Smylie Kaufman Talks the Biggest Headlines on the PGA Tour

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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.

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