The Shotgun Start – Details, episodes & analysis

For one final time, Andy joins Brendan from The Shed(!) for this Sunday recording as they look back on the formative years of this podcast. It's often said that the more things change, the more they stay the same, so it's nice that Cameron Young's dominant 2026 season remains in progress despite Andy leaving The Shed behind. Mr. 1,000 blitzed the field at the inaugural Cadillac Championship, defeating World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler by six in the end. This event was practically over on Friday afternoon and Cameron secured his third PGA Tour victory despite calling a penalty on himself for his ball moving at address on a day with Preferred Lies. Brendan found the whole week at Trump Doral sleepy and wonders if there's anything the PGA Tour can do to make events between majors truly stand out. The two discuss which PGA Tour events matter on their own and nearly all occur before the Masters. Andy gives major props to Cameron Young for his continued evolution into a top three player in the world and there's a debate whether the foursome of Young, Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and Matt Fitzpatrick have separated themselves from the rest of the world. In other Doral news, Adam Scott looks likely to qualify for his 100th straight major, Justin Rose's McLaren irons didn't make it out of the garage, and Alex Fitzpatrick secured a top ten finish without his brother! Brendan and Andy then run through results from the rest of the world, including a back-to-back runaway win for Nelly Korda, a famous Michael winning on the DP World Tour, and a SECOND major championship win this year for now-Ryder Cup Vice Captain Stewart Cink. Lastly, Brendan wraps up this show with some... enthusiasm for a Game 7 performance from James Harden!

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LIV Golf might've learned something from Andy's weekend of garage sales as they're looking for buyers ahead of the 2027 season. Andy joins Brendan! from a very empty house for this First of the Month Recording packed with - you guessed it! - more LIV news from the golf story of the year. As first reported by Josh Carpenter, Yasir Al-Rumayyan is OUT as Chairman of LIV Golf, leaving his post on the league's Board of Directors as the Saudi PIF pulls its funding at the end of 2026. LIV replaced Yasir with two new board members on Thursday, one of whom has a long history of joining companies cleaning up the pieces after filing for bankruptcy. Andy and Brendan bat around some LIV takes, including what value, if any, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm might actually bring to the PGA Tour if they were to return. Should LIV fold or look drastically different moving forward, it's decided that the biggest winner could be the DP World Tour with players such as David Puig and Tyrrell Hatton playing there full-time next year. Meanwhile, the PGA Tour is playing this week for another $20 million purse at Trump Doral, where True American Patriot Cameron Young broke the course record on a day with no wind in Miami. Justin Rose debuted his shiny new McLaren clubs en route to a disappointing score, but Brendan is especially appalled at the retail price of these new irons. In yet another example of wild money being spent on golf for unknown levels of return, Andy and Brendan then read a statement from Motor City Golf Club that accompanied a logo release for their first TGL season in 2027. After a Playoff Basketball Minute, Kevin Van Valkenburg stops by to share a B. Draddy Flashback Friday about an International Presidents Cup legend winning at Doral.

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Andy and Brendan load in for an all-time round of Contender or Pretender as we head to the final round of the 2026 Masters. They discuss Rory McIlroy losing his six-shot lead with haste, as a host of talented chasers came and went at him on the leaderboard on Saturday, none more so than Cameron Young, much to PJ Clark’s delight. They run through the entire board, including sheriff of the fair police Scottie Scheffler, and debate who is game for Sunday. Should we be ringing alarm bells on Rory after the way he hit it in the third round? There is also some lengthy and emotional discussion about the setup of the golf course and the critique that Augusta National went too soft. They rip through some Storylines No One is Talking About for one final night before closing it out with an amusing story from under the tree and their picks to win it all on Sunday.

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The combined 0-6 Bears, Browns, and Jets lost by a combined 74 points on Sunday. But it is still a victory Monday around here as we welcome Kevin Van Valkenburg to the Fried Egg Golf team. Though he has been a contributor to SGS in the past, he’s now on the FE ship full time so we bring him on to bat it around following the weekend of Brocore, Wentworth, and continued Ryder Cup hype. We discuss Scottie Scheffler — his mere presence — putting everyone around him on the fritz, like Ben Griffin, who could have, should have won the Brocore. Did it take a low stakes fall event to really convince us the Tiger invocations are not out of line? Maybe. They also discuss king mule Lanto’s involvement in the proceedings and Jackson Koivun needing to stay on Tour and not go back to school. At Wentworth, they discuss Alex Noren being a top 20 player in the world and for sure a top 12 option for Team Europe who will be relegated to the ass-cap role. Then the notion of VR headsets preparing the Euro Ryder Cup team for battle is also bandied about with some amusement. They close with some football chatter and laughs about PJ having to send cringe tweets for the Lions following the Browns wishing Deshaun a happy birthday on Sunday morning.

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It’s Swamp Week on the PGA Tour and we dive right in on this Wednesday episode. We begin with some earnest discussion of PGA National and how you can’t fake it around the hazardous bear-infested layout. Then we transition to a less-serious discussion on the mid-life-crisis party scene both at the course and around town the week of the Honda. We lament the weakening of the field as the Honda fights for room on a crowded, “elevated” part of the schedule. Andy then proposes a GoFundMe to get Geronimo out to every event to become a season-long storyline (and maybe slowly drive JT mad). The Cologuard Classic is given a full account, with news of each player getting a free box kit in his locker as well as a tip about continued anchored putting strife among not only the players, but also their significant others. News focuses on Pat Reed’s Mother-in-Law’s Facebook activity and the quotes, and contradictions, from Brooks Koepka’s GQ profile.

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We get back to our roots in this episode with an opening admission of some significant Sunday night worse for the wear status. An SGS host may not be the only one down on Monday, as we express empathy for our new friend Geronimo after a tough Sunday for Justin Thomas. We also consider the truth of the statement that they have a “great relationship,” as well as another one from the broadcast that Paul Casey is popular in Mexico City. In more relevant matters, we then praise the beauty of watching Patrick Reed actually hit golf shots while scoffing at all the other attendant BS. Andy makes the point that his game will always position him as an overachiever of sorts. Is Reed good for the PGA Tour and should they just embrace having a villain? Is he truly setting an example for the kids, as he noted in his press conference? We also put a pin in the Bryson science narrative balloon, which was fully inflated all weekend. In Puerto Rico, we praise Viktor Hovland’s work but worry that his career may now be over given the curse. News focuses on Tiger and several other stars skipping Honda as well as the PGL CEO coming out of the shadows. Was this WGC just a tease of how much better the product could be on this proposed PGL?

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A loopy Friday episode begins with a celebration of democracy and the voting process that will put Lee Westwood on the PGA Tour Live feed all day Friday in Mexico. This is interrupted by a rant on every day now having a theme, strategies for handling overenthusiastic co-workers, and a plea to keep track of the times UPS is quickly cropped out of the Westwood feed. On actual golf, we discuss the beauty of Rory’s round and his chase for every golf “slam” known to man, as well as a conspiracy theory about his hat as to why he didn’t play the Olympics. In Puerto Rico, we touch on the Jay McLuen problem and the PR Open Curse that strikes each winner before jumping into a flashback Friday on one of the players down there this week, Ryo Ishikawa. The trip down memory lane focuses on the comparisons to Rory early in last decade and the mania that followed Ryo in his nascent days on Tour. In news, we discuss Peter Kostis lighting the world on fire and Rory coming out against the PGL and the odd rush to pronounce his albeit admirable stance as the death of the concept. A completely rambling final segment then also hits Acushnet’s statement on the distance report, rampant corruption and conflicts in golf media, Scottie Scheffler, and bald Casey Urlacher’s illegal gambling ring with his friends “Sweaters” and “Uncle Mick.”

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Finally, it’s World Golf Championship week. But first, on the occasion of Michael Jordan’s birthday, we provide some amusing details on Grove XXIII, MJ’s own newish club down in South Florida. Back on the WGC Mexico Championship, we dive into the field at Chapultepec this week and discuss some of the names who aren’t there and those who are, including Rory McIlroy and his chase for the venerable WGC Slam. That prompts a trip down memory lane on Tiger Woods and his ridiculous run at this event winning at venues all over the planet. Andy offers a new appreciation for the Mexico City course that admittedly “offends his sensibilities.” The oppo field event in Puerto Rico is then discussed, or more appropriately, a list of the sponsor’s exemptions and alternates is read aloud. We close with a news segment that revels in Brooksy calling out Pat Reed’s sand castle architecture and compare it to the current run of MLB players lambasting the Astros in the absence of real discipline from their league.

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Greetings! And apologies for this delayed Presidents Day edition of the Shotgun Start. We begin with a deep discussion on our favorite Presidents and a plea for podcasting holidays. Then we get to Adam Scott’s impressive Sunday at Riviera and why a course like that promotes a talent like that at the top of the leaderboard. We review Scott’s career and his lament that his natural driving advantage has been stunted. We also address Tiger’s terrible weekend and the no good, very bad Sunday for CBS (as well as our favorite graphic inanity). Andy argues that the PGA Tour is not really concerned with venues because it might take away the spotlight from the players. The Riviera difference and how it amplifies the top talents and an event as a whole is explained. On other Tours, we shout out Inbee Park’s impressive work down under, the lack of starpower on the Champions Tour and how it should maybe fold up shop, and the wounded duck collecting his first OWGR points in two years. We conclude with Andy’s thoughts on attending the All Star Game (and Guy Fieri’s presence), raving about the format in contrast with the Tour Championship and offering up some skills challenges that could be golf’s version of All Star Saturday night.

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Love is not in the air for this Valentine’s Friday edition of the Shotgun Start. The massive movements in the foundations of golf rumbling this week are given a full account, with a few inside bits and some speculating on how things may look in the future. But first we begin with some instant thoughts from Riviera, notably the aesthetic beauty of watching Tiger execute on the front nine and the alarming quotes from Brooks Koepka that his knee may never be 100 percent again. Then we get to the drama portion, focusing first on the Premier Golf League concept, which continues to be a hot topic in LA with all the prominent players on scene. Are the Saudis now hellbent on this happening? Will it all come down to Tiger? Then comes the report that the PGA Tour will now be taking over the production of its broadcast, feeding those assets then to the network for their presentation. Will this be a State Run Media sham or perhaps actually improve the product? And is there a separate larger, long-term play with this change? Lastly, we discuss the rather significant matter (that was largely ignored by golf media) of the world No. 1 player, Rory McIlroy, coming right out and saying he’s all for bifurcation and contrast that with Bryson’s thoughts on the issue. We close with a Flashback Friday segment that leads us into a potentially unanswerable question: Who has had the better career -- Sergio or Adam Scott?

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