Shane Bacon

Tiger Woods will likely not be the Ryder Cup captain because he doesn't want the life-consuming media commitments.

I'd heard Tiger didn't really want to do it. I mean there's a lot of commitments. You see how involved Luke Donald is on the European side. It's basically become his life. I don't think Tiger wanted to do a lot of the background media stuff, things like that. So I don't necessarily think he was gonna do that anyway.

Tiger Woods is focused on playing the US Senior Open to win the only USGA title he is missing.

There's been a lot of talk around [Tiger] potentially playing in the US senior open with an opportunity and nobody's ever won the US Junior, US Junior Amateur, US Amateur, US Open and a US senior. Tiger is a big history buff... I think there's a focus on potentially playing in that at some point this summer.

Scotty Scheffler's iron play has been average and inconsistent for a pro golfer this season.

I'd say bad for a pro golfer. He's 82nd right now [in strokes gained]. He's average on the PGA tour this season with his irons. This is a stat that he's led each of the last three seasons. If Steph Curry started to miss free throws, you'd be looking around going, what's going on here?

Gary Woodland winning the Masters would be the best emotional story in golf following his brain surgery.

Number three I got Gary Woodland winning. Obviously I think this is the one that would be the most emotional. I'm sure you guys followed the whole journey... with the brain surgery and PTSD. He's second on the PGA tour in driving distance this year at the age of 41... I feel good story in my list.

Rory McIlroy's Thursday opening round will tell us everything about his Masters chances

I think it all comes down to Thursday, PFT. I think with Rory it's how he plays in the opening round. I mean, he's been dreadful, if we're being honest, on Thursdays in his career at the Masters. Hasn't shot in the sixties on a Thursday since 2018. His scoring average in the opening round in his last seven Masters: 73.14. I think Thursday tells us a lot about how engaged Rory is.

Bryson DeChambeau is the pick to win the 2026 Masters

I mentioned Bryson, he's gonna be my pick this week. I was kind of leaning heavily on Patrick Reed for a long time with the way he got out of the gate. But I'm just gonna go Bryson. I think this is his year. He's one of those guys that seems to get better as he understands golf courses. And I think there's added incentive to go out there and do it considering what happened last season, to exercise the demons, if you will.

Europe will win the Ryder Cup and a visiting team win would be good for the tournament

I think Europe's gonna win... I actually think it's kind of important for the Europeans to win this thing. I think putting the, the pressure kind of on the Americans in a couple years... I think actually the the visiting team winning one of these things that hadn't happened since 2012 would actually be good for Ryder Cups.

Bryson DeChambeau is the perfect partner for alternate shot at the Ryder Cup

Bryson obviously can lean on a lot of the big driving holes and JT can lean on the great great Iron play. I think Bryson has potential to be a big, big star this week... I think he's one of those guys you want to be paired up with as opposed to not wanting to be paired up with.

Matt Fitzpatrick will statistically go down as the worst Ryder Cup player of all time if he has a bad tournament this year

Matt Fitzpatrick is 1-7-0 in the history of the Ryder Cup... I think it's the worst percentage of anybody that's ever played more than one Ryder Cup. If he has a bad Ryder Cup, he's gonna go down statistically as the worst Ryder Cup player of all time.

Betting on Europe at +170 is a 'hammer' bet

I think the fact that you're getting plus money on Europe is wild. I would, I would, I would hammer Europe right now. I think, I think it, I think it's potential for blowout on the European side.

The US Open and PGA Championship have turned into 'bomb it' golf courses that prioritize driving distance too much

The US Open was never a 'you have to bomb it' kind of golf course. It's kind of turned into that a little bit, which I think is a bit of a bummer. It just feels like you have to hit driver far to contend to win a US Open. The PGA is very much like that. Augusta's like that as well. You think about the majors, and they all lean on the driver, hit it as far as possible. That's not the case at the Open [Championship].

Scottie Scheffler struggles at the Open because he wants a fair golf course

Scotty does not like it when it's quote unquote unfair. I mean that is the one weird thing about Scotty, like he wants a great shot rewarded and that's just not what links golf's about. This is the one he has not played great at. For Scotty it's trying to lean a little bit more into that world versus 'why is it in that pot bunker?'

Tommy Fleetwood is the 'Gonzaga' of professional golf

I kind of feel like Tommy Fleetwood's Gonzaga basketball is kind of my call. Very good, very talented number one seed a lot of the time... obviously has the talent on the floor but doesn't get it done. That's kind of who Tommy Fleetwood has become... do it now or you're never gonna get it done.

Russell Henley is my pick to win the 2025 Masters

Russell Henley's been great in that department [touch shots]. I think he's gonna be my pick this year for the masters. I think Russell Henley's kind of, not just a sleeper, but he is having a great year.

Phil Mickelson has a legit chance to win the Masters this week

I think Phil's got a chance. Oh I think Phil has a legit chance this week. He's been playing some solid golf and kind of going back to like what plays well here is a great iron player and somebody that's excellent around the Greens. I think Phil, he finds himself in contention it feels like every two years. So I think Phil, in terms of extreme long shots, I'm a big fan of his number this week.

A European or International player will win the 2025 Masters

I think it stops here [American dominance]. I think it ends here. Oh, I think Rory or Rom or Sep or somebody like that does it. So Leman, I I, that's kind of where I'm at is I think, I think the, I think the, the internationals are gonna win this. I think probably a European's gonna win it.

The Open Championship is essentially a 'Snow Game' in football terms

The open is a snow game. There's just so much unpredictability involved in a snow game. Maybe you can throw the ball, maybe you gotta run it. You don't know if you can depend on your kicker at all. That's what I look at here.

Adam Scott will win the 2024 Open Championship

I'm going to Adam Scott. He played well last week... He's 44 years old finishing in the top 10. Hasn't finished in the top 10 in a major since 2019. But I feel like he's one of those guys... I feel like Adam is playing well.

Valhalla is a golf course that heavily favors players who hit it far and high

I'm looking at players to pick or favorites to kind of focus on, I'm looking at guys that hit it far and hit it high. Guys like Rory McIlroy and Brooks [Koepka]... but you gotta beat it forever and you gotta hit it relatively straight because the rough is gnarly.

Will Zalatoris is a 'playoff' type player who finds another gear in major championships regardless of his recent form

I like [Will] Zalatoris as well this week... the harder the golf course the better it is for his game because he hits it so well... It's almost like guys that step up in the playoffs, right? Maybe they're not great during the regular season, but they find another gear or they're game translates in the playoffs. He's one of those playoff type of players.

Sahith Theegala is a great sleeper pick for the PGA Championship

I'm looking at [Sahith] Theegala... probably in that 100 to 125 to one range that I kind of like this week. I mean again, you're talking about he's probably 150 to one ish... he's a guy that has been finding his game and getting more comfortable in terms of [major] setups.

Max Homa is in my top three favorites and can absolutely win the PGA Championship

I think Max [Homa] can absolutely win here. I think it's a good golf course for him. And I feel like he's been playing better and better golf than we saw early in the season. So absolutely. I think, I think Max not only can win, but I think he's in probably my top three favorites right now.

Scotty Scheffler's best golf is currently the best in the world

If Scotty Scheffler is playing his best golf, it's the best in the world. And that is definitely not something I would've said six months ago. I think six months ago would've been Rory or would've been John Rahm. But to me right now with the way Scotty Scheffler is able to get the ball in the hole and then around the greens, I think his best is the best in professional golf.

LIV golfers will be at a disadvantage at the Masters due to lack of reps

Considering how little amount of golf they've played in a professional environment... tournament golf is like going to the gym. I mean you're not gonna be way more sore if you take breaks weeks off going to the gym and your mind isn't gonna be as sharp for tournament golf if you're not playing as much as like Rory and Scotty and Max. If a LIV player does win, I will take it as more impressive than maybe anything else because they just haven't gone through the reps.

Max Homa will be in the top five or top 10 going into Sunday at the Masters

I would be shocked if [Max Homa] wasn't, you know, top five, top 10 headed into Sunday. I feel like it's a max week. I would be shocked if he wasn't top five, top 10 headed into Sunday.

Tiger Woods could realistically be in the Top 5 going into Sunday

The fact that he played [Riviera] this year... playing competitive golf, having a couple of great days I think was huge for Tiger's mental approach. I feel like we will see better from Tiger this year. I would be non-shocked if he was in the top five going into Sunday. I would be non-shocked if he was in the top five.

Jason Day is a sleeper to watch for a top finish at the Masters

I'll go Jason Day. Jason Day has been trending and his game plays so well at Augusta. Exceptional putter, great pitcher of the golf ball and has kind of gained some distance this year. I would say Jason Day is the name that I'm looking at [to win a second major].

The smart play on the 17th hole at St. Andrews is to aim for the 18th tee

On the 17th hole. You actually wanna miss it left of the green. The play is you actually hit it on 18 tee and it's a pretty easy chip shot. So again, not super simple when there's people standing over there. But if you were playing for a score, like playing on an open today, you wanna bail it out left and you give yourself a pretty easy check.

Rory McIlroy is the favorite to win because he truly understands and values golf history

I love Rory this week because I think that Rory's played well lately. And Rory is the kind of guy that actually cares about sports history. Unlike so many athletes, I mean, he dives into this stuff. He eats it up. He knows what it means to win at certain places. So, you know, for people that aren't big golf fans winning at St. Andrews, I'd say is probably the biggest accomplishment in golf outside, even of winning the masters.

The winning score of the 2022 Open Championship will be around 19 to 21 under par

I think it'll be 19 20, 21 under. If the wind's not blowing, it's just not very long, especially for these guys and especially how baked out it is. So I just feel like with the win, not up much 65, 66, 67, if you're playing well is about what the par is.

A golfer's worst quality is being both bad and slow

Slow guy that sucks is number one to me. Because you can, I don't care if you're the worst golfer I've ever seen, you just can't be bad and slow. The same goes for a good player. Don't be good and slow either. Being fast is important.