The 19th Hole Golf Show

Shorts are now OK for players to wear during European Tour practice rounds and pro-ams, and the golf world is in a tizzy. Why? Who cares? And then we put this new policy in the context of the tour's new pace-of-play policy, showing why penalty strokes for slow play are not on the horizon. Finally, we dig into the Golf Scientist Bryson DeChambeau and why he is such a compelling figure.

Jordan Spieth kicked off his 2016 with a dominant, eight-shot win at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. While he demonstrated improvement in several facets of his game, perhaps the most impressive was the way he has figured out how to win every which way. Meanwhile, Patrick Reed didn't successfully defend his title at Kapalua, but he's evolving from a boisterous player to an assured champion.

In the 2016 opener for The 19th Hole Golf Show, we talk about Jordan Spieth's view that he isn't playing this season as an encore to his incredible 2015. What does he mean by that and why does that make a lot of sense to him -- and other athletes -- but not to the general public? We look at Spieth's comments in the context of the careers of Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, including the need for at...

Jack Nicklaus was asked about Tiger Woods' quest to catch him for about the zillionth time. But what will Tiger Woods say when he's asked about the next generation catching him AND Jack? Will we lower the bar for what makes a great player?

Donald Trump's fascist tone toward immigrants and Muslims is grounds for golf's most important bodies to disassociate themselves from the billionaire presidential candidate. Also, we talk about the difficulty for middle-class players to play great public courses, and why finding those great affordable public courses would be a boon for the sport.

In a Tuesday news conference at the Hero World Challenge, Tiger Woods sounded like a man who knew the end was near. We talk about why that made us sad and reflect on why we care so much when our sports heroes start to fade away. We also talk about Woods' legacy compared to that of Nicklaus, Hogan and Snead. Finally, we wonder if Woods has inspired a brand of golf that will further shorten the care...

Davis Love III named Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk and Steve Stricker as 2016 U.S. Ryder Cup assistant captains, but what does that announcement do for the team and what impact do assistant captains really have on the biennial matches? We discuss. We also implore Adam Scott to stop complaining about the Olympic format. Finally, we talk about the season-ending tournaments on the LPGA and European tours, e...

In the wake of first-timers winning the first five events of the new PGA Tour season, it' time to ask the question if the style of golf required to win has changed. We talk about that in the context of Phil Mickelson firing Butch Harmon, and wonder if this style has evolved from the success of Vijay Singh in the 2000s.

Smylie Kaufman becomes the second 20-something in this new PGA Tour season to win, and it makes us wonder what skills these young guys possess that prior generations didn't that lets them win so young and so often. Then, on the heels of Ian Poulter's catharsis about the nature of pro golf, we wonder if the grind of the game won't lead to shorter careers in the future.

A day after our report looking at some of golf social media's most egregious content lifters, stealers and plagiarizers, we talk about why these accounts are dangerous for folks who do create things in our industry. We also look at how our culture of a "free Internet" has bred sites and accounts like theses and what consumers could do to prevent them from continuing to pop up.

We put a bow on the 2015 Presidents Cup, including if the new format worked (it did), how Nick Price and his players screwed up a great opportunity, what Phil Mickelson meant to the U.S. team (a lot) and why Brandel Chamblee's comments about Mickelson and Tiger Woods not deserving to be American captains is absolutely asinine. We also look at why the One Ball Rule justifies that fans can call in r...

Now that Jordan Spieth has put the finishing touches on a historic season that included two majors, five wins and the FedEx Cup, the question is if he can replicate that kind of season again. We look at some of the headwinds Spieth will face in trying to keep up winning as he has been this year. While he's an above average length player, he relies on putting to score, which is a skill that erodes...

We dig into the Solheim Cup and the controversy surrounding the conceded putt that wasn't, Suzann Pettersen's reaction and apology, and whether or not it overshadows a great overall match. We also discuss if Jason Day should be PGA Tour Player of the Year with a Tour Championship and FedEx Cup win.

The FedEx Cup playoffs resume this week with the first of the final two events at the BMW Championship. But should the playoffs, and season, end sooner? We discuss. Also, we make the case for the Web.com Tour needs bigger purses and a grander stage, seeing as though it's billed as the future of the PGA Tour and, many weeks, is the second-best tour on the planet.

Golf seems in a rush to name Jordan Spieth, Jason Day and Rory McIlroy as golf's new Big Three. However, as Rickie Fowler demonstrated on Monday at the Deutsche Bank Championship, that call is probably premature. And there are others already on Tour, with more coming, looking to join the party. We also look at the miscue of picking Phil Mickelson for the U.S. Presidents Cup team.

If you just want golf, skip the first 14 minutes of the show, where we talk about the tragic murder of two journalists on live TV in Virginia and the important conversations we need to stop and have so we can move forward as a better society. The second half of the show is a preview of The Barclays, including a suggestion for a better, yet reasonable, finish to the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup.

Jason Day captured the PGA Championship and put a cap on one of the best major seasons in history. We talk about why this year means even bigger things for golf moving forward. We give a mini eulogy for the Tiger and Phil Era, while keeping hope alive for one zombie run by the two greats. Finally, we wonder about the future relevance of Whistling Straits and other major venues thanks to advances i...

Rory McIlroy seems likely to play in the PGA Championship given his Wednesday workout video, so what chance does the world No. 1 have to successfully defend the Wanamaker trophy? Tiger Woods showed some signs of improvement at the Quicken Loans National, and we explain how a familiar Woods narrative is starting to take shape. But can Woods figure out how to avoid the catastrophic shots? Finally, w...

In this week's show, we start with what we might glean from Rory McIlroy missing the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. We touch on Tiger Woods' indifference about golf and that he has perhaps fired Chris Como to seek his own golf game. Finally, Robert Allenby reaps what he sews in his incident with ex-caddie Mick Middlemo.

On the eve of the 144th British Open, a storm is forming that could do in Jordan Spieth's chances at winning the Claret Jug and get a step closer to the single-season Grand Slam. So who will win at the Home of Golf? We look at Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler and Adam Scott, as well some dark-horse players.

Donald Trump was a ticking time bomb, and golf knew it when it made deals with him to host big tournaments at his properties. Now that the bomb has gone off, how does golf escape, knowing its poor past with gender, racial and income equality? Also, we look at the PGA Tour's anti-doping program and the exposure of more problems in the wake of Scott Stallings' suspension.

Bubba Watson won the Travelers Championship in a playoff for the second time and his eighth-career PGA Tour win. However, given his strength and talent, why isn't Watson winning more often? Is he squandering his talent with his mental approach? Also, we touch on the Tiger Woods and Amanda Dufner-Boyd rumor.

Nine-time major champion Gary Player sat down with Ryan Ballengee for over 30 minutes on Wednesday at the U.S. Open to talk about Chambers Bay, his Grand Slam, the majors, the state of golf around the world and what golf needs to do to thrive again.

With Jordan Spieth halfway to the Grand Slam, was the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay a good idea? Did Mike Davis nail the setup? Was the fan experience as bad as advertised? How did Fox do with their first Open? Ryan Ballengee digs in and answers all those questions.

Shane Ryan, author of the new book, "Slaying the Tiger: A Year Inside the Ropes on the New PGA Tour," joins the show to talk about his favorite PGA Tour characters from the book, what went into the year-long reporting effort and his takeaways on media, access and players after a season on the beat.