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- [00:00]
Jeremy Hobson
We live in a divided country and our media couldn't be more polarizing. That's why we started the Middle with Jeremy Hobson. It's about bringing voices not from the extremes, but from the vast middle into the national conversation. Each week we hear from ordinary Americans from all over the country. And when you subscribe to the Middle, you also get an episode each week called One Thing Trump did that focuses on just one item from the avalanche of news. Listen to the Middle with Jeremy Hobson on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [00:30]
Greg Rosenthal
What's up everyone? It's Greg Rosenthal and I'm teaming up with the King of Spring, Daniel Jeremiah. He requires me to say that we're going to be bringing you 40s and free agents, the only podcast you'll need this NFL draft season. From DJs, mock drafts to my top 101 free agents, we'll have it covered for you with all new episodes every Thursday keeping you up to date as we head to the NFL Draft. Listen to 40s and free agents on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.
- [01:01]
Daniel Jeremiah
The Volume what is going on everybody? How are we doing? It is one of, if not my favorite weeks of the year, especially non football. It might be my favorite week of the year. The Masters doesn't get any better. We are going to dive deep into just some big picture thoughts when it comes to this week. And then I got about six, seven guys that I am going to have action on this this week from top tens to top twenties to potentially, you know, to win the tournament. I'm going to have a live DraftKings special. It's, it's hard not to like some of the live guys and the momentum they have coming into this tournament. So we will do that and we will also answer your questions at golopod at golo Pod is the Instagram fire in those DMS and do it now. It's a separate Instagram account from my normal account for football. So just if you got any golf questions, anything, it doesn't have to be gambling related, masters related, pro golf related, just fire in those DMs and we will answer your question here on the show. So before we dive in to the Golo Masters preview, let's tell you about my friends, my partners and the official ticketing app Game Time. I've been using them for a long time and listen, I've used every ticketing app known to man and I can tell you this honestly, there's not a better ticketing app on the market than than these guys. I've used them to go to hockey games. I've used them to go to concerts. So if you want to go to anything, you want to go to a basketball playoff game right around the corner. You want to go to an NHL playoff game right around the corner. Concert season, comedy shows, they got you covered. You can search by price points, by venues, by artists. It doesn't get any easier. I've traveled near and far. I've gone to concerts here in Arizona. I've gone to ones in Vegas. I've been all over the place because of these guys. So listen, take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account and use the code JOHN for $20 off. Your first purchase terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem the code JOHN for $20 off. Download the Game Time app today. Last minute tickets, lowest prices guaranteed. No clue why I said John like that, but we just kind of rolled off the tongue. Let's dive into the Masters. And before we talk individual players, storylines and ultimately gambling, listen, this has probably always been the super bowl of golf. It's the only tournament of the four majors that has played at the same venue every single year. That's not true for the pga. It's not true for the US Open. It's obviously not true for the Open Championship. And this feels like the most iconic of the group. Obviously the green jacket. It's one of those things for a sport that, let's face it, is is niche, can pierce through and everyone understands what the green jacket is. It typically is the highest rated. If you remove Tiger, where in the 2000s and the late 90s and the 2010s, if he was in the mix, he could be playing in your backyard, let alone in a major championship. The ratings were going to go up. You remove him. To me, this is the cash cow. This is the one that everyone gravitates to. Most of us have never been yet we discuss not allowed to have phones, all the food and the beer and everything is really cheap. That there's like a nostalgic heavenly cool, unique like all these different ways to describe it. And everyone is like God, I would love to go to that. And whether you like golf or you don't, it's a cool event and everyone acknowledges that. And I think one reason this event has been, I would say gone to another level the last couple years is because of live and golf has never been strong enough but definitely isn't now without some superstar Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus type guy. I mean, Scotty and Rory are awesome. I wouldn't put him in Jack Arnie in Tigers category here, it's not big enough to take away three or four of the most important players and we are feeling that. And the tournaments, while I love golf and I would be considered, as they would say in radio, a P1A Die Hard, like I'm paying attention last week when Brian Harmon is winning his fourth career PGA event, most people don't give a shit. And by some of the quotes that are coming out, I saw John Rom, who I think it's fair to assume is the highest paid player in the history of live, said that he doesn't know, but he doesn't expect anything to happen anytime soon. It's kind of sad and I'm not going to spend too much time on this, but the Masters benefits from this because we only get four times a year. When Bryson DeChambeau, whose stardom has gone up greatly over the last four or five years, first he got big like a football player, then he got skinny, then he went to Live, then he got this really popular YouTube channel. Then he won a major last year and he took down Rory McIlroy. So his stardom has never been bigger. He's a two time major champ. Koepka's won a bunch of majors. Rahm has won multiple US Opens. Obviously Phil is one of the biggest stars in the history of golf. And those guys are just gone and we only get to see them play with these other guys four times a year. And the Masters benefits because of the schedule. It's the first major, so it's the first time that we see all these guys together and sometimes they're paired together. In the last couple years, some of these guys have won majors and some of them have competed to win this major. I mean, a couple years ago we had Brooks and Rom and Scotty and all these guys going at it. And it's just kind of sad the more I think about it, because you get Yasser, who ultimately doesn't give a shit, he's got access to the Saudi piggy bank, which is unlimited and he just wanted a seat at the table. And Jay, who listen, I don't pretend to know the guy, but clearly feels a little over his head in this whole endeavor. Pushed back against it originally and this word got to where it's at and now they're negotiating and Tiger's clearly involved and his ego and pride, based on the history of golf have to play a factor here. And you just. The whole thing's embarrassing. And the players don't lose out. They've never been richer. Who loses are us, because we don't get to see these guys play. So when they actually do the Masters, you got to thoroughly enjoy it. And hopefully you can get a good mix of a Bryson, a Brooks, a Rom against a Scotty, a Rory, a jt and all those guys are in the mix down the home stretch. I mean, that's happened the last couple years. Obviously last year with Bryson against Xander and then Bryson against Rory, it was badass. And I would be stunned going into this tournament if this ain't a big guns. Like I think if you just look at top tens and top twenties, I don't think they're going to be too many flyers. I would expect the big names, the best players to be in the mix. I mean, that's how it's played out the last couple years. Obviously you could have a random guy in the top 10, but look at the guys that won the majors last year. It was starting with this tournament. He's won two of the last three. Scottie Scheffler. Well, who was he battling straight up against? Ludwig, Colin Morikawa, Max Homa, who was playing really well at the time. Then the PGA Championship, who was going at it? Xander, Hovland and Bryson. What'd you have in the US Open? Rory Bryson. One on one the Open. Xander kicked everyone's ass. Like this is when the cream separates and it's what makes major so great. It's what made Tiger and Jack such legends. It's like you guys won that many. And listen, the tour is not as powerful because they don't have a Tiger like figure. I know Scotty's awesome, but he ain't Tiger. Neither is Rory. He hasn't won a major in 10 years. But the depth of the talent in the top 10, 15 players has never been better. I love Tiger. I think he's right there. With Michael as my favorite athlete of all time beside like Phil Ernie and a couple other iterations of like a Retief Goosen and a Chris DeMarco and a Padrick Harrington. He did not have to take on the depth of talent. Now I don't think that would have phased him. I think he still, his numbers would have spoke for themselves and he still would have kicked everyone's ass. But it's, it would have been awesome to see a 28 year old tiger involved with these guys. I would take him over all these guys but still, like, the talent of this group is pretty indisputable. And that's why I think the number one storyline coming in, like, Scottie Scheffler has a chance to win three of the last four Masters. Think about that. That's Tiger woods never did that. Hell, Phil's won three. He didn't do that. That would put him in a rare category with a guy named Jack Nicklaus. And I don't think he's the biggest story coming into this, this major. I think it's easily Roy McElroy, who is, I think it's fair to say, the top player of the last 15 years and a guy whose number one story right now is he can't win a major despite the last couple years being right there. I mean, what was it, six, seven months ago? He had the US Open one until he didn't. He stormed out and he drove off with his caddy and his manager and we didn't see him again until, till the fall. But I think when it comes, I guess we saw him at the, at the British, like, I think he's easily the number one story. And I watched Brandle give an interview with a guy and he said, Rory's had a couple issues here. One, he has not started fast. And if you look at Rory's first rounds at the Masters, they are not good. Even a couple years ago when he finished second, he shot 64 on Sunday and he still lost by three. So let's face it, he never had a chance to win that tournament on average, right? You play 72 holes in golf, the winner of the masters hits about 52 greens. So obviously you got to get up and down 20 plus times. Rory McElroy on average in his master's career hits about 42. So like, he ain't exactly Phil Mickelson around the greens. So that's a huge disadvantage for him. And I don't think it's random why he hasn't won this tournament when those are your stats. I also heard this, that the winner when it comes to the Masters on average is in the top 10 after round one with an average position after round one of a little under 7, 6.6. So it shows you there aren't. Not that it's never happened, but for the most part over the history of the tournament, there aren't guys coming from like 30th place and come storming back. And I think a big reason why is a lot of scorebohols here. This isn't a place typically you see crazy meltdowns it's happened. But I wouldn't say this is the British Open or the U.S. open. We're going to go back to back doubles down the stretch. In the second round, this is pretty telling. The average pole position is 3.2, and then when it comes to the third round, the average winning pole position is 1.5. So typically, whoever you're betting on, and specifically listen, I'm going to have a little Rory action. I'm rooting for Rory to win this. But like if he shoots 73 on day one, is in 40th, like he's not winning. That's just not going to happen. Why? Because that never happens here. That's not the deal. So if you can just have like a one under or two under day instead of a two over day, it goes a long way to winning this tournament. And like at this point in time, there's no excuses for him anymore. Not that anyone's making them. It's kind of been sad that he just hasn't been able to figure this out. And listen, say what you want about the other tournaments, he's been right there to win all three, especially the US Open. In the Open, he easily could have won three over over the last three years, but this tournament has been a bugaboo for him. And I do think, listen, we're all human beings and belief and confidence. The older you get, you realize how important that is. Some people, you're not born confident, but obviously some people in their youth are more confident. Whether it's because they're good at sports, they're good looking and girls like them. However it manifests, you know, whether you're great in school so you know you're really smart, most people are not, I would say most young people lack confidence and rightfully so. It's hard. You don't have the experience of having a lot of successes to build up confidence. The older you go. Ideally, whatever you're doing professionally, you build up confidence doing. I know a lot of my friends have young children. I don't have kids yet. I would imagine early on, I've seen it with my brother, I've seen it with some of my best friends. Like it's, it's a little nerve wracking having a young kid. By the time they're five or six, it's like feet up, you're not even worried about it. You hear them crying, it's like, come over here, right? Because the confidence of raising a child you feel much better about. You don't freak out over every Little thing. And what's weird is it's probably impossible over the last 15 years to play much more golf than Rory and have the success, the financial success and the wins that the guy has had. Yet there does feel like he's not that confident here. And there's like a lack of belief and like, I want to be totally believing the guy and put the biggest bet I've ever made on a golf tournament because, like, look how well he's playing. Look how he played at pebble, look how he played at the players. He's working his wedges. His driver hasn't even been on. Imagine if he starts hitting, you know, the majority of fairways. Watch out. And there's just something that you can't quantify and that's what makes sports so cool. It's like, it's like Lamar and Josh against the Chiefs. It's like there's just something. These guys are all time great players combined. Three MVPs, neither of them are even 30 yet. And it's like when they play the Chiefs, if it's all in the line in January, he's like, yeah, it's just not going to happen. Like, we have the evidence now. Like, I'm out, I'm out. And I'm telling you, I believing. But if this thing goes, if he were to shoot like not even close or to worst case, miss the cut, but like not even sniff the top 10, there's nothing he can do moving forward where you can ever believe in him coming into this tournament, if he ever wins it, which I still think he probably does, but if he doesn't win it this week and it looks really weird, I think from then on out, you just got to be like, well, this is his, the place where he can't figure out for whatever reason. And I, you know, Brandle can break down technically as wedges on the hilly lies, whatever. It's like all the good players figure it out, right? Rom figured it out. Tiger figured out. Phil figured it out. Scotty figured it out. Jordan figured it out. Great players figured out. It's like this guy is an all time great player. It's like he's either figuring out right now or it's just, I don't know, everyone's kind of off the scent. So I think he by far is the biggest story. In a weird way, Scotty, despite being the defending champ and I'm recording this before his meal, feels like he gets to play a little under the radar. There's nothing else I like more about Masters Week 2 than the pictures that come out of the champions dinner. It's all these dudes and you know, I'm recording who I would doubt, Tiger goes because it's a torn Achilles. But, you know, Phil now has kind of got his mojo back. Remember a couple years ago, Phil didn't say a word when live first started happening in the dinner. And Phil's like the biggest talker in the room. Didn't say a peep. I feel like he's going to be very talkative now. And that dinner, a lot of people talk shit about Scotty's meal, which I think I saw someone tweet out, is technically the cheapest meal in the history of the Masters. But I'm always behind something in a big group setting. Like, you can go simple like, no one's complaining about sliders, steak and potatoes. Like, I promise you, even though it's like, wow, that's just so boring. It's like, yeah, everyone will eat it and be very, very satisfied. It's like, well, this dessert is a cookie and ice cream. I've never seen anyone eat a warm chocolate chip cookie over vanilla ice cream and have a bad experience. Now, could there be better desserts? Sure. Could there be more exotic desserts? 100%. I promise you what travels Chocolate chip cookies that are warm and vanilla ice cream always work. So props to Scotty for not veering too far off the reservation. Foreign the fight for the jacket is on in Augusta. Get in on all the action at drafting Sportsbook from the opening round through Championship Sunday, DraftKing Sportsbook has you covered with live betting, player props, and so much more. Have you never bet on golf before? Don't worry, I got you covered. I love it and I do it all the time. You just have to pick a simple golfer to win the tourney and make your pick. It's that simple. They also got top tens, top twenties, head to head, a lot of different options. Here's something special for first timers. New DraftKings customers bet five bucks to get 150 in bonus bets instantly. Download the DraftKings sportsbook app and use the code JOHN. That's code JOHN for new customers to get 150 in bonus bets. When you bet just five bucks only on DraftKings, the crown is yours. Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER in New York. Call 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY 467-369 in Connecticut. Help is available for problem gambling. 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- [19:03]
Jeremy Hobson
We live in a divided country. I am a lifelong Republican with all kinds of different people.
- [19:09]
Daniel Jeremiah
You know, I'm a mother, I'm a grandmother.
- [19:12]
Jeremy Hobson
That's why we started the Middle with Jeremy Hobson. It's about bringing voices not from the extremes, but from the vast middle into the national conversation.
- [19:20]
Daniel Jeremiah
Anna the Calling from Las Vegas.
- [19:22]
Jeremy Hobson
Each week we bring together an all star panel. Mark Cuban, so great to have you on the Middle.
- [19:27]
Daniel Jeremiah
Thanks for having me.
- [19:28]
Jeremy Hobson
Jeremy, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, welcome to the Middle.
- [19:30]
Greg Rosenthal
Thanks for having me.
- [19:31]
Jeremy Hobson
And hear from ordinary Americans from all over the country on the most important issues.
- [19:36]
Daniel Jeremiah
Hi, my name is Venkat. I'm calling you from Atlanta, Georgia.
- [19:39]
Jeremy Hobson
And when you subscribe to the Middle, you also get an episode each week called One Thing Trump did that focuses on just one item from the avalanche of news.
- [19:48]
Daniel Jeremiah
We should be examining what our government spends its money on and are these jobs necessary and what are we doing here? But that doesn't seem to be what we're doing in this situation.
- [19:56]
Jeremy Hobson
Listen to the Middle with Jeremy Hobson on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [20:02]
Greg Rosenthal
What's up, everyone? It's Greg Rosenthal and I'm teaming up with the king of spring, Daniel Jeremiah. He requires me to say that we're going to be bringing you 40s and free agents, the only population podcast you'll need this NFL draft season. From DJs, mock drafts to my top 101, free agents will have it covered for you with all new episodes every Thursday keeping you up to date as we head to the NFL Draft. Listen to 40s and free agents on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
- [20:38]
Daniel Jeremiah
Okay, let's gamble. It is difficult. I mean, Scotty's basically three to one. Rory's hovering six and a half, six to one. That's pretty insane odds. Like Scotty. Understandable. He's won this tournament two of three years. He should be the heavy favorite. It would shock nobody if, like, Scotty wins again, right? Rory never won this tournament, honestly never really played well and is getting treatment like he's Tiger woods or Phil Mickelson in their prime. But, like, it's hard to argue based on the way he's playing like what should his odds be like 15 to 1? Everyone would hammer that, including myself. Six and a half. Six to one. It's like, because usually if you can get a guy like 12, 13 to 1, you put 100 bucks, you win $1200. Look, look at stock market, try to 10x your money. It's, it's an incredible feeling. I've done it a couple times. Golf, gambling, it's, it's why you're hooked for life. But six to one, it's like, God, I remember last year I did it and it was 10 to 1. And you knew after round one you're like, I might as well have just lit that money on fire. But those guys heavy favorites and deservingly so to me, the biggest lock of this tournament is Colin Morikawa. Top 10, you can get that at plus 130. So you bet 100 bucks, you win 130 bucks. Well, you win 230 bucks. If you bet $1,000, you win $2,300. Colin Morikawa has played this tournament four times in his career. 20, 21 T18, first time he ever played it. 22, fifth, 23, 10th last year, tied for third. If he doesn't hit in the water on 11, who knows, maybe he pushes Scotty and finishes solo second with ease. But this guy's played here four times. The only time he's finished out of 10th, he finished 18th. And he's clearly just an unreal player. Now do I like him to win? That's been kind of an issue for Colin closing the deal. I don't see at +130 how he is an auto hammer to top 10. If you want to get aggressive, top five, I wouldn't argue with you, but I think when it comes to not picking a winner but picking a guy that you feel the most confident coming into this tournament, that is going to finish relatively high. I don't see how you could bet against Colin Morikawa because unlike Scotty, like his odds to top 10 are not good, right? They're like minus 200. You can get Colin Morikawa at plus odds when he dominates in this tournament. It's my favorite bet on the board. I think this guy, Listen, maybe it's. I've watched all of his YouTubes and there's not much to glean when he does the break 50 with Romo or Stafford or Brady because they're playing the red tees and it just, it's, it's just a fun experience. I do think when you watch Bryson on YouTube, play a course and Just try to break the course record. You realize he is really good, obviously. I mean, he's one of the best players in the world, but you're watching him, you're like that baby. Draw the power drives. He's a really good putter. He's good with his wedges. The first couple years playing this tournament were an utter disaster. In the last, before last year, 22 and 23, he missed the cut. Now, unlike some of these other majors that have 140, 150 people, this tournament typically has like high 80s. I think this year it's like 96 or 97, which is a high number for the Masters. So when you bet a guy to top 10, they're not having to beat 140 other people. They honestly only have to beat if there are 95 players here, 85 of them. So the numbers are way different. And from a statistical standpoint, but because this field is much smaller and because past champions get to play here for life, there are countless people in this tournament over 50 that have absolutely no shot. A lot of Freddy Couples, Bernard Longer, who's actually made the cut here before, this is the last tournament ever. You get guys like, I think Vijay Singh is injured or sick or something, he's not playing. But you get a lot of guys like that that are never going to win this tournament. So it's, it's very unique that way. This is, it's actually in a weird way harder to win like the bay Hill gets 150 people than this. Now in theory it's harder to win this because of the pressure and everything, but just in terms of the number of people you have to beat. So in 22 and 23, Bryson missed the cut and was kind of embarrassing because he claimed this was a par 67 when it's actually not a par 67. And then he imploded. But last year when I think he's really honed in on these, like, what, I don't even quite understand what 3D irons are, but when you watch the drive, they say, I was in the car today and Colin Morikawa pushed back against this. He's like, they say you need a draw to win. As a right handed player that's right to left and as the left handed player, Bubba Phil, those guys have had a lot of success. They can play a cut well. Bryson plays a hardcore draw, like that's his shot and that works here. And I think for whatever reason, whether it's people rooting for him and success on YouTube last year, like he Was legitimately in the mix to win this thing until he imploded on hole 13, which all of us would have, as well as a weird shot. He chunked it water. Game over. He still finished T6. So you can get Bryson +162 top 10. I actually think if you like him this week, which I understand if you don't. Because if you tell me that he finishes like 50th or 40th or missed the cut, it turns out last year was an aberration. This course always going to be hard. If you tell me he's in the mix, then I just go that Bryson before 2024 was just different guy. This version of Bryson is going to be a factor here because we all agree if you follow the sport, you go. I'd be stunned if Bryson isn't a major factor either in the US Open or the PGA Championship. I think we would have full agreement there. But this tournament can be somewhat of an outlier situation. I'm in the belief. And again, it could be YouTube influence watching him play a lot of golf because I don't watch a second of live. Even though he played really well. He was leading at Doral until the last days, which was I guess crazy ass wins. Didn't watch second of that tournament either. But I'm in on Bryson and I think top 10. Honestly, I think 20 to 1 for of all the best players, you know, Rory, Scotty Morikawa, the Xander, the roms like that group, he has the worst odds of the group and he easily could have won two majors last year. Like, is John Rahm a better player than Bryson? Now you can say John Rahm's more comfortable here. Not going to argue there, but you're either like to me, you got to pick a lane and I wouldn't blame you if you go. I don't do Bryson at the Masters. Totally understand. I do. I'm in. I'm probably going to sprinkle a little. I mean, you put $25 on 20 to 1, you're winning 500 bucks. So it's just, it's pretty good odds for clearly one of the three or four best players in the world. I think this guy's interesting because you can get them +182 top 10. I also think if you told me Justin Thomas wins a Masters, maybe not in 25, but over the course of his career, I think that's very believable. He was playing shitty golf for a while. Now he's not. He's having an excellent season. This place has given him some fits. And I hear that a lot, like, he doesn't play well here. And then I look in 2020. Weird year they played in the fall. Even if you want to throw that away, he finished fourth the year DJ1 in normal years. 21T, 21, 22T8 the last couple years. Cut, cut. So it's like he has had success here. The last couple years, I mean, were a disaster last year, I think with that weather. And he missed the cut, or might have been two years ago. It was pretty bad. He's missed the cut in pretty bad fashion the last couple years. Where he was inside the cut line. Definitely two years ago in bad weather. I think he finished like four straight bogeys or three straight bogeys. But I'm a believer in jt. He's a guy that I've won money on in the past. I don't know if he wins this tournament. I wouldn't take him to win. But I think top 10 plus 180. Pretty interesting. I watched a lot of the Sunday when Victor Hovland took out Justin Thomas. And it was a throwback couple years ago when Victor hovland won the FedEx, won like $45 million and would have been 20, 23 and was kind of universally considered, like, right now when the. When the season ended, no one was. He wasn't technically the number one player in the world, but he was playing the best in the world. And the momentum he had going into the Ryder cup, it was like, Victor Hovland is an unstoppable force. This guy is a lock to not just win a major, but to win multiple majors. Then it got weird and now it's back. And when he won a couple weeks ago, he's like, you know, I still am kind of guessing, but I'm starting to feel good. I was in the car today and I listened to his press conference. Ironically, going to the PGA Superstore to get new grips because my grips were a little too big. I got new grips probably three or four months ago. And then I was like, YouTube and some stuff. It's like, I think I got the wrong size grip. My hands aren't big enough for these oversized grips. And I'm hitting it weird. But that's a conversation for another day. Hovland in this press conference was like, he's pretty positive right now in his game. Not only did he find something a couple weeks ago, he just sounds like, I'm betting on the vibes because he's been giving you vibes in early in the season when, like, I don't know what's going on. I'm terrible. Like, this is not going well. And then he shoots 80. Maybe that win, the confidence that builds again. We're all human beings. When you're confident, you never think you're going to lose it. When you don't have it, you never think it's going to come back. Now that he got it back, who knows? Maybe he found something in his game. He's had success here. First time he ever played here, 20, 21, T21. He also played here as an amateur. The year Tiger won at 19 was a low amp in 22, T27 and in 23, when he was playing well, finished top 10, T7. Last year he was kind of in the wilderness. He was cut. I'm a believer in Hovland you can get him plus 260 to top 10. Listen, like, I'm not a huge, like take big flyers at the Masters. That's not usually what happens. Look at the last champions. It's been Scotty's and Rahms and Dustin Johnson's and even Tiger. So it's a lot of the elites. This guy is an elite. He has just not been playing well. So you can get him 40 to 1 to win the Masters. Listen, I think there's some value there. Him and Bryson are going to be guys that I take to straight up win at 40 to 1. That is really, really tasty. Another guy, it's weird. Like most people, not consuming Lyft and his. When you look at his live results, they've been all over the map. But here's the one thing you say about Ozzy, Ozzy, Ozzy. Camp Smith, when he goes to Augusta, he plays extremely well. He has played this tournament five times. T2, T10, T3, T34, T6. This guy's game translates. Why? Second shot golf course. Good iron player. Good long iron player. Excellent short game. I think the live guys, beside the Phil's and the Sergios and the Patrick Reeds, like the guys that have been here a million times and have won here, you just like. You understand they can be a factor at any moment. Cam Smith is one of those guys. I don't care how bad or weird it looks on live. Look at his success here. You can get a top 10 at plus 360. That's. That seems like some value there. And last but not least on my betting card will be Will Zalotoris. He has a size, I don't know, 25, waist and he hits it a mile. And maybe because his waist is so small, that messed up his back. And the only time that he's missed this tournament in the last four years, he obviously just didn't play. But when he's played here, second T6, T9. So if it wasn't for the back injury which forced him to miss a tournament, he has played here three out of the last four years, and he's finished in the top 10 every single time. I heard the guys on the no Laying up podcast mentioned that, like, a huge stat here. You know, a lot of courses these guys play, especially on, like, the regular rotation in the PGA Tour, these guys hit it so fucking far. I play with a buddy at tpc, Nate. His dad, Bill, also plays with us. Played the big leagues forever. And Bill can play. Nate can play, too. Nate can hit it as far as anyone I've ever met. And when Nate connects with a drive, it goes like 330, 340 yards. I mean, he's flying it, flying it. 315, 320. And I hit it decently far. I mean, every once in a while, I can be kind of close to him, but if I miss, hit it. He can out drive me by 60, 70 yards. If I'm 270, he can be like 340. It's like, is he in a different universe? Some of these shots that he's hit at tpc, where they have the waste management, are shots that I didn't even know existed beside when these guys play. So when you hit it really far, most of these tournaments, you're going, driver, wedge, driver nine iron. What the Masters. Some of these holes are driver six iron, driver five iron. And Zalatoris is an excellent long iron player. I think he's one of the highest rated solely. And no laying up. Said, like, that's one of his best stats. And one thing, the other thing that he is, we talk about, like, the intangible shit that you can't really quantify. This guy's good in big tournaments. It's weird. He's got a little koepka to him. He's like the light version of koepka because he hasn't won a major, but, like, sometimes he'll play in random PGA events. Like, why isn't this guy one of the best players? And he's just kind of whatever, finished 17th or 24th, and then he goes to a major and he's third. It's like, certain guys, it's like this in all sports. We all watch Basketball, baseball, football, hockey, you name it. There are certain people that are just bright lights guys, and I feel like Zalatoris is. You can get zelotaurus to top 10 at 320 plus 320. So $100, you win, 420 bucks. I don't know, man. I just. I don't see how you don't have any exposure on him. I have a hard time of knowing what to do with, like, John, Rom, Koepka, Xander. All those guys can win. It wouldn't shock me if any get T5s or top 10s. I'm just not messing with them. Xander the Ribs Brooks, a little out of sight, out of mind. And honestly, I don't know what to make of Rom. I don't. If you told me that he's tied for league going into Sunday, I'd believe you. If you told me he's 40th going into Sunday, I'd believe you. So that's kind of a crew. I don't really know what to do. And then there's a lot of guys like, I don't really mess with Spieth. I know he has a lot of success here. I just don't really do it. Maybe it's too much exposure to him in normal tournaments. Fleetwood's another guy. It's like, yeah, he could do well. I don't really mess with Fleetwood anymore. Keegan Bradley is one guy. It's like he's had success here recently. I think a bunch of top 25s. He's a guy that's burned me in the past. So if you want a little exposure to him. Last but not least, before we get into the mailbag, there's a lot of talk. You know, Patrick Reed, Sergio, like, those guys could easily be factors this week. Because he's 54 years old, Phil's got no shot. Phil a couple years ago finished top two. He has played in the Masters basically every year except once since 1995. That's 30 years over half that time. He has finished in the top 10. He has 16 top tens. He has 12 top fives, and obviously has three wins. Just a couple years ago, he finished second. Now, I think the thing that makes this tournament so cool is you can be an older guy. We just saw Tiger a couple years ago win the thing because mentally understanding where you can miss where you can't, the comfortability around the greens here and just the calmness you have of playing this tournament. I mean, Phil has played this tournament every year since 1995. And I think he's playing pretty well now and he's another guy. Like, I don't take much away when I watch him on YouTube, but like, he's legitimately played well in these live events against, like, whether we think they matter or they don't. At the end of the day, Phil is playing against Brooks, Ron Bryson, Cam Smith. Like, those are the guys he's trying to beat. And he's beat him a couple times. Last week he was right there with Bryson finished T6. Bryson was fifth a couple weeks ago. I think Phil finished third. He is playing really well now. How that translates to the Masters or like PGA Tour tournaments, I'd have no clue. But in terms of Augusta these four days, you can get some crazy odds. Now. I think it would be pretty when he won at Kiawah. It's one of the greatest out of nowhere victories in the history of sports, but I don't think he can win. But he is 110 to 1. I don't think. If you told me Phil finishes fifth or seventh, like top 20, I think it's a no brainer bet. But, but top 10 you can get about 8 to 1. I might dabble a little bit. I listen Sergio, Patrick Reed, like, there are some other guys that I wouldn't blame you at all if you had exposure to. I think Phil when it comes to long shots. And plus he's older, a guy that would not stun me at all if it's like, God, Phil's three back on Saturday. Like, I definitely think it's a possibility.
- [37:57]
Jeremy Hobson
We live in a divided country. I am a lifelong Republican with all kinds of different people.
- [38:03]
Daniel Jeremiah
You know, I'm a mother, I'm a grandmother.
- [38:06]
Jeremy Hobson
That's why we started the Middle with Jeremy Hobson. It's about bringing voices not from the extremes, but from the vast middle into the national conversation.
- [38:14]
Daniel Jeremiah
Anna, I'm calling from Las Vegas.
- [38:16]
Jeremy Hobson
Each week we bring together an all star panel. Mark Cuban, so great to have you on the Middle.
- [38:21]
Daniel Jeremiah
Thanks for having me.
- [38:21]
Jeremy Hobson
Jeremy, Neil Degrasse Tyson, welcome to the Middle.
- [38:24]
Daniel Jeremiah
Thanks for having me.
- [38:25]
Jeremy Hobson
And hear from ordinary Americans from all over the country on the most important issues.
- [38:29]
Daniel Jeremiah
Hi, my name is Venkat. I'm calling you from Atlanta, Georgia.
- [38:33]
Jeremy Hobson
And when you subscribe to the Middle, you also get an episode each week called One Thing Trump did that focuses on just one item from the avalanche of news.
- [38:42]
Daniel Jeremiah
We should be examining what our government spends its money on and are these jobs necessary and what are we doing here? But that doesn't seem to be what we're doing in this situation.
- [38:49]
Jeremy Hobson
Listen to the middle with Jeremy Hobson on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [38:56]
Greg Rosenthal
What's up everyone? It's Greg Rosenthal and I'm teaming up with the King of Spring, Daniel Jeremiah. He requires me to say that we're going to be bringing you 40s and free agents, the only podcast you'll need this NFL draft season. From DJs, mock drafts to my top 101, free agents will have it covered for you with all new episodes every Thursday keeping you up to date as we head to the NFL Draft. Listen to 40s and free agents on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
- [39:32]
Daniel Jeremiah
Let's do some Questions I'm in a gambling pool. This is lo pod. Fire in those DMs. Get your questions answered on the show. I'm in a gambling pool with some buddies for the Masters and I need some help. If you had to pick the four golfers with the best chance to win in no order, not factoring in gambling odds, who would they be for scoring purposes? So you know golfer number one has his score multiplied by four. Golfer number two score multiplied by three. Golfer three by three. Golfer four is scratch. Scotty Morikawa this is kind of hard. You might as well just throw the top odds guys rom and maybe a flyer like Zalotaurus. I'm never great at those games. I just gamble. I can't. I'm not great at like pools and stuff. I never win those. So I don't even quite understand the concept. I mean I kind of do. You laid it out. But Christian, do you think we will ever see a player win double digit majors again? When Rory won four early he looked like the next golfer that was going to do it. History would suggest eventually someone will do it but wanted your opinion on if you think there's a chance with the depth of field in major golf. I don't think there's that many guys that have 10 plus majors. There are three. There's Jack Nicklaus and Tiger woods and Walter Hagen which a little before our time the chances of someone winning double digit majors again feels zero. Like I don't think it's going to happen. Ben Hogan and Gary Player who I would say Ben Hogan is right there like Bobby Jones as the two most like Babe Ruthie and Figures didn't win 10, Watson 1 8. Then there's all these guys like Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino are like 7 and 6. Phil is at 5 is Phil at 5. Now Phil's at 6. Never won the US Open, but I don't. I don't think so. Like, if Rory has an incredible career moving forward, he could win two more, and that would put him in six. You know, Koepka has what, four? Or Kepka has five because he has two PGAs, two US Opens, and then he won. What did he win the PGA a couple years ago? Even Scotty, he's at 2. He'd have to win. Like, he could win five more and you'd have seven. Bryson, same thing. I think, like, seven or eight is the new 15. So I would say no, just too hard. Big fan. Just listen to Rory's pre master interview, and he talked about dealing with disappointment. Is it just me, or does Rory sound like the guy that someone like Aaron Rodgers is trying to be but is actually authentic and doesn't seem like he has some ulterior motive, or am I missing something? Yeah, I'm kind of done psychoanalyzing Aaron. I just. I'm kind of over Aaron Rodgers, you know, like, I'm into you when you're an important player, but, like, you're the shtick. I just don't care. It doesn't. When he signs with Pittsburgh, I'll have a reaction and it'll be like, yeah, I don't think it changes that much. I don't think it matters. I saw Russell Westbrook is, like, refusing to talk to the media. Adam Silver had to call, and then he gave. Like, it's like, Russell, you've been in a league 15 years. He's act like a pro. It's like, no, he can't. It's like, I've just. I've been over Russell Westbrook for a decade. Welcome to the party. Everyone that's joined. I think I just don't really care about Aaron Rodgers at this point. Just. It just doesn't matter where. Rory still is a great player, you know, Aaron no longer is. And the moment you're not a great player, like, we kind of move on. And the end of the day, Aaron Rodgers won one Super Bowl. I know he's got a bunch of MVPs, but it's like one. One Super Bowl. What the hell? I mean, him and Stafford, So he's got some more MVPs. Cool. Individual Award in team sport. And I've liked Aaron Rodgers as a player, but I just. I'm not as caught up with, like, the last couple years of Aaron. It just doesn't do much. I'm not like, emotionally moved. Like some. My favorite podcaster talks. Okay, what are your thoughts on Bobby McIntyre Top 20? He's plus 150. He is solid. His last couple times at Augusta is in good form and seems like the game fits the course. Also wrong to have the best score of all the Spanish golfers in the tourney. Minus125. His only competition is Sergio. Feels like that's a lock. I kind of like Sergio more than rom this tournament. I have a hard time doing minus odds on something like that when it's like Sergio's also won this tournament before. So if Sergio beat Rom, it's not that shocking. And you gotta. You gotta bet $125 to win 100. I don't really like that. Listen, part of what makes golf gambling fun is you can take guys that you like and take some top 20 flyers, right? Like some people. A lot of people are going to bet Sergio and Patrick Reed Top 20. I would say the same thing about Zalatoris and Cam Smith. Like, I take top 10, top 20, but it's like those are got. They could finish 40th. The good thing with top 20s is like just it gives you a big room for error. Whereas someone that's bet a lot of guys to win over the years, it's like, that sucks when you're out of it on Thursday or Friday. But top tens with good players, even if the guy's hovering around it, makes a pretty exciting sweat on Sunday. DMing you from my girlfriend's Instagram. I'm a huge follower and listener since about 2019. My question is, I will be traveling to Arizona from Kansas Easter weekend for a history conference. I wanted to see if you'd be willing to play a round of golf. Good Friday. I'm going home for. We're going to Napa for a couple days and dinner with our families. But I probably. I would have if I was around, I'd be willing to make commute. Do you think Brooks Koepka has a long shot to win the Masters? I. Like I said, I don't really know what to make of Brooks. I have no feel. Tell me he wins, you can tell me he makes a cut. That's the thing with the live guys. You're just guys that are just a little off the radar on live. Do you know how payouts work in the pga? Assuming you make the cut, does the money you win in the tournament just show up in your account on Monday? Are the payments split up? And does a player get taxed in their cash based in the state the tournament was in. I think I've heard Kisner say this before. It's called WAD Wednesday. So you get the direct deposit on Wednesday. So if you win the tournament or you just like you said, make the cut, you win 20 grand, 100 grand, 500 grand. Brian Harmon, 1.7 million, that comes on Wednesday. Now what I don't know is like Rory, when he won the players, he won 4.5 million. Is that a 1099? Like do you get the 4.5 million or do they tax it before they give it to you? I don't know. My guess would be you get the 4.5 and then it's on you through your corporation or whatever to pay the taxes. But from my knowledge it's on Wednesday. And yeah, they are taxed. So obviously winning an elevated event at in Florida or Texas is better than at pebble or Riviera. Right. Financially, you have to pay the income tax like any human that does business that way in the state in which you played. So I would imagine taxes and then it's on the player to pay their caddy, which I would guess they get 10% on the gross amount, which would be whatever you see like on espn.com I won $500,000 or $750,000, I would owe my Caddy, assuming we have a 10% split, $75,000. And then I'm sure he's paid $10.99. And maybe some of these guys with the better players, you're like a salaried employee and then it's based on bonuses. But there are probably a lot of ways to do it differently. I mean, Maria showed a house the other day in a really nice area town that was several millions of dollars. I think it was like, I don't know, four or five. And a couple of the people looking at the home were caddy's wives. And she doesn't know golf and she couldn't really like she tried to puzzle it together who the guys were. I kind of figure out, at least in the vicinity, who the caddies wives were and who they caddied for. But when caddies are buying homes, three, four million dollars shows you how much money all these guys are making. Now the one guy that I think it is is caddying for a guy that's I would imagine, a top 20 money maker on PGA Tour. But still, like, I mean, they are living really, really well. Now I have to how it all works in terms of the caddy payment, like Jordan, speech. Caddy is he just gets 10%. Like, I would guess he's on. I pay you $500,000, and then if we do enough throughout the course of the year, I will pay you more. Something like that. Like, Tiger woods wasn't paying Stevie Williams 10%. I think he was just. It probably just boobs, everybody. I'll pay you a million dollars. You'd be my caddy. And then based on successes, you know, that's the minimum you can make. And then obviously you can make more. And that way you're not stressing. You can just focus on me. I don't know. Tiger was cheap, but I think these guys are making a lot. All the top caddies, my girlfriend's parents are from Augusta and have yearly Master's ticket tickets. I was offered the chance to go on Friday. I can't remember if you have been or not, but do you have a favorite part of the course? Also? If you had to pick, what golfer do you recommend following? I've never been. So if you've never been like me, I would walk around the entire course. I would not discriminate against holes. I would probably start at one and just work my way and just. Just venture. Now, I think a huge part of the Masters is you set your seat and someone can sit in it, but you can always come back. I would probably just walk, eat and drink. Depends how long you were going there for to do. If you get multiple days, that would impact my decision. But I would walk all around the course. I would say, you know, the marquee groups, the Scotties, the Roms, the Rorys, the Koepkas. I haven't even seen the pairings, but I think you're better off finding a guy. What I would probably do is someone I bet on that was in a group that I could follow. So, like. So Bryson Hidecki and Tommy Fleetwood. I mean, some of these groups will just be out. Victor Hovland, Xander, Adam Scott, Rory Ludwig. There are going to be some groups that are just tough to follow because of the crowds. But I think a huge part of the Masters, too, is that a lot of people sit like Keegan Bradley, Jason Day, Phil Mickelson. That'd be pretty sick group to follow. Looking for my guy, Willie Z. Here's Zalatoris. So Zalatoris is with Bernhard longer and an Amateur, Noah Kent. That'd be a pretty sweet group to follow. You just. It's gonna be impossible to follow the big dogs, and there aren't that many people on the course because the tournament's kind of smaller. So basically they tee off at 7:40 in the morning, Pacific standard time or eastern time, and then they go to about 1:45. I typically shoot in the high 90s and have been thinking about a new set of irons. Right now I'm using the Mizunos. Do you think it's worth the extra cost to get custom fitted or should I just roll with a good set? I think you can get, you can go to a place. I did this to club champion because I got my clubs fitted or I just bought my clubs off taylormade years ago because some dude on Instagram that I followed worked@taylormade and he gave me a 50% discount code. So I was like, you know, I can get $600 for 1800 dollars set or whatever it was. It was really cheap, might have been 60%, but they were just. I didn't get them custom fitted. And then I went to a place and they kind of bent them for my lie angle and cut an inch off for me. So I think you can manipulate it that way. I would not worry as much if you're shooting like 98 on stuff like that. I would wait till you get breaking 90 to spend a lot of money because irons and wood, these clubs aren't cheap. So I would just try to go and see if they could just bend them, assuming your lie angle is off at all. And I think club champions where I did it, if memory serves me correct, that would probably be my recommendation. Question. Feel free to answer in the pod 27. Been an athlete my whole life. Hitting a marathon here in June. Damn. Then looking to pivot into golf. I have a set of clubs and I've been onto the range 20 times in the last two years, so not much at all. I would say I have an addictive personality and when I get into something I usually go all in. I would say typically marathon people do. Apologies for the long background here. And my question is, if you were me basically starting close to scratch, how would you go about maximizing your game? YouTube, golf videos, lessons, getting out and playing, hitting the range with shit form. I would hit the range several times and like seriously kind of gauge where you're at and then maybe just play around at a cheap course. So do the cheapest course possible, Try to play 18 holes with your buddies and kind of just maybe a couple times, especially if you can play, you know, as it gets a little warmer, I don't know, 30, 40, 50 bucks, just shitty course and just kind of see like this is I shot 110 and 105. Or maybe I shot 98 and 100 and kind of gauge where you're at. And then I would use YouTube. Whatever you suck at, like, if you can't chip or you're slicing it a lot, type it into YouTube. It's basically the number two search engine in America behind Google. And see if you can get a couple tips that way before you do lessons. So I would utilize the Range, a cheap course. No point in spending a lot of money when you don't even know how good or bad you are. Do that a couple times and then use YouTube and then go back to the range and see if you can fix some stuff. And then, you know, that's probably six months later. Try to gather where you're at. But I would just figure it out on your own early on. Because regardless, even if you go to a lesson, like, there are going to be basic swing mechanics that are just you and your body. Okay, couple more. Did anyone else kind of feel like when Ludwig won the Genesis, he was about to start rattling them off? I know we haven't gotten a major yet, so I still expect him to have a great year, but he seemed poised for at least a better finish in Arnold Palmer and the Players, and now he has to be in the conversation for the Masters based on a showing last year. And I haven't heard anything of it. Golf's weird that way, man. It's just one of those activities, games, sports, where, you know, it's pretty rare that, like, if Steph Curry, scoring 30, 30, 30 maybe has one bad game, I think he just did. He scored three points. Then he probably just gets back on the horse. 28, 25, 30. In golf, you can win and then you can miss like three straight cuts or be zero factor. It's. It's very. It's hard to predict. It really is. So I listen. The moment he won, I put money on him to win the players and to win the Masters. He was a guy. I. If I could get my $500 back on him at 17 to 1 or 18 to 1 or whatever I got him at after he won the Genesis to win the Masters, I would not have put it on him. I would have put it on someone else. But that's not the way it works. So I hope he wins. I do not expect it. I know he had a really good outing. I would be, I would say, a little surprised if you tell me Ludwig is. Has a chance to win come Sunday like he did last year. I'm not expecting that. I'm all for it. But I would. I struggle to, like, have much anticipation, positively, for Ludwig going into this tournament. Maybe he's just off. I don't know what happened. I mean, last year was kind of understandable. He was hurt. Right now it's like, well, he just won. He looked good. What's going on? Could you win the Masters? You get this question a lot. If you started. If everyone started from the tee box, and you got to start every hole on the green but the furthest point from the cup on the green. So essentially, putt your way to a green jacket. I asked this last year, and my initial reaction was, I could probably do that. I'm a decent putter. But then watching the tournament, I don't know if I'd even place in the top 20. I'd have no shot. I shot 84 last week, and I think I had four or five, three putts. And that was on a course. I don't know. It was actually running pretty good, probably 10. And there's slope at TPC. I wouldn't say it's the Masters, but it's definitely. You don't have many flat putts. And I'm terrible. I'm not good on slopey greens. And those are probably some of the sloppier greens in the world that are running like concrete. I think I would have. I would struggle to get parse. I really would. No, I could not win because I would have. I would put some off the green. That's the other thing. If you put one off the green, can you use, like, a sand wedge? If I roll all the way down or do I have to put it back up? I do not think most people could shoot even par if I gave them Masters conditions on the green and put them furthest spot away from the hole. I think the majority of people would four or five jack all the time anytime you two putted. So, like, you know, on a par three, there's four of those. That's a par, par fours. That would be a birdie. I think it would happen very rare. Now, maybe you could three putt some par fives and get some birdies that way. But all the players birdie the par fives anyway. Well, that's the par fives at Augusta. 2, 8, 13 and 15, those guys annihilate. What gets them is the par threes. So it's like, you better par the par threes because if you three putt those, like, you're in trouble. Like, birding a par 5 doesn't do much for you. So I think absolutely no chance. None could. I'm like a four or five handicap. I think the overwhelming majority of golfers, and that includes good ones, unless you're just a great putter. It's one thing to be like, I'm a good putter and I'm an average golfer. Like, you got to be a good golfer and a good putter to even have a shot. Because most of us. I've never played greens that were super, super fast a couple times in Monterey because it gets like rock hard. I don't think most people would have any shot to stop the ball. You'd be tapping it and then you would like hit it not far enough and then you'd run it by. I think there would be times where you'd like five, six putt, and if it was a par four, all of a sudden you get like a double bogey. So the answer without hesitation is no. The Volume.
- [59:41]
Jeremy Hobson
We live in a divided country, and our media couldn't be more polarizing. That's why we started the Middle with Jeremy Hobson. It's about bringing voices not from the extremes, but from the vast middle into the national conversation. Each week, we hear from ordinary Americans from all over the country. And when you subscribe to the Middle, you also get an episode each week called One Thing Trump did that focuses on just one item from the avalanche of news. Listen to the Middle with Jeremy Hobson on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [60:11]
Greg Rosenthal
What's up, everyone? It's Greg Rosenthal, and I'm teaming up with the King of Spring, Daniel Jeremiah. He requires me to say that we're going to be bringing you 40s and free agents, the only podcast you'll need this NFL draft season. From DJs, mock drafts to my top 101 free agents, we'll have it covered for you with all new episodes every Thursday, keeping you up to date as we head to the NFL Draft. Listen to 40s and free agents on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.