Recapping Travelers & Talking Rocket Classic with Smylie Kaumfan

SportsGrid

Watch Recapping Travelers & Talking Rocket Classic with Smylie Kaumfan - SportsGrid on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00And we are back for our Coast to Coast here,

00:02our number three on a Wednesday.

00:05It is a Golf Wednesday on Coast to Coast

00:08as we get ready for the Rocket Classic.

00:10Remember, they dropped the mortgage.

00:11It's just Rocket now for the Classic this week.

00:14It's always good to have Smiley Kaufman on with us.

00:17Of course, you can check out the Smiley Show

00:18all week long right here on SportsGrid.

00:21New episodes all the time.

00:23Smiley, it is great to see you.

00:24I usually talk to you early in the week on a Monday.

00:27And I don't care that a few days have gone by.

00:30I'm still jacked up from Keegan Bradley

00:34beating Tommy Fleetwood on the 72nd hole on Sunday

00:39at TPC River Highlands at the Travelers.

00:42Amazing event.

00:43I was there on Saturday.

00:44It was a fun tournament.

00:46What a comeback.

00:47Heartbreak if you were a Tommy fan,

00:49but man, going to the bank if you were back in Keegan Bradley.

00:52Is that not one of the best tournaments on the PGA Tour?

00:55I know, of course, going there from that area,

00:58I'm sure you enjoyed it.

00:59But I can tell you as a player,

01:01playing as many years as I did,

01:02the support there was incredible.

01:04And I think it's one of the best back nights on the PGA Tour.

01:07You get exactly what we had this past Sunday,

01:09which is you have plenty of birdie opportunities

01:13with some risk-reward involved.

01:15But if the hands are kind of tight on the steering wheel,

01:18it can be easy to make some pars and bogeys.

01:21And that's kind of what we saw with Tommy down the end.

01:22Yeah, you close, Smiley, with that 15, 16, 17,

01:28the drivable four over the water.

01:30It's so much fun.

01:32And like you said, it's so scorable,

01:34but it's also dangerous at the same time

01:37as you go through all of that.

01:38Let's talk about Keegan because, of course,

01:41with him winning on Sunday,

01:43immediately the talk started to go to,

01:46hey, he's the Ryder Cup captain.

01:48He said he would only put himself on the team

01:50if he was there on points.

01:53I know this has been talked about a lot.

01:55You talked about it on your show.

01:57Like, you can't tell me he's not

01:59one of the 12 best American golfers right now.

02:03I know it's a sticky situation

02:05because the captain has so many responsibilities,

02:07but I would want him on the team

02:10with the way he's playing.

02:12Yeah, it's a bit of a shame, too,

02:14you know, that Keegan's going to have to deal with this.

02:16If he wasn't the captain for this Ryder Cup in New York,

02:20you know, he would be, you know, a shoe,

02:23and it feels like from all of us who evaluate

02:26who should be on the team,

02:28it seems like a no-brainer.

02:30You know, he's played a ton of golf there,

02:31went to St. John's.

02:32I was actually talking to him about Bethpage

02:35at the U.S. Open this year,

02:37and he just said that, you know,

02:38we used to go there on Mondays

02:40because St. John's didn't have a golf course to play,

02:42so they would go sneak out right on the third hole,

02:44and he's played the course, you know, tons of times.

02:48So there's a ton of familiarity with the golf course,

02:51and he plays really well in the Northeast, obviously.

02:54He's played the Travelers well.

02:56The support's going to be there,

02:57but he's the captain,

02:59so he's got a decision to make,

03:01and there's no doubt that he's one of the best 12 players,

03:04and I think the good thing about the Ryder Cup

03:06is that, you know, there's, it's three days, right?

03:10So you got 36 holes on Friday,

03:1236 holes on Saturday,

03:14and then just singles on Sunday.

03:16I could see a world in which he plays

03:18Friday morning, Saturday morning, and Sunday,

03:21just play three matches, play in the mornings,

03:23captain in the afternoon.

03:25I would be surprised to see him playing

03:28and then also playing 36 holes in a day,

03:30but I also wouldn't hate it either.

03:32You know, it would be pretty dang cool

03:34to see a captain of the Ryder Cup team

03:38just absolutely carrying the flag,

03:40keeping the momentum of that New York crowd going,

03:43and he's playing incredible golf,

03:45so we'll have to see.

03:47I'd put him out,

03:48and I'd do it right out of the gate.

03:50I'd pick him first.

03:51Oh, 100%.

03:52Put him out first on Friday morning,

03:54like you said, Saturday morning as well,

03:56and just pump the crowd.

03:58You get him out there in the first group

04:00on Friday morning,

04:01the place is already going to be gassed up.

04:04It'll be even more if you have Keegan there

04:06as a playing captain getting things cooking.

04:09On the other side of the coin,

04:11look, I mean, I wasn't upset

04:13because it was a great win for me,

04:14but you had to feel for Tommy Fleetwood, man.

04:18I mean, the most top 10s now

04:19without a win on the PGA Tour.

04:22He's had some close calls,

04:25you know, that playoff with Nick Taylor

04:26in Canada a couple years ago,

04:28and then this, like,

04:29when is it finally going to drop

04:31for Tommy Fleetwood, Smiley?

04:34This game doesn't owe you anything,

04:35and winning on the PGA Tour is,

04:37did we talk about, you know,

04:40how easily Scotty, you know,

04:42how easy it makes it look,

04:43winning on the PGA Tour,

04:44and it's just not easy,

04:45and Tommy has run into many roadblocks

04:48trying to win on the Tour,

04:49but I felt like the time

04:51that he was going to win,

04:52it was going to be because

04:54of a hot putter on the weekend,

04:55and he had it on Saturday,

04:58you know, hitting it so well

04:59and hitting it well

05:00for the most part on Sunday,

05:01but he just ran into a,

05:03you know, a cold putter,

05:04and you got to do

05:05the little things right on Sunday,

05:06and he didn't do that.

05:07You know, you got to be able

05:08to get the easy ones up and down.

05:10You have to be able

05:11to clean up lag putting.

05:13You know, you can't three putt

05:15multiple times on a Sunday

05:16and expect to win on the PGA Tour,

05:18and that's just the bottom line.

05:19You got to have a bigger lead

05:20to be able to afford

05:21the opportunity to do that,

05:23and he's going to,

05:25he's probably still

05:26kicking himself over it,

05:27and I hope he does get it done

05:29because he is one of the nicer guys

05:30on Tour.

05:30He absolutely is.

05:33Let's get to the rocket now,

05:34and usually, you know,

05:36when you come off

05:36such a tough stretch

05:37like we just had,

05:38U.S. Open, signature event,

05:40a lot of guys

05:41are probably going to

05:43take this week off.

05:44You know, this week

05:44and next week,

05:45the tractor tournament

05:46are usually two that,

05:47especially before

05:48going across the pond,

05:50but you have a lot of guys

05:51playing this week, Smiley,

05:52who really need to get

05:54their game going,

05:55whether it's Colin Morikawa

05:56making another caddy change

05:58here this morning,

05:59Patrick Cantlay,

06:00Hideki Matsuyama,

06:02you know, guys who are big names

06:03that probably normally

06:04wouldn't play this,

06:05but they need to start

06:06getting sharp.

06:08Yeah, definitely so.

06:09I mean, this is a golf course

06:10that I love.

06:10It's a Donald Ross design,

06:12and they're actually doing

06:13a big renovation project

06:14I read in a couple weeks,

06:15and their goal is

06:16without any rain.

06:17Now, that's,

06:18it'll be interesting to see

06:20if that actually happens,

06:20but if they don't have any rain,

06:22they're looking to really

06:23push this golf course,

06:24so that would be

06:25a very nice change

06:27for this place.

06:27It's typically,

06:28one of the easier

06:30ball-striking golf courses.

06:31It's not very difficult

06:32off the tee.

06:33Guys typically hit

06:34a lot of the greens.

06:36Where you'll see

06:36some separation

06:37is going to be,

06:38of course,

06:39with the driving distance,

06:39guys that hit it long,

06:40but also,

06:41I think,

06:41inside of 10 feet.

06:43Guys that have,

06:44you know,

06:44good weeks with the putter,

06:45I think is going to be

06:46a key separator.

06:48It certainly is.

06:49Let's get to who you like.

06:51You know,

06:51I've got my card

06:52with a couple bombs

06:53this week as well.

06:56Aside from Cameron Young,

06:57you know,

06:57Cameron Young's been

06:58playing really well

06:59the past few weeks.

07:00He's another guy

07:00who's never won.

07:02He didn't play that great

07:03Saturday and Sunday

07:04up at the Travelers,

07:05but he seems like

07:07he's been trending

07:07in that direction again,

07:08and he's got some

07:09great history here.

07:10Who do you like this week?

07:12You know what?

07:12I kind of have

07:13this odd feeling

07:14that Luke Klan

07:15is going to have

07:15a good week.

07:17He's a player

07:18that hits it

07:18while very long.

07:20I think this is

07:21a really good golf course

07:22for him,

07:22an easier one

07:23than I think

07:24that he's had

07:25in a while.

07:25I haven't seen

07:26the tee times

07:26yet this week.

07:27I probably should have

07:28checked that before

07:28coming on,

07:29knowing that I really

07:30liked Luke.

07:31But with the last

07:33couple pairings,

07:33the PGA Tours

07:34really put Luke

07:35in some tough spots

07:36on Thursday and Friday.

07:38They had him paired

07:39with Rory McIlroy

07:40in Canada

07:40in his first start

07:41as a PGA Tour player,

07:42and then Jordan Speed

07:44of the Travelers.

07:45I think that's kind

07:46of tough sledding

07:46to kind of get comfortable

07:47on a Thursday, Friday

07:48for a young new pro.

07:51A lot of times

07:51these guys are

07:52in the different categories.

07:53The Tours bumped him up

07:55knowing that he's

07:55potentially a top name

07:57and they want to get him

07:58on the tube.

08:00Like Luke Clanton

08:01this week,

08:02Cameron Young

08:02has played really well

08:03at this golf course

08:04and his length

08:05can't be understated.

08:07Of course,

08:08I liked Cameron Young

08:09last week, Mike,

08:10at the Travelers

08:11and he absolutely

08:12laid an egg.

08:13Shame on me

08:14to buy into

08:16the Cam Young

08:16hype last week.

08:18But I do like him

08:18this week

08:19and he's been playing

08:20really, really good golf.

08:21Well, the good news

08:22for Luke is

08:23no featured group

08:24this week for him.

08:25He's teeing off

08:25at 149

08:26with Kevin Velo

08:28and Brent White.

08:31So Luke Clanton

08:31away from the spotlight

08:33this week

08:33and like you said,

08:34could be a good opportunity

08:35for him to shine

08:36as he's away

08:37from all those guys.

08:38Smiley, we'll talk to you.

08:39We're getting close

08:40to the Open Championship

08:41a couple weeks away

08:42before we close the bond.

08:44Smiley, talk to you.

08:45We're getting close to you.

08:46We're getting close to you.

08:47We're getting close to you.

08:48We're getting close to you.

08:49We're getting close to you.

08:50We're getting close to you.

08:51We're getting close to you.

08:52We're getting close to you.

08:53We're getting close to you.

08:54We're getting close to you.

08:55We're getting close to you.

08:56We're getting close to you.

08:57We're getting close to you.

08:58We're getting close to you.

08:59We're getting close to you.

09:00We're getting close to you.

09:01We're getting close to you.

09:02We're getting close to you.

09:03We're getting close to you.

Category

Transcript

Recommended