00:00And, yes, did you know it's a little white golf ball that's still being knocked around in the professional ranks?
00:05It's Donnie Wright said it's Joe Ranieri, and it's Keith Stewart.
00:07You've got to get us caught up to date here.
00:09Just because we're winding down on 2025 doesn't mean, Keith, we don't have some golf to talk about.
00:14How's it going this morning?
00:16Joe, Donnie, pleasure to be with you.
00:18You know, it's a week on, a week off, but the PGA Tour, you know, they're making some moves.
00:22We're going out to Utah again for the Bank of Utah Championship.
00:26How about the Bank of Utah Championship here, Keith?
00:30We set the Black Desert Resort Golf Course in Utah, which usually means we're playing at elevation,
00:35and these guys can smash some golf balls.
00:38So most people say, wait, the Ryder Cup's done.
00:40Like, why are we still playing tournaments?
00:41Keith, lay it out for the people.
00:43What happens from today through the end of the year till we start the next official season, I guess you could say, of the PGA Tour?
00:50Donnie, you know what?
00:51Nobody does it better.
00:52You are the GPS of the PGA Tour.
00:54Let me break it down for you, for sure.
00:56Including this event, we have four more left on the schedule.
01:00If you're looking for your card, just your regular card for the PGA Tour, you've got to be in the top 100 on those FedExCup points list.
01:07And then if you, you know, as a little extra bonus, a little carrot at the end of the stick, if you're top 10, if you're between points 51 and 60,
01:14then you get in those two early signature events, the one out there at AT&T and then Tiger's event at Riviera, the Genesis.
01:21So those are a big deal.
01:22And you've got a lot of guys in this field.
01:24You know, you've got 21 guys in the top 100, and then you've got another couple of guys in the top 50.
01:30After that, in this 132-man field, you've got over 100 players that are outside the top 100 in the world.
01:36Last year, we saw Matthew McCartney come off of the KFT, Korn Ferry Tour, and then he won right away.
01:43The guy sets himself up for the next couple of years on the PGA Tour.
01:46I think we're going to see a similar story like that this week.
01:49I'm going deeper down the odds board because this thing's an absolute birdie fest.
01:55It's interesting that you say that, too, because, yes, I'm sure that the under par to win this thing is going to be crazy.
02:02But if I'm right, if I remember correctly, Keith, these greens are huge, which means that somebody better be able to keep it within two.
02:11You can hit the green, but three-putting becomes an issue here.
02:14So what are some of the stats?
02:15Are we looking at better putters here?
02:17What wins this tournament here altogether?
02:21Joe, perfect transition into Keith's Keys.
02:24Say that three times twice, right?
02:26Hey, first thing you've got to do.
02:28First thing you've got to do is avoid those three putts.
02:31That was the first thing on my list, Joe, and you brought it up, right?
02:34Average green size, 7,000 square feet, right?
02:37Vegas has the over-under at 21.5.
02:39So they expect you to make some putts.
02:41And, you know, I said this last year on the show a year ago, and that is when you go to a new venue, the number one strokes gain stat that correlates is putting.
02:50Good putters can read new greens, and they can control their speed.
02:54There was a ton of three-putting issues last year.
02:56You know, it was 14% over for the average, over the PGA Tour average for the field at this event.
03:02Big greens, guys were all over the place.
03:04And, you know what, with wide fairways, everyone says, oh, geez, this is a bomber's paradise.
03:10But Donnie brought it up a second ago.
03:12We're playing at 3,000 feet of elevation, which means you're going to lose about 3% of the distance, maybe almost 4% of the distance.
03:19So you don't necessarily have to be a bomber.
03:21And a little bit of a secret tip here, guys.
03:23Yes, we played here last October, but the LPGA, which you guys know I follow and I handicap, they played here in May.
03:30And I do not see a correlation.
03:32All the pundits this week are going to be saying, hey, you got to take the bombers.
03:35You got to take the bombers.
03:36Well, on the LPGA side and the PGA Tour side last year and in May, that didn't correlate.
03:42You got to take the best ball strikers.
03:44This is an approach, like, playground.
03:47You know, the guys, there's 51 acres of fairway, Joe.
03:5051, right?
03:51Like, you and I can hit the fairway.
03:53It's not a problem, right?
03:54You got to be able to hit it close.
03:56And then after that, you got to be able to putt.
03:58And, of course, you know, the last thing is, is that, you know, people will talk about, oh, you know, there's a bunch of par fours over 500 yards.
04:06Well, guess what?
04:07At that elevation, they're not as long as you think.
04:09You want those guys that are really good at midiron shots, you know, 170 yards, 175 yards or greater is about 52% of your approach shots.
04:18So, as we're building out our betting cards, you're looking for guys that can definitely putt, guys that are good in that midiron range, and then also the guys that are really, really solid when it comes to striking the golf ball.
04:30You don't have to be a bomber.
04:32Keith, let's do it on a Wednesday morning as we wait for another tournament to happen.
04:35The early leans on the early line.
04:37What are they?
04:38All right, I love this kid right now, Michael Thorbjornson, not just because I get to call him Thor, but because this kid, you know what, he does bomb it, but he's really, really accurate.
04:50He gained 12 strokes on the field over in Japan, the other side of the world, and this kid's killing it, right?
04:55And he's an absolute straight flusher of the golf ball, but his putter has been popping lately.
05:00He started the week at plus 1,800 on FanDuel.
05:03He's down to plus 1,400, so, you know, people are thinking the same thing I am.
05:07At the elite level of this leaderboard, I think he's definitely someone to pay attention to.
05:11Now, much further down the board, I've got a guy by the name of Taylor Montgomery.
05:16Now, Taylor Montgomery, he started the week at plus 8,000.
05:19He's down to plus 7,000, another good trend on the market, but Taylor Montgomery's dad is the general manager and director of golf at Shadow Creek.
05:27Shadow Creek out in Las Vegas is very similar to the Black Desert Resort course that we're going to this week.
05:34It is absolutely played at elevation there at Las Vegas, and you, of course, have just these really, really intricate greens there.
05:40If you've ever played Shadow Creek, you have definitely three-putted multiple, multiple times.
05:45Taylor Montgomery is one of the best putters on the PGA Tour.
05:48Tied sixth at the Sanderson.
05:50He gained almost nine strokes with the flat stick, and he gained another two on approach.
05:54That is the recipe we're looking for this week.
05:56So, I love a little Thor, and I love a little T-Monty.
06:01I love this.
06:02I can't believe it.
06:03So, we've got, and I love these kinds of tournaments this time of year, Keith, because we're talking big numbers here, right?
06:09I mean, there's no two-to-one, three-to-one Scotty Scheffler in these tournaments.
06:14This is where we can cash some lotto tickets.
06:17Absolutely.
06:18I mean, Michael Thorbjornson and Matt McNeely, those guys, they're sitting there in the mid-teens, and those are your favorites.
06:24But the guys that win this event are, the guys that are really going to contend, that leaderboard is going to be filled.
06:30It's going to be absolutely filled with guys in that, like, plus 5,000 to plus 10,000 range.
06:36There's going to be a ton of money to make in the placement market.
06:39You know, you're going to get some, definitely some top tens that are going to come from deeper down that odds board.
06:44There's so many ways to make money this week.
06:46And I tell you what, guys, I mean, this is absolutely something that we're going to see coming down the road.
06:51These guys are going to be playing against each other more and more, because as Brian Rolap builds out his Super PGA Tour,
06:57we're going to see a lot more events like this, so pay attention to everyone on the leaderboard.
07:02I love it.
07:02Also, there's a guy named Unknown on the leaderboard at FanDuel at 1,000 to 1.
07:06You can bet right now, people, you know it is not an unknown.
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