Apple Podcasts: NLU Podcast, Episode 796: Mexico Open Recap
Spotify: NLU Podcast, Episode 796: Mexico Open Recap
What went down: Soly, TC, and Neil must have completed their DuoLingo lesson of the day before they hopped on, because they practiced their Spanish game as a greeting! The only thing that would have made this podcast better is if they tried to do the whole episode in Spanish. The best pronunciation goes to the Schuster brother who spent his week in the opposite climate of Vidanta Vallarta…
Jake Knapp wins the Mexico Open for his first career victory
(2:40) Soly exposes the scripts we’ve all been fed as PGA Tour propagandists. JK. It’s been a rough go being a fan of men’s professional golf. This is absolutely no shade to Jake Knapp, whose two-shot win at the Mexico Open and infusion of personality was a welcome sight.
Sunday’s final round had Jake Knapp starting out with a four-shot lead over Sami Valimaki before he bogeyed the first and third holes with that quickly vanishing.
Valimaki tied things up with an eagle on the 7th but entered some bogey trouble on the back nine, but Knapp managed to hold on tight despite making just two fairways, going bogey-free to win by two.
(7:00) Soly was stunned by how surprising Sami Valimaki’s aesthetic was. And of course, by nature of being a Finnish player, TC claims he had him on his shortlist. That said, how do the guys feel about the results of the PGA Tour-DP World Tour alliance so far re: talent promotion?
(10:00) The guys dig into a great question from LordBenne: “Would Knapp's win (a legitimate accomplishment for a KFT grad) be less derided if the Tour wasn't coming off a hugely underwhelming West Coast swing?”
TC engages in some Big Tone erasure in misremembering last year’s winner but brings up a valid concern about how his contrarian soft spot for opposite field events has slowly eroded. The level of care between weird rules violations, juiceless fields and setups fails to really substantiate the ever so inflated purses.
(15:50) There was a seemingly erroneous unplayable awarded to Valimaki, whose ball landed in underneath the fence which was still inbounds. He ends up taking a drop on the sand, which was deemed a continuation of the cart path??? The gang (and perhaps the audience) wasn’t sure what to make of it considering S. H. Kim got a free drop from the fence on Friday, but Valimaki had to take an unplayable on Sunday. Thank god there are only millions of dollars at stake!
Lots of free promo for Florida accident attorneys in likening them to new-age rules officials.
(26:30) In order to make this season of the PGA Tour a little more palatable, the guys turn their attention to (possibly the first time ever) the FedExCup standings.
Other golf news: Masters special invites, Bryson interview, Anthony Kim’s upcoming LIV debut, Patty T wins again
(33:00) Masters special invites! Now Joaquin Niemann can be happy. Thorbjorn Olesen, Nieman and Ryo Hisatsune will be a part of the field.
(38:00) Digesting the Bryson interview and his recent comments about the OWGR…where he falsely claims LIV events fulfill all the criteria and Jerry Foltz says OWGR doesn’t matter? Guess he’s been reading up on some Jung, as he says the “death to egos” needs to occur.
(48:40) Anthony Kim will be returning to golf at LIV Jeddah, which could literally mean anything.
(54:20) Jon Rahm did a very revealing interview with ESPN’s Marty Smith. He remains pretty forward and just underwhelmed about LIV Golf in general.
(01:06:00) Charlie Woods shot an 86 at the Cognizant Pre-Qualifier…which is to be expected, considering he is literally 15-years-old. What was totally inexcusable was the fan behavior at his qualifier, which according to Emilee Smarr of the Palm Beach Post, was filled with invasive weirdos.
(1:07:00) Other random golf musings:
- Genesis ratings stunk!
- Darius van Driel wins the Magical Kenya Open. Joe Dean, who was working as a delivery driver, earns a life-changing 200k check.
- Patty Tavatanakit wins for the second week in a row, this time earning an LPGA victory at the LPGA Thailand after winning on the LET the week before.
- Bronte Law wins the LET Lallya Meryem Cup
- The Match, with Rory/Max/Rose/Lexi airs Monday, 2/26!
(1:21:00) TC played with THE John Minnium! Soly goes into his past week at the Gasparilla, which we’ll have a FULL recap on in an upcoming Film Room!
Best take: (1:01:20) Soly brings up that June 6th was, essentially, smoke! An announcement of doing the absolute least, in the name of warding off scrutiny. Players have been poached. LIV isn’t going anywhere – and the PGA Tour looks more and more embarrassing.
Worst take: (38:00) TC, please! The OWGR does matter! The majors remain the most juiced-up parts of the year! And they’re juicier by the week. Don’t fall for the Bryson/LIV denial. The metrics are questionable, but it’s what we have.
Quotables:
(3:50)
(46:20) (On the OWGR) “I wish it was called the BDE qualification system.” -Soly
Ads: (1:30) This episode was brought to you by our friends over at Titleist. More than 70 percent of competitors on both the PGA TOUR and LPGA this week played a Titleist golf ball. That includes 6 of the top 7 in Mexico, and every player in the top 8 in Thailand.
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(24:20) Shoutout to our friends at Holderness & Bourne for keeping us warm for the remainder of winter! But it’s time to look ahead to warmer temperatures – their new Spring 2024 collection just dropped with over 200+ new styles and colors, including a new performance pant called “The Garvey.” Enter code “NLU10” at hbgolf.com for 10 % off your next order.
(1:03:05) A little house ad action! This podcast is presented by The Nest, which is ramping up its exclusive content! Last week we released an exclusive behind-the-scenes video of Strapped Louisiana. We also just released a February Nest pod where Cody and Neil interview Nest member Pete Couhig the CEO and part owner of League 1 football club Wycombe (pronounced Wick’em) Wanderers. Tourist Sauce BTS stuff is incoming as well!
If you’re not a member of The Nest, visit this page to join. Current Nest members, check out our brand new hub for all Nest-exclusive content over here.