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00:00You can catch the Smiley Show right here on SportsGrid.
00:03New episodes a couple times a week.
00:05And we're getting close.
00:07It's almost time for the drive down Magnolia Lane
00:12as we get ready for the Masters this time next week.
00:15They'll all be showing up Sunday, Monday.
00:18Getting themselves all changed.
00:19They write in that book, right?
00:20Smiley, come in, you get your number
00:22when you first pull into the Masters.
00:24Everybody looks and see who was here first.
00:26They check that little book.
00:28So it's a great moment for all these guys, right?
00:30How was it your first time you went in there
00:32and you wrote your name on that book, Smiley?
00:34How was it?
00:35Yeah, I was curious to see what number I was gonna get
00:37because you feel like you wanna get a lucky number, right?
00:42You don't wanna get some terrible number
00:44that a football player wouldn't wanna wear.
00:45You don't wanna look like the backup quarterback.
00:48The number I got was 50,
00:49which I thought was a great number
00:51and turned out to be a pretty good number for the week.
00:54It was a good number for you, that's for sure that week.
00:57Smiley, let's talk about this great win in Houston.
01:00We'll start here with Minwoo Lee,
01:01who a great week for us here at The Grid
01:04because I know that you picked him for your one and done.
01:08So you had Minwoo Lee this week.
01:10On our Golf Wednesday picks, I had Minwoo Lee.
01:13Our boy Keith Stewart had Minwoo Lee as well.
01:15So me, Keith Stewart and Smiley,
01:18all of us in on Minwoo this past week.
01:20So a huge week for us with his victory,
01:23his first ever win on the PGA Tour.
01:26If you watched full swing,
01:27you got a little behind the scenes look at Minwoo
01:30and his sister.
01:30I think a lot of people obviously
01:32have been backing him since then.
01:33To Smiley, great job by Minwoo Lee.
01:35Great win heading into the Masters.
01:37Yeah, the Golf Course Memorial Park
01:39didn't exactly test you off the tee.
01:41It's a very, not a very difficult golf course
01:45when it comes to tee to green.
01:47But you had to miss it in the right spots.
01:49There was tons of rain this week in Houston.
01:51Started on Monday, pretty much rained
01:53all the way through Friday.
01:54So Saturday and Sunday,
01:56the golf course never really had that same type
01:58of firmness and bite that it had the year prior
02:00where we saw Steven Yeager just edge out Scottie Scheffler.
02:03But if there was just a little bit more teeth
02:06off the tee, I would like it just a little bit more.
02:10Minwoo Lee was all over the yard on Sunday.
02:14I mean, he had some shots that would have been
02:17in not only in a backyard,
02:19but it would have been in front yards.
02:20So he was lucky that he was playing a golf course
02:23where you weren't penalized very much off of the tee.
02:26Even the one shot that he did penalize himself
02:29was the 16th hole hits in the water there,
02:32but still finds a way to make a bogey on that par five
02:35and turned out to be just enough to win the golf tournament.
02:39It certainly did.
02:40And it had to be tough for him
02:41because you know that you're coming down the stretch,
02:45you're playing the last three or four holes.
02:47It's gotta be human nature to look up at that board.
02:50And when you see Scheffler get to 19,
02:54you're probably like, oh man, here we come.
02:56Scottie's just charging hard.
02:59Let's talk about Scottie for a second.
03:01Now he hasn't had any wins yet this year.
03:04He's been kind of getting a little bit better each week.
03:07I would say, Smiley,
03:08that's as good as a tune-up you would want
03:11heading into the Masters.
03:12How he played, especially, I thought,
03:14Saturday and Sunday in Houston.
03:16Well, he had a course record 62 on Fridays
03:18and really did it with his putter.
03:20The ball striking was okay, those days.
03:23I think he really struggled with how soft the greens were.
03:26I think that the numbers would have been much, much better
03:29if the greens weren't so difficult
03:32to get the ball to stop.
03:34Back pins were just,
03:35guys are hitting two extra clubs
03:37and just dead handing shots
03:38to keep it from spinning basically off of the green.
03:41I wouldn't say that would be Scottie's strength.
03:43I would say his strength is firmer greens
03:46where he's gotta really hit into some tight areas.
03:48So this week, I wouldn't really necessarily
03:51look at those numbers and just use them as,
03:53oh, his iron game is okay.
03:57It really was fine.
03:58I saw a lot of really good stuff from Scottie,
04:00especially on Sunday where I got to watch him all day.
04:04Birdie four of his last six, had some chances at 17.
04:08And then 18 just totally misjudged the win.
04:11Still got up and down and still had a chance
04:13to make a playoff where,
04:16I never really felt like he had a chance that day.
04:18I don't even think Scottie felt like he had a chance
04:20for the most part that day
04:21with how far Min Wu was out in front.
04:23But I think overall, when you look at his game
04:27and where he was at the beginning of the year,
04:29I think it was the right tune up for him.
04:30I think he should feel pretty decent
04:31about where his game's at.
04:34He certainly should as he,
04:36and Rory got a pretty good tune up
04:38going into the Masters as well,
04:40as of course, it'll be Scottie and Rory
04:42stars of the show at Augusta next week
04:45for the Masters.
04:46All right, we have one more tournament
04:47before we get there though.
04:49And that of course is going to be
04:51the Valero Texas Open TPC San Antonio.
04:55Always the week before,
04:57which is like the golden ticket tournament, right Smiley?
04:59Cause you have a group of guys who obviously are in
05:03and they're looking to tune their game
05:06like Scottie and Rory did this week.
05:07So you're gonna have Ludwig Oberda,
05:09you're gonna have Fleetwood,
05:10you've got Cantlay, Jordan's playing, Matsuyama.
05:12So those guys, we know what's on their mind.
05:16They wanna get their game right,
05:17that's why they're playing.
05:17And then Smiley, we have all these other guys
05:20who aren't in to Augusta yet
05:23and there's only one way for them to get there now
05:25and that's to win this whole thing.
05:27Lot of big stakes if you're a few of these guys
05:29who are not going to Augusta.
05:31Yeah, a good example was last year,
05:33Akshay Bhatia, he was a player
05:35that was trying to play his way in.
05:37He went to put in the golf tournament.
05:39So there's young players that are trying to find their way
05:43to play in their first major championship.
05:46It's an opportunity.
05:48You've seen first timers win at this golf course
05:50and then you got other players like you're talking about
05:52that are trying to work on their game a little bit.
05:56If they find their way into contention, that's great
05:58but it's not the end all, be all.
06:00It's just like, let's not wear ourselves out,
06:02let's work on the shots we need to work on.
06:04And I think that's what you are probably gonna see
06:07from guys like Oberg.
06:09Probably he's gonna play his way into contention
06:12and I think that would be the goal of many of the top guys
06:15but we'll see if the players with everything on the line
06:19as far as making it to the major,
06:20will be able to take down a Ludwig coming down the stretch.
06:24I think that would make for some fun TV.
06:27Well, look, and there's plenty of guys
06:28at the top of this board this week who would love a win
06:31and not just to tune up.
06:32I mean, Tommy Fleetwood would love to finally win
06:35an event on the PGA Tour.
06:37I know Jordan would love to get back in the winner's circle
06:40and get himself high up on that boards list again
06:43after being hurt last year.
06:45How about Gary Woodland, how he played?
06:47Cause he needs to win, Smiley,
06:49and he finished second, 19 under this past week.
06:53How about his game?
06:54Is that gonna translate this week into San Antonio?
06:57Well, he sure played good last week.
06:58You have to be a little bit more accurate,
07:00obviously off the tee of Valero.
07:02It's a completely different golf course.
07:04You get some crosswinds and some really difficult tee shots
07:07that can lead to some lost balls.
07:11With the way Gary putted last week,
07:12that's gotta be a huge positive for him.
07:14He's worked really hard on that.
07:16I think it's one of the main reasons
07:18why he found himself near the top.
07:20He's obviously still very long.
07:21He's second in driving distance.
07:23Gary could be a really good pick.
07:25But the guy who always plays good at this golf course
07:27is Corey Connors.
07:29He's the one that just, it's almost just a no brainer
07:33every year to take Corey at this place
07:34because driving is so important.
07:37His iron game is good,
07:39but the Greens play small
07:41and with him always being in the fairway,
07:43he's always somewhat around the lead.
07:46He's the first guy that pops in my brain for Valero.
07:50But as you know, Corey Connors struggles
07:52closing out golf tournaments
07:53and Valero's the place he's done it.
07:55So maybe those, you know,
07:57just the memories of winning at a place
07:59will help him get through this week.