The Shotgun Start

At long last, Andy has made his return to the podcast! He joined Brendan for what he's calling Victory Friday as the two went live on YouTube for a Friday morning recording. After the Milwaukee Brewers swept the Dodgers in the NLCS, Andy has decided that this is a win for the suburbs of Chicago and has deemed the team "his Brewers" for the rest of the postseason. The Friday Frenzy continues with an updated look at LIV's bankruptcy proceedings where most players now find themselves freed from any contractual obligations. Among them is Jon Rahm, who received his NIL rights and the rights to Legion XIII in this split. Brendan then transitions to what may be the story of the year: the "criminal" removal of the Champions Tour pension fund. Andy, Brendan, and PJ bat the ball around about this Adam Schupak report that features insane quotes from Billy Andrade, David Toms, Scott McCarron, and more. In other news, Will Zalatoris will miss the 2027 season after another surgery and the DP World Tour is still planning on holding its year-end events in the UAE. This episode wraps with some Golf Advice questions about a long drive disqualification and some caddie tipping gone wrong.   Subscribe to the new Shotgun Start YouTube channel ahead of the 2026 Year in Review! Fried Egg Golf Club is the membership tier from Fried Egg Golf. Check it out at thefriedegg.com/membership!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After what some (Brendan) have called a "shameful" weekend for the city of Chicago, Andy no-shows the podcast and leaves BP to clean up a weekend of golf with Joseph LaMagna. They kick things off with a Sports Minute discussing the a Bears blowout loss to the Packers, the ultimate mid-off between the Jets and Browns, and Arch Manning's letdown against Oklahoma. Despite the Texas loss, Joseph celebrates a Victory Monday just because of the Baycurrent Classic, one of his favorite events of the year. Brendan and Joseph discuss Michael Brennan's third win in just over 365 days as he took down a strong field at the no-cut event in Japan. They ponder the future of the PGA Tour in Japan and whether this event could one day be a co-sanctioned Japan Open. The two then move on to the Korn Ferry Tour Championship where we now have the 20 names joining the PGA Tour for 2027. They run through the list of graduates and point out names to watch, primarily focusing on 19-year-old Blades Brown. PJ pops back in for a Champions Tour Minute honoring a former U.S. Ryder Cupper who extended his pro golf career with a win at Furyk & Friends. There's also some thought as to whether Jim Furyk will be distracted by his duties as a host to truly focus on the 2027 Ryder Cup next fall. In news, The LIV has its first two commitments, including a two-time major champion! The back half of this episode features a Friday Scramble with Brendan, Joseph, PJ, Andy, and Kevin Van Valkenburg regarding the latest fallout from the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, this time focusing on Keegan Bradley's interactions with a rules official. We'll return on Wednesday as Silly Season rolls on across the golf world.   Fried Egg Golf Club is the membership tier from Fried Egg Golf. Check it out at thefriedegg.com/membership!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At long last, LIV Golf has received part of its investment from BC Partners. Andy and Brendan return to break down the details of this "initial committed investment in LIV Golf" that became official late Monday night. This investment will help the league "emerge" from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and amended the terms of the original agreement, allowing two more weeks to build a roster for the 2027 season. BC Partners Credit head Ted Goldthorpe spoke at a Sportico event in London on Tuesday morning about the deal, repeatedly calling his new league "The LIV," which Brendan got a big kick out of. Goldthorpe also suggested that The LIV's teams could be valued at $100 million each "in very short order." Andy and Brendan debate whether BC Partners wants the league to succeed or will just use the tax advantages on the losses to make more money in other ways, as they've done with other purchases. Elsewhere in Europe, the Ryder Cup "Year To Go" countdown is on, with Luke Donald and Jim Furyk being peppered with questions about fan behavior, team outings, and the Americans being underdogs at Adare Manor. Furyk was also asked directly about Patrick Reed, bringing a whole new level of anticipation to the next 12 months of discourse. The two eventually get to the Schedule for the Week, beginning with a loaded field at the Baycurrent Classic in Japan. Blockie is once again in the field on the Champions Tour, but Andy deems him not a "Friend of Furyk" just yet based on earning an exemption through his play. On the DP World Tour, Jon Rahm withdrew from the Spanish Open due to the impending birth of his fourth child, leaving the newly-freed Sergio Garcia to fend for himself against defending champ Marco Penge. Lastly, they preview this weekend's Korn Ferry Tour Championship and lament the lack of promotion from the PGA Tour and KFT channels about the biggest week of the year.    Experience the power, precision and versatility of Mercedes-Benz SUVs. Visit mbusa.com to learn more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brendan! is calling for a Victory Friday for the city (or town?) of Cleveland following Andrew Bailey's win at the U.S. Mid-Am! BP is joined by PJ for a brief intro to this Friday show covering the Mid-Am final, early PGA Tour action in Utah, and Pete Crow-Armstrong's struggles in a two-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs. Brendan then brings on Josh Carpenter of Sports Business Journal for a look at the "Business Season" of professional golf. The two discuss a variety of topics including what's next for the PGA Tour's media rights deals, the continued search for sponsors for Championship and Challenger series events, and whether FedEx is really gone for good following the 2027 season. Josh also hits on the recent wave of executive departures from the LPGA and the league's struggles to build a television audience. We'll return on Monday with a full recap of a loaded week of Silly Season golf (and probably Sunday's Jets at Bears matchup).   Get yourself suited up for those final rounds of the year. Just go to proshop.thefriedegg.com and check it all out today.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Andy and Brendan reconvene after an enthralling weekend of golf in the great city of Chicago to recap the 2026 Presidents Cup at Medinah No. 3. Despite a three-point deficit heading into Sunday singles, Team USA pulled off a historic comeback and defeated the International Team 17-13. The two discuss the strategy decisions made by captains Brandt Snedeker and Geoff Ogilvy that shaped Sunday singles and standout performances by players on both teams. They debate whether a close win thanks to singles domination was actually the worst-case scenario for the Americans heading into a road Ryder Cup next year and a Presidents Cup at Kingston Heath in 2028. Andy and Brendan also touch on Scottie Scheffler’s post-match comments to NBC and the evolution of his relationship with the media. Kevin Van Valkenburg joins in to discuss the greater American golf problem and the continued follies of Team USA captains. PJ poses P-Cup superlatives to Andy and Brendan to close out the show as they pick their MVPs, LVPs, favorite holes at Medinah No. 3, and much more.   The official Presidents Cup uniforms are available to shop now at B. Draddy, alongside their Presidents Cup t-shirt collection! If you'd like to carry a piece of the week home with you, visit bdraddy.com and use promo code SGS30 for 30% off your order.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Andy and Brendan return from their day out at the Presidents Cup with some scuttlebutt, amusements, and insights with the USA leading the Internationals 3-2 after the first session. Between the two of them and the boys, they had the matches covered from the ground and return with notes from each - from Koivun’s debut to JT’s macho return to the Kims crushing Cantlay and Gotterup. They discuss the notion of the “dead” crowd that Wyndham Clark called out as well as the course playing tough through the first five matches. Did the Internationals let Scottie and Sam Burns off the hook in the first match? Who were the MVPs and LVPs for each team? They discuss this and then examine the captains’ lineups for day 2 at Medinah.   The official Presidents Cup uniforms are available to shop now at B. Draddy, alongside their Presidents Cup t-shirt collection! If you'd like to carry a piece of the week home with you, visit bdraddy.com and use promo code SGS30 for 30% off your order.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What a way to kick off Presidents Cup week in one of America's two cities! Andy and Brendan were live at SPACE in Evanston, Illinois for a night of fun, discussing the return of one of golf's biggest events to the Chicago area, Bryson DeChambeau's latest YouTube exploit, and more. The two are then joined by NBC analyst and B. Draddy ambassador Brad Faxon. Brad shares stories from his time representing the United States at two Ryder Cups, details how he would fix American team golf, and previews what's to come on this weekend's NBC broadcast. The Boys then pop in for a hotly-contested Presidents Cup draft that you won't want to miss. The show wraps with some Q&A submitted by the live audience, touching on Brad's willingness to work with Duff Foreman, a pro golf comparison for Caleb Williams, and who's most likely to have an interest in fighting at Medinah this week. Thank you to all who came out to SPACE on the 21st night of September!   The official Presidents Cup uniforms are available to shop now at B. Draddy, alongside their Presidents Cup t-shirt collection! If you'd like to carry a piece of the week home with you, visit bdraddy.com and use promo code SGS30 for 30% off your order.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This Friday whiparound episode covers the hottest topics in golf: AI announcers "coming to fruition," PGA Tour Comms tweets, and the latest in RATINGS! after last weekend's Solheim Cup. Andy and Brendan first clean up some more 2028 exemption chatter from Wednesday's show, with Andy learning that the players - perhaps including Lucas Glover, who stands to benefit from the Career Milestone exemption - pushed for these categories to exist on the new-look PGA Tour. Brendan then dubs this week's event in Asheville as "the Super Bowl of Preferred Lies" after the Tour decided that all four days would be played ball-in-hand on Thursday morning. The two also discuss the totality of Duff Foreman's broadcast debut and some quotes from his creator (or father?) that ran in a Golf.com article this week. The two then bring in Kevin Van Valkenburg for a discussion about declining Solheim Cup ratings. Andy calls the disappointing numbers a "fire alarm," and the three debate whether the ratings are even in a place to improve moving forward. KVV then rounds out a year of B. Draddy Presidents Cup Flashbacks with the granddaddy of them all: a look back at the 2003 tie, captained by Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player! We will be back on Monday morning ahead of our live show at SPACE in Evanston as we head to the Windy City for the 2026 Presidents Cup.   New to the Pro Shop, our Chicago Collection has arrived. We’ve given our SGS logo a Chicago twist, referencing the light blue and red colors on the Chicago flag. We’ve got that available on hats, koozies and tees. Check it all out at proshop.thefriedegg.com OR if you’re coming to our live show in Chicago on Sept. 21st, we’ll have a pop up shop there with the whole collection available!   The official Presidents Cup uniforms are available to shop now at B. Draddy, alongside their Presidents Cup t-shirt collection! If you'd like to carry a piece of the week home with you, visit bdraddy.com and use promo code SGS30 for 30% off your order.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome back to another fall of Victory Mondays! Andy is on cloud nine after his Bears put up 59 points in Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season while Brendan took in another pitiful Browns loss during a trip to the great town of Cleveland, Ohio. After some NFL Minute(s) kick off this episode, the two bring in Kevin Van Valkenburg to recap Team Europe's win at the Solheim Cup. Andy, Brendan, and KVV discuss some social media motivation that might've pushed the Euros across the line today, takeaways from the broadcast coverage, and why all of American golf can't seem to figure out foursomes in team competitions. They then move on to Shane Lowry's runaway win at the Irish Open and Andy recalls his proclamation that Lowry "may never win again" after blowing it at PGA National earlier this year. Lowry beat a strong field including Patrick Reed, Joaquin Niemann, and The Gentleman in Training on the way to receive the trophy from President Donald Trump. PJ pops in to share some heartbreaking news about Michael Block's Champions Tour Top 10 streak and applauds Zatch Johnson for securing his fifth win of his rookie season. More NFL Minute(s) close out the show, with Andy peppering PJ about the state of the Packers, who happen to visit the 1-0 New York Jets for a massive Week 2 matchup at JetLife Stadium next Sunday. We will return on Wednesday with more chatter about golf and other things.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.