Drop Zone - GOLF Podcast

The story of Arccos, a golf performance tracking company, begins in Pakistan of all places. That’s where Sal Syed, CEO and co-founder of the company, grew up. It’s where he first studied advanced mathematics and fell in love with golf. There are a number of steps between advanced mathematics in Pakistan and launching a golf app on iTunes in the United States with coworkers and plenty of champagne....

The 10-year LPGA vet joins Alan Shipnuck to discuss why he thinks she is the most versatile professional golfer in the world. Not versatile in the sense that she can do everything the game asks of her, but rather versatile in hobbies and skills. Yes, she has a budding music career, and is one of the most introspective golfers you'll meet, thanks to a commitment to meditation. Those are just two of...

Sports Illustrated Senior Writers Alan Shipnuck and Michael Bamberger discuss the most recent Masters, how Shipnuck covered it for the print magazine version, and how they both view various aspects of writing. The discussion includes: 1:20 -- Watching Sergio finally win 5:50 -- The art of reporting at a major championship 11:30 -- Chasing offbeat stories 13:00 -- Covering Tom Watson 21:40 -- Writi...

Sean Zak and Jeff Ritter take you through the story of the 2017 Masters, from Monday's rainout to Sunday's final putt. You'll hear from numerous players along the way, including their many thoughts from each day, as they chased the green jacket.

Our apologies if you've listened to all the Masters preview podcasts out there this week, but here's another one. Jeff Ritter joins Sean Zak to discuss every storyline ahead of the 2017 Masters. That means DJ, Spieth, McIlroy, Mickelson and others.

LPGA veteran Jane Park jumped onto the scene 13 years ago winning the 2004 U.S. Amateur. She is unequivocally one of the most beloved players on the LPGA Tour. Ask players, media, fans, etc. She loves life as a professional. She also loves butts. It's a long story, so you'll just have to listen to get her explanation. Park recently sat down with Alan Shipnuck and discussed the following topics: 7:...

It's that special time of year where the takes are the hottest. Here on the GOLF.com Podcast, we've assembled some of the hottest takes in the sport, from some of the most provocative voices in golf's online arena. This is the second annual Hot Take Podcast. Included are the voices of Chris Solomon and Tron Carter from NoLayingUp, Brendan Porath from SB Nation and Coleman McDowell from GOLF.com. K...

One of the most varied men in golf, Peter Jacobsen, joins the podcast for the second time to share some of his greatest memories of Arnold Palmer, the Ryder Cup and Tiger Woods. Jacobsen and Alan Shipnuck roll through all topics listed below. 1:50 -- When he played with 13-year-old Sam Saunders 5:45 -- When he first met Palmer 9:50 -- Why players should have shown up for the API 12:25 -- His Golde...

One of the most polarizing figures in golf, Ian Poulter, joins Alan Shipnuck from the Arnold Palmer Invitational to discuss everything from his Ryder Cup dominance to his social media squabbles, and even details on why he was forced to fold his apparel company. The 75-minute conversation includes the following topics and much, much more: 2:25 — The 2008 British Open 7:20 — His current form 9:45 —...

Golf course management company KemperSports claims some of the most impressive courses in the world. We're talking Bandon Dunes, Streamsong, Sand Valley, etc. KemperSports president Josh Lesnik joins Coleman McDowell this week to discuss why he thinks now is the best time to be in golf course development. The conversation includes: 5:15 -- The creation of Bandon Dunes 9:35 -- Symmetry between Band...

Lydia Ko, the top-ranked female player in the world, joined Marika Washchyshyn this week to catch up with all the changes she has made in and around her game the last few months. The discussion includes: 10:45 -- How her game feels right now 12:35 -- Why she thinks Ariya Jutanugarn is her best competition 13:35 -- Why she made so much change in her offseason 14:30 -- The difficulties with changing...

The USGA and R&A have proposed a revamping of the Rules of Golf. More than 100 rules changes have been proposed, more than 30 of them being major rules changes. The staff at GOLF.com hosted a roundtable Wednesday morning to discuss what is great, what is lacking and what we're still unsure about with the proposal. The topics included are: 2:02 -- Dropping a ball 5:45 -- Pace of play changes 12:00...

One of the top coaches in the game, Cam McCormick, joins the podcast this week to talk a number of things about teaching, the Masters and his top client, Jordan Spieth. McCormick and Sean Zak discuss the following topics: 0:55 -- His beginning in golf 2:45 -- Why he chose teaching 7:15 -- His relationship with Jordan Spieth 10:45 -- How he challenges Spieth 13:05 -- What he and Spieth worked on mo...

Danny Willett joins Alan Shipnuck (in Dubai) to discuss his world away from golf. That includes his wife and newborn baby, his brothers and an easy-going life in Yorkshire. Shipnuck and Willett go in depth on the following topics: 2:45 -- Life in Yorkshire 3:50 -- The Yorkshire dialect 8:10 -- The Yorkshire bread debate 11:30 -- Why he hasn't dry cleaned his Masters green jacket 13:00 -- The detai...

One of the best golf resorts in America is situated equidistant from Tampa and Orlando down in central Florida. It's called Streamsong. You may have heard of it. We had the pleasure of visiting the resort again and touring the highly anticipated Black Course, designed by Gil Hanse. We tell you all about that, the Blue Course, the Red Course and the rest of the Streamsong experience here. 5:00 -- B...

Zac Blair joins Alan Shipnuck to share the story of The Buck Club, a golf club he is creating in Utah. Over the course of 28 minutes, Blair touches on the following: What the Buck Club is (1:30) His architecture influence (4:46) Why signing a big name architect would be "a waste" (7:33) His epic long island golf birthday (11:49) When we'll see The Buck Club completed (16:00) His biggest gripe with...

Phil Mickelson joins Alan Shipnuck on the GOLF.com Podcast to share stories from his career, lessons he has learned and even advice for approaching women. Seriously. Over the course of an hour, Shipnuck and Mickelson dive deep into a number of juicy topics, including: Why Phil needed offseason surgery (4:01) How Bones likes to use his yearly veto (17:05) The dumbest shot he ever played (18:18) His...

The Shark joins the podcast to discuss how he turned his golfing career into a successful life as an entrepreneur. We start with how he recognized he would become a brand (2:35) and ended with why he wants to invest in your sports business ideas. Everything else in between is located below. 6:30 -- When he knew his brand would become international. 7:25 -- Why he thinks his logo is sexy. 8:25 -- H...

Smylie Kaufman's coach and recently awarded Top 100 Golf Teacher Tony Ruggiero joins the podcast to discuss his work with the 25-year-old Tour winner. The conversation begins with a flash back to the 2016 Masters, where Kaufman played his way into the final pairing on Sunday, but faltered in his final 18 holes. Ruggiero believes that all great players need an experience "by fire" like Kaufman had...

Chris Fallica, better known as 'The Bear' on College Gameday, joins us to talk about gambling on golf. The conversation includes a breakdown of Tiger Woods vs. the Field (12:08), why you need to bet on the longshots (17:55), and what you should look for in gambling on the Masters (22:06). Stay for Fallica's admission that while Tom Watson lost the 2009 British Open, he was holding a winning ticket...

Playing off the low-handicap is an antiquated (and most popular) form of match play. Spoiler alert: it may be unfair. Martin Puterman joins us to explain why playing match play that way puts the weaker player at a disadvantage. He also offers a multi-layered solution to make match play uniformly fair. For a summary of his findings, check out GOLF.com.

Masashi "Jumbo" Ozaki is the greatest Japanese golfer of all-time. He's also likely the most mysterious golfer of all-time, at least in America. We travel back to 1998 with writer John Garrity to try and understand the golfer who: 1. Played professional baseball 2. Was often accused of cheating 3. Was allegedly linked to the Japanese mafia 4. Still competes today, at age 69.

As Tiger Woods returns to professional golf this week, we return to his 1996 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year award. Woods won the award as a 20-year-old and legendary writer Gary Smith profiled Woods for SI. This week, we talk with Smith and Jeff Ritter about that article from 20 years ago, the influence of Woods' parents, and what it means for the Tiger Woods we'll see now and in the fut...

World renowned golf course designer and architect Gil Hanse explains everything you didn't know about golf course design...at least as much as he could in 30 minutes. Hanse talks about the process of building a golf course from start to finish, the differences between restoring and renovating and how courses need to be designed with a player in mind. We also revisit the Olympic Golf Course in Braz...

Recent Tour winner Pat Perez sounds off on his comeback from surgery, the absurdly long PGA Tour season, playing against Tiger Woods as an amateur, his beloved San Diego Chargers and much more.