That's Too Bad

Matthew Walaszek (00:06)
Riverside.

What's going on everybody? This is Wally Walsack and you're listening or watching the That's Too Bad podcast and today I'm talking PGA Championship, second major of the year. Let's go. It's Wednesday evening, tomorrow morning. We're tanning off and this is just a great time for golf. Valhalla, Louisville, Kentucky, Jack Nichols course. 1983 is when Jack designed it and this course is designed.

for long hitters. If you've been listening to the coverage all week, if you've been listening to different podcasts, different analysts, I'm sure the consensus has been you need to hit it long and you need to really hit it kind of straight to contend to win a PGA championship Sunday at Valhalla. A little bit though about Valhalla in the past, this is going to be the fourth time that it's held the PGA championship.

1996, Mark Brooks, 2000, Tiger Woods, and 2014, Rory McElroy is the last time that the Valhalla is host of the PGA Championship. Now we're going to circle back to what happened in 2014 and how Rory ended up being victorious eventually on 18, because if people don't remember, it was kind of a controversial 17, 18 with the weather and what Rory wanted to do. But Valhalla is also hosted back in 2008.

the Ryder Cup. Now if you got Peacock, you might have watched the documentary of when Paul Aizinger puts together his winning team, recapture the Ryder Cup back first time in quite some time. And he did it a little, I guess some people will say a little unconventional. Why? Tiger Woods in 08 wins the US on a broken leg, has surgeries, doing probably physical therapy and rehab and recovering. One of the best golfers.

in the history of the game and at that time in the world and Aizinger can't pick it for the Ryder Cup. And this was a time when the US really, really needed a win. I mean, Europe was dominating during the Ryder Cup those last few times going into Valhalla in 08. And what stands out about that Ryder Cup team at Valhalla is, I mean, the course back then was still playing long now in 2024. So this year,

They've added about 150, 160 some odd yards to the course. I should say throughout the course, not all in one whole obviously. The course I think I looked it up on the card is playing around 7 ,600 yards. Are they gonna play the full 76? No. But in years past, I think in 2014, they just played under 72. And I think I looked it up in 2000, it was just around 71. So they're playing long.

regardless and in 08 it was probably playing similar for the Ryder Cup and Azinger's team had an interesting very good squad interesting squad and I think if you look back at who were the professional golfers in 08 some of these guys probably would be on your Ryder Cup team if you're making the decision and some you probably didn't even know were playing golf or might be past their prime.

What sticks out in 08 is six rookies from aging from 23 to 41. As we all know on the That's Too Bad podcast here, we're big Anthony Kim fans and he was the young one holding down the four at 23 years old. Now this was again at the time if you've listened to a couple podcasts ago, Anthony Kim was lights out back in 08 going into really like that stretch of 07 through 2010.

And he dominated and really was the driving force for that Ryder Cup team for you, Team USA. Beaten Sergio Garcia on the last day, didn't even realize it, didn't know he started walking in next to officials and everybody had to tell him that the match is over. He had already won. Again, watch the documentary. It's a good watch. Watching Team USA really come back finally and claiming the victory.

But what stands out too is about the team is, like I said, Valhalla, you need the length. And you really kind of need to be kind of, it's like target guff. You gotta keep it in the fairway. If you're end up in the rough, which it won't be US Open rough, it won't be that thick, but Ryder Cups, majors, PGA championships, you know it's probably thick enough. And you gotta, if you keep it in the fairway and you have a good.

four, five, six iron in to the green, especially on those long par fours, you're setting yourself up for success. And I think that's what Aizinger kind of did back in 08, just going through here real quickly, the roster that he had, I mean Anthony Kim, rookie 23, Ben Curtis was 31 back then, that was his first Ryder Cup. WU Weekly 35.

If you follow him on Instagram or anything, he's kind of a character or listen to some of his interviews back then or even now. he was also first time this one really surprised me. I didn't know this until I watched the documentary, Steve Schroeder 41. That was his first Ryder Cup. Kind of just blows your mind that a guy with his pedigree, his resume and his first Ryder Cup was, wait, no, a name that you may or may not recognize. I do Hunter mayhem.

another great young talent with Anthony Kim back then could bomb the ball. And, and then JB Holmes, 26 back then, JB Holmes was probably the big hitter back in 08 out of everybody's probably the Brayson D Shambo of 2008, 2009 and so forth. Back then that was his first Ryder Cup. And I remember in the documentary, this guy was just one of those guys that was built for the Ryder Cup, at least in that 2008.

did not shy away. I mean, he just threw darts after he hit bobs. And I mean, and then he had their typical, I mean, Phil was on the team, Stuart Sink, Kenny Perry, who I think people might've thought maybe was past his prime, Jim Furyk, Justin Leonard and Chad Campbell. And again, you know, 2008 USA regains the victory at Valhalla. So the Valhalla has had a lot of major tournaments, three big majors, one being a Ryder Cup.

I was just listening to another podcast where they hosted where Akshay Bhatia, I believe won a junior tournament out there. So a guy that at a young age has already got enough, or has seen the course up front, has played it and he's won there. I'm sure it wasn't PGA yardage and standards, but again, still a tough course and Akshay can hit the ball far now, even at his 110 soaking wet slim figure.

And he's, you know, over the last couple of years has been developed as a good putter. And so it's going to really come down, I think, for him in the mid iron game. Like I said, he could hit the ball very far. He's quite accurate too off the tee. He's been a very good putter so far in tour. It's just going to get on the fairway. You know, that long iron end is going to be the difference maker for him.

Like I said, Jack Nichols designed this course back in 1983. What do we expect? Who do we think it favors? So I did a video of a course overview of what I thought, or what the course looks like, yardages and stuff like that. I kind of just put a little something together of what I think is who's gonna favor. Like I said, this course on the card, 7 ,600 yards, added about 150, 160 going into this year.

Like I said, favors the long hitters. So you're Bryson DeChambeau's Rory who won last week. Roy who won 10 years ago at Valhalla Brooks Koepka and Phil can still hit it far. Joaquin Nieman, Taylor Guch. I mean that list goes on because in 2004 that, that, I mean, just this is the modern era golf. You, everybody wants to hit it far.

So this course is going to be interesting. And this really this tournament this week will be interesting with all the big hitters we got on tour, both live and PGA. Who's going to really shine as far as the mid iron game, the wedge game or the putting. After taking, you know, view of the video of the overview of the whole course, I really do think this is going to favor draw hitters more. I think they just have more opportunities to shape the ball on a lot of dog lag lefts.

And even some of the dogleg rights, it does not hurt them. They might be able to take it over tree lines or creek lines or fescue lines, where I think the fade players are going to be a little more hesitant on a couple different holes, especially the dogleg lefts, where they might hit three woods, three irons and so forth, just to set them up for success. I don't think this is gonna be a bad course for guys hitting those driving irons.

three woods, three hybrids, and so forth off the tee too to keep them in play. It's like I'm preaching right now. It's keep it in the fairway, you're setting yourself up for success. Not a lot of OB from what I can gather on this course. I mean, there's some, a couple different creeks here and there, but I mean, mainly it's gonna be tree lines, rough, and fescue, and then obviously bunkers. Keeping it out of the rough, and especially the fescue.

That's going to be huge, not only for control of the ball, but just to get it to the green in regulation. It's just the name of the game. And so yeah, this will be interesting. The front nine I thought was a lot more intriguing and more favorable for these draw hitters and the big hitters where I think the back nine, it kind of starts toning down a little bit. Not saying it's not a fun, cool back nine to watch, but I think just the draw hitters gain a little bit of an advantage on the front nine there. So I mean,

We'll have to take a watch this week, especially early on, see what happens front nine compared to the back nine. A couple big storylines going into the PGA. We all know Rory's probably one of the bigger ones, Scotty Shuffler and so forth. So I mean, let's just kind of go down the list. Spieth, what can you say about Jordan Spieth? I mean, the guy has won majors obviously before. He's a talented, great player over the last few years, I think.

the consistency has just not been there. And mainly it's off the tee. That driver is just pure death for him and it could go anywhere. It could go left or right. He saves himself when his shore came in his putting and it's always been his forte his whole career. But this is a big one because this is the one he has not won ever. So does Jordan come in extra motivated?

again here like the last few years and try to complete the career grand slam. So that will be interesting to see how he does again last week at Wells Fargo. You know, like I said, he just hasn't been consistent. Glimpses of good shots and then there's glimpses of really, really bad shots. And the thing about Jordan, it's that you notice on TV, he's always looking down at his club, he's always looking at his caddy like, what the hell did I just do wrong? What?

It's not supposed to do that. It's supposed to go, you know. The big thing I was just listening to on a YouTube video about an hour ago is it's gonna be all about the execution, not from Thursday through Sunday. And that's been Jordan's Achilles right now. It's the execution from tee to green, four straight routes. So we'll see what happens there. Another big one is JT who's I think played a couple weeks ago in preparation. He's just a local.

hometown guy that I think everybody's going to be pulling for that goes to the tournament. So, you know, nothing major there. I JT, Gagneo is kind of in the same realm as Jordan, just hasn't been consistent over the last couple of years. And this could be one where get him on board. And, you know, this might catapult him for the rest of the season.

Going back to 2014, Rory McRoy, this is the last time he's won a major. So it's been 10 years. Guy's just been sitting on four. The last time he played, or his last one being the PGA Championship, was also at Valhalla 2014. And I mentioned that there was a little bit of a controversy. Nothing I would say really probably changed the outcome in any means. But if you recall,

There was really like a three horse race going into the 2014 PGA Championship and that was between Phil, Ricky and Rory. Rory was heading into Sunday I believe with the leader, or maybe all three were tied at the lead. At one point Rory took a, I think a one or two stroke lead and then a bogey, bad bogey here and there and Ricky took advantage.

We saw Ricky take the lead. I think everybody like myself thought this could be Ricky's time. He's going to win. He's going to win his first major. To be honest, Rory's a great player. I like watching him play. I was rooting for Ricky back then. And so what happens going into 17, 18, the weather started turning bad. Rory's got a one shot lead or a two shot lead on to Phil.

Phil and Ricky hit their tee shot at 18. Darkness starts creeping through. Rory does not want to play on Monday to finish his round to see if he wins or not. So what does he do? He tries to get Ricky and Phil to let him play up, because if he hits, it forces the tournament to let him finish the hole, even if it's pitch blackout. Phil and I think Ricky were...

Hesitant I don't think they really appreciated what Roy was trying to do. I think though if the Stories flipped for the for the groups. I'm sure it would be the same. It's just the competitive nature. I'm sure I mean You know, I think if Phil and Ricky were like six shots behind I think they'll play as a force of the last hole to get the tournament done it over with with the weather roll it but you know Ricky and Phil were one or two back and So there was a lot on the plate here Rick

Your Rory tees off as the group is walking up. And then I think what really I think kind of like gets both groups going, it's Phil and Ricky have hit their second shots. They're walking to the green, they're trying to finish. This is a par five too. And Rory's already had his ball wanting to hit up already. So it's just bizarre events.

And it really almost cost Rory to try to work too quickly to get this tournament done. If we all recall, so Ricky ended up parring, didn't win the tournament obviously. Phil almost dunked an eagle chip, tapping birdie, and now he really needed Rory to really mess up Bo Yee, and they would go to a playoff the next day. And what happened is Rory then, you know,

essentially hits his ball. He ended up in the far bunker on the left side of the green and now you're wondering was this a mistake? Luckily for him it wasn't. He was able to get out of the bunker and get two putt for the win and in a Roy fashion I think he drained the or not drained the putt he hit the putt with till about like I don't know less than two feet tapped in his par guy wins his fourth major of the PGA at the Valhalla.

And again, that's 10 years ago. So Rory, who's coming off a very great victory at Wells Fargo last week, the way he played, I mean, Xander was a three day leader going into Sunday. And Sunday, it was kind of going back and forth, back and forth and a couple errors on Xander's part. And Rory took advantage and was victorious. What's going to be nice for Rory is,

The course setup is a little similar to Quail Hollow where he's got the confidence with the driver off the tee, regardless where he plays, but that's really going to play a huge favor in Roy's game here. I'm not a big fan of always betting on the back -to -back winners because it just does not happen as often, but if there's one guy I think I would take outside of Scottie Scheffler, it would be Roy McCoy right now.

Something that's always kind of hurt Rory a little bit over the last few years is inconsistent with the putting a little bit. And I think right now, especially after last week, he does have it kind of rolling with his putter. So something definitely to keep an eye on for Rory going into this tournament. Before we kind of go through a lot of just the different guys that I think, you know, this is going to benefit and all this fun stuff.

I'm sure everybody's gonna wanna know, Tiger Woods, where are we at with him? Phil Mickelson, where are at with him? Phil, I think is out there gonna compete to win. Speaking of Phil, Coffee for Wellness, not drinking coffee though.

Not an ad either, but love the product. Phil, he's definitely going to go out there and compete to win another major. But I don't see him being up there as a favorite. I think he does still hit it quite, you know, quite long off the tee. Obviously he's always been a very good wedge player, one of the best in the game. And then his putting, it's just going to be, I think over the last few years, he's been a very streaky putter.

and hopefully he's got that figured out for this week. I think what's going to really determine again is you're not hitting driver and you're hitting eight, nine irons consistently off, you know, into the green. I mean, this is going to be three, four or five irons into the green now because of how long this course is. So we'll just to see, can Phil kind of wrangle that in and if he does, we'll see how well he contends. Tiger Woods, this is just going to be a tough four days for him. I mean,

just the overall wear and tear that I mean, everybody knows the wear and tear going into this tournament, but what is going to happen throughout the four days just from walking the long course, playing out there. And again, if he makes the cut, now you're playing four days. I think the hope for Tiger is going to be if he does make the cut, just make Saturday and Sunday count. I think we saw the Masters, he was just...

kind of knew he was already out of it, made the cut barely and you know just went out there and played and it wasn't anything spectacular either unfortunately. So I mean we'll see what Tiger can do again I don't have high expectations for Tiger and Valhalla again I mean he did win in 2000 but we're talking a Tiger Woods in his 20s before he's had any type of medical physical injuries and stuff like that so.

two completely different Tiger Woods playing from 2000 to almost 25 years ago till now. So yeah, see what happens with Tiger Woods though. Obviously going into this week, the number one favorite is Scottie Shufflett, number one in the world, took the last what, week or two off, brand new father, congrats to him.

And I mean, just, it would be stupid not to bet on Scotty, right? The way this year's gone. You know, I think we've talked about it, on podcasts before, ever since the switch to the mallet putter, the guy's just kind of been unstoppable. He's one of the best ball strikers, if not the best ball striker right now on both tours, PJ and Liv. And that's going to really matter, especially in Valhalla. If you're trying to play kind of target golf, keeping it in the fairway and.

he's one of the best off the tee. He can be very strategic and he can really pinpoint his driver with that little cut he plays. And again, I said earlier, I think this fader is more draw players, which is not something that he normally plays throughout his round. He's more of a cut fade player. But again, I think because of his pure ball striking and he can keep it right down the middle, I think that he'll get away with it no problem.

And a lot of the big hitters are not draw hitters anyways, too. I think Rory might be one of the few and D 'Chambeau, who will be interesting to see the guy that hits the ball a long way. He might be the only one hitting nine iron from 220 yards out. Because he's kind of a freak of nature when it comes to that. That's a guy that I'm kind of thinking in Mike Contan. I call it his master's hangover cure. I played absolute dog shit on Sunday and it started more towards the last.

back nine of the Saturday round. Sunday the wheels fell off at the Masters. A guy that I think should have won the Masters. I mean he played great Thursday, Friday, and the beginning of Saturday. And he has all the tools to do it. He's going to bomb the ball. Besides Rory, this is the guy that's going to take the most chances off the tee. There's going to be holes and par fives that he's going to go for it every time.

He's gonna try to stretch out some par fours and try to get there in one. He's gonna try to cut off some yards going over trees, over fescue, what have you. The biggest part is gonna come down to his wedge and mid iron game. And I think that, you know, I sound like a broken record, but that's gonna be the name of the game for a lot of these guys, because really no one right now, for the guys that I'm kind of looking at, really do stand out as pure, you know, some of the best.

four or five iron, three iron hitters out of the fairway. D 'Chambeau obviously might not technically fall into that category with his length. He's guys that are hitting four and five irons. He might be hitting seven, eight or nine irons. Just the way he's built. D 'Chambeau makes up a lot of that with his putting. He's one of the best putters in the world. So it will be intriguing to see what happens there at Valhalla this week. Kefka is the defending champ.

And well, if he can win this week ties, I believe he ties Tiger Woods for the most PGA championships, which I think would make Koepka with four. And so, you know, like Roy Koepka is a big hitter guy just won a few weeks ago on live at Singapore. So he's coming off hot. He's coming off rested and which is scary for the rest of the field. Rusted Brooks Koepka, not injured, healthy.

that guy's lethal. And we all know he only really likes to show for the majors anyways. I was just scrolling through Instagram a couple hours ago and they were comparing Tiger Woods's majors over his career percentages and top fives, tens and top twenties versus CAPCA so far. And outside maybe the top three and top five percentages was Brooks's only a couple percentage points away from Tiger Woods's career percentages right now.

He is right there, the top 10s, might have been top 20s, I can't remember. And he's got four victories, five victories, majors right now. So Brooks is a majors, and he's always publicly set it to right. So he'll play, obviously now being in live, and they only have so many tournaments a year. He plays in all of them when he was winning the PGA.

you know, he was very vocal about he doesn't care about playing so many smaller turns, but he did it anyways. And I get that. And really when it comes down to it, a lot of, you know, when you're looking back at this 30, 40, 50 years from now, like we kind of do with Tiger was we do with Jack Nicklaus and Art Palmer and so forth. Nick Faldo, it's the first thing that you know, you utter out of anybody's mouth is how many majors did they win? It's really the first.

pedigree that you think of after these golfers have retired. So, you know, I get it from Capco's standpoint. And again, I think Valhalla is a course I think can set up fairly well for him. Outside, he's a fade player mainly. And like I said earlier, I think this does favor the draws a little bit more. But I think his length, if he could stay accurate off the tee, you know.

and he did do the scottie shuffler he switched to a mallet putter i believe he did it before his round in singapore and he might have even done it for the masters too if i'm not mistaken the mallet putter though the change for some of these golfers it's made huge dividends so far and let's go i mean rick i mean okay guy has been kind of non -existent this year well there's two of them this one i'm going to talk about

was a contender back in 2014. I already mentioned it, Ricky Fowler. Hasn't done much so far this year. Has the experience at Valhalla, knows what it takes to get it to Sunday, being in the last couple groups. Yes, it was 10 years ago. Yes, he has struggled over the last three, four, five years. Outside of really last year where he kind of revamped his career a little bit, 2024 just hasn't been it yet.

Is this the tournament where Ricky says, hey, you don't got to bomb the ball 350 yards to win? Because we all know Ricky's not a guy that's going to bomb the ball. But if he could be strategic off the tee, keep it in the fairway, he's always been a very good putter his whole career. I think that really will separate him from the rest of the field. But he's got to do it early. Kind of maintaining the status quo, even par and so forth. And then.

maybe having a good Saturday and then Sunday again, that's just not going to do it. He's got to put the pieces from Thursday through Sunday altogether. And really kind of speak, you know, guys that have been non existent this year, Victor Hovland, you know, a guy that was a runner up last year to Brooks Kafka, 2024, Victor, where you at? You know, haven't heard from him too much. He's been very quiet under the radar.

I've read that he's done swing changes and everything else. Is he going to live? Is he not going to live? And all this rumors and stuff. I could care less about all that shit. I would like to see this guy show up and finish in the top five, top 10 of the major, if not try to win it. I've been a big fan of his ever since he's kind of gotten on tour. You know, his whole demeanor on tour is, I don't know what you would call it.

You want to those guys where you it's just hard to root against him. I guess his whole demeanor just says, you know, like, Hey, I'm here to win. Hasn't been the case in 2024, but another guy that, you know, if the swings there, he's going to be fine off the tee. He's always been again. Yeah. I feel like I'm like a broken wreck. Well, these guys, a lot of guys I've picked to talk about, but he's a good putter and it's just going to come down to staying in the fairway and getting on the green and regulation. Victor has known.

from what I've ever seen, can put himself into trouble out of the fairway. Being in the rough is not going to get you in that final couple groups on Sunday. If you're consistently in that rough this week, or in the FESCU or anything of the sort, trying to get to the green in two, par fives or par fours, that's gonna be difficult. So I mean, let's see what happens with Victor. Xander Schauffley.

I only got a few more I'm going to go through here. I'm not going through the entire field. I only picked out a handful here. Xander, is he going to bounce back from the Wells Fargo? Three days was leading. Sunday was back and forth. Like I mentioned earlier, towards the end of that round, all the mistakes he made, Rory capitalized. That's why we saw Rory win and Xander fall off on Sunday. Can Xander put it together Thursday through Sunday? If, you know.

I would hope last week the way he lost the Wells Fargo is going to motivate him and get him into a victory here, PGA Championship, which would be great for his career. Two guys here, the last two I want to talk about. One of them is probably bigger than the other and not because of his tour resume, I should say.

And so that's going to be Michael Block. Everybody remembers Michael Block. I'm a huge Blocky fan. Ever since last year when he was on the PGA and made not only made the cut as a PGA pro coach instructor, but finished up there in the top 10, top 15 last year. Everybody kind of remembers Sunday. He played with Rory and.

the famous, I think it was the 15th hole, if I'm not mistaken, part three, hits his shot. He has no idea that he had just dunked it, not even one opted, dunked it off the tee. Everybody, including Rory, knew it and the expression of like, are you kidding me? Are you serious? Like you messing with me? What a good dude. This is gonna be awesome seeing him back. This is a guy that just does not have the length for Valhalla.

So he's gonna have to be creative in trying to find a way to make the cut and try to repeat what he did last year and get up there in the top 10, top 15. He's got a very early tee time tomorrow, I noticed, 6 .15 a so maybe he could set the tone early. But yeah, just awesome what happened last year with him. They posted the video when he got the call of who he was playing with on Sunday, and just an awesome dude.

All these PGA professionals that are instructors are awesome guys. It was awesome to see him kind of represent that fraternity there and see if he can do it again. It would be awesome for not only the PGA pros of America, but for the whole golf community there. And lastly here, I only highlighted him because he was the most outspoken yet at the Masters for a guy that didn't even play the Masters and that's Taylor Gooch.

A guy that has come out a lot this year publicly, especially towards the PGA players that are still there, that he's better than a lot of them and that there was guys that got player that are playing the Masters that were invited the Masters that were picked over him and didn't sit well because he thinks he's one of the top guys in the world right now. He is a very good player. I'm not disagreeing, but.

I think he's getting a little ahead of himself when he did that a few months ago. But he's in the field this week. So now it's kind of just, you know, shut up and let's put it in drive here. I mean, he's really got to deliver and deliver in a big way because right now the way he's been running his mouth, you know, like do that when you do that after you start playing. Well, don't do it before or anything of the sorts. I.

Again, he's a great player. He can hit it far off the tee, but just, yeah, I'm just going to stop it right there because I don't want to get into anything further there with them. So yeah, so I mean, that's that's what we got for the PGA Championship this week. And obviously, there's a lot more guys in the field. This is going to be fun. It's the second major of the year. Now we're it's May, middle of May right now. We're.

we're getting into the heart of the PGA and live season. I should just say the golf season. This is the best time of the year. Can't wait to see who's going to end up winning in a Valhalla in Kentucky this week. I'm not going to vocally tell you guys who my picks are and what I got picked as winners and top fives and top tons. I might post that on my social medias. So go give it a follow, go give it a like and tell me what you guys think.

and let's see what happens and this is gonna be fun. So yeah, I hope you guys are ready and as always, let's go low.

Riverside.