The Shotgun Start

This Monday episode came on the heels of a dispiriting Bears loss and in the middle of a Browns first quarter beatdown so it may bounce around a bit as Brendan and Andy recap the 2021 PGA Tour opener. First they hit on Harris English and his first win after some early career success and then an almost eight-year drought. This leads to more concern about the new FedExCup top 30 now getting invites to a Tournament of Mostly Champions. They also discuss the broadcast dismay at Joaquin Niemann not warming up before the playoff, Rahm’s outburst about metal spike marks all over the green, and Hideki’s abominable putting. A separate segment addresses Justin Thomas using a homophobic slur, his apology, and the Tour’s secretive discipline policy that does it no favors in this instance. News hits on Jordan Spieth going to see Butch, the misinterpretation of a “report” that the PGA is already moving in 2022, and reports that the WGC Mexico may be leaving Geronimo behind.

This Friday episode begins with Andy disclosing a mice problem that’s vexed him all week. Then they turn to the real, actual problems of the week, notably what took place at the Capitol building and how it should impact golf’s relationship with Donald Trump. They discuss next year’s PGA Championship and whether the PGA of America will move their major from Trump Bedminster. A full review of the year’s first round a Kapalua then ensues, with a breakdown of what they liked and didn’t like from one of their favorite events. This covers the amusing details of Pat Reed’s non-deal for apparel, Lanto getting his commercial, and Adam Scott’s quote that there are only 10-12 serious competition events and the rest is “a bit of entertainment.” Bryson’s latest on endorphins, CNS, and speed training until you blackout is pondered with great amusement. Flashback Friday is on a hard-luck TOC runner-up who also happened to be the first player on Tour to use a metal wood. They close with hope, and maybe a bit of delusion, that Deshaun Watson may be heading to the Bears because he followed a couple Chicago weathermen.

The Shotgun Start is back! And Andy and Brendan are in the best podcasting shape of their lives as a new year begins. They start this Wednesday episode with some banter about the practice of resolutions before diving into the schedule for the week. That prompts a quick discussion on the Big Money Classic and whether Alaqua Lakes has a reciprocal club in the UK. Then it’s on to the event of the week, the Tournament of Mostly Champions. There’s a lengthy discussion on the uneven lies of Kapalua and the centerline bunker at the 5th hole, prompting another visit down the road of what makes the pros hate those so much. There’s some intel from the ground on some Bryson driving range antics, as well as his “calibration” putting with an umbrella guy trying to stifle the wind. An Activation Station segment focuses on some of the big equipment and apparel brand changes. Lastly, they make some predictions and wish-list items for 2021, some serious and some not-so-serious. And in what is now tradition, what random middling player out there will get the annual Spieth OWGR comparison prop?

Andy and Brendan put a bow on another year of Shotgun Start podcasts with the final installment of their Year in Review series. Part 4 begins with the first major championship of the year, the PGA at TPC Harding Park, and runs through the end of the PGA Tour season in Atlanta. They again remember some of the amusements (Jeff Hart!), controversies (Trigger the Dog!), and triumphs (Hermie go low!) from this stretch in golf, including stories from the LPGA, Euro Tour, and other areas (Big Cedar Phil) in the world of golf.

The Bears and Browns push for the postseason is the subject of the first segment of this episode. Then Part 3 of the annual Year in Review picks up with the Milkshake Swing in Columbus and the many amusements and dramatics around those back-to-back weeks at “Jack’s Place.” Then they bounce up to Minnesota and the course of 10,000 man-made lakes and some intrusive courier trucks. The WGC Swampass, or WGC Preferred Lies as it was known this year, is given the full treatment. We recall the double-wide cart paths having a major impact there before wrapping with some notes on the oppo field Barracuda, where a single held up play, bears roamed freely, and a certain player prepped to pull off a fantastic Jaco Van Zyl redux for the season’s first major.

Part 2 of the annual Year in Review picks up with The Players Championship. Andy and Brendan begin with the tone-deaf TikTok solicitation and then the “fluid” messaging from the Tour from Wednesday through a final decision to cancel on Thursday night after multiple adjustments and press releases. They discuss how the Tour’s handling of the week now looks in hindsight, and some lighter-fare amusements before the shop closed for a few months. The discussion during the quarantine stretch hits on some amusing controversies, like Vijay entering KFT fields, but also hits on a larger point about how golf thrived when there was no professional entertainment product. The matches at Seminole and Medalist get the full review treatment and there is once again uproarious laughter around the Tom Brady experience. Finally, the last section focuses on the Return to Golf (proper noun, please), reliving some of the controversies, highlights, and characters from the first four events back in the PGA Tour’s new world.

The annual Year in Review is back and instead of breaking this one into a couple parts, we’ll leave it as one thicc boi sized episode you can work your way through during this week. First, Brendan and Andy begin with some reactions to the concluding Tour Championship on the LPGA and the closing of the Catnip Carnival at the PNC. Then it’s onto the Year in Review, brought to you by our Shotgun Start blend from Bixby (subscribe or purchase that here if you like). This part of the Year in Review picks up with the Sony Open -- if you’re looking for Kapalua, that was a teaser segment at the end of last Friday’s episode so go check that out there. This one runs from Sony to a now infamous concert near an island green, covering the many forgotten amusements, inanities, and triumphs we enjoyed through the first quarter of the year.

This episode is the usual ramble for Friday, touching on the people of Wisconsin’s propensity to make Old Fashioneds with brandy and also eating raw ground beef sandwiches. But first, Brendan and Andy begin with the Thursday Charlie Woods show and the many hard-won impressions and aggregations that populated the internet thereafter. They take issue with some of it and try to distinguish what’s appropriate coverage of an 11-year-old who has entered a publicly broadcast event. A new segment, ProSet Fridays, is an edification on former Tour pro David Peoples. Over on the CME, Natalie Gulbis is in last place while Lexi is back on top after social media denigration of an image of her swing last week. News runs through the 2021 Euro Tour schedule and some of the new events that pique their interest. Then, the final 10 minutes or so kicks off the annual SGS Year In Review series, teasing it with a look back at the 2020 Tournament of Champions. They recall the “gusted” controversy, infamous tweets from Chris DiMarco and PXG, heckles of “Cheater!,” and the hot mic “pampered fucks” commentary.

This Wednesday episode begins with some quick Browns bloodletting following their eventful MNF loss before transitioning to a PNC Championship discussion that’s probably 15 minutes too long. There’s “research” on past winners, the current field, a potential catnip battle for the ages, and dream parent-child pairings that should be in the field in the future. The long driver hitting an 8-iron 300 yards with Bryson giddily looking on also comes up for some reason. The event of the week is an MLGT staple, the Trilogy, which gets a thorough preview and field review. The LPGA’s season-ender is also discussed, including the outrage around Natalie Gulbis getting a sponsor’s exemption while the reigning Women’s British Open champion sits at home, which also happens to be down the street from this event. They close with some brief discussion of the newly released Euro Tour schedule and rumors that Spieth is seeing Butch.

Following up on the usual Monday episode, Andy and Brendan recorded this extra episode covering the final major championship round of the year. They discuss A Lim Kim’s ridiculous three-birdie finish to take the U.S. Women’s Open, prompting Andy to ask if this was the most exciting finish to a major of the year. They discuss Amy Olson coming up just short and her strategy of not looking at scoreboards or wanting to know where she stood on the leaderboard. The mudball moaning is again highlighted and reviewed but without much sympathy. They ponder whether it would be more enjoyable to play in those conditions or in summer conditions in Houston. The lack of American major winners over the last couple years, and the strength of the KLPGA, is also discussed.