't make mistakes because when he makes a mistake, the mistake is so much smaller and the cost of that mistake is so much less that his strokes gained on the field continues to rise.

Speaker 1:

So when you guys are out there playing golf, you're attacking pins, your chances, your strokes gained if you miss that pin might be moving you backwards way further than you think. So play towards those zones, look at your dangers, think course management, you know, go towards areas of the green where you know I can hit it there. And if you have some clubs, say, 130, 140 yards down, you're super confident in and you're a ball striker, maybe go for a couple of things here and there, pick the ones you want to go.

Speaker 2:

Well, all of us, even in this room, even if you're a good golfer, and I'm talking about the guys that are seven handicaps and better, you've gotta remove the ego. How many times are you sitting out there with your boys or you're in a scramble, One guy hits a little bit past you and then you try to whip one and you don't understand that by going at a little bit extra and you flared off in the woods. Well, now it's on your round. It could have been a 76 round is an 81 round. And you've lost a couple strokes because that also could carry on for the next few holes.

Speaker 2:

You have to have very short memory, selective amnesia when you play golf. So you can't be thinking about what happened to previous holes when you were out there.

Speaker 3:

I think,

Speaker 1:

well, a whole just to finish up, Roy, this is really interesting. He says, because right off of what you're saying, he's the best I've ever seen at Sting in the moment and just taking what the golf course gives him. If you really break that down, like, if you're gonna make a plan and hit a zone on the green, so easy for the rest of us to just go away from that plan. Oh, no. I'm in a good spot.

Speaker 1:

I could do it. Or I'm holding the right club or I'm feeling good today. I'm striking it well today. You know, he's he picks a plan, he stays in the moment, and he follows through with that plan. Like, that's all we really have to do.

Speaker 1:

You might think it's boring golf until you start making birdies, then it starts being fun golf.

Speaker 3:

I wanna bring it back and focus on what's more relevant to, frankly, our listeners, and I'll speak for myself and me, from an amateur perspective. In fact, this entire discussion of stroke saying actually was from one of our listeners, via direct message at 343. If you're out there listening to this, thanks for the call out on what the hell is strokes gained. But, you know, and we always say, oh, man. I just need to putt better.

Speaker 2:

Son of a bitch, Paul. Why didn't you just go home? That's your home. Are you too good for your home?

Speaker 3:

Answer me. Oh, you know, I hit it straight, I just don't score or short games save rounds. I think that what if you really dig into strokes gained and what it means for your game, it's less a you don't have to be the best ball striker in the world to understand what's gonna give you a better chance at two putting versus three putting. I started using Arcos two yeah, about two and a half seasons ago, and it just kind of pulls back the the curtain on all of that. It's like, well, really, if you want a three putt less, you should work on your ball striking because the closer you are to the hole before you start putting, the greater chance you're gonna have to get it down into.

Speaker 3:

Mhmm.

Speaker 1:

I think there's a correlation right there with the best ball strikers in the world rise up to be the best players in the world. They often hold the number one seat. They often win tournaments. You'll hear people talk about the fact that, yeah, the best putter didn't often win that tournament.

Speaker 3:

So have to Jackson wasn't an 18 time major champion.

Speaker 1:

Right. He's one of the best putters in the world. And Crenshaw was a great putter too. I mean, I think we talked about this a little while ago. If you're gonna figure out who to model your putting off after if back in the day, those two guys are definitely wants to go look at.

Speaker 1:

Strokes gained for us is pretty simple. Make a plan, stick to it, course management, right? You innately will get strokes. And at the end of the day, when you're putting in, you know, your your scores, and you're saying, you know, track track more this is the thing, track more than just a four on a par four. Track that you hit your drive left and then the next ball you hit your drive right.

Speaker 1:

I missed a fairway but only by five yards. With this one I missed a ferry by twenty. Right? And your approach to the green, you know, you don't have to be back but you know, roughly 40 feet. Like as you're walking up, like throw some of that those notes in there on your scorecard.

Speaker 1:

Throw it into your your app. You're gonna find some really interesting insights. There'll be a few that you didn't expect. Now I think there's a good amount of golfers that should not even think about strokes gained for quite a while. Right?

Speaker 1:

I mean, like, what's the break point here when you should say, I want to know about it for watching golf, but not for my own game?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so for our average listener that's out there, because most golfers never break a 100. We need to remember that. But I think once you're a bogey golfer, bogey golf is where I think you can go play every course in the world and then have fun out there. With bogey golf at the bottom of your scorecard, and I say this to our listeners and our viewers watching us, just put fairways, put greens and regulation and put putts on the bottom of your scorecard and just start keeping track of how many fairways you hit off the tee, how many greens and regulation and how many putts you have. That's when I think that you start really making advancements in your handicap once you start keeping track of those those stats.

Speaker 1:

My answer to my own question might be not a specific handicap, but if you find yourself scoring in the mid eighties, that's a good point where you can figure out how to shave strokes by purely just course management. Possibly even, you know, like if you're, I'd say 86, 85, 84, 83, you know, you start looking at strokes gained at that point, in my opinion. If you're above that, I'd say you gotta focus on other parts of your game. You know, you know, short game's a big one that higher handicappers don't spend enough time on.

Speaker 3:

I don't disagree. I I maybe am framing it a little bit differently in my mind. Instead of pinning down your x handicap or you're consistently shooting y score, I think you said the mid eighties. I think the I'm

Speaker 1:

just saying they can hit the mid eighties.

Speaker 3:

Okay. I think what we're arriving at is the same conclusion, but for me, I think about it as when it makes the most sense to start thinking about stuff like this is when instead of just going out a weekend or two a month and playing, you're actually practicing and thinking about the game consistently.

Speaker 1:

The number one guy on tour that probably tracks us more than anyone, you might think it's Bryson, but it's actually Fitzpatrick. Yeah. I mean, this guy just look it up online, you're gonna find some really cool images of his scorecards.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. And his notes. Full swing.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Love it. Absolutely love

Speaker 3:

it. The boxes of yardage books that he had from past tournaments he played in.

Speaker 1:

It's incredibly important to do this if you wanna get better at the game and you don't have a ton of time to practice all the time. Because you can just be smarter during your round, no matter what skill level you are, and you can shoot lower scores. So to wrap this up and get back into the player debate, player of the year debate, you know, Scottie wins on weeks where he doesn't putt great because his ball striking gave him a margin and that's strokes gained. Right? You have someone else that might be better putter or better off the tee And what you can find is that if he was exceptionally better that of that game, it can make up for other areas of the game.

Speaker 1:

You know, from a strokes game perspective, that does translate into lower scores. It tracks damage. Tiger's prime dominance was not when his putting stats were the best. It was relentless tee to green pressure. The putter just amplified it.

Speaker 1:

When his putter turned on when he was also very good tee to green, Like, you know, we we saw those what is it? 18 stroke victory or something like that in the US Open? Unbelievable victories coming out of Tiger. But when he was like, I wasn't really playing in my a game, but he still won a major, you see these quotes. I mean, that's that's really what's behind there.

Speaker 1:

And this is pre stroked gain strokes gained, you know, and then they go backwards in time and they're able to take these calculations. You can go on pdatour.com and check that stuff out. Just explore it, guys. Like, if you're asking the question, it's the right question to ask.

Speaker 3:

And to all the listeners out there, I mean, we were planning on talking about player of the year, as we were planning for this episode, but it was a listener request that that made us go a little bit deeper and talk about Strokes game because that's what you guys actually wanted to hear. So, keep the comments coming.

Speaker 1:

There's a lot of statements that were made around the player debate, player of the year debate. It wasn't just, you know, Rory saying a few things or Scottie saying a few things. The reason why it became a debate is really the question here. You know, once you vote someone in, they win the award, I mean, that's gonna kinda be the end of it, in my opinion. Like, I accept the results.

Speaker 1:

But, you know, what does this say? A recount? A demand a recount situation? Or is it people on the tour trying to build narratives, you know, other podcasts and other news outlets trying to build narratives and create, you know, momentum in the off season. What's your, like, conclusions on this?

Speaker 3:

To put a bow on it from the Rory perspective, yeah, it is a little bit of narrative building and and kind of off season muckraking, but at the end of the day, who does that narrative really matter to? It's Roy McElroy. If there's no other reason for him to get fired up and continuously motivated going into the 2026 golf season and beyond, why not just like tape that bad boy up on your metaphorical locker room while like, really? I won the career grand slam and that doesn't necessitate me getting the player of the year award? Like, screw you guys.

Speaker 1:

I just got this vision of Rory walking out his front door and just like Ted Lasso, you know, up above the door, you just hints at every

Speaker 2:

Guys, there's no hanging Chad here. This isn't the early two thousands. At the end of the day, the peers voted for it, the players voted for it, the fans voted for this. Scottie had one of the greatest seasons it's ever occurred. He won two majors, he won six tournaments total.

Speaker 2:

Scottie's the best player of 2025.

Speaker 1:

I think Rory agrees. I mean, he's quoted saying he's been on a different level. He is the bar that we're all trying to get to. I mean, I don't think Rory disagrees. I think that, you know, he accomplished something in his career, but we're talking about a season.

Speaker 1:

So Jack Nicklaus, I'm gonna read off a couple of quotes that really helped to underpin, you know, this deal here. Scotty is at the top of the game, arguably in a class by himself. And, you know, Jack's talking about the entire field, that includes Rory and what he did last year. He also said it's very different very hard to overlook six victories in one year, including two majors. Doug Ferguson said Rory produced the biggest moment for him and for golf.

Speaker 1:

And it is it's it was the biggest moment. We're still talking about it. And we're gonna be talking about it for decades because he's one of seven people to ever do it. And the real thing that could overshadow that is if Scotty does it this year.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. He also missed that putt on 18 guys. So if you're one of the if you're the player of the year, you're not missing that in my opinion. Tiger didn't miss it back in the day. Michael Jordan didn't miss the free throw.

Speaker 1:

Which putt are we talking about?

Speaker 2:

Masters to go into, overtime that they

Speaker 1:

had to. I I will say that kept me on the edge of my seat. That was one of the most electrifying endings to possibly any major.

Speaker 3:

I was ready for Justin Rose.

Speaker 1:

It was a fun it was it was fun. You were really

Speaker 3:

because you know who did make the cut on '18? Rosie. Seriously, seriously no shit to get into the playoff.

Speaker 2:

He did. He did. That was a hell of a shot. He dropped a

Speaker 3:

bomb too.

Speaker 2:

That was 17 photos with a five foot break to it. Yeah, quarter putt.

Speaker 1:

That should be on the everyone's lips going to 2026 season. Every time you guys drop a bomb, just go Spuzz bomb? Bomb.

Speaker 2:

Alright, guys. So let's make some predictions then going into this 2026 season. And let's make some some friendly bets here. How about what do you guys think? Let's say who's gonna be player of the year, let's bet $30, who's gonna be player of the year at the end of this year?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so we got around the table earlier and we said, how can we make this interesting? Everybody goes on their 2026 predictions and it lasts an entire episode and we wanted to make this a little bit different, guys. We're gonna go big with these predictions. We're not gonna focus just on players. So $30, three predictions.

Speaker 1:

And if we get all three of them right, $600. And that means that the other two that didn't get it right have to pay out 300 a piece.

Speaker 2:

300 apiece plus you have to cook for the winner.

Speaker 1:

Oh, now he's just throwing in audibles. I don't mind that actually. That sounds fun. Dart.

Speaker 3:

I don't know if I want you to cook for me.

Speaker 2:

Player of the Year. Who is it going to be?

Speaker 1:

I know I've seen some of his Christmas dinner pictures, there's big roasts on there.

Speaker 3:

Alright, little rare who roast I wear

Speaker 2:

the apron for you guys and everything if I lose, but I know I'm not gonna lose, my predictions are solid.

Speaker 3:

Alright. So, player prediction or is this a player of the year prediction? Because I've got a player prediction. It's just

Speaker 1:

one thirty six prediction.

Speaker 3:

Okay.

Speaker 1:

It doesn't have to be player of the year. I I have a sneaky feeling that's where Josh is gonna go. That's where I'm going.

Speaker 3:

Alright. Lead off. Go ahead. Alright. Which player predict?

Speaker 2:

Current eighteenth in the world. He's been as high as fourth in the world. Right now, Ludwig, I think is going to have his breakout year. I think he's gonna win a major. I think he's gonna win three tournaments this year.

Speaker 2:

He he won two tournaments to

Speaker 3:

the major or I'm sorry? Three total tournaments, including the major?

Speaker 2:

Three total tournaments, including the major. He won two tournaments last year. One was a DP World Challenge. One was a PGA tournament. And then he also just came in third in the last tournament of the DP World Challenge.

Speaker 1:

I did lose that So win

Speaker 2:

I think that he's coming into 2026 hot. I think he's gonna have the best year and be player of the year and win his first major.

Speaker 3:

That is a bold prediction indeed. Ludwig won at the Genesis last year. So we're coming up on the one year anniversary of that. Alright. Alright.

Speaker 3:

My player prediction is that Justin Rose will win a major in 2026. He's been right there the last two seasons.

Speaker 2:

Yep. Multiple top tens. He's been floating

Speaker 3:

launched to Rory in the playoff at the Masters last year, year before that, finished runner-up to Xander at the Open. I think he's right there. He's a past US Open champ, former world number one, 45 going on 46 years old. I think he still got it left in the tank. If even if he doesn't win, this doesn't have anything to do with that.

Speaker 3:

Even if he does not win a major in 2026, I think that Justin Rose has a good a shot as any to be the oldest major champion when it's all said and done.

Speaker 2:

I like it. You don't care who wins just as long as they have fun. Is that what you're saying?

Speaker 3:

No. I'm saying I think Justin Rose is a stud.

Speaker 2:

Alright. Who do got?

Speaker 1:

Watch out Rosie's wife, Patrick's coming for you. So, look, when we had marching orders to do this, it was something outlandish. We had to come up with something difficult. If you're in DraftKings, it's whatever, a 100,000 to one or whatever the odds would be for something way out way out of there. I'm gonna tell you a couple of them that I thought, but the these are not the ones I'm gonna go with.

Speaker 1:

So one of them I came up with was Scottie Scheffler doesn't finish 2026 as the world number one and goes winless in majors this season. So that was one. I didn't go with it. I think I think that one's almost too outlandish.

Speaker 2:

I think Phil Mickelson also made that same bet last year and that ended horribly for him.

Speaker 1:

Alright. So here's the one I'm going with. Bryson DeChambeau wins a major in 2026 and finishes the season with more top 10 major finishes than any other PGA tour player. And now this is why it's so outlandish. He's distracted by YouTube golf, his live negotiations.

Speaker 1:

We don't know how those are gonna shake out. Is he gonna try to get onto the tour again? And if he does, what does that path look like for him? If he doesn't, then he's one of the few left on LIV and he's fighting that whole LIV game and the LIV media battle. I mean, he's gonna be mentally distracted and can he stay focused?

Speaker 1:

That's the really big reason of why that is so outlandish.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. That's a good point, Linda. That's a good point. But the last prediction for the year, I wanna know y'all's thoughts on what's going to happen with the tour, these various tours that we have or media apparatus out there. Do you have a prediction?

Speaker 2:

So my prediction for 2026 is that TGL, this is the final year of TGL.

Speaker 1:

Okay. So if TGL has a season in 2027

Speaker 2:

Then I lose lose. I think the media I think that the audience is gonna fall off so sharp. We've already seen a 64% drop from the first episode to the second to the second. And we've already seen a massive drop off from last year. This is the last year of TGL.

Speaker 2:

The ratings just aren't there.

Speaker 1:

Interesting. Even though they announced the WTGL.

Speaker 2:

Who's gonna watch that?

Speaker 1:

So you think that they cut TGL and they killed the WTGL before it ever becomes a thing? Absolutely. Even though they just announced it.

Speaker 3:

Free money.

Speaker 1:

Free money, man. I'll take it. Alright. Patrick, what we got?

Speaker 3:

So, my bold prediction for 2026, where I'm coming from is that YouTube golf continues to just blow it out of the water. I think you're gonna see, like, majors of sorts for the creators. So, you have the internet invitational, I think there's gonna be one, if not two more tournaments like that where there's big money at stake, you have all the creators coming together and that does not One

Speaker 1:

or two.

Speaker 3:

You will at least see one more. You'll see one or more Internet invitational type tournaments in addition to the Internet invitational Oh, good.

Speaker 1:

Because they're

Speaker 3:

In addition to the Internet invitational that are that high profile

Speaker 1:

Oh, in addition.

Speaker 3:

In addition to the Internet invitational and the and the what does the PGA call it? The Creator Classic does not count.

Speaker 1:

Okay. Internet Invitational Creator high dollar what's the high dollar value? What's

Speaker 2:

your threshold? Million dollar price for

Speaker 3:

If if we're using yeah. If we're using the Internet Invitational as the benchmark, it is a million dollar purse or up.

Speaker 1:

Wow. I like that one. I like that one a lot. It has been a couple episodes since we've dove into the YouTube golf world, and we're gonna see that coming up here in one of our next ones. So mine is almost directly against Josh.

Speaker 1:

I think the TGL outdraws at least one major non PGA Tour event in US average viewership during its 2026 season. So measurable outcomes, TGL match post higher average US viewership than at least one regular season PGA tour event, not not the elevated events. That excludes majors, players, those. We can base that on the Nielsen ratings, network reported numbers to boot on top of that. I think that we'll also see Tiger show up.

Speaker 1:

And and he's not showing up in his first Jupiter links match, but I think he'll show up in at least two two of these matches. And I know in the past we've had some statements thinking he's not gonna show up at all. So I'm going Tiger shows up twice And the TGL will have an event that outpaces the viewership of a regular season PGA Tour event. So take call it the lowest one. Lowest one.

Speaker 2:

If it shows up, you're gonna win this bet.

Speaker 3:

I that's why I think you're gonna lose is because Tiger is a major stakeholder in TGL. And even if he wasn't planning on playing, if the ratings are tanking, they've already kind of dug themselves a hole with the WTGL announcement. Tiger's like, alright, well, I know I boosted, so let's get out there and Look, I I'm acting as a marketing ratings.

Speaker 1:

Acting as a marketing lead. I always built this schedule if I was in the TGL and I was their marketing lead. I always built this schedule to open with lower level, lower viewership events and to peak at a certain point. So I think that they're doing a smart thing by thinking about where to spend their money and how to get their social virality up before they spend their money. And I think they're doing that right now.

Speaker 1:

We're only in, you know, the fourth matches tonight. So that helps you guys date this episode.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, if you want to get your ratings up, move it to YouTube, get it out there, bring back Tiger, have Roy and Tiger go head to head against each other. It's not a very tough formula to get it out there. Bring in the Bryan Brothers to play as a sponsored guest in one of your matches. There's things they could do, but, no. TGL, this is it.

Speaker 2:

It's last year, boys.

Speaker 1:

Alright, guys. So to wrap up this episode, it's been heavy in debates. Got some predictions on the line, but we have to throw in some weird stuff. Alright. We've got a new recurring segment that we're gonna throw in every once in a while.

Speaker 1:

Each of us are gonna bring one to the table. So, Pat, what do you got?

Speaker 3:

2025. Normal day at Hoy Lake, Royal Liverpool Golf Club. Going along, I'm not really clear on how this was discovered, but turns out that there's an piece of unexploited ordnance from World War two that was just casually lying around underneath Royal Liverpool Golf Club. So, they stopped playing for a day. We can put the video up for for those of you that are watching on YouTube and and play it real quick.

Speaker 3:

They blow this thing up in the middle of Royal Liverpool Golf Course one day, about a month ago in December. So that's my absurd and unhinged golf story for for this piece.

Speaker 1:

I love that one just because it shows the history of the game. These course, some of these courses were built on top of World War two ordinance that was buried. I mean, that's wild to me. It's just nuts. What do you got, Josh?

Speaker 2:

For us all to aspire to try to break the best round ever recorded in golf. Do you guys know what it is? How much under did they shoot?

Speaker 3:

It was Kim Jong Un and he shot.

Speaker 2:

Thirteen eight under, which is by 17 individuals, all bodyguards. He recorded 11 hole in ones on his first round ever playing.

Speaker 3:

And last.

Speaker 2:

First and last round ever playing.

Speaker 1:

It's unreal. His his

Speaker 3:

Well, there's a reason there weren't 18 bodyguards because the one that said he didn't make one was subsequently never heard from again.

Speaker 2:

And all of his family is now in that concentration camp with The three generation concentration camp.

Speaker 1:

This might be, in my opinion, the most unhinged story that I've heard recently. For thirteen years at Davanger Golf Club in Norway, someone has been sneaking onto the course, usually early mornings, weekdays only, is what I've seen, and pooping directly onto the golf holes. Not near them, on the hole the the cup itself.

Speaker 3:

That's some precision Are they are they removing I've got so many questions about this. Are they removing the flagstick or are they using it as a guide as a guide rail?

Speaker 1:

It's in the cup with toilet paper like it's a ritual or something. So this is not an animal doing it. 13 and they haven't caught this person. They tried lights.

Speaker 3:

That would be reasonably easy to do with like trail cam.

Speaker 2:

Is it almost like an honor system too? Like, if I'm the one that I put on top of the the mound at first, do I just leave it there for the rest of my players to see? Or is it one that you get out there, you have to pull the whole cup out, and then we we plug it. I mean, this this could be kinda fun. Okay.

Speaker 3:

So Just just so I'm clear here.

Speaker 1:

The trail cams are a great idea, and they should listen to this podcast and use them because here's what they did do. They tried lights and he disabled them. We're assuming it's a he. They tracked patterns and he evidently adapted to the patterns. They still have no suspect.

Speaker 1:

Thirteen years, no arrest, no explanation, no motive.

Speaker 3:

It's gotta be it's gotta be an inside job.

Speaker 1:

At this point, it's not vandalism, guys.

Speaker 2:

Here today on Golf Nuts. Do you need to make a confession?

Speaker 3:

I am the Norvinger golf club shitter.

Speaker 2:

I've never been more proud of my cohost.

Speaker 1:

Also, commitment to fly every day. As a new dad, that's that's impressive.

Speaker 2:

Often is this happening by the

Speaker 1:

way? Weekdays. No, like Every weekday? Every week? Nearly every weekday.

Speaker 2:

That's why

Speaker 3:

it's gotta be an inside job. Thirteen years, every day for

Speaker 2:

I thirteen that this is a selling point for the country club and they are doing this as a rite of passage.

Speaker 1:

So thank you guys for tuning in and remember we've got this MLM one, this is what you guys can win. Get up on the comments if you've made it this far, you definitely have something to say. So meet us in there, share it with your friends. One of the first 200 subscribers on YouTube and on Instagram will win this. That's pretty good opportunity if you get two entries there.

Speaker 1:

Check us out on Apple, Spotify. Do tune in next time. We're gonna have some great stuff for you on the next episode. I'm Brian. Patrick.

Speaker 1:

And I'm Jug.

Speaker 2:

And if you got any more ideas, like strokes gained, please comment on this.

Speaker 1:

Thanks. We're golf nuts.