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.

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Brendan is once again joined by Joseph LaMagna as Andy is still on the run after a disastrous weekend for Chicago sports. BP is especially chipper given his Guardians took a 1-0 lead in the ALCS on Monday night, stealing a road game from the #1 seed Tampa Bay Rays. He opens the show with a bit of housekeeping regarding the next few weeks of programming before discussing the light Schedule for the Week. With the PGA Tour off, the focus is on the DP World India Championship and a field that features European Ryder Cup stars and other proper players. Among those in attendance is Rory McIlroy, who made waves on Tuesday with some new-look pants, a sponsorship deal for health trailers, and some comments he made during a Bloomberg event in India earlier this week. Brendan, Joseph, and PJ wonder if Rory's new health trailers are a way to keep his body in shape for a career lasting into his 50s despite the six-time major winner's insistence that he will not play the Champions Tour. At the Bloomberg event, McIlroy was asked about things ranging from playing golf with President Trump to his daughter's thoughts on TGL. Joseph runs a few clips from the interview and leads a discussion based on Rory's comments about LIV and its impacts throughout the greater golf ecosystem. In non-Rory India news, both Joost Luiten and Anirban Lahiri had something to say about LIV's future and how players should be assimilated back into the DP World Tour moving forward. Lahiri's comments particularly strike a nerve with Brendan, prompting a monologue about how historians will look back upon golf's "wasteful era." Brendan and Joseph are then joined by Austin Hitt, winner of the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour Championship, to discuss life on the KFT bubble, his best stories from his time on the Latin America Tour, and what he's looking forward to next year now that he has a PGA Tour card locked up.

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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.

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This Friday episode kicks off with a Playoff Baseball Minute following Andy's earlier declaration of support for the Chicago White Sox in their quest to eliminate Brendan's Guardians in the ALDS. Brendan says he's heard from dozens of Chicago fans who can't believe Andy's stance on rooting for both teams in the city, but Andy is too concerned about the continued dominance of the Milwaukee Brewers to care. He throws all of his support behind the Dodgers and convinces PJ to join him in rooting for a three-peat. Brendan is aghast at the notion that anyone would root for the Dodgers in 2026 due to their ludicrous spending with questionable morals. While on that topic, things transition to Jon Rahm's decision that he will not be playing in LIV 2.0, as announced by his lawyer on Wednesday afternoon. Andy and Brendan react to this expected news and wonder where Rahm will end up in 2027. Will there be a parachute back to the PGA Tour immediately for the two-time major winner, or will he play out the year on the DP World Tour alongside others who bailed on The LIV like Adrian Meronk and David Puig? Sergio Garcia will also not return to The LIV and has been released from his contract, now allowing him to contact any other tours. He's already optimistic about his Champions Tour career in 2030 but for now, his focus is on making the European side for Adare Manor. Andy supposes that the only thing that can ruin what Luke Donald has built is allowing the likes of Sergio, Lee Westwood, and Graeme McDowell back into the fold to disrupt the mojo. In other late-week news, Merion was announced as a USGA Anchor Site, cementing its place on the U.S. Open rota through 2050! Andy and Brendan also react to a Michael Bamberger article about Tony Romo's DQ from a recent KFT pre-qualifier. Playoff Baseball Minute returns at the end of the episode before Andy makes PJ and Brendan give their predictions for Sunday's matchup between the Browns and Jets.

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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.

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