Gary Van Sickle - Golf Writer
This podcast episode delves into the exhilarating events surrounding the Masters Tournament, highlighting Rory McIlroy's triumphant breakthrough as he secured his first victory at this prestigious event. We engage in an in-depth discussion with Gary Van Sickle, who offers keen insights into the performances of various competitors, including Justin Rose and Bryson DeChambeau. The conversation underscores the emotional weight of the tournament, particularly focusing on the moments of tension and triumph that defined the final rounds. Furthermore, we explore the nuances of golf culture and the unique atmosphere of Augusta National, which serves as a backdrop for this storied competition. Join us as we reflect on the intricacies of the game and the personal stories that intertwine with the sport's rich tapestry.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Golf News Network
- Gary Van Sickle
- Rory
- Justin Rose
- Bryson
- Patrick Reed
- Scotty Scheffler
- Shane Lowry
- Akshay Batia
- Phil
- DeChambeau
- Masters
- Berkman's Place
- Westin
- Painted Hills Natural Beef
- Birdie Ball
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Transcript
It's time for Grilling at the Green.
Speaker A:Join Jeff Tracy as he explores the golfing lifestyle and tries to keep it in the short grass for the hackers, new sweepers and turf spankers.
Speaker A:Here's Jeff.
Speaker B:Hey, everybody.
Speaker B:Welcome to Grilling at the Green.
Speaker B:I'm Jeff.
Speaker B:As you probably know that, and this show has heard all over the Northwest, a couple other spots around the country, and on Golf News Network.
Speaker B:How's your game?
Speaker B:I ask you that every week.
Speaker B:I don't get too many replies, though, because nobody's ever happy with it.
Speaker B:Brought our old buddy Gary Van Sickle back today because I wanted to talk about the Masters.
Speaker B:Masters is over.
Speaker B:Rory broke the monkey on his back, or whatever you call it.
Speaker B:But I think there was some interesting things that went on there.
Speaker B:So, anyway, Gary, welcome back, buddy.
Speaker C:Well, thanks.
Speaker C:You're the first guy who's ever said Rory broke his monkey.
Speaker C:So I.
Speaker C:I think I'm gonna.
Speaker C:I thought should have been the lead of my story.
Speaker C:Damn it.
Speaker C:Jeez, why didn't I think of that?
Speaker B:You can use it next year or something.
Speaker C:Yeah, the Brits had a saying, he broke his duck, meaning he got his first win or whatever.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:And then you combine that with the monkey off his back.
Speaker C:So it's kind of like another popular mixed metaphor is, well, this isn't rocket surgery.
Speaker B:Yes, exactly.
Speaker C:That's actually better than the other one.
Speaker C:So I, like, broke his.
Speaker C:He broke his monkey.
Speaker C:I like that.
Speaker C:Look, you know, the Masters was fun because I thought Saturday was, like, the best Saturday ever at the Masters.
Speaker C:It was great.
Speaker C:So much stuff happened.
Speaker C:And then after Sunday, which was so much stuff happened, I couldn't remember what happened on Saturday by the time Sunday was over.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:So, I mean, I would like to go back and watch Saturday and Sunday all over again because, I mean, I was drained at the end of both of those rounds, and I wasn't even playing.
Speaker C:I don't know about you.
Speaker B:I actually.
Speaker B:I have this little routine.
Speaker B:The first couple days of the Masters, I watch a little bit of it and I catch the recaps at night.
Speaker B:But on Saturday and Sunday, I pretty much.
Speaker B:From 11 o'clock our time till whenever it ends, I'm.
Speaker B:I'm in the living room, big screen, you know, beverages, whatever, and I.
Speaker C:Beverages, not you.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:So anyway, that's what I do.
Speaker B:And like you said, I was like.
Speaker B:By the end of Saturday, I was like, what just happened?
Speaker C:Saturday was great.
Speaker C:But honestly, for the life of me, I can't remember why anymore, because Sunday was even better and more Tense.
Speaker B:I, I think it was to me.
Speaker B:We saw, we saw an old guy, if you will, Justin Rose.
Speaker B:He's not old like you and I are, but for the pro tour, he's one of the elder statesmen now.
Speaker B:You saw him put some moves on on Saturday and Sunday.
Speaker B:You saw Bryson, who was trying to create his own version of Arnie's army out there.
Speaker B:He was slipping.
Speaker B:Don't wish the guy any ill will.
Speaker B:He was just slipping.
Speaker B:You saw other guys, all of a sudden, Patrick Reed kind of jumps up in the mix there.
Speaker C:Yeah, that was.
Speaker C:Would have been a surprise ending that, Yeah, I don't think anybody was rooting for, but yeah, a lot of guys had a chance to win on Sunday and it was just fun.
Speaker C:It was tense.
Speaker C:I mean, I think I probably use this in my story, but Rory was the first guy to ever open his round on the Masters.
Speaker C:On the third round with six straight threes.
Speaker C:And on the back nine Sunday, he pulled off four Mongolian reversals.
Speaker C:He hits a shot.
Speaker C:Oh, he's won it now.
Speaker C:Then next hole.
Speaker C:Oh, he just lost it back.
Speaker C:He won it again now.
Speaker C:He lost it back.
Speaker C:Well, I mean, four times.
Speaker C:I wasn't sure he was going to make that last two footer for the win.
Speaker C:I was fully expecting him to miss that.
Speaker C:And then losing the playoff and then, gosh, that would have been.
Speaker C:That would have been no fun.
Speaker C:That would have been the end.
Speaker C:He might have had to retire from golf if he didn't win that one.
Speaker B:You know what, I like Gary, though, at the very end, after the playoff was over and stuff.
Speaker B:Talk about breaking the monkey.
Speaker B:When he kind of just collapsed.
Speaker B:I don't want to say collapsed, but he got down on his knees and I don't think he was crying.
Speaker B:I think he was just letting out all the years of being.
Speaker B:Never making it, never, never getting the slam, never doing this, always the questioning, blah, blah, blah.
Speaker B:And I think it's just like you could almost see him elevate himself about two feet off the ground.
Speaker C:Well, it was similar to Crenshaw, 95, who did cry because he just lost his mentor, Harvey Pennock.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:And he'd been playing like crap up until a few days before and it just came out of nowhere.
Speaker C:And Rory has been playing great all year.
Speaker C:A lot of people thought he was the, you know, he really was the favorite.
Speaker C:A lot of people said it was his tournament to lose and that kind of wind up being the case.
Speaker C:And he did everything he could to lose it, but he also did everything he could to win it.
Speaker C:And it's a good thing it didn't go another hole, because I don't know what would have happened.
Speaker B:Yeah, I.
Speaker B:Again, I will give Justin Rose credit.
Speaker C:I felt bad for him.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:You know, but he's.
Speaker B:He's a warrior.
Speaker B:I've always liked Justin Rose.
Speaker C:I loved it.
Speaker C:He had that putt on 16, and he just had this steely look.
Speaker C:He set his jaw.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:I can't even describe it.
Speaker C:Kind of like John Wayne in a gunfight.
Speaker C:And then he makes the putt.
Speaker C:And the same in the.
Speaker C: On the: Speaker C:That was maybe the best moment besides Rory's emotional display, but the best moment of the tournament was his pouring that putt.
Speaker C:Him pouring that putt in.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:20Ft.
Speaker C:Ty.
Speaker C:Rory, you know, he said his jaw before.
Speaker C:I mean, I would love to watch that again, too, because that was just determination.
Speaker C:I'm not giving this thing away.
Speaker C:And, you know, it coincides this.
Speaker C:This week, I did a story on the best players to never win a Masters, and I limited it to, you had to have won, at least won one major somewhere.
Speaker C:So, sorry, Monty, you didn't make the list.
Speaker C:But, you know, the guys who've been up there, who've been major contenders, who've won a major.
Speaker C:So I think, you know, Rose has had so many close calls, I think I put him fifth.
Speaker C:You know, the obvious one on my list, obviously.
Speaker C:Lee Trevino, he won 29 Tour events.
Speaker C:He won.
Speaker C:I think he won the other majors three times each or two times each.
Speaker C:Six majors, the Masters.
Speaker C:He got in his head right away between feeling unwanted as a Mexican American.
Speaker C:I mean, I don't know if this story is true and maybe you've heard it, too, but Trevino, like, maybe his first or second Masters was paired with Palmer.
Speaker C:And on the second hole, Palmer drives it in the fairway bunker on the par five.
Speaker C:Sarnie hits his shot out of the fairway bunker and leaves it in the bunker, and he slams his club down in disgust and just hits the sand.
Speaker C:Well, at that time, the rule was that's a penalty.
Speaker C:You can't test.
Speaker C:You can't.
Speaker C:You can't do that when your ball.
Speaker B:Can'T touch the sand.
Speaker C:Yeah, well, the rules guys at Augusta got together and decided, well, he wasn't trying to improve.
Speaker C:His lie didn't affect his next shot.
Speaker C:No penalty.
Speaker C:So that just added to Trevino's.
Speaker C:They're out to get me.
Speaker C:I don't have a chance.
Speaker C:They'll never let you know.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker C:That so?
Speaker C:I mean, he.
Speaker C:He said later, I mean, Years later he said many times he regrets he could have won the Masters.
Speaker C:He said, I know it's a course for a high draw player and I'm a low ball and a fader, but this guy had all the shots he could have won.
Speaker C:And he said that anyways.
Speaker C:So if you're really bored, you can find that story somewhere on the Internet.
Speaker C:Probably the first call dot com, I think it was this week.
Speaker C:And substack money.
Speaker C:I, you know, I had to throw Justin Rose in there.
Speaker C:One guy left out.
Speaker C:Probably should have had I had on there.
Speaker C:I probably should have had Tom Kite in there but you know, it's hard to find 10.
Speaker C:I went back and got some older.
Speaker C:Lloyd Mangram.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Horse record of 64 for almost 50 years until Nick Price broke it.
Speaker C:Gene Littler, a few Lanny Watkins, few other guys.
Speaker C:Brooks Kafka is on there.
Speaker C:But no Monty.
Speaker C:You have to win a major.
Speaker C:No Monty.
Speaker B:Yeah, no Monty.
Speaker B:Before we go to break the, the one thing I, I was kind of actually rooting for him.
Speaker B:I wanted Langer to make the cut just last time his age, all that stuff.
Speaker B:I'm a sentimental kind of guy at times and I really, I really wanted him just to make the cut.
Speaker B:He didn't.
Speaker B:That's okay.
Speaker C:Well, he had a putt and it was, you know, what was it?
Speaker C:A 4,5 footer.
Speaker C:And of course it lipped out.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:His career in a nutshell right there, the putter.
Speaker C:He should have, he played great.
Speaker C:He should have made it.
Speaker C:But yeah, yeah, that would have been a great story and it was nice.
Speaker C:You know, this guy's never really gotten the media attention because he talks in the monotone.
Speaker C:You know, he's the only guy.
Speaker C:And I used to say about Retief Goosen, he was the only guy who could make being hit by lightning boring because he was pretty flat personally.
Speaker C:But Langer just, you know.
Speaker C:Yes, I was very excited.
Speaker C:I've done the second Masters twice now and it was a great feeling.
Speaker C:And you know, it's like he just doesn't have the charisma that to interest, you know, not so much the media but the public.
Speaker C:The public was like excited about him.
Speaker C:And even when he broke the record on the senior tour, the public, I mean they just never took took to him.
Speaker C:So I'm glad he got a nice, got a nice send off courtesy of cbs.
Speaker C:And that would have been cool if he made it.
Speaker C:He was pretty close.
Speaker B:Yeah, he was.
Speaker B:We're going to take a break.
Speaker B:We're going to be back with Gary Van Sickle in just a moment here on Grilling at the green.
Speaker D:Hey, everybody, J.T.
Speaker B:Here.
Speaker D:You know, every week on Grilling at the Green, we bring you a travel tip and that is brought to you by the Westin dealerships.
Speaker D:I've known those guys since I was a kid, and they have one way of doing business.
Speaker D:It's called the Westin way.
Speaker D:It's family oriented, and there's no better people to deal with.
Speaker D:Check out west in Kia on Southeast Stark in Gresham, Oregon.
Speaker B:Welcome back to Grilling at the Green.
Speaker B:I'm jt.
Speaker B:Today we're talking with our buddy Gary Van Sickle.
Speaker B:Thank a couple people real quick.
Speaker B:We want to thank, of course, the folks at Painted Hills Natural Beef Beef the way nature intended and also birdie ball.
Speaker B:If you need to practice putting green, check out birdieball.com lots of choices.
Speaker B:And be sure to get a dozen birdie balls to help with your practice routine.
Speaker B:So we're talking with GVs here.
Speaker B:I always look forward when you come on the show.
Speaker B:I really do.
Speaker B:I have a lot of fun with you and that.
Speaker B:It's just you're a good guy to talk to like this, and I've always appreciated your insight.
Speaker C:It's always great to be had by you.
Speaker B:There you go.
Speaker B:It gets that monkey broke.
Speaker C:You know, I broke my monkey the first when I came on the first time.
Speaker B:Yeah, there you go.
Speaker B:There you go.
Speaker C:I got the duck off my back.
Speaker B:Yes, you did.
Speaker C:Not that either, actually.
Speaker B:That's not bad either.
Speaker B: ve been to Augusta, you know,: Speaker B:So give, give the people watching and listening.
Speaker B:What are a couple of things that you really need to take with you if you're going to go watch the Masters?
Speaker C:Well, if you've got tickets for a practice round, you need a digital camera because you can go in and take pictures all over the place, anywhere you want, but you can't take your phone in.
Speaker C:So when people, when they say, yeah, no phone, you can bring cameras, but no phones, people forget.
Speaker C:Oh, yeah, there's.
Speaker C:You can have a separate camera, right.
Speaker C:And you just think of your phone as your camera now because that's how the world's changed.
Speaker C:So you should go out and get a digital camera.
Speaker C:And there's a.
Speaker C:People line up out in front of the clubhouse.
Speaker C:You know, that entryway, they have the.
Speaker C:The logo and the flowers and the flag sticking out.
Speaker C:And, you know, it's like the Sign the entrance to Las Vegas.
Speaker C:There's a line to take pictures, you know, take pictures of the range.
Speaker C:I mean the entire course.
Speaker C:I mean everything's, everything's scenic.
Speaker C:So not so much something to bring with you, but one place to go.
Speaker C:Obviously people want to go to Amen quarter, but I always tell people, go to the 10th green.
Speaker C:It's 110 foot drop from the tee box.
Speaker C:It looks like a ski run.
Speaker C:And you stand down there by the 10th green, there's magnolia trees down there in dogwoods.
Speaker C:And you look back up this, this huge hill and you're just kind of in awe.
Speaker C:And you can just barely see the top of the clubhouse sticking out over the, over this hill.
Speaker C:And you just look at that hole and you're going, you got to be kidding me.
Speaker C:This is, this has got to be a par 5.
Speaker C:It's just an awe inspiring spot.
Speaker C:More so than aiming corner, because aiming corner, the fans have to sit behind the tee box on 12 and that's as close as you can get to the green and you don't get any.
Speaker C:And that's as close as you get to the 13th D.
Speaker C:You're kept way away from that area.
Speaker C:But the 10th green is a very cool spot.
Speaker C:What else do you need to bring?
Speaker C:Well, you need to bring a small purse if you're a lady because you can't take a big one in.
Speaker C:That's a good question.
Speaker C:What else you need to bring?
Speaker C:I mean, the digital camera is a great tip because you want to.
Speaker C:Yeah, be there once you want to take pictures.
Speaker C:I did a story this year.
Speaker C:I had a friend who got a one day pass to Berkman's Place, which is the super exclusive hospitality suite hidden behind the fifth hole.
Speaker C:And a lot of times, you know, Condoleezza Rice or somebody like her will be.
Speaker C:Lynn Swan will be there in a green jacket greeting you on the way in.
Speaker C:Those tickets are like eight or ten grand a piece for like, you know, your, your corporate party of 8 or 10.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker C:His wife got in for one day, it was Monday and they went there and they'd driven up a couple hours from the area, so they hadn't had breakfast.
Speaker C:So they went there, they had breakfast, they went shopping.
Speaker C:Berkman's Place.
Speaker C:This is insider info.
Speaker C:They have the same logo as the Masters, except instead of the United States being colored yellow, it's just, there's no color, it's just clear.
Speaker C:So he, my buddy bought some hats and the guy working there said, you know, if you wear that hat in the course, you're going to have people coming up to you going, where did you get that hat?
Speaker C:Because the logo is different, it's not the same.
Speaker C:So it's a special insider Berkman's Place hat.
Speaker C:So they did that and then by the time they got going, they had the announcement about the storm and the rain.
Speaker C:The course was evacuated and they never got on.
Speaker C:The course was closed.
Speaker C:I mean, they didn't have to evacuate Brickman's place.
Speaker C:All the people came back.
Speaker C:He's over there doing the putting course.
Speaker C:They're having a good time and they hang out for a while and eventually at 1 or 2 in the afternoon, they announced the course is closed for the day.
Speaker C:So the punchline to the story which you could find@si.com was, you know, I waited 50 years to go to the Masters.
Speaker C:I could.
Speaker C:I was 50 yards from the fifth fairway and I never set foot in the course.
Speaker C:I was that close.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:So, yeah, Berkman's Place was.
Speaker C:You need to know somebody to get in there.
Speaker C:You need to know somebody who's a major executive, a major corporation who has passes for that.
Speaker C:So he got in Berkman's place.
Speaker C:So I wrote about it anonymously.
Speaker C:I did.
Speaker C:I changed his name.
Speaker C:I changed he and his wife's name to Luke and Laura, I think was an old soap opera.
Speaker B:Is that General Hospital or.
Speaker C:I.
Speaker C:Yeah, I just remember they were a big thing once upon a time.
Speaker B:Yeah, they were like Roy Rogers and.
Speaker C:Dale Evans, only hotter.
Speaker B:That's true.
Speaker C:That's a dated reference that only you and I will get that.
Speaker B:I interviewed Roy Rogers.
Speaker C:No kidding.
Speaker B:Yeah, I was one of the last.
Speaker C:Golf or cowboys or roast beef sandwiches.
Speaker B:We talked cowboys, we talked movies, we talked music, we talked a little hunting and fishing, which he loved to do.
Speaker B:And here's the trick, Gary.
Speaker B:He actually sang Happy Trails to me.
Speaker B:That's no kidding.
Speaker B:I've got.
Speaker B:I've got the master of the interview.
Speaker B:But you talk about kind of guys of our era kind of getting a little shiver.
Speaker B:It's like there's the king of the cowboys singing to me.
Speaker B:I was like, that's cool.
Speaker C:He seemed like one of those guys who.
Speaker C:What you saw on tv.
Speaker C:That's him, that's him.
Speaker C:He didn't even act.
Speaker C:It's just him doing whatever he did.
Speaker C:If you saw him, it seemed like he'd be exactly the same.
Speaker C:At least that's how I.
Speaker C:Yeah, he was.
Speaker B:He was, you know, he started out picking peaches and stuff.
Speaker B:He was.
Speaker B:They weren't very well to do and but he could sing.
Speaker C:And did he have his horse Trigger stuffed?
Speaker C:Yes, I thought he did.
Speaker B:There were actually two triggers, but the first one you can see.
Speaker B:The first.
Speaker B:Here's a little trivia for you, folks.
Speaker B:The first, if you ever watch the Errol Flynn, Robin Hood and One of the.
Speaker B:One of His Men.
Speaker C:Good movie, by the way.
Speaker B:It is.
Speaker B:And I think Olivia de Havilland.
Speaker B:Anyway, that's if you see the Palomino horse in there, that's the original Trigger.
Speaker B:Oh, and then a guy named Glenn Randall trained him.
Speaker B:And then Roy came along and they started doing movies and stuff.
Speaker B:And then Trigger, you know, and Roy connected, and that was the end of that story.
Speaker B:We got to take another break.
Speaker B:We're going to be back because I've got another little story I want to share with him and get his take on it.
Speaker B:Anyway, we'll be right back.
Speaker D:Hey, everybody, is jt.
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Speaker D:But it's more than that because each bite of Painted Hills will make your taste buds explode, put a big, bright smile on your face, and whoever is at your dinner table will have a big, bright smile on their face.
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Speaker D:Just go to painted hills beef.com and find out more.
Speaker B:You won't regret it.
Speaker C:Foreign.
Speaker B:Welcome back to Grilling at the Green.
Speaker B:We want to thank Weston Kia.
Speaker B:Number one Kia dealership here in the Portland area is Weston Kia out in Gresham.
Speaker B:You need a Kia.
Speaker B:Actually, they do GMC and Buick too out there.
Speaker B:Great, great friends, great people.
Speaker B:The local general manager for the OGA course, it was Oregon Golf association, which I live about four blocks from.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:He finally got drawn in the ticket lottery for Augusta.
Speaker C:Wow.
Speaker B:He did.
Speaker B:I mean, he said he'd been.
Speaker B:I don't know how old Ryan is, but let's just say he's in his mid-40s.
Speaker B:And he said he'd been putting in for the lottery since he was 18.
Speaker B:So he finally got the ticket.
Speaker B:He flew down on Saturday night or Sunday, I mean, and then Monday it rained out, so he got to go out there a little bit on Tuesday, and then he had to come home on Wednesday.
Speaker B:So I haven't talked to him yet, but I was really rooting for him to have a great time.
Speaker B:But, you know, they got booted from the course on Monday, like you said, from the rain.
Speaker C: So, like around: Speaker C:Everybody was out.
Speaker C:And then that was it.
Speaker C:It turned out.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So I.
Speaker B:I kind of, in a way, I was real, real happy for him.
Speaker B:But I was kind of, kind of not upset, but I just felt bad for him to wait all that time and do all that and then finally get the draw and get there and then mother Nature jacks with you.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker C:But it happens, you know.
Speaker C:In addition it messes up your shopping because you probably.
Speaker C:He probably had a hundred people said hey, can you get me this or that with a master logo?
Speaker C:Well, everybody who wanted to do shopping on Monday who was coming back Tuesday didn't get their shopping in.
Speaker C:You know, I bet the lines were.
Speaker C:I don't even look at the line.
Speaker C:I mean I always have somebody who wants something is like, right.
Speaker C:I don't, I don't even want to have to go there.
Speaker C:But the lines are Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Speaker C:Are people who frequently only have a one, one or two day pass.
Speaker C:So it's a lot.
Speaker C:You, you wait to get into the, the store area to buy stuff and then you go next door they have a UPS shipping station and the line for that is just as long and they have all kinds of people working there.
Speaker C:But it's really a great idea because you don't want to have to lug your stuff back to your parking lot or whatever.
Speaker C:Just ship it home.
Speaker C:Yeah, I mean to stand in line.
Speaker C:You might stand in line for an hour to get into the store and you're going to shop and then you're going to stand in line another half an hour or more to ship your stuff home.
Speaker C:Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday is not the time to go shopping.
Speaker C:And then Thursday you have the people come in who have the, the patrons who have this tournament badges Thursday through Sunday and Thursday, this is their first day, there are a lot of them.
Speaker C:So they're in there buying stuff.
Speaker C:Thursday is not a great day to shop either unless you go really late.
Speaker C:So then Friday is when I stopped in by which time it, you know, it was, it was decent and.
Speaker C:But they, some of the stuff they've run out of.
Speaker C:Well, that was the thing my buddy said about Berkman's Place.
Speaker C:They pull in at 9 o'clock and they see all these people come up, come leaving.
Speaker C:I'm like, where are they going?
Speaker C:And then look and it's like, oh, they're carrying stuff and he's looking.
Speaker C:It's like he says that guy's carrying a gnome under each arm.
Speaker C:What is that?
Speaker C:They were unaware of the whole gnome phenomenon.
Speaker C:The Masters has a different kind of gnome every year, a garden gnome.
Speaker C:And those things are like Cabbage Patch Dolls or Tickle Me Elmo.
Speaker C:They're in demand and they sell out right away and they're hard to get.
Speaker C:I don't.
Speaker C:He goes.
Speaker C:He, he had never heard of that.
Speaker C:He goes gnomes.
Speaker C:That doesn't seem like something the golf crowd would be.
Speaker C:Would go for.
Speaker C:But.
Speaker C:But it's become a thing every year and I was looking and so on Friday they had a T shirt, that green T shirt in the back.
Speaker C:It had a gnome on the back carrying golf clubs.
Speaker C:And I don't know what it said.
Speaker C: Masters: Speaker C:Whatever.
Speaker C:I was trying to.
Speaker C:I was going to buy a couple of those for my niece or my daughter in law.
Speaker C:Sorry who they were.
Speaker C:They were able to come with me two years ago when I attended my 40th masters.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:Gave me tickets passes for my family which was incredibly nice and they had a great time.
Speaker C:So now even though she's not a golfer, she loves master stuff.
Speaker C:So I was going to get her that building out that you have it at medium?
Speaker C:Nope.
Speaker C:How about lard?
Speaker C:Nope.
Speaker C:How about.
Speaker C:Nope.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:Even the T shirt with a gnome was gone by Friday.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker B:Oh yes.
Speaker C:If you want something magic.
Speaker C:I don't.
Speaker C:I don't.
Speaker C:You can't create something like that.
Speaker C:It's just.
Speaker C:Why does the gnome catch on?
Speaker C:I don't get it.
Speaker C:But it did.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Who knows who gnomes.
Speaker C:I mean what I'd have to replace my lawn orb or those flamingos.
Speaker C:What am I going to do with a gnome?
Speaker C:My front yard.
Speaker B:You know gnomes scare flamingos.
Speaker B:If you don't know that they scare the hell.
Speaker C:Well that could be.
Speaker C:And maybe it's a scarecrow.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:But yeah.
Speaker C:The lawn or you know, you haven't lived until you're in the suburbs.
Speaker C:You got one of those big lawn arms.
Speaker C:Those are.
Speaker B:Oh yeah.
Speaker C:Before.
Speaker C:But those were a thing for a long time.
Speaker B:So I got a question for you.
Speaker B:This Fred Ridley is.
Speaker B:He is as kind of demure and stuff in real life as he's always so composed on television.
Speaker B:I know he's an attorney.
Speaker B:I know he's, you know, you don't know his people don't know all of his history.
Speaker B:But very Earned a lot of.
Speaker B:Of money.
Speaker B:Has done very good work on the outside.
Speaker B:Was a top amateur player.
Speaker B:They used to drag him in to fill up foursomes or two sums when.
Speaker C:They needed the score marker.
Speaker C:Be the marker.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:But I just cur.
Speaker B:I've never talked to him.
Speaker B:I'm just curious about him.
Speaker C:I, you know.
Speaker C:Well, even if he's talking to me, I'm a Media guy.
Speaker C:So he's still.
Speaker C:He's still in, you know, chairman mode.
Speaker C:So it does seem like he's stiff upper lip, silver spoon, came from money.
Speaker C:You know, everything's perfect here kind of a guy.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker C:Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker C:I mean, maybe if you play card with cards with him or something, he'd be.
Speaker C:He'd let his hair down.
Speaker C:But he does seem pretty reserved and low key and, you know, he does a nice job with the.
Speaker C:The honorary starter ceremony on Thursday.
Speaker C:Before, when Billy Payne did it, Billy Payne felt like he was the center of attention and star of the show and the ringmaster.
Speaker C:And he talked and talked and did a lot of stuff and got in the way, in my opinion.
Speaker C:Fred.
Speaker C:Fred's there to let these get, let these guys get the attention, get out of the way.
Speaker C:He's very succinct and he does a great job with that.
Speaker C:So I'm going to guess and say he's pretty low key all the time, but I can't say that I know that for a fact.
Speaker C:I mean, if you're playing golf them.
Speaker C:And he snap hooks one into a creek, does he slam a club down and say a cuss word?
Speaker C:I don't know.
Speaker C:It doesn't seem like it, though.
Speaker B:Yeah, well, I just, I actually think that he, you know, there's a world of difference between him and what Billy Payne was.
Speaker B:And it just comes across on television as like, this is the guy in my book that should be the chairman down there.
Speaker C:So Billy Payne was loud and boisterous and aggressive, and that's how he got places.
Speaker C:He, you know, he has the, he knows how to turn on the Southern charm.
Speaker C:You know, while he's shaking your hand, he might be, you know, also reaching around and emptying your wallet or something at the same time.
Speaker C:But you're.
Speaker C:He does it so nicely that you let him.
Speaker C:So that's how you do business in the south and become a business tycoon.
Speaker C:He was very successful.
Speaker C:But, yeah, I'd like, as.
Speaker C:As the Masters tournament chairman that I've been through, I like Fred probably the most.
Speaker C:I did like Jack Stevens from Arkansas, who had more money than God, as they say.
Speaker C:I just remember somebody asked him a question in the Wednesday press conference, and Jack Stevens in his, you know, talk very slowly and goes, well, I can't answer that on account of, I don't know, it was just hilarious the way he did it.
Speaker C:And he meant that he didn't know the answer.
Speaker C:So I thought he was good.
Speaker C:But the story about him, I'd heard was some new guy was a member.
Speaker C:And, you know, these guys come down and play, stay for a couple days and play golf.
Speaker C:They have dinner, they play cards in the evening, and they're playing, like, a quarters, whatever the card game is.
Speaker C:And the new guy says, well, why don't we play for some real money and quarters?
Speaker C:Let's play for some real money.
Speaker C:And Jack Stevens goes, well, tell me.
Speaker C:Tell me, Joe, what.
Speaker C:What's your.
Speaker C:What's your net worth?
Speaker C:And the guy's like, well, I'm worth 142 million.
Speaker C:And Jack Stevens goes, well, excellent.
Speaker C:Why don't we play for 142 million a hand?
Speaker C:And the guy got the message and goes, yeah, quarters are fine.
Speaker C:Quarters.
Speaker B:So you would know this.
Speaker B:I heard a story in the past that they had a.
Speaker B:A new member, which they get some here and there, and that this member, I think, was like a dentist from Atlanta, orthodontist, something like this.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:So they had a meeting after the Masters, and it was kind of a review and all that.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And the guy said, well, a number of people have told me, and I would agree that.
Speaker B:And this is his first time, that we need a scoreboard out by eight or whatever it was.
Speaker B:And they said, okay, we'll take that under advice.
Speaker B:They put the scoreboard in, but they sent him the bill.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Is that a true story?
Speaker C:Oh, I.
Speaker C:Well, I haven't heard that one, but I've heard that story about the National Golf Links out in Long Island.
Speaker C:Was that golf links or was it Pine Valley?
Speaker C:Well, I think it's golf links.
Speaker C:He said something like, why don't we have a halfway house or whatever?
Speaker C:And then they built.
Speaker C:They built that windmill or something, and they sent him the bill.
Speaker C:Yeah, that's been done a few times.
Speaker C:I know.
Speaker C:I know.
Speaker C:A guy in my area at Swickley Heights Country Club said we should have a back tee on this par five, the 17th hole, put it way, way back, and they go, that's a good idea.
Speaker C:So they built one and sent him the bill.
Speaker C:And then he was like, yeah, it's kind of like a rule of thumb for.
Speaker C:For the average person.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:Whatever organization you're.
Speaker C:If you're a PA or anything, any parent meeting or anything.
Speaker C:If you complain about something, you're going to wind up on the committee or pres.
Speaker C:In charge of it.
Speaker C:It's like you didn't sign up for that.
Speaker C:You just.
Speaker C:It's better to shut up and then just complain about it on your own.
Speaker C:Don't go to the meeting.
Speaker C:And say, we should do this.
Speaker C:Okay, you're on the committee in charge.
Speaker C:And I was like, well, I didn't want that.
Speaker C:Yeah, it's kind of the same deal, only here's the bill, here's the new leaderboard.
Speaker C:Thanks.
Speaker B:There you go.
Speaker C:But, you know, they know everybody at the Masters.
Speaker C:One prerequisite to get in, I'm pretty sure, is you have to be fairly loaded.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker C:You know, I mean, the players get in, but they're kind of honorary members.
Speaker C:Not the same.
Speaker C:But I.
Speaker C:I did think it was neat.
Speaker C:I did.
Speaker C:See.
Speaker C:So my buddy at Berkman's place, he said Annika was there in a green jacket, and she was, like, picking up glasses and had a tray of glasses and taking them to the kitchen.
Speaker C:She was helping out.
Speaker C:And I saw her later.
Speaker C:I don't remember which day, but she was up near the first tee walking around, she and her husband, Mike.
Speaker C:Mike McGee, son of Jerry McGee, former pro.
Speaker C:And she had a green jacket on, and she was meeting people and giving them hugs.
Speaker C:So it's just interesting that, you know, these.
Speaker C:That's what I've heard about the membership there.
Speaker C:You know, it's like one big happy family.
Speaker C:No matter who you are, if you're walking and there's going down number one and hit one to the left, and somebody's coming down number nine, you see them, you go over, hey, Bill, I'm so and so.
Speaker C:And they shake hands and say, hi.
Speaker C:It's a.
Speaker C:It's just got that, you know, they're in the most exclusive club you can imagine.
Speaker C:And so they.
Speaker C:They.
Speaker C:They're all a band of brothers and sisters.
Speaker C:They're cordial each other.
Speaker C:They have meals together.
Speaker C:They.
Speaker C:They play golf.
Speaker C:They treat the caddies well, supposedly.
Speaker C:It's just a very.
Speaker C:They're very normal.
Speaker C:They're just normal.
Speaker C:They're not walking around like, I'm the king of, you know, the Internet.
Speaker C:I own.
Speaker C:I got $12 billion.
Speaker C:And, you know, people do what I say.
Speaker C:No, you're at Augusta.
Speaker C:You're just another member equal to everybody else.
Speaker C:Pine.
Speaker C:Pine Valley is the same way.
Speaker C:You're just so happy to be inside the gates and to be part of this special club that, you know, you're never in a bad mood.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:We're going to take a break and come back and wrap up with Gary.
Speaker B:You're listening to Grilling at the Green on wherever you're listening to it to.
Speaker D:Hey, everybody, J.T.
Speaker B:Here.
Speaker D:If you need something to practice with in the inclement weather, try Birdie ball.
Speaker D:Go to birdieball.com check out the actual Birdie balls, their packages, their putting greens, which I happen to have a couple of those, and they work great.
Speaker D:Birdieball.com.
Speaker B:Foreign welcome back to Grilling Anth Green.
Speaker B:I'm JT.
Speaker B:We got Gary Van Sickle with us today.
Speaker B:Gary's going to stick around for a little bit for after hours because I got lots more questions.
Speaker B:This one, though, for you as a writer and now a podcaster and all that, who was kind of the biggest disappointment in the tournament this year for you?
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:You want, There you are, you know, because you had, you know, like we were saying, you got DeChambeau was kind of in the running for a couple days.
Speaker B:Then he crashed and Rose came up and everybody was talking about Shafly or Akshay Batia.
Speaker B:They were saying, oh, this course fits him, didn't fit him that well, you know, that type of thing.
Speaker B:So, and you do this 24 7.
Speaker B:What, is there somebody that you thought just kind of fell off the training wheels there?
Speaker C:Well, I was, I thought the live guys were going to do a little bit better than they did.
Speaker C:John Rom was probably, you know, he, he didn't, I thought he learned his lesson last year and he talked like he did, but he didn't do it.
Speaker C:I, I, I thought because Phil had a pair of top tens on the live tour and he's hardly cracked the top 10 in three and a half years on live.
Speaker C:And a 48 man Fields originally and now 54.
Speaker C:I mean, he's, I used to do, I had my own live rankings that I created, and it was just based on how, like, how many guys you finished ahead of each time.
Speaker C:And he ranked like around 40th out of the 48 or 54 guys.
Speaker C:I mean, he, he's been terrible out there, but he all, he's played better this year.
Speaker C:And, you know, he, he did well there two, three years ago, tied for second, I thought, and he's talking a good game.
Speaker C:I thought Phil was going to come out and really do something.
Speaker C:And he did.
Speaker C:He missed the cut.
Speaker C:That's what he did.
Speaker C:So, yeah, I was wrong about phil.
Speaker C:I thought DeChambeau the first two days showed that.
Speaker C:And even in round three, like, I got what it takes to win this tournament.
Speaker C:And then on Sunday he didn't.
Speaker C:But he, he did say, like, I kind of had my B game all week.
Speaker C:It's like, well, that's a nice thing to say, I guess, if you didn't get it done.
Speaker C:But so I, I'm torn between deciding, well, this guy can win it, or maybe there's some reason.
Speaker C:I.
Speaker C:I always thought you need to be an artist on these greens and be able to putt and do whatever, get it around the greens.
Speaker C:And Bryson's really got a good short game now.
Speaker C:His putting still looks forced, but.
Speaker C:I've said this many times, but Sergio Garcia won the Masters.
Speaker C:Vijay Singh won the Masters.
Speaker C:They're not great putters.
Speaker C:They had demons, I would say.
Speaker C:I didn't think Rory would ever win it because of the same reason.
Speaker C:You can have a great week of ball striking and good chipping and keep the ball under the hole and.
Speaker C:And let be get lucky and have a week where Scotty Scheffler doesn't go off or somebody else doesn't go crazy.
Speaker C:And you can.
Speaker C:You can win a Masters even if you're not the world's best putter.
Speaker C:Yeah, Bryson got himself up there, but he just didn't hit enough quality shots to get enough easy birdies.
Speaker C:You know the old joke.
Speaker C:He said it was Almost a par 67 course for him, but she regrets saying now, that's probably a permanent curse from the guy to golf, by the way, but I was a little disappointed that he didn't show better on the weekend.
Speaker C:I mean, he kind of did at first, and then.
Speaker C:And even Sunday, I mean, going back to.
Speaker C:We were talking about how many things happened Sunday.
Speaker C:He kind of was out of it, and then all of a sudden, he knocks down 15.
Speaker C:He's got an eagle pot, and it's like, oh, if he makes that.
Speaker C:If he makes this putt, he's back in it.
Speaker C:Ah, no, he didn't make it.
Speaker C:Yeah, a lot of guys stuck their nose in there, like, oh, my gosh.
Speaker C:And then that was it.
Speaker C:So I.
Speaker C:I would say, yeah, Phil and Rom and Bryson at the end a little bit.
Speaker C:I mean, Scheffler, he hasn't been quite right all year, so it was hard to expect him to come out and win.
Speaker C:But he was.
Speaker C:He was in the neighborhood.
Speaker C:He was thinking about it.
Speaker C:And the other guy, you know, Shane Lowry, is another guy I thought would have a better weekend than he did.
Speaker C:But there was no real disaster where you said somebody, you know, Rom, I think overall would be the guy with the highest expectation, and he just hadn't been playing well for a while, and for whatever reason.
Speaker B:Well, and you got.
Speaker B:You're talking about the lib guys in Koepka, and a couple of those guys.
Speaker C:Even playing the Masters, it's hard to remember.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:I was just looking at the.
Speaker C:Sheet here and I, I don't even remember seeing him.
Speaker C:He was, yeah, he missed the cut.
Speaker C:He was not a factor.
Speaker B:And the kid that they.
Speaker B:Everybody's been kind of hyping is Ludwig.
Speaker B:I don't know if it's a Berg or Oberg, but.
Speaker B:Yep, Oberg.
Speaker B:You know, he was there.
Speaker B:He was there.
Speaker B:He's gonna be knocking on some doors.
Speaker C:He didn't play his best, but he's right there.
Speaker C:And on 17, I think he had a bad drive and he was forced to.
Speaker C:I don't think he could get it on the green from there.
Speaker C:But he's got about a 40 yard pitch.
Speaker C:If he gets that up and down or if he hits a.
Speaker C:If he hits a better drive, if he birdies that hole right, he's there, but he just has to make a par there to stay in it.
Speaker C:And he didn't hit a.
Speaker C:He didn't hit a very good pitch.
Speaker C:And then he hit a.
Speaker C:Did he three putt that for double?
Speaker C:No, he just made a bogey there.
Speaker C:Well, you know what?
Speaker C:Maybe he hit the green and he three putt.
Speaker C:I think that's what.
Speaker C:I think he hit the green, but it was way right and he had like a 50 foot putt over the ridge and then he ran it like 15ft by and then he missed that.
Speaker C:He bogeyed 17 and that kind of put him out of it because he was.
Speaker C:He would have been one shot back with a par.
Speaker C:He would have needed to birdie 18.
Speaker C:But yeah, and then 18, he just played hockey.
Speaker C:It was a disastrous triple.
Speaker C:So he was closer than the score.
Speaker C:Look.
Speaker C:But yeah, there's a guy, his first two Masters, he's been right there with the chance to win it like, oh my gosh.
Speaker C:And he hits it so straight that there's the next.
Speaker C:There's the next Scottie Scheffler right before our eyes.
Speaker C:It's just.
Speaker C:You're just waiting for him to explode and go on a run and win all these tournaments when it happens.
Speaker C:You're not going to go.
Speaker C:I can't believe you're going to go.
Speaker C:Yep, here he is.
Speaker B:There he is.
Speaker B:Gary, where can people find your columns and your stories and also your podcasts that you work with?
Speaker C:Well, I'm, I'm all over the map now.
Speaker C:I'm@si.com infrequently.
Speaker C:I'm@thefirst call.com, which is a newsletter you can sign up for for free.
Speaker C:And those also get appear at Substack under something or other.
Speaker C:My name, I guess I don't know.
Speaker C:Sometimes I'm at New England, New England.Golf.
Speaker C:sometimes I'm at Eastouthern Golf.
Speaker C:And what am I leaving out?
Speaker C:The podcast?
Speaker C:Oh, well, I've done some stories for the hyphen golf-ow.com which is related to the podcast that we do, which is the Golf Show 2.0, which you can find on Utah YouTube.
Speaker C:It was a lot easier when I just had one employer.
Speaker C:Now I have zero employers and I'm just writing stuff and getting, you know, getting paid 12 cents for a story by assorted people.
Speaker C:So there you go.
Speaker C:But look for my name.
Speaker C:And if you even are motivated that much, and then stuff will happen.
Speaker B:You should, you should look for Gary's name because he's a.
Speaker B:He's great.
Speaker B:He's a fun, fun writer.
Speaker B:We're gonna get out of here.
Speaker B:Gary and I are going to do a short after hours.
Speaker B:But thank you for listening, Gary.
Speaker B:Thank you for being with us.
Speaker B:My first tournament is tomorrow, local tournament, so we'll see what happens if they break your monkey.
Speaker B:Baby, I'll break the monkey.
Speaker B:Anyway, we'll be right back next week with another edition of Grilling at the Green.
Speaker B:Until then, go out, play some golf, have some fun, and be kind.
Speaker A:Grilling at the Green is produced by JTSD Productions, LLC in association with Salem Media Group.
Speaker A:All rights reserve.
