The Shotgun Start

Paul Martin of Box to Box Films and the executive producer of Netflix’s “Drive to Survive” and Chad Mumm, Head of Entertainment at Vox Media Studios, join to discuss the news that Netflix is doing a series on PGA Tour pros. They are two of the executive producers involved in the project. It was an official announcement that fired up the golf corner of the world (and larger sports world) this week...

This lively Wednesday episode begins with a Chicago sports minute that turns into five or six minutes on the turnover at Halas Hall and the larger cohort of cheapskates that own Chicago teams. Then it’s on to the Sony Open, where Andy and Brendan delight in the field at another one of the great early-year stops. The backboards should return, but softness may as well, mitigating their usage at Waia...

It’s a peppy Monday episode celebrating the return of golf in 2022. Andy and Brendan react to Cam Smith’s outrageous play, remarking on his #gainz off the tee and the way he stood out there with Kapalua’s wide fairways to gain an edge on Jon Rahm of all people. They discuss the social media ​​Sturm und Drang around the low scoring, pondering whether there should be an asterisk for the records give...

This Friday episode is a bite-sized reaction to the first official PGA Tour round of 2022. Andy and Brendan delight in the re-introduction to PGA Tour golf in the new year with a hearty announcement that round one would be played with preferred lies. Then they bounce around with various quick thoughts on what’s transpired so far this week, including the notable enlistment of Patrick Reed with the...

The PGA Tour is back and this Wednesday episode is a rambling discussion focused mostly on the return to golf at Kapalua, one of our favorite annual traditions on tour. Aside from Kapalua, there’s chatter on snow days, Dan Pohl’s golf course, the preferable hemisphere to live in, and taking road trips in complete silence. There is anticipation for ESPN+ joining the fray. There’s a new segment, the...

The Shotgun Start is off and running in 2022 with this Monday episode. Andy and Brendan review some of their New Year’s weekend exploits, and ponder whether the Courier Cup is a better postseason format than the recently maligned CFP. Then they jump into news, which is mostly a discussion about the PIP confusion provoked by Phil Mickelson’s tweets and conflicting reports last week. Then they jump...

There was never a doubt! The Year in Review concludes with Part 10 covering the Olympics up through the final tournament of the PGA Tour season that doesn’t feature a low net winner. An assignment mix-up leaves a couple events uncovered, but Andy and Brendan pull it together to steer this home and put the “Super Season” to rest. They are incredibly grateful for your continued support of the podcas...

Hey, the year is rapidly winding down and so is the Year in Review. In this installment, Andy and Brendan pick up with some post U.S. Open fallout, rip through the Travelers, Bryson-Tim split, Phil tweeting at local media, Pat Reed being called to serve, and a full recap The Open, the last men’s major in a super season. The topics range from “This Driver Sucks” to Jerry Kelly and Steve Stricker be...

This peppy Monday episode reacts to the Tiger and Charlie show in Orlando on Sunday. Andy and Brendan begin first with some subtle but notable thirsty maneuvering at the conclusion of play. Then they get into the more important matters about what it all means for Tiger’s future and whether the PNC is a top 10 tour-ish event with the Woods duo in it. There are some comments about watching Charlie s...

Andy and Brendan close out the week with a PUNCHY Year-in-Review episode covering the stretch from the Kokheads Colonial triumph through “Rahmbo’s” U.S. Open title. There was a bounty of amusements and moments of whimsy from Fort Worth to Memorial to Olympic to Sectional Qualifying to Congaree. They review it all and close it out with the third men’s major of 2021 at Torrey Pines, which provided a...

The three-man weave and the Year in Review roll on, with Kyle Porter author of the recently released book, A Normal Sport , back joining to review the PGA Championship, which the three hosts declare as the best major of the year. But first, Andy provides an appetizer with a recall of the Byron Nelson at TPC Craig T. Nelson Ranch. Then it’s on to a wide-ranging chat of the PGA, from Bryson seeing U...

It’s a three-man weave for the latest installment of the Year in Review, with Kyle Porter of CBS and author of the recently released book, A Normal Sport , joining to review the post-Masters stretch of the schedule. Andy picks it up with the RBC Heritage and the comical range modifications to try and capture Bryson’s drives. This portion runs through the “driving range golf” of the Wells Fargo Cha...

The Year in Review continues and this part takes on the 2021 Masters, from Woosie’s valiant bid to make the cut, Ollie’s successful and emotional made cut, the Baton Boy’s tour de force psycho carnival weekend on the featured groups stream on back-to-back days, Bryson’s drives “to Narnia,” and of course, the Hideki show. This is the usual SGS approach to the year in review, focusing more on the am...

We interrupt the Year In Review for a Monday episode that reacts to the Hero happenings down in the Bahamas. Andy and Brendan discuss some of the chipping struggles and challenges that we witnessed on Sunday at Albany, and how it put even some Bermuda aces, like Sam Burns, in a blender, and what that says about overall setups. Then they get on to the winner, Viktor Hovland, and whether this victor...

The Year in Review continues with the GOLD STANDARD, a “big event,” the purest test in golf, and the leadoff hitter in the Season of Championships. The 2021 Players was a carnival of the absurd and dramatic, so this trip down memory lane takes some time. Part 4 runs through the WGC Match Play, the Baton Boy’s great triumph. Next week, we will pick up with the Masters and run through the summer. Th...

The Year in Review rolls on, with Part 3 swinging us from the West Coast over to Florida. This part picks up with the succinctly named and amply entertaining World Golf Championship-Workday Championship at The Concession. It ends at … Bay Hill, with a whale of a segment on the Players pushed to Friday. This is the usual SGS approach to the year in review, focusing more on the amusing, inane, and e...

This late Monday episode was planned as another installment of the Year in Review, but Andy and Brendan could not shut up about some of the recent developments in the world of golf. So they begin with a few comments on Thanksgiving weekend before transitioning to reactions on The Match V. Is hard work never really sleeping with Bryson? They discuss Phil’s work on the mic, and why Brooksy was alway...

This Black Friday edition of the Year in Review is a quick companion piece to Wednesday for your Thanksgiving holiday travels, and it’s brought to you by Precision Pro Golf, the official rangefinder of the Shotgun Start. This part picks up with some of the Pat Reed embedded ball-gate fallout, and runs through the Phoenix Open, Pebble Beach, and a wind-delayed Riviera. This is the usual SGS approac...

The annual Year in Review series is back, and earlier than normal this year thanks to sponsor Precision Pro . This episode begins with some quick comments on reports of the PGA Tour bringing wide-ranging purse increases and other incentives as a counter move to the upstart disruptor leagues. Then it’s on to the Year in Review, beginning with Kapulua, where Bryson was trying not to black out and Pa...

This Monday episode is an amusing jaunt through a surprisingly full weekend of golf news. Andy and Brendan begin first with the Tiger Woods swing video, expressing surprise, hope, and context about the commercial aspect of why it was posted. They discuss whether this means we’ll see him playing again soon, or ever. Then they get to Dubai, where Collin Morikawa’s impressive career start continued b...

We are joined by the estimable Shane Ryan for this Friday episode. Shane is at the RSM Classic this week in Sea Island, and jussssst finished a 40-day sprint writing a much-anticipated Ryder Cup book. We begin first with that project -- the arc and elevator pitch of the book, his overarching takeaways from a decade immersed in the Ryder Cup, what it was like to write in such a short span after the...

This Wednesday episode begins with a tale of Andy claiming he just played golf in the worst weather he’s ever experienced on the course. Then he and Brendan debate and consider the worst day of the week, with a strong argument made for Tuesday. The schedule for the week begins with the RSM Classic, an event with a commendable-enough field full of Georgia Bulldogs. The CME Championship is then disc...

Andy and Brendan are back from the weekend in one piece -- barely, as one host did fall off the back of a moving truck. They begin by talking Houston Open, which goes off into a discussion on how Memorial Park punched back a bit on this field of elite tour pros over the weekend. Jason Kokrak’s winning ways are praised, but there are also questions about whether Golf Saudi might soon get the UPS br...

This Friday episode begins with some quick discussion around Slugger White joining up with Greg Norman and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Investments, as well as the European Tour becoming the “DP World Tour” with a 47-event schedule. There’s also a reading of an extremely weird Slugger and Norman moment illustrative of why they might be working together again. Then Andy and Brendan continue on with th...

Andy is in Brendan’s neck of the woods for this episode and he is plagued by Brendan-levels of execrable wifi, so this one runs short. They begin with a rant about hipster coffee shops that open too late, as well as other breakfast cuisine retailers that maintain peculiar hours. Then it’s on to the schedule for the week, starting with the Houston Open, or the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Ope...