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00:00with our man Smiley Kaufman. Of course, you see the Smiley Show right here on SportsGrid,
00:04and it is a big week for the Smiley Show and a big week for us because we have the U.S. Open
00:09down at Pinehurst in North Carolina. Smiley, good to see you as always, my man. Let's start with
00:14this because we actually have breaking news from Pinehurst just a few moments ago, and that is
00:22that former U.S. Open champion, one, of course, of Torrey Pines a few years ago, Jon Rahm,
00:26is not going to be playing this week. He just withdrew a few minutes ago. He made the announcement
00:31himself on social media. I saw him this morning, Smiley, walking around with a sandal on one foot,
00:37a shoe on the other. He's withdrew from live last week, so no Jon Rahm here for Pinehurst coming up.
00:44Wow, Mike, I didn't expect that right when I hopped on here for you to be breaking some
00:48news to me. I thought I was going to be sharing all the good news to you.
00:52That's shocking, man, and wow, let's break down Jon Rahm now. Let's look at his majors in the
00:57year 2024 since joining live. We got a missed cut at the PGA Championship and a nothing burger at
01:03the Masters, and now a withdrawal at the U.S. Open, which is an injury that sounded very odd,
01:11very interesting injury, but what a bummer for Jon Rahm not to be able to go play a golf course
01:17in which I thought it was going to be a pretty good fit. I was looking forward to seeing if he
01:21could kind of prove that he's a legitimate top echelon golfer, and now we don't get to see it,
01:28and the questions will remain, was the decision to go to live the right decision? I don't think
01:33you can ever predict injuries or a slump in majors like he's had. I mean, this is kind of crazy,
01:40Mike, because this is a guy that we're used to seeing be at the top of the odds board most majors.
01:46Yeah, a dominating figure in golf for the last few years, and this has been a lost year for him
01:52when it comes to majors, and hopefully he's got himself a month to get his injury right
01:58before Royal Troon for his last chance this year in terms of majors and being around
02:03all these other guys. Let's talk about Pinehurst next, Miley. You were there,
02:07and let's start with yesterday morning, because I know you did the live stream after. You went
02:12and walked. Tiger played with Jordan Spieth, JT, and Ricky, right? Ricky was the fourth as well
02:20in that group practice round to start the week at Pinehurst. Tell me what you saw in that group.
02:25Tell me about the course. Well, that group, I think all four of them would love to find a little
02:34bit of momentum in their games. I'm so upset that I led people on to thinking that Jordan was going
02:39to have this magical week at Memorial last week. I was a believer in it, thinking that, you know
02:44what, he's due for a good iron week. And of course, it was the exact same formula we've seen all year,
02:48where he drives it good, putting was average, and then the iron game just been disappointing. But
02:54JT looked good. He changed putters. Ricky had a really tough week at the Memorial, actually
03:02finished last, so he's definitely working on his game too. But you know, Mike, I was really
03:07impressed with Tiger. This is a golf course that I think suits his game. Pinehurst is a place that
03:14it's firm, it's fast, and I've been more impressed with Tiger Woods' ability to play bump and run
03:21shots, more so than any player that I've seen this year. This guy has hit these, he hits these six and
03:27five irons around the green, and he plays them like, just like a putting stroke. But it's unbelievable
03:33the weight that he's able to put on this golf ball, to always get it around the hole on these
03:37shots. Everybody else seems to be grabbing the putter, he grabs a six or five iron. It's fun to
03:42watch this guy. He's got so much skill and ability that we all know that he has, but he's, wouldn't
03:48surprise me, Mike. I don't know what his odds are to make the cut, but I'd be interested in that,
03:54because I really think this is a golf course that suits his game pretty well. Plus 220, Smiley,
04:00since you asked. Plus 220 for Tiger to make the cut, which is a lot longer than it's usually
04:06since he's come back. He's usually in the 125, 150, 175, so not as much faith in Tiger to make
04:12it. And, you know, since the accident a couple years ago, Smiley, he's made some cuts, but it
04:18seems like Saturday and Sunday are where he kind of hits that wall, right? Like, it becomes a lot
04:22for him walking that third and fourth day. I've heard, and you would know better than me because
04:27you're there. This course also is a little bit better for him in terms of potentially walking
04:33on the course for four days, not as many hills, a little bit more straightforward. Is that going
04:38to be better for him body-wise over the four days, potentially? The only thing you got to look out
04:44for is that Thursday and Friday are going to be pretty slow rounds. There's going to be some
04:48backups on some holes where he's going to have some tee shots where he's going to have to wait
04:5215 minutes to play. So the start and stop of like waiting on a lot of shots on this golf course is,
04:58it's a thing, especially four or five and six, you're going to be waiting a lot on those holes.
05:03If he's able to make the weekend, I think it helps with rhythm and the fact that he doesn't have to
05:07wait nearly as much. He can just keep moving. But, you know, I don't mind his, that those odds
05:13at plus 220 to make the cut. I actually feel that, that I feel confident about this course
05:19for Tiger Woods, because his scrambling ability, I would put up there right now
05:24in the top 10, top 15 guys that I think about coming into this week of, of players. So I feel
05:29like can get the ball up and down. And it's not like Scotty Shepherd's going to be hitting 70%
05:34of these greens. Like he normally does or 80 that he normally does. He's, you know, we look back in
05:392014 and 1999, the past two us open majors here, the GIR stat, Mike, it's been sitting around
05:48kind of that 55 to 60% range. We're not talking about guys that win this event or just filling up
05:55the GIR stat. So if Tiger's able to manage his way around, I mean, I, I don't, I don't see how
06:00that's a bad play. I love it. Smiley. In fact, I play it every time he plays. Now it's the only
06:05bet with Tiger. I will make him to make the cut. It's something I can root for him on Thursday and
06:10Friday. I don't want to get any more involved in that, but it's usually something fun to do.
06:14Let's talk about Scotty. Uh, like what's the talk out there amongst the guys? Like this guy's been
06:21a demolition crew. I mean, honestly, the players, Arnie masters, RBC Memorial. Like the only thing
06:29that stopped him, like Rory made the joke this morning was being thrown in a jail cell for an
06:32hour. Like, is he going to do it again this week? I'm not betting against him. I really not. I,
06:39I feel like this is, uh, I probably like mirror field village a little bit more as far as course
06:45setups go for Scotty, but I think your ability to hit it high is so important here on second shots,
06:51which is what he does. Um, you know, I, I, it's so fun to watch him play golf. Mike it's, it's,
06:57uh, he's unbelievable. The odds are exactly where they should be for him. Um, and there's plenty of
07:03other guys that I think can, uh, can definitely challenge him, but it'd be shocking to me if he
07:08was not inside the top five or had a chance on the weekend that this golf course is going to
07:13challenge you in every single way and his ability to do it a little different than tiger used to
07:18mentally to kind of get in this zone. It's, uh, you know, he kind of does it his own way,
07:24but man, when he walks in, it's just, he he's tough to run down. Uh, he certainly is. Uh,
07:30all right, smiley, give me a one and done play and maybe a couple of other guys. You've got
07:34your eye on here this week at Bynars. So, you know, I, the, the strategy for me and one and
07:41done is that I think you, I have to go with golf tour players because it's my only time I get to
07:46use them. So that's my strategy. I'm going to stick with it. I'm between Brooks and Bryson.
07:51I can't decide right now because I think both are going to have really good weeks.
07:55I lean right now, Brooks, but I might end up picking Bryson there. Uh, other guys that I
08:01really liked that are maybe a little bit, uh, like top 20 bets, like players who I think are
08:06going to have really good weeks that are down the, down the board a little bit. Um, you know,
08:10how I feel about Seth Straka. Uh, he's a player that I think is, is a prime to have a top 10 and
08:15a major hit. That's probably a good bet. Uh, with Seth, uh, another one down the board, Nick Dunlap
08:21really good week last week in the mirror field. And he's a player that has experience at Pinehurst
08:26all year. He's seeing a golf course for the first time. Nick Dunlap is finally going to a course in
08:32which he won last year at the North South amateur. This guy was at the North South amateur last year.
08:37And I really think Nick Dunlap is a good pick for a top 20, a heck of a player.