Advertise on podcast: The Shotgun Start

Andy is back! He joins Brendan! for this Wednesday episode previewing another packed week of golf in November. The two first discuss the DP World Tour Championship where The Bumblebee (among others) is getting fit for a 2027 Ryder Cup uniform. In pre-tournament press conferences, Rory McIlroy emphasized that he'd never be in Bryson DeChambeau's shoes and Jon Rahm shared his thoughts on the distance issues in today's game fresh off his win last week. Andy brings 5 Guys to Monitor back for the PGA Tour's Austin Championship and pleads for a beloved fast-casual burger chain to sponsor the segment moving forward. PJ is also back in the saddle today and is ready for a match play situation between Stew Cink and Zatch Johnson at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. Andy and Brendan wrap up with some quick bits of news before diving into Frank Kennedy's disqualification from DPWT Q-School and the ensuing social media statement graphics that came with it.   Beginner or scratch golfer, weekend warrior or tour hopeful—however you play, there’s a Garmin device built for your game. Visit garmin.com to learn more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What looked like a potentially slow, sleepy fall golf weekend delivered an excellent Sunday. Brendan and Joseph convene to discuss Blades Brown’s historic win in Mexico, Jon Rahm’s win in Abu Dhabi fresh off declaring himself LIV-free, and Bryson DeChambeau’s open letter that nobody asked for. They close with some Q&A from listeners, covering the young stars in the game, the USGA, tacos, karoake, and more.Use our code "SGS15" for 15% off at https://cobalt-golf.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the news that LIV Golf is officially shutting down, Brendan hosts a Friday medley episode featuring Sujeet Indap of the Financial Times, Joel Beall of Golf Digest, and Fried Egg Golf’s Joseph LaMagna to dissect LIV’s demise and its ramifications. Brendan brings on Sujeet to find out how the deal with BC Partners fell apart and how agents squabbling over their share of LIV’s carcass helped derail the venture. Next, Joel joins for a retrospective on LIV, its impact on professional golf, and how key figures like Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, and Phil Mickelson will be remembered for their roles in the Saudi-backed rebel league. Finally, Brendan and Joseph reconvene to bat around a couple of the day’s other newsworthy developments, including a two-shot penalty for Rory McIlroy in Abu Dhabi and Colonial Country Club getting booted from the PGA Tour calendar.(00:40) Intro(22:36-49:35) Sujeet Indap(49:42-1:54:31) Joel BeallTo celebrate the new-look Pro Shop, you can take 10% off your first print order when you use code PRINTS at checkout. 2027 calendars have arrived with three different layouts along with refill packs for the stand version. There’s never been a better time to explore everything the Pro Shop has to offer at proshop.thefriedegg.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode is off the rails, on the rails, fishtailing about, and careens to a soft landing, maybe. Brendan and Joseph somehow get stuck early on the topic of Tiger Woods designing a golf course on Long Island, and if he’s not practicing what’s preached in the nascent days of that career. Then they get to the YASSS Links and the the DP World Tour playoffs near the Strait of Hormuz in a hot zone of the world. They comb through Jon Rahm’s quotes in his first appearance since it came out that he would not be going with LIV 2.0, and also review Guy Kinnings prospectus for the DPWT future. Is the Euro Tour back baby!? There’s also an impromptu segment on what guys should have gone to LIV but didn’t, like Tony Finau, who is playing this week on the PGA Tour. This entire premise disgusts Joseph. They close with some news on the Golf Channel Games, an LPGA Q school mess, Alker laying down the law on LIV guys coming to the Senior Circuit, and a new sponsor for the Good Good Championship.Rapsodo’s biggest fall launch yet pairs the all-new MLM2XPRO launch monitor with the full Rapsodo Golf Ecosystem. Visit www.Rapsodo.com/MLM2XPRO to learn more! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With Andy and producer PJ on the road, Brendan is left to man the controls. He brings on Kevin Van Valkenburg from the media center at Te Arai to recap an exciting edition of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship won by Fifa Laopakdee and discuss the trajectory of one of golf's great amateur events. Joseph LaMagna also joins to break down the action from VidantaWorld where Andrew Novak shredded the field during a busy NFL Sunday. Then, Brendan and Joseph get to some provocative Michael Block quotes, which prompts a conversation about whether or not the Champions Tour has groupies.Join Fried Egg Golf Club for exclusive access to member-only trips, early access to events, in-depth course reviews, and the FEGC app. Discover all the benefits of being a member and sign up at https://www.thefriedegg.com/fried-egg-golf-club See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's time for one of the most storied traditions in all of SGS lore! Andy and Brendan are both back in the saddle for this Friday episode celebrating the NINTH installment of their Golf-Adjacent Halloween Costume exercise. Before the holiday festivities get underway, Andy declares a Victory Thursday/Friday following the Bears trading for Jeff Simmons and Brendan unleashes a rant on Sergio Garcia's most recent "open letter" about his future plans. The two then have PJ pop in as they provide their best ideas for your Halloween costume needs, suggesting listeners dress up as a shoeless Lucas Glover, a "grumpy turtle," LIV Golf CEO Scott O'Neil, and more! The three then read through listener-submissions and will keep an eye out for more as everyone celebrates Halloween on Saturday.   Beginner or scratch golfer, weekend warrior or tour hopeful—however you play, there's a Garmin device built for your game. Every product talks to the next, giving you real data, real insights, and real improvement, round after round. Visit garmin.com to learn more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Despite the Brewers' 3-0 World Series lead, Andy is not running away from the noise and is joined by The Boys for the first part of this episode. The trio run through the Schedule for the Week and debate whether the Asia-Pacific Am or the VidantaWorld Mexico Open should earn the title of "Event of the Week." PJ also provides a comprehensive preview of the Simmons Bank Championship, which has once again been demoted to the Golf Channel App for live coverage on Sunday evening. They also react to the news of LIV Golf hiring former TaylorMade CEO Mark King as a "senior advisor," with more to come from Brendan on Friday. The second half of this episode features Andy, PJ, Brendan, and Kevin Van Valkenburg reading through listener stories about playing against professional athletes before fame, with KVV sharing his own experiences against Pro Football Hall of Famers! Listeners share tales across all sports, delighting the group and hopefully entertaining the masses at large. We will return on Friday for our annual Halloween Costume episode as we approach the end of October.   To celebrate the new-look Pro Shop, you can take 10% off your first print order when you use code PRINTS at checkout. There’s never been a better time to explore everything the Pro Shop has to offer at proshop.thefriedegg.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Move over, Blockie - a new Champions Tour rookie is taking over from here! Andy, Brendan, and PJ are all giddy following Rory Sabbatini's Sunday charge at the Stifel Charity Classic and immediately discuss the Silver Slovak's first win on the Champions Tour. As per usual, Paul Azinger brought the heat on commentary as the Boy from Bratislava got hot, playing the final four holes in five under par to cement the victory. Andy then recaps his trip to Milwaukee for Game 2 of the World Series and shares some enlightening statistics regarding the Brewers fanbase, of which he is now NOT a part of. The two move on to the unfinished Butterfield Bermuda Championship and wonder if it was really too windy to play on Sunday or Monday with a full field. A whole new group of players announced they were not joining LIV 2.0 over the weekend, leaving just the "Big 4" of Bland, Tringale, Steele, and Campbell as public commitments so far. Dustin Johnson has not yet decided either way, but he is leading a group looking for severance payouts from the Saudi Arabian government! We wrap with a brief Football Minute after another last-second Browns win and a Jets loss that might be the worst one in recent memory.   Visit www.Rapsodo.com/MLM2XPRO to learn more about the new MLM2XPRO! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Andy returns to the pod and promptly reveals his exciting upcoming weekend plans to The Boys, who are left speechless at what he's up to! PJ, Andy, and Joseph digest early results from the Butterfield before turning to more pressing matters: Jacob Bridgeman hitting the campaign trail, the meaning of life in an AI world, and parenting at youth soccer games. They close with some Golf Advice, which gets all three of them worked up about the modern state of Bachelor Partying. Roll. It. Back.   Shop fall layers at bdraddy.com with promo code SGS30! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Chicago team must have lost something somewhere because Andy is once again calling in sick for this Wednesday episode. The Boys join Brendan for a lively round of In/Out/Alternate as a way of previewing the Butterfield Bermuda Championship shortly before PJ pulls off one of the most impressive feats in golf journalism (no spoilers). Then, they discuss the recent news that Royal County Down may get some work done from familiar sets of hands. They almost forget to run through Tuesday's blockbuster TGL roster announcements, but fear not - the signings of Blades Brown, Ben James, Ryan Fox, and more are discussed at length to close things out.   Shop fall layers at bdraddy.com with promo code SGS30! Check out our 2027 Events at thefriedegg.com/events. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At long last, it is Victory Monday again for the Chicago Bears! Andy and Brendan celebrate wins by the Bears and Browns to open this episode in high spirits despite the Cleveland Guardians finding themselves on the brink of elimination in the ALCS. After a shockingly brief Sports Minute, Andy wants to kick things off with the Champions Tour! PJ comes in to explain the thrilling end of the SAS Championship, where Vijay Singh became one of the rare players to make the cut at the Sony Open and win on the Senior Tour in the same year. Brendan wonders whether Vijay's Champs Tour career has been a disappointment and Andy poses the idea that Singh may find himself on the PGA Tour Championship Series in 2028. The two then discuss Eugenio Chacarra's win at the DP World India Championship. Chacarra now finds himself atop the Race to Dubai standings and is putting himself in position to break through the Lads Club for a spot on the European squad at Adare Manor. Speaking of Team Europe's stars, Rory McIlroy found himself in a debate with NBC lead analyst and golf podcaster Kevin Kisner regarding his participation in this week's DPWT event. After wrapping up this week's results, Andy and Brendan react to the latest news regarding the possible redesign of East Potomac Golf Links following a statement posted by President Trump on Sunday afternoon. Lastly, PJ pops back in as everybody ranks their best events of the 2026 golf season as we inch closer and closer to the Year in Review!   Visit www.Rapsodo.com/MLM2XPRO to learn more about the new MLM2XPRO! Shop fall layers at bdraddy.com with promo code SGS30! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.   Subscribe to the new Shotgun Start YouTube channel ahead of the 2026 Year in Review! Fried Egg Golf Club is the membership tier from Fried Egg Golf. Check it out at thefriedegg.com/membership! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.   Subscribe to the new Shotgun Start YouTube channel ahead of the 2026 Year in Review! Fried Egg Golf Club is the membership tier from Fried Egg Golf. Check it out at thefriedegg.com/membership! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.   Fried Egg Golf Club is the membership tier from Fried Egg Golf. Check it out at thefriedegg.com/membership! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.   Experience the power, precision and versatility of Mercedes-Benz SUVs. Visit mbusa.com to learn more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.