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- [00:00]
Tony Kornheiser
Hey, it's Tony. On today's show, we will talk a lot about the Masters. We'll do that. First amongst ourselves, Michael was there. Then with Michael Wilbon, and finally with Steve Sands. But first, commerce.
- [00:09]
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- [01:12]
Michael Wilbon
Previously on the Tony Kornheiser Show.
- [01:16]
Tony Kornheiser
One other thing. Michael Malone. I didn't see that coming at all. I just didn't see that coming. What are your thoughts? This is North Carolina. Carolina. What are your thoughts on that?
- [01:27]
Michael Malone
I might have believed Carl Malone or
- [01:29]
Steve Sands
Post Malone before Michael Malone.
- [01:36]
Sponsor/Ad Voice
The Tony Kornheiser show is on now.
- [01:39]
Tony Kornheiser
Alrighty then. We are in different locations. Nigel is with me. Michael is away. Sean is away. Sean's always away. It's okay. Sean's a genius. Helps us out. We're going to talk about the Masters all day long. I'm going to make a few brief comments. I'm a. Wilbourne wants to talk about the Masters. Sands wants to talk about the Masters. I watched every shot on Saturday and Sunday. Most of the shots on Friday, not as many on Thursday. But I watched a whole lot of this.
- [02:07]
Michael Wilbon
And how'd you balance an afternoon Nats game?
- [02:10]
Tony Kornheiser
I w. I went back and forth with the Gnats and always missed when the Nats were scoring. But you know what? Over the weekend, always saw the Gnats being thrown out at second or third. The worst base rebel team in the history of baseball. And yet they swept. They did.
- [02:22]
Michael Wilbon
Quick little sweep. Get the brooms out.
- [02:24]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah. So, I mean, normally I would talk about that at great length. Not today. Rory McElroy won his second Masters in a row. There have only been three other people in the history of the Masters. Ninety years of the Masters. Who have done that? Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Nick Faldo. Tiger woods and Jack Nicklaus are the two greatest golfers of all time. And Nick Faldo's in everybody's top 10. He has six majors. The only majors that matter to him, The British opening, got three and three of the Masters. The Masters is the most important tournament worldwide. Rory McIlroy has two in a row now. Rory McIlroy has six majors overall and is a legitimate threat to get to 10. He is. He got lucky yesterday. He performed very well. He got birdies when he needed to. His shot on 12 was brilliant, but he got lucky in this regard. Justin Rose gagged over the back nine. Justin Rose gagged. He had an eagle putt and ended up with a par. An Eagle putt of 25 to 30ft and ended up with a par, which is just unacceptable. He missed a one foot putt, I think, on 17. I mean, so he was never a threat to Rory. Scotty Scheffler, who was a threat to Rory and finally started getting birdies on, you know, 15 and 16 on 17, had a make of a birdie. Missed by an inch. Literally an inch on the left hand side of the hole. If he makes that putt, he's within one of Rory and he's Scottie Scheffler. Okay, he's not Scottie Pippen, he's Scottie Scheffler. He's the number one ranked player in the world and also an elite champion. But he missed the putt that gave Rory, who was admitted he was looking at the scoreboards all day long and he said he wouldn't. Yeah. And he did. Gave Rory a two shot lead going into 18 where he took out driver, which Trevor Immelman agreed with. But most of the rest of us said, what are you doing? Hit it way wide right. Really had to scramble. CBS missed. We didn't know where the ball was.
- [04:19]
Michael Wilbon
No.
- [04:19]
Tony Kornheiser
Nobody knew where Rory's second shot was. Finally found it in the sand. Nobody knew it focused too much on
- [04:25]
Michael Wilbon
the drone shots all week.
- [04:26]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah, yeah. Rory chipped out of the sand, got within 15ft, easy two putt, you know, missed the first putt literally by 2 inches. And so he was going to win. He got lucky and he also performed like a champion. Both things can be true. That's what I want to say now. But I want to turn this over to Michael, because Michael and Liz went to the Masters on Friday. Tell us about this, particularly from the eyes of your wife, who had never been there and heard you Talk about it at great length for many years, and I will.
- [04:56]
Michael Wilbon
Before I get to our day on Friday, which was unbelievable, I would just say there's different moments. You can zoom in. The first has to be the three putt from inside of 10ft for Rory on the par three. Fourth.
- [05:09]
Tony Kornheiser
He was terrible on the par threes on the front yesterday. Terrible plus.
- [05:12]
Michael Wilbon
And that's the first moment where you're like, okay, I've seen him miss these putts before. This is the moment getting to move a little bit too fast for him. And he's starting to realize, what does it. What does it mean to lose with that lead that you built up over 36 holes? And you're going to the hardest hole on the golf course. Number five. All week long, he's been driving it in the 320 plus range, and he hits a great iron shot, settles in there. And Cam Young misses a par putt on number six. He hits the correct shot. It just misses the slope, and it goes all the way down the putt that everyone has practiced in all the. All the lead up into the tournament. And he made these great par saves on the first couple holes, and he has probably the easiest of those par saves, and he misses it. I think that's when Rory sort of settles back in. This is as Justin Rose is making that big move and getting chesty after
- [05:56]
Tony Kornheiser
he was down two or three or
- [05:58]
Michael Wilbon
three on number seven. And you think, my, my goodness, he. He loves this place. You have all those second place finishes, and then you get to 12, which even before the three putt on 13, he misses the green in a pretty straightforward shot. He's been brilliant all week with the short game. He doesn't even hit the green.
- [06:15]
Michael Malone
And I.
- [06:15]
Michael Wilbon
Once. You once keeps it in the fringe. He realized this is. This is slowed down to the point where Rory can control it as long as he stays out of the big water. That lurks at 12. At 13. 12, he hits a great tee shot with a short iron. And then on 13, he hits it 350 yards and is able to hit a short iron into a correct miss to avoid the big numbers.
- [06:40]
Tony Kornheiser
Yes, he had one more water hazard on 16. He went long on the hole, but
- [06:45]
Michael Wilbon
he's at least on 16. It's easier to avoid because you can use the slopes out to the right. And he hit it into the back spot, the sort of the tiger spot from 2005.
- [06:53]
Tony Kornheiser
He made the most brilliant shot of the tournament for him. His second shot on 16, putting away from the hole, using the slope, getting it to one foot when it looked like maybe he had shot himself out of the tournament.
- [07:08]
Michael Wilbon
Yeah, that's when these moments start to move fast. That's when you think about the, the institutional awareness of this course where you see these pins year after year and you understand how to use the slopes to give yourself better margins for error. But you think about it, you're like, Scotty just needed another couple of holes. He hits the, hits a shot that's almost on 18, but then it just skips down and Rory getting back to that bunker shot. When they finally do find it. We were there on Friday as Bryson is in that bunker having a meltdown. So there are, there are possibilities where if he gets a little bit too aggressive, it gets onto the front slope and it's, you know, it skirts all the way off that, that green. But he did again the correct shot. I think so much of that second nine was the correct shot. And that's years and years of history.
- [07:51]
Tony Kornheiser
He played like a champion on the second on the back.
- [07:55]
Michael Wilbon
Why, why do you think anyone else is going to win this tournament other than Rory McIlroy or Scottie Scheffler over the next 10 years? I mean you don't really good. Colin Morikawa, who has been injured, played really well and maybe he's beginning to get that, that understanding of the nuance of the golf course. But back to our day. So you've done this drive with me. It's the radius of the Masters and Augusta national continues to grow. You have all these little retreats for golf that are just really packed for two weeks out of the year. And where we are down in the low country in the Beaufort Bluffton area is about 2 hours and 20 minutes to Augusta. And with all the parking that they've created, you can feel pretty confident that by the time you get there, you don't have to be there for gate crash trying to get a gnome, which I really think there needs to be.
- [08:37]
Tony Kornheiser
We have gnomes.
- [08:39]
Michael Wilbon
We have the mini gnome. So apparently there is the full size gnome that they sell out of in the first 20 minutes and then I'm
- [08:44]
Tony Kornheiser
sure Jolene has 10 gnomes.
- [08:46]
Michael Wilbon
I hope she does. But it's just this awkward thing where you have these, these grown adults who are walking around, you know, eyeing up and down to see if they have a known the peacocking of the gnome as everyone else is watching to see what logos you're wearing. But no, this, it, it now is a very quiet, manageable 2 hour and 20 minute drive and it was great for us to take that moment to ourselves. We have big birthdays coming up. The boys were happy and safe with their grandparents. We got there and just to see the course, the experience through her eyes. And I've now been there a few times, so I sort of. I knew how to make the most out of it. We made sure that we went to the Founder Circle so that we could get the photo together in front of the clubhouse in the distance. And of course, we immediately lost the little QR code that lets you get it later. But you know what? Liz had a lot of time on the way home, too, to write a very thoughtful email to the group running the photos. And they. By the next morning, they had it. And to take her down through the second nine go stop at Amen Corner. We were able to run into a friend of ours. And just for her to look at the course and all the slopes, particularly around some of these greens that not a lot of people focus on. So 17, 14. And for us, you see over the weekend those same spots where you were always end up being in play. We were in the same spot where Rory ended up chipping. And we had just moved away from that to walk up 18. But just a beautiful day. The highlight for me is a small little moment. We're walking down after 17 towards the shared area between 9 and 18. There's this huge field. You would have originally had a extra hole there, a settle up, a bed type of hole. But it's now a great place to move people through. And all of a sudden, Liz jerks my arm and I feel like maybe she's tripped on a root or you always feel like you might recognize someone there. And all of a sudden she looks up, looks at me, I look at her, and I realize she spotted Nadal. Rafael Nadal, my favorite tennis player of all time, who at the Masters is wearing golf slacks and a polo shirt and a hat and looks just like a normal guy watching the Masters, except he sees her. He recognizes that she recognizes him. He's in the middle of thousands of people, and he gives her a look and immediately starts to vamos. He vamos'd Liz. He walked all the way up eighteen hill in record time. Looked like he was in a tiebreak in the fifth set trying to get away from her.
- [11:02]
Tony Kornheiser
That's great. Did you run into Sands?
- [11:05]
Michael Wilbon
We did not run into Sands. It was one of those. We did the text before. And the live from set is on the back end of the practice tournament range. So if you enter the north gate, you see all the. The TV setups in it, and it's part of the slow build. It's like walking through Disney World, where you just get these glimpses of everything that you've seen. So you see the set, you don't. Famously, you're not allowed to have your cell phone. So as long as you have a plan to meet up with a. You know, with a friend or someone if you. If you miss your mark. But no, it was. It was. It was too hard to try and see him. But we texted before, and my goodness, to see. To hear him last week as to how many Masters he's been working. And then there's something about these Masters that end in sixes where you just have these all timers. Obviously, you have Rory going back to back here. You think back to 96, you go back to 86, you go back to 66. I'm sure sans is going to go into some of the numbers here, but it's one of those days. In the middle of the round, I said to Liz, you always have the question, do you get something that's branded with the year? So the first time you and I went, you picked up a 2004 Masters hat on a Friday. You don't know that it'll end up being the first Masters, the first major that Phil goes on to win, but it's. You want to just remember being there together. We won in 18. Kind of happy. I didn't pick up an 18 hat.
- [12:12]
Michael Malone
Just.
- [12:13]
Michael Wilbon
Just throwing it out there. And in 26, I said, Liz, for us, you might want to get this hat.
- [12:19]
Tony Kornheiser
Did she get a hat with it? And it says 2026 masters, 2026 hat.
- [12:23]
Michael Wilbon
Yeah. I mean, and. And at that point, even if you didn't have Rory go on to win, if you had Justin Rose, that would. That would be another great worthy winner.
- [12:30]
Steve Sands
You.
- [12:30]
Michael Wilbon
If SC be a great story. There was only. There was only one storyline that was bubbling up the leaderboard late yesterday afternoon. That would have been particularly, you know. Yes. But, you know, 20, 26 a year to remember food.
- [12:44]
Tony Kornheiser
What food did you eat?
- [12:46]
Michael Wilbon
So this is interesting.
- [12:47]
Steve Sands
We.
- [12:47]
Michael Wilbon
Liz made sure she had the pimento cheese. We wanted to make sure we had one of those new peach ice creams. But it was such a hot day and I'm a big walker. I feel like you learn so much about someone's personality if you take them to a golf course. I am walking eventually on the back nine. Late in the day, Liz goes, we just have to take a shade break, which was necessary. And we found this quiet corner to the side of 14 and just watched the last, you know, four or five groups come through. And just to see how they were working spin to get to this back left corner. I think gave her a new appreciation. But for food, it was, you know, pretty simple fare. We had access to a hospitality area that gave us some really good food, had a great Smash burger there, and were able to stay for an early dinner and had some unexpected sushi rolls. But nothing too. Nothing too crazy on the food.
- [13:32]
Tony Kornheiser
Wonderful. You mentioned logos before. I think you've used the phrase logo. Bingo. As to what people wear.
- [13:38]
Michael Wilbon
Oh, always have to. Peacock. Yeah.
- [13:40]
Tony Kornheiser
How great is this? McElroy's dad's wearing a Seminole shirt.
- [13:44]
Steve Sands
Of course he is.
- [13:44]
Tony Kornheiser
The Seminole people are so happy because of that.
- [13:47]
Michael Wilbon
They had the green jackets who were hanging out with them. I mean, it's fun to see how small they the game is when you're playing those types of choruses. And then of course, you have Tommy Fleetwood, free agent Tommy Fleetwood.
- [13:58]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah. Playing looking for shirts and hats.
- [14:00]
Michael Wilbon
And he goes to the AGC Pro Shop.
- [14:03]
Tony Kornheiser
We, I mean, we should get. We should send him a TK show hat or something like that and be great if he would wear that hat. He's one of us, you know, so that. Okay, so you had a great time. I'm very happy about that. And the Masters itself lived up to whatever billing it might have had. It really was. It wasn't the greatest played Masters, but it was certainly as exciting as anyone ever, right? Yeah, exciting.
- [14:30]
Michael Wilbon
Well, and it's tough. Cause sometimes you break down an 18 hole day of golf. I often do it into three sections of six holes. And you try and establish, you try and extend, you try and maintain whether that's. You're trying to come back into the race trying to hold a lead. You saw that yesterday. The most exciting golf probably happened in that middle section just based on who was going to take the lead. And then there's just a stillness that always seems to come over the second nine, no matter where the leaders are. You just look at the water on 15, on 16, and how quiet everything becomes when there's so much at stake. So even if it feels like it was a little calmer just in terms of dramatics, without eagles, without these huge birdie putts pouring in. Because a lot of that happened earlier. Just to see the correct decision making and the really solid up and downs for some of these players was tremendous to watch.
- [15:22]
Tony Kornheiser
They're great, great players playing the most important tournament in the world and the most familiar course to all of them. We will take a break. Michael Wilbon will join us when we return. I'm Tony Kornheiser. This is the Tony Kornheiser show. Right now, new FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get $250 in bonus bets if your first bet wins. That's right, turn five bucks into 250 in bonus bets just for getting started and when every possession matters in the playoffs, FanDuel makes it easy to get closer to the action. From player props on your favorite stars to all the tools you need to back them up, FanDuel puts player research right at your fingertips so you can check stats, trends and matchups all in one place and make your picks with confidence. It's everything you need all in one app, so don't miss your shot. Head to FanDuel.com podcast to get started. FanDuel play your game must be 21
- [16:14]
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- [17:35]
Steve Sands
You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show.
- [17:40]
Tony Kornheiser
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- [19:04]
Steve Sands
You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show.
- [19:10]
Tony Kornheiser
This is Alex Wintz who writes I'm a jazz guitarist based in New York City. You graciously played some of my music in November 2020 when my last record came out. I went through a to do list. This morning as I prepped for the release of my newest record Collage released last Friday, came upon the note emailed Tony I had to scour the recesses of my brain to remember. Ah yeah, the bald orange man who brings us all joy and makes me have far too many feelings about D.C. weather than new Yorker should have. But yes, I wanted to write you all in the hopes you will play a couple of songs from a new album. This is called Pond Hop. It's composition about my life in music, traveling the world in tiny planes, especially the Caribbean with my main sideman Eddie N. Charles and Creole Soul. So this is called Pound Hop and this is once again Alex Wintz. We will play him again later. He plays in Michael Wilbon. Wilbon, like me, watched as much of the masters as he Could. Rory is a great champion. He actually went wire to wire, though. We didn't think he was going to go wire to wire because, you know, in the third round he gave up a six shot lead. In the fourth round he was down two or three shots to more than one person, but mostly to Justin Rose. I thought Rory, I told you this. I thought Rory won it between number 12 and number 18 on Friday when he, you know, ended the day with the largest margin ever going into the third round, six shot lead. And then as you know, I thought he lost it on number four yesterday, you know, when he doubled. Yeah, I thought he lost it then. I'm, am I shocked that he won? No, because he's a great champion and great pro. But there was opportunity to lose that, right?
- [20:50]
Michael Malone
Yeah, there was, but I thought that was too early. Tony, when you texted that and I told you no, because the other guys have nerves too. They didn't have nerves. Their nerves are going to show when they're chasing Rory.
- [21:03]
Tony Kornheiser
Right.
- [21:03]
Michael Malone
Their nerves are going to show when they've caught him. And they're all in that bunch. They're all in that pack now. It's on now. They feel what he's felt, which is nerves, because none of those guys, none of those guys chasing him had ever won a green jacket. Justin Rose, oh my God, he's been so close.
- [21:20]
Steve Sands
Right.
- [21:21]
Michael Malone
You know who else was in that pack besides Rose?
- [21:24]
Tony Kornheiser
Well, it was the Chinese guy, hey, Tong Lee.
- [21:27]
Michael Malone
Who hit the great shots I've ever
- [21:29]
Tony Kornheiser
seen and then shot 45 on the back. Yes, I like some unbelievable number, you know. Yeah, Cameron. Cameron Young.
- [21:38]
Michael Malone
That's right. Sheffler. Yeah, Scheffler was in that, in that group, but he wasn't in it originally, was not one of the Masters. I mean, you know, their nerves showed and they showed once it got, you know, to be a jumble and, and, and, and they were. And people were thinking of themselves. Oh, my God, I'm in position. So no, I didn't think Rory was out of it at that point. I'm sort of rooting for Justin Rose. I, I like, I like, I really like Rory. So the two guys that are, two of the guys I love most in golf now were, you know, battling each other and I would have been fine with either one of them winning. But Rory proved himself again to be a great champion. So what is. He's got six now.
- [22:26]
Tony Kornheiser
He's got six overall. He's, he's the fourth guy to go two in a row. The others are Faldo, Tiger and Jackets. Elite. He's an elite group now.
- [22:37]
Michael Malone
He is in an elite group just to have six. He's one behind Arnold Palmer now.
- [22:42]
Tony Kornheiser
Yes.
- [22:43]
Michael Malone
In majors.
- [22:44]
Tony Kornheiser
Yes.
- [22:44]
Michael Malone
So anyway, I just. What is he tied with Faldo maybe? Yes.
- [22:52]
Tony Kornheiser
Has three Masters and three British Opens. Yes.
- [22:54]
Michael Malone
And. Okay, so, I mean, you know, he moved into a different group yesterday.
- [23:01]
Tony Kornheiser
Yes. Yes.
- [23:02]
Michael Malone
And it just, you know, it was a. It was a really fun, often exciting competition to watch all of it. And with our two days, Thursday and Friday, I even, you know, I scheduled my. My flight from Arizona back to D.C. overnight on. On Saturday, so I wouldn't miss anything either day. And I just. I love watching it at this time of year. I love this. I love this past weekend into this week where you've got real stuff going on. I mean, the week started with. With two Final Fours, Sunday and Monday. We got to the Masters. We now got to the point of the NBA season, which actually matters to the players now, because we're. We're in. We're in good stuff. We're in the stuff that determines among them who's a great champion and not.
- [23:54]
Tony Kornheiser
The Masters was. Was a great show. There were people who were involved in it and could have won it that did not win it. Cameron Young, and he won the players earlier. And so he's a real quality guy, but he could not muster enough when it was there. Shane Lowry took himself out of it early. Justin Rose. These are great players. Shane Lowry's won the British Open. Justin Rose took himself out of it late. Scottie Scheffler. And here's the thing, Mike. I mean, we'll never know if Scottie Scheffler makes that birdie on 17 and he's within one. Does Rory take driver out on 18? What did you think when Rory took driver on 18?
- [24:32]
Michael Malone
That's what he does. And everybody on the tour knows it. It. And yes, that's what he does. It would. It would have surprised me if he hadn't taken Driver out. And then he hits it. Right. No, that's what he. That's. He was true to who he is, and I was glad. The thing that Rory is better about, and there's a lot of guys who are good about it, including Justin Rose, is that Rory. He's got enough just. He's in his head probably too much. And I'm sure it has hurt him at times in his career, but, wow, he can take you inside not only his head, but half the other people in the field, too. And just. He's the best at explaining if he ever. Who knows what he's going to do when his career is over if he does television. I think he may be the best I've ever heard at explaining what is going on now and why is it happening. And Rory does that. He's done it enough in real time that you have a sense of what it is he's going to do. And no, he was going to take out driver on 18, no matter what.
- [25:35]
Tony Kornheiser
Luckiest moment of the day, Ferrari was on the second par five on the back. His approach shot could have gone backwards, could have rinsed, could have gone in the water. It was the worst shot he made all day, I think. I don't know. Except for the driver.
- [25:50]
Michael Malone
I mean, that shot was. Look, it was on top. I. I know that's how that was called. And I didn't think that in real time. In real time, it hit on top, and if it hits the face, that's one thing, but I didn't. I didn't think it did. And Rory didn't catch the brakes. Other people caught who hit the tree yesterday with an errant drive, right?
- [26:09]
Tony Kornheiser
Cameron Young, fairway. Cameron Young ends up in the fairway. Every tree. Every tree, he ends up in the fairway.
- [26:14]
Michael Malone
Cameron had so many breaks during the week that he could be kicking himself that he didn't win.
- [26:20]
Tony Kornheiser
Let me ask you this, you know, did you think so as Rory before the birdies? I. Did he get birdies on 7 and 8 or 6 and 7? He got two birdies in a row, then missed a couple. They had two more birdies on 11 and 12 or 12 and 13, whatever it was. Did you always think that Roy was going to win? There did come a point where all he had to do was tread water because people were dropping around him. But before that point, did you think he was going to win? Or in your mind, did you think, you know what? He's cooked. He's. It's a bad weekend for him. A great Thursday, Friday, a bad weekend. He's not going to win.
- [26:53]
Michael Malone
No, I thought, I thought when he, when he doubled four, I thought, ooh, yeah, you know, this. He's not gonna. He's not gonna do this. But what happened? But. But the thing that. The reason I. I texted you, what I did saying is there's too much. There's too much golf left. And we don't know what the other guys heads are like is because this. I've learned enough. I have not been watching the Masters for 60 years. I've been watching it for 30 and 30 is long enough to remind me that it's hard. It's hard, it's hard. And so let me quote Brando Chambly, which, you know, I might not have done 15 years ago, but let me quote Brandon Chambly. When he said yesterday, he said Saturday, he talked about all the people who had blown leads at Augusta. And it's a stunning list because it's everybody. Yeah, everybody has blown leads at the Masters except Tiger. And Tiger was the guy who, when he got a lead, you were dead. Everyone else rolled over in the field and died. Once I. 14 out of 15 times, Tiger lost a two shot lead at the PGA in like 09. And it was, it was a great bit of. This is why, you know, sports reporting, broadcasting, writing, all of it suffers when only nine year olds do it. Or people who watch clips because they have no real memory, institutional or otherwise, about the things that matter more than he got. 18, 5, 5, 5, 5 and 5. Because they don't remember things like the presence, what happened in real time and why? Give me the simple answer. Because everybody's scared of that dude in red. They're terrified of him. And he will beat your brains out and embarrass you. It's like playing Jordan in a fourth quarter. Everyone gave it back at some point in their great career except Tiger. So all those dudes yesterday, they weren't prepared for what that felt like to lead the Masters on Sunday. They weren't.
- [29:10]
Tony Kornheiser
I will tell you, I'm glad you've come around on Chambly. The Chambly and McGinley show, live from is fabulous. I watched it for like an hour and a half last night. Afterwards, I knew who won and I went back and watched it.
- [29:24]
Michael Malone
Well, because you're watching for why and their insights, which are unique and strong and sharp. I watch it every night.
- [29:31]
Tony Kornheiser
That's.
- [29:32]
Michael Malone
I watch it every night. I mean, I watched it, you know, so I mean, in Arizona, you know, it's over. The actions over. The people are off the golf course at 4pm I said, come back in and watch. You know, just watch that show.
- [29:47]
Tony Kornheiser
The one, the one variable. For me, I really think this might have made a difference because I know Rory was looking at the scoreboard. If Scheffler and Scheffler was even, even going into the weekend was -11 at the Masters on the weekend, which is great. Rory on Thursday and Friday was minus 12. I mean, that's great. The one thing I think might have changed things is if Scheffler had made that putt on 17 to get within one. To get within one.
- [30:18]
Michael Malone
I didn't. I didn't. I know. Sheffler had a. That's not just a stretch of golf. That. That's, you know, it was brilliant, but I didn't feel like Scheffler was ever in the kind of control that we saw last year.
- [30:32]
Tony Kornheiser
Right.
- [30:32]
Michael Malone
You know, last year may be his 2001. And I'm referring, of course, to Tyler.
- [30:37]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah, he won a bunch of things last year.
- [30:38]
Michael Malone
Yeah, yeah. I don't. I don't. I don't. You know, I don't see Scheffler that way. I thought the rush to declare him king of the world was premature, and he did. I like that about Sheffield. Somebody asked Sheffield that when he won for the sixth time or whatever last year at the podium. And he, like, sneered, which he doesn't do. He's very respectful of people in their quest. And he said, dude, come on. I'm not. There's one dude who does who's done what you're talking about, and I'm not him. And I thought that made me have a little bit more feeling for Scottie Scheffler than I do. I don't dislike him at all. I just don't. He's not a guy I root for, but I. So Scheffler told the truth about that. And I think that truth is really where we are with him. He's great. He's still number one. But does it mean that people are going to go out there now? When a series of tournaments, including majors, goes by and you don't win, does that mean that everybody else, the field is going to back down or not feel like they can take him on? Nah, he ain't. No, he ain't that dude. He's. He's. He's great, but he ain't. He ain't that guy.
- [31:45]
Tony Kornheiser
Not yet. He's got a chance because he's only going to be 30 years old.
- [31:49]
Michael Malone
No, no, he does.
- [31:50]
Tony Kornheiser
He does.
- [31:52]
Michael Malone
No, he doesn't. He doesn't. Tony. That doesn't come on. A late burst. Late bloomers don't wear the red on Sundays. He wasn't a late bloomer. He was fully bloomed at 21 years old. He won the Masters at 22. Right? No, no, you don't. You don't. You don't become Jordan and Tiger and Ali at 30. You don't. And he's not going to. He's. He's great. I'm just. I'm. I'm. You know, it's great to Have a guy like Scotty out there that you, you. I want to watch him every week, but not like that. Once again, he ain't that dude. And we'll differ. You and I will differ. He ain't ever going to become Tiger Woods. No.
- [32:27]
Tony Kornheiser
Well, okay. Tiger woods is not the greatest champion of all time, but he's the greatest player of all time. Everybody understands that. But if you take away the ability to take a run at him, even fall short, but how short do you fall? If you fall close and short, that's a big deal. He's the greatest player of all time.
- [32:49]
Michael Malone
So that's my point. So that's. And you're not going to become that at 30. He didn't become that at 30.
- [32:54]
Tony Kornheiser
I don't know. I don't know.
- [32:55]
Michael Malone
I mean, at 30, he was almost done. He won his majors in his 20s,
- [33:01]
Tony Kornheiser
but Jack wasn't on the 30.
- [33:03]
Michael Malone
Okay, then you can put Jack in that. I mean, Jack. Jack heads that conversation. So is. But Jack didn't become a late bloomer either.
- [33:12]
Tony Kornheiser
No, he was great.
- [33:13]
Michael Malone
He was growing.
- [33:14]
Tony Kornheiser
In his 20s. Yeah. In his late teens. 20s. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right.
- [33:18]
Michael Malone
Yeah.
- [33:19]
Tony Kornheiser
All right. I'll see you later.
- [33:20]
Michael Malone
All right.
- [33:21]
Tony Kornheiser
Tom Michael Wilbon, boys and girls. We will come back with Steve Sands. More about the Masters. Today, it's Masters Monday. I'm Tony Kornheiser.
- [33:29]
Steve Sands
You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show. The Tony Kornheiser Show.
- [33:35]
Tony Kornheiser
You know that moment when something breaks in your home and you think, okay, who do I even call for this? Because suddenly it's not just one thing. It's three different projects and zero time to figure it all out. That's exactly why Angie has been so helpful. It's the place to go when you need to hire skilled local pros who can handle just about everything around your home. Angie has been around since 1995, and over the years, homeowners have turned to them for hundreds of millions of projects. So they really know the ins and outs of getting things done. Well, what makes it easy is how streamlined everything is. You just answer a few quick questions, and Angie connects you with local pros who fit your specific project. You can check out reviews from people nearby, compare quotes, and find your best price without spending hours searching. And whether it's a quick repair, a deep clean, or a full remodel, you can find pros covering over a thousand different types of projects. So you're not bouncing between a bunch of different places trying to figure it out. Download the free Angie app today or visit angie.com that's a n g I.com
- [34:38]
Steve Sands
this is the Tony Kornheiser Show Tony
- [34:41]
Michael Malone
Kornheiser Show
- [34:45]
Tony Kornheiser
Once again, this is jazz guitarist Alex Wince. This is a song called Apartment 3C. It's a song about new beginnings as Alex moved into a new home in Riverdale on the Broadway four years ago. I realize instrumental modern jazz may not be what your listeners are used to hearing here, but I pride myself on making this art form something that's relatable to all audience members. Thanks for the plays. Any listeners who like the music can pre order collage@alexwintzmusic.com DL thanks for supporting independent musicians and Michael if independent musicians like Alex Wintz want to send in their music for this show, how do they do it?
- [35:18]
Michael Wilbon
Send us your music by emailing it to jinglesonycornazershow.com and while the 2026 Masters might be over, the bloom will not fade for some time. Go check out Johnny O where you can see the featherweight polo that I was wearing when I was there on Friday and use the code TK Bloom.
- [35:33]
Tony Kornheiser
All right, plays in Steve Sands. You guys could not connect. I understand that it's a tough thing, you know, to, to meet somebody at the Masters unless it is completely prearranged. But what, what were your thoughts? I mean that to me that was a four day great Masters and the reason it was is because of the jeopardy that the leader was always in from, you know, from Saturday all the way through Sunday. I thought it was great. What did you think?
- [36:01]
Steve Sands
Yeah, totally agree. And I think that, you know, as we make our way through dissecting what exactly took place this past week, the one prevailing thought I have is that Rory McIlroy is an all time great player and maybe he now is in the top 10 of all time. He is the greatest European player of all time. He's now Mad Nick Faldo with six major championships for the most majors of any European player. But he has the caveat and the tiebreaker of winning a career Grand Islam. Yes, won three masters and three open championships. So to me he's the best European player of all time. And I think he probably is somewhere around 10 or 11, maybe 12 at the least. All time. However, the biggest prevailing thought to me is he is more Arnie and Phil than he is Jack and Tiger. He is all over the place. It's a thrill ride, a roller coaster. There's nothing consistent about Rory McIlroy and how he goes about winning these big time events. And he was on a roller coaster ride, and so were his fans the last four days.
- [37:08]
Tony Kornheiser
So I. I thought. And I said this to a couple of people. I was out, you know, at the beach when this happened. And I said, look, look, if Rory wins the tournament. I was saying this on. On Friday, if Rory wins a tournament, it's going to be because what he did from holes 12 to 18 on Friday, building, you know, a colossal lead. And then yesterday, my exact feelings were opposite. I said, if he loses the tournament, it's because of what happened on the par threes in the front. And I thought he was going to lose. I did. I thought the wheels were off. Did you?
- [37:42]
Steve Sands
I didn't think the wheels were off. I just think that people need to realize that sometimes resiliency comes through. And he is an awfully resilient player. He has dealt with a lot on and off the golf course. And then you think of the ghosts he had at Augusta national and trying to finish last year, trying to win the career Grand Slam. I thought it was really interesting to hear him say last night that. That he thought it was hard to win the Masters because it was trying to complete the career Grand Slam. No, it's just hard to win the Masters. And when you have a double bogey, Jack Nicklaus told us, and he told Rory to his face, you cannot make a double bogey and go on to win. Well, last year, he had four or more double bogeys for the week. That's the most of anybody in Masters history. Craig Stadler had three double bogeys in 1982, but Rory had four more last year, this week, this past week. Anyway, he had a double load yesterday, a terrible, untimely double bogey yesterday, and it did not derail him. So to me, Tony, I never thought that he was out of it. Even when he dropped a three back, I never thought he was out of it. But I just think his resiliency is so impressive, it's amazing.
- [38:56]
Tony Kornheiser
So this is. This is the question that hangs out in the ether for me. I did think. I've mentioned this all day today. I did think that Rory got lucky in this regard. All he really had to do in the last five holes is tread water. As long as he avoids some big number, as long as he avoids rinsing the ball, he's going to win that. Had Scheffler made that birdie putt on 17 that he missed by one inch on the left side? Had he made that? I think it's a different ballgame. Do you?
- [39:28]
Steve Sands
Oh, 100%. In fact, on our morning show on Live for the Masters, Aaron Oberholzer is one of our analysts on the set. And he said he goes. The last thing Rory wants today is a tight game late. He does not want this to be really tight. If Sheffler makes that birdie putt at 17 after making the birdie at 15, by the way, Scheffler. It's amazing how golf is displayed. We never really think about it. Bad calls, bad plays. A drop pass in the first quarter or a missed shot or a missed layup or missed free throw in the first or second quarter. But in golf all four days, think about this. Scottish Scheffer lost the Masters by one. He didn't birdie either hole. That's a par 5 on the second night, 13 or 15 until 15 on Sunday. Think about that. And he only lost by one. So birdie's 15. The birdie 16 after a great tee shot and making the putt. And then he just comes razor thin, close for that birdie at 17. If he makes that birdie at 17, when that number goes up on those beautiful manual leaderboards at Augusta national, the noise reverberates all across the golf course. Michael knows this. He was there on Friday. And I'm sorry we didn't connect Michael. It's tough, man. I apologize for that.
- [40:42]
Michael Wilbon
No phones.
- [40:43]
Michael Malone
So if he.
- [40:44]
Steve Sands
Exactly. If he makes that putt on 17. Tony, to your point.
- [40:47]
Tony Kornheiser
Yes.
- [40:48]
Steve Sands
I think McElroy has to play the last three holes completely, completely differently than he did. And I think the pressure rises, and I think it probably would have gone to a playoff, in my opinion.
- [40:59]
Tony Kornheiser
Do you. Would you. Okay, It's. You do this for a living. When he pulls out driver on 18, Trevor Immerman said he agreed with it. Okay, But I didn't. And look at the result. What did you think when he took out driver on 18?
- [41:17]
Steve Sands
I will never forget this moment in my career. Tiger woods was winning Dural, and he was trying to finish it off. And he was up by two. If you remember the 18th hole, Doral with the water all down the left. Very difficult driving hole. Grandstands on the right, very challenging par four to finish. Tiger was ahead by two shots. He pulled out an iron. He pulled out another iron, and then he wedged it onto the green. It's a par four. Wedged it onto the green. Two putt for five wins by one. And I remember asking him afterwards, wow, that was. That was wild strategy, you know, what made you think about doing it that way? And he said, succinctly it doesn't matter how you win, it matters that you win. So with Rory only needing a five there with a two shot lead, I didn't think driver was the play. And I think Rory McElroy is one of the two or three best drivers of the golf ball on the planet. But in that particular situation, all you have to do. It wasn't Van de Veldean, like 99 at Carnouski, wasn't anything like that. But I thought, wow, you need a five here. You're hitting the ball all over the place with your driver. Why not hit an iron here in another iron up there, close, and then, you know, two or three putt and you make your five and you win. Well, he, he goes on that roller coaster ride like we said, and he takes his fans along that ride with him. I didn't love the choice, but you know, who, who am I to say? Trevor Immelman won the 08 Masters and Roy Macker is now a two time Master champion, but I did not think the driver was the play there, but it ended up working out all week long.
- [42:51]
Tony Kornheiser
He was off the course with his driver. His, his percentage of fairways and regulation must be lower than anybody's in history to win that tournament. Has to be. And he was always fine. Like he would still birdie par fives. He would still do it.
- [43:08]
Steve Sands
So, Tony, there were, there were 91 players in the field this week. All right, 91 players in the field. The Masters champion was 90th out of 91 in driving accuracy.
- [43:19]
Tony Kornheiser
Wow.
- [43:20]
Steve Sands
Think about, think about that. That is absolutely remarkable. Now, the previous three weeks before Augusta, he did not play since playing the Players Championship.
- [43:30]
Tony Kornheiser
Right.
- [43:30]
Steve Sands
He basically just went up to Augusta once or twice a week and practiced.
- [43:34]
Tony Kornheiser
That's what he said.
- [43:35]
Steve Sands
Like his home core. Exact.
- [43:36]
Michael Wilbon
Exactly.
- [43:36]
Steve Sands
It was like his home course for three weeks. And all he did was work on short game. All he did was work on his putting there. All he did was in and around the greens. So, you know, not that he knew he was going to be driving it that poorly as far as accuracy is concerned, but as long as you keep it in play a little bit and not in the pine store and in the trees all the time, missing the fairways at Augusta aren't as penal as, say, the U.S. open at Shinnecock or, you know, the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale later this year or running the PGA Championship next month if you miss the fairway, you know, as often as he did at those three majors, that's not going to work. Out for you. But McElroy short game his putting when he needed it. What he. By the way, talk about the double bogey on the first nine. How about that putt? Leaving it short at one. I thought, oh, that's not a good sign. He left that ball like three feet short. I was like, like, oh, man.
- [44:29]
Tony Kornheiser
At least he didn't nervy. At least he didn't bogey it like he did on Saturday.
- [44:34]
Steve Sands
The driving accuracy. The driving accuracy, Tony, was outrageous. To win a Masters, being literally the second worst driver of the ball, accuracy wise, is absolutely remarkable.
- [44:46]
Tony Kornheiser
Can I ask whose decision it is? It's unthinkable to me. I believe the first par three yesterday was at 251 yards. I never, I've never hit a drive to 50, even when I was in my 30s or 40s or 50s or whatever. That's so long. Why is it so long?
- [45:04]
Steve Sands
Well, what the PGA Tour does every single week and what the Masters Tournament does every single day over its four days is they have four par threes and they want them to play differently all four days. So they want you to not only play 16 par threes throughout the course of the week four times four, but they want you to play all four of those holes in completely different fashion all four days. So they move the whole locations around. They do a wonderful job with it. Sunday has some, you know, hole locations that we all find to be the traditional, if you will, quote, unquote, Sunday hole locations. And that's why they do it. You know, sometimes holes will play, you know, 140, 150, 160. Sometimes they'll play par threes, 240, 250. You know, for people, for people like me and you, that wouldn't be ideal, but for Rory McElroy, it's just, take
- [45:55]
Tony Kornheiser
me three shots, I'm over par before I get to the green. It's.
- [45:59]
Michael Wilbon
So Bobby Jones also wanted to test every club in the bag. So with the modern game, you have to push that to 250 to try and get that long iron test.
- [46:06]
Steve Sands
I thought it was awful. It's exactly right, Michael. And I thought it was awfully kind of them, Tony, to make the par three fourth a reachable par three. I mean, it's, it's, it's 250. I mean, think about that. That is a long, long par three. But that's, that's a good hole, man. That's a really strong hole. But six, you know, six is a downhill par three that's not that long. They Put that whole location in the back right to make it more challenging. But you know, they mix them all up. 12 is just a nine iron or a wedge, depending on the wind. And 16, they put it in that whole location on Sunday that you can get after, like Scotty Scheffler did. I think that they do such a great job week in week out on the PGA Tour, but at the masters in particular, 4, 6, 12, and 16, they play them differently every day, and I think it's a beautiful thing.
- [46:49]
Tony Kornheiser
I have a question here. McElroy righted the ship. He birdied four of seven holes from seven through 13 yesterday, and that's where he got back in it. And that's probably where he won the tournament. With that stretch in the middle of the course, Justin Rose faded like crazy on the back nine. Just completely gagged it up. People really like Justin Rose. He seems like a wonderful guy. Is this his career?
- [47:20]
Steve Sands
Oh, man, that's a tough one. You know, Justin Rose, someone said to me yesterday, is he Greg Norman at Augusta? I said, oh, man, that's. That's a tough one. He's. He's lost twice in a playoff. He's also been a runner up to Jordan Spieth in 2015. Ben Hogan lost in a playoff twice at the Masters, but he won it a few times. So he's the only player in the history of the Masters, Tony, to lose in multiple playoffs. Having not yet won a green jacket. He would have been the oldest player to win the Masters since Jack wanted an 86 at age 46. Justin's playing great golf at 45, and he really loves going to Augusta, but he can't finish at Augusta now. There's a difference between being beaten in sports and losing. He didn't lose those playoffs. And that runner up to Jordan Speed, he got beat. You can live with that. Yesterday, different story. He had the lead all to himself two shots and. And exactly. And fell apart. He had a chance to do something that everyone in professional golf will tell you is the best way to win. Go out a little bit before that final group, freewheel it, post a number, and then make them come and get you. He had a chance to do that when he made the turn to the second nine. He had a multiple shot lead, Tony, and it just faded away on him. And whether that's age, whether that's pressure, whether that's game, whether that's just Augusta national and the Masters, who knows? But he had a great chance that you could argue that yesterday was his best chance. Of those three runner Ups. He had previously to slip on a green jacket, and it slipped away from him pretty early.
- [48:56]
Tony Kornheiser
And you could see in his body language, his. His gestures, like, you know, his gestures were, that's the worst shot I've ever hit in my life. And, you know, yeah, but he's a great.
- [49:05]
Steve Sands
He's a great guy, by the way.
- [49:06]
Tony Kornheiser
People love him.
- [49:07]
Steve Sands
I don't know why I was thinking about this when you were asking that question, but, you know that crazy La Cheeserie thing you used to have people scream out at golf tournaments?
- [49:15]
Tony Kornheiser
Yes.
- [49:15]
Steve Sands
You know where it all started, right? It all started in 2016 at Oakmont when Jason Day was hitting his shot. That was the year that Dustin Johnson won the U.S. open at Oakmont. But later that summer, we were in Rio, and Justin Rose was coming down the stretch of the par 518, trying to win the gold medal against Henrik Stenson. And somebody yelled at on the telecast when I was up in the booth, I don't know if you remember that, but I was thinking about that when you were asking. So Justin Rose is not only a great guy, he's in the history and lore of golf, but he's also in the history and the lore of the Tony Kornheiser Show. He was one of the people who had La Cheeserie very prominently at the Olympics in 16 in Rio.
- [49:57]
Tony Kornheiser
There were a couple of folds yesterday that really surprised me. Hatong Lee didn't surprise me because I don't know anything about him, though. He hit some of the greatest iron shots I'd ever seen to, like, two feet in the first three days. But Shane Lowry surprised me. Jason Day surprised me. I don't think Cameron Young folded as much as he, you know, just. Just didn't win it. But what about the. What about those three guys to you?
- [50:19]
Steve Sands
I thought Cameron Young acquitted himself okay for being in that position, you know, for the first time at the Masters. I don't think he fell apart anything like that. Now, he had a chance to grab a hold of things and put a chokehold on Rory and the rest of the field, but he didn't do that. I don't think he will walk away thinking, oh, man, I blew this thing. I think Jason Day and I think Shane Lowery will think, wow, the winning score was 12 under. I could have gotten to 12 under. Yes, I should have gotten to 12 under. Look, Tyrell Hatton got to 10 under. He could have gotten to 11 or 12, but he was basically out of it. The guy, I think, who's going to look back and think, Very quietly, no one's going to talk about him, is Russell Henley. Russell Henley finished at 10 under par. Tony. Russell Henley is known on the PGA Tour as one of the best putters on the planet and a guy who does not fold when the pressure is running. Really hot. Guys love playing with Russell Henley. Scottie Scheffler chose him at the President's cup and the Ryder cup to play with him because he loves playing with Russell Henley. He has a lot of respect on tour, and the putter is the thing that has gotten him to that point of being a top five player on the planet. Yesterday. He hit the ball beautifully, and he had so many chances to post a good number, just like Justin Rose. Now, Lowry and Day, like you said, had chances. I agree, but Henley's the one. He finished at 10 under. He could have definitely been 13 or 14 under, and the winning score was 12. And again, posting that number is a great way to win an event or win a major championship. And he had his best chance yesterday. He let it slip away. The putter just was cold on that second nine for Henley. But to your point.
- [52:02]
Tony Kornheiser
Point.
- [52:03]
Steve Sands
Lowry and Day will also look back and go, man, 12 under won this. I could have gotten to 12 under. And Scheffler as well, getting to 11 under. Literally one birdie on 13 and 15 all week, and he only lost by one. Tony, come on now. Scheffler should have won that Masters.
- [52:19]
Tony Kornheiser
Yes, I actually think that, you know, he maybe would have won it. If the birdie goes in on 17, misses by an inch on the left.
- [52:28]
Steve Sands
I totally. I totally agree. I think if that 12 goes up on the board from Scheffler, if he makes that putt. Tony, I'm telling you, you've been there, Michael. You were there. When they flip those numbers on those manual leaderboards, that place goes nuts, and the players all know it. And if Rory knew that he had to make a 4:18, I'm not sure he would have made that 4. I think there would have been a playoff. We could still be playing here on Monday morning.
- [52:52]
Tony Kornheiser
Really good. Really good stuff. Thank you. As always. We lean on you a lot. Thank you, Steve.
- [52:56]
Steve Sands
My pleasure, Tony.
- [52:58]
Tony Kornheiser
Steve Sands, boys and girls. We will come back with email and jingle. I am Tony Kornheiser.
- [53:03]
Steve Sands
You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show. The Tony Kornheiser Show.
- [53:31]
Tony Kornheiser
Official organist of the show, Bill Pitcher, I believe, from Coryville, Pennsylvania. If I remember correctly, I could be wrong. I'm not sure. Yes. Do you want to do the Bethesda bagel ad. It's just me and you. Michael's done a lot of sandwiches. No sandwiches for Michael. We'll save one for you when you come back. Yeah, just go to Bethesda Bagels.com for the location in the DC area near Stew, then pop on in and. And you'll be thrilled. I guess that'll do. But just about do it for us today. Before we get to the mailbag, let me say first thing I remember, I was lying in my bed. I couldn't have been more than one or two. And I remember there was a radio coming from the room next door. My bubba laughed the way some ladies do. Well, it's late in the evening and the music seeping through. Genius. Forest Hill's own. He's a genius. Yes. Thanks to our guests today, Michael Wilbon and Steve Sands. Thanks as well to today's sponsors. Remember, you can listen to us at Apple Podcast, Spotify and Audis. Get the show through Apple. Please leave us a review.
- [54:20]
Michael Wilbon
See the pitching matchup you get tonight.
- [54:23]
Tony Kornheiser
It's Kate Cavalli against Paul Skeens. Yes.
- [54:25]
Michael Wilbon
Yep.
- [54:26]
Tony Kornheiser
I'm gonna make room to watch that. Yes. You know, that's. That's it. That's it. And they got a little bit of relief. Worked in this series. Not the best, but not the worst. Not what they're used to. Not an era of seven. Not bad from Rick Devins. I'm still in it. I even won a Chinese Chinese food reward this week. You do not want to know what Chinese food and beer does to a human body that's been starved on an island for two plus weeks. Let's just say Chessy and I have plenty we could talk about when it comes to digestive issues. You could not get the smile off my face when Greg said he and the Garcias are rooting for me. It took a long time explaining that whole backstory to my wife. You and all the Littles are making this experience even better than I could have imagined. Thank you. P.S. michael, please tell Liz's sister I say hi from Amy Lynn. Hey, Tony and team. A couple of weeks ago, you featured two of my songs on one of your podcast episodes. The episode was Farewell to the Washington Post sports section. I wanted to reach out and say thank you so much for featuring my music and saying such kind things about my song. I love the show. I'm grateful for your support. After you featured my music on your episode, my monthly listeners increased by 70% and I have launched and I've landed a bunch of gigs and shows around Northern Colorado. I hope this email finds you well. I think the work you do is wonderful. Thank you for being a force for good and entertainment in the world. Amy Lynn Isn't that nice? That's lovely. Yeah. I mean we all know why we do it out of money reasons. But it's great to do and people makes people happy. Yes. And the music's great. Yeah, it's uniformly great. Gary Lupton in Fredericksburg, Virginia Try driving through there. It was nice to hear Michael acknowledge the Drive Chip and Putt Chip Championship at Augusta last Sunday. My great niece, Hattie lupton, my sister Gloria's granddaughter, participated in the 12 to 13 age group. Addie, at age 12, is an accomplished golfer, regularly shooting par or better with at least one hole in one to her credit and shooting a 67. She's already won several tournaments at different levels. The second time she's qualified for the dcp, that's drive chip and Putt Championship. Although she had a disappointing outcome. Regardless of the outcome, she got to walk the grounds of Augusta, meet pro golfers she looks up to and make friends. It's exciting to see a relative on the Golf Channel and for her to get the recognition on such a large stage, credit needs to go to our parents, Shannon and Angie Lupton. Shannon often caddies for her and they have made lifestyle choices that support her playing golf. Events like this encourage young golfers to get out there and compete. Thanks for all you do to keep the Littles entertained. From From Stephen A. Smith Is this from Stephen A. Smith? It's a different one because this one's the Senior Vice President of Global Wealth Management Management. Well, we know Stephen has a lot of money, though. Stephen could buy that anytime he wants. As you discuss the Masters this week on the 40th anniversary of Jack's 86 win is worth highlighting his 1998 performance. The 98 Masters is mostly remembered for O' Meara dueling Duval and Couples, then sinking a 20 footer on 18 to win and the first moment he held the lead all week until that putt, Jack was just three strokes behind O'. Meara. Jack shot 68 on Sunday and was in the mix all day. At age 58, Jack is the oldest top 10 finisher in Masters history by six years over Phil, age 52, tied for second in 2023. I didn't know that. Ed Waldman in Fulton, Maryland as the official father in law of the Director of Club Operations at Augusta national, the Tony Kornheiser Show, I'm lucky enough to get to go to the Masters any year I want. This year I decided to go to the Augusta National Women's Amateur and to the Drive, Chip and Puck Championships on the weekend before the big boys started playing. By the way, both of these events, excuse me, well worth experiencing. It hit me on Saturday at the nwa. That's the women's event. One of the big reasons Augusta national is so special. Everyone is so happy to be there and that makes them so friendly. Get a pimento cheese sandwich or a peach ice cream sandwich. Ask someone if you can share their table with them. The answer is always yes and find out there are 50 something guy from Southern California has watched every shot of every Master since he was 10 and has finally made it to Augusta. The pure joy in his voice is awesome. By the way, in May I will get to play Augusta national for the second time. It took me about a nanosecond to decide to pass up my 50th high school reunion to go. I wrote you after the first time and I'll report back in May as Also, thank you to Michael and Nigel for everything that you do. That's a lovely email from Mike Corey in Rochester Hills, Michigan. This past week I spent two wonderful days in Keeneland and Lexington watching and betting on the Thoroughbreds. I often say that Keeneland is the horse racing what Augusta is to golf. Hallowed Ground. I was very excited to see that friend of the show horse trainer Kenny McPeak had horses entered. I quickly made plans to get close enough to give him a hearty lecheeserie. My plan worked. I was right next to him. I said kenny Lecheserie, based on the look he gave me, must have thought. I said kenny, can you explain the Pythagorean Theorem to me? I left before security arrived, but the podcast connection was not over. In the eighth race a very nice filly named Chatter was entered. Obviously a sign from up above. I picked another horse that I liked and boxed them in the exacter for $5. I needed them to finish one and two. That is just what they did. It paid $65 with Chatter coming in second. If Chatter had come in first, the ticket would have been closer to 100, but I think we all know better than to count on Chatter for huge financial turn.
- [59:21]
Michael Wilbon
Hey, great breakfast though.
- [59:23]
Tony Kornheiser
I was at the races with my good friend Mario Capone. Please tell him to eat it. From Eddie Eddie Madden hello Captain Ron. Greetings and salutations from Eddie Madden and Merrimack, Massachusetts Sports. I'm always in awe of professional athletes given how Arduous it is to reach the highest levels in their sports. Genuinely speaking, they're not only the exemplary in their chosen profession, but across a wide swath, swath, swath, swath one more time swath of other sports and endeavors. Take, for example, two famed MLB pitchers, Hall of Famer John Smoltz and famed Red Sox pitcher Derek Lowe. Each were starters, relievers and closers with remarkable success across each vocation. Since retirement, John has enjoyed great success in the broadcast booth and on the golf course. Derek is a scratch golfer and joins John on the celebrity tour events highlighted by the tourney in Lake Tahoe each season. Derek also committed to a full basketball scholarship in high school to Eastern Michigan prior to being selected in the eighth round by the Seattle Mariners. On your last PTI episode prior to the Masters, you made mention of Denny McLean and his virtuoso command of the Ammon organ. I was in grade school when all the hoopla surrounding him took place. Memories of him are less than admirable. Until last Wednesday, Denny was the fake face of the Hammond Organ for several years and staged a number of concerts. The highlight of his career as an organist was an appearance on the juggernaut Ed Sullivan show in October of 68. His quartet did a wonderful rendition of Girl From Ipanema. Upon conclusion of that song, McLean called out a guitarist and fellow MLB pitcher who performed a duet with him. That guitarist was none other than hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson. These athletes, it's like they're from another planet. Didn't he brush back Ed Sullivan? Yeah, he must have thrown right in his head. Charlie Burt Springfield, Virginia I'm betting I'm not the only one who smiles every time we hear Chessy shake herself in the background. That universal sound of dog collars and tags wagging around, wagging around always brings comfort. It's always in a moment that seems as though she's saying, enough bullpen talk, Daddy. From Tim in the Midwest, can we talk about how many Tims seem to be a part of the Show? On your April 8 episode, you read emails from three different Tims on a single show. I've been a Tim for 4:45 years and I've met two or three during all this time. But on your podcast, there are Tim's everywhere. Not only do we get regular appearances from bigs like Tim Legler and Tim Kirchen, but we also get email from a variety of Little Tim's. So dare I ask, can I be the official Tim of the Tony Corners of Podcast? If it's not already taken sure, sure, I say. My answer is sure to everything.
- [61:40]
Michael Malone
Sure.
- [61:40]
Tony Kornheiser
It's fine with me. And from Mark Rebholz in Charlotte, North Carolina. Your discussion of the prospect of a Papa John's in Italy reminded me of my trip to Venice. While walking along a canal, my wife's friend who lives in Italy, pointed out a restaurant called the Old Wild West. She simply described it as Italy's response to Olive Garden. A quick scan of your menu of their menu shows such American classics as Tennessee Chicken, a New York Smash burger, and personal favorite, the Alabama Veggie Burger. Big hitter. Big hitter. The llama in in Italy. Come on. Alabama Veggie Burger. Stop.
- [62:13]
Michael Malone
Now.
- [62:13]
Tony Kornheiser
If you're out on your bike tonight, everyone, as always, do wear white.
- [62:16]
Michael Wilbon
So I'm on a first te. What am I giving the driver? He hauls off and whacks one big hitter into a 10,000 foot crevice right at the base of this glacier.
- [62:27]
Tony Kornheiser
Big hitter. The llama.
- [64:21]
Michael Malone
It. Sam.
- [65:13]
Michael Wilbon
It.
- [70:23]
Michael Malone
Sa. Sa. Sam. Sa. Sam. Sa. Sam. Sa.