The Fried Egg Golf Podcast

With last week's Distance Insights update from the USGA and R&A, it made sense to bring in Geoff Shackelford (@geoffshac) to discuss the latest developments. Geoff has been writing about and covering the distance issue in golf for over 20 years. In this episode, he chats with Andy Johnson about what's coming, how players and equipment companies will be affected, and whether bifurcation has finally arrived. Andy and Geoff also catch up on two timely topics: the Saudi-backed LIV Golf league and the Masters. You can read more of Geoff's musings in his Substack newsletter The Quadrilateral.

Andy Johnson and Garrett Morrison sit down (in person this time!) to discuss an array of listener questions. They talk about how the PGA Tour can better assess shot-shaping skills, which musical artist TPC Sawgrass resembles, how golf telecasts can improve, which golf books they would recommend, whether big-name architects are getting too busy, and what changes they would make to Augusta National’s course if they had their druthers. Many thanks to our followers on Twitter and Instagram for the questions!

Former PGA Tour player Roberto Castro (@cicioCASTRO) talks with Andy Johnson about the marathon that was the 2022 Players Championship. From the weather to the final putt on Monday, Roberto shares his insights into what makes the tournament so difficult to predict, how Saturday gave us a glimpse into what a rollback might look like, and what he thinks the most difficult shot on the course is. The current state of golf course development is also discussed in the back half of the episode.  In addition to hosting the Course Record Show podcast, Roberto runs his own golf consulting business, Castro Golf Consulting.

In February 2020, Garrett Morrison interviewed 1976 U.S. Open champion Jerry Pate about his win at the 1982 Players Championship, the first Players held at TPC Sawgrass. Jerry talked about his first impressions of the Pete Dye-designed Stadium Course, his post-victory leap into the pond next to the 18th green, and his fond memories of his friends Pete and Alice Dye. We used excerpts from Jerry and Garrett's conversation in our documentary podcast “Making TPC Sawgrass.” Since it’s now the 40th anniversary of the '82 Players, we figured it was a good time to air the interview in full. Check out our video on the history, design, and evolution of TPC Sawgrass.

It’s tradition around here to release a “Five Things About...” episode on Tuesday before a major championship. Since the Players Championship, in spite of the PGA Tour’s best efforts, isn’t quite a major, we thought “Four Things” would suffice. Andy Johnson calls up Sean Martin (@PGATourSMartin), the newly anointed king of editorial at PGATour.com, to chat about the latest happenings on tour and the most interesting storylines going into the week at TPC Sawgrass.

Things have been moving quickly for Phil Mickelson. After his comments about the Saudi-backed Super Golf League made headlines, he was dropped by most of his major sponsors and pilloried by both the media and his PGA Tour colleagues. The backlash was surprisingly severe, even if much of it was well deserved. Mickelson’s knowing involvement with Saudi sportswashing was indefensible. But that doesn’t mean that everything he said about the SGL was nonsense. In fact, his basic position that the PGA Tour needs to be challenged is worth taking seriously. So in this episode, Andy Johnson and Garrett Morrison discuss how competition from rival leagues could force the Tour to improve its product.  Here is Garrett’s article “Phil Mickelson and the Uses of Leverage.”  Also, check out the Fried Egg Events page on Golf Genius.

Joshua C.F. Smith (@joshuacfsmith) has worn many hats in golf. From playing competitively in college to serving as superintendent at Orinda Country Club outside of Oakland, California, he has seen many aspects of the industry. He has also found time to become a renowned painter of golf landscapes and help found FlagBag Golf Co. (@flagbaggolf). In the latest installment of our Superintendent Series, Josh sits down with Andy Johnson to share stories about his wide-ranging career. The Superintendent Series is brought to you by the Toro Company.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is making major inroads in professional golf. It holds lucrative annual events, funds a 10-event series on the Asian Tour, and hopes to lure the world’s best male players to a proposed Super Golf League. Recently, the SGL initiative has taken a hit because of Phil Mickelson’s loose lips, but Saudi Arabia appears committed to its golf strategy, and it’s clear that the country is engaged in a practice known as “sportswashing.” As one of our guests, Dr. Helen Lenskyj, defines it, sportswashing involves “attempts on the part of authoritarian regimes to improve their tarnished global reputations through sport.” It is important for golf fans to understand this concept because the Saudis aren’t going anywhere. We have two guests today: Dr. Lenskyj, an academic researcher who focuses on the relationship between sports and global politics; and Will Bardwell, a civil rights attorney and golf writer. Time stamps: 2:49—Will Bardwell interview, part 1 13:11—Helen Lenskyj interview 30:25—Will Bardwell interview, part 2 Reading material: Will Bardwell, “Blind Men and Blood” Helen Lenskyj, The Olympic Games: A Critical Approach Check out The Fried Egg Events page on Golf Genius.

The third of our deep dives into the five 18-hole courses at Bandon Dunes focuses on Bandon Trails, built by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw in 2005. Andy Johnson and Garrett Morrison talk about how the construction of Bandon Trails fit into the resort’s history, and they play an interview clip in which Coore discusses the origins of the course’s three-part identity. Andy and Garrett then launch into a wide-ranging discussion of Bandon Trails’ (many) strengths and (few) weaknesses. They cover, among other things, their favorite green-to-tee transitions, the controversy around the 14th hole, and the course’s similarities to Saving Private Ryan, The Princess Bride, and Bruce Bowen. (All of that will make sense in context, we promise.) The Bandon Deep Dives are brought to you by Zero Restriction.

With the final tournament of the West Coast swing upon us, it's a good time to catch up with Joseph LaMagna (@JosephLaMagna), Fried Egg contributor and author of the biweekly newsletter Finding the Edge, about the early part of the 2022 PGA Tour season. Andy Johnson grills Joseph on who has impressed and disappointed thus far and what he makes of the very low scores we've seen almost weekly. They wrap up their chat with what to expect at Riviera later this week and the specific skill sets the course will test.