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00:00the second major championship of the year in golf it's the pga championship in charlotte
00:06at quail hollow and that's where we check in with keith stewart joining us here on this
00:12wednesday morning on the eve of the pga championship to get you set for golf's
00:17second major keith we appreciate the time as always thanks for being here on the early line
00:22oh having some technical difficulties there with keith you hate to see it listen the last few
00:32times we'd have keith on the show there's been some bomb squads around yeah there's been some
00:37other people that have kept a very keen eye on what keith has been doing here on tel you want to
00:44take it you want to set the stage for the odds go ahead by the way the year ago correct me if i'm
00:51wrong we had keith stewart live boots on the ground in louisville when we had an arrest with
00:57scotty scheffler that's the question i want to ask keith right now as it looks like he refreshed so
01:01are we getting them on like a dial-up picture right now ah there we go i think we got him here we got
01:06him we got him are we back keith stewart are you back i am back you know the rain was affecting our
01:13wi-fi so i apologize but it seems to have passed after inches upon inches of the wet stuff we are
01:20finally ready to play some golf in about 24 hours it's been a rain out this week keith it's been an
01:26issue for preparation and practice rounds and getting ready for the pga championship even segments
01:32here on the early line previewing said pga championship keith i do want to start with reaction
01:38about the course itself at quail hollow there's been a ton of comments from those golfers this week
01:44about the course about the setup of course in the immediate aftermath of what these guys saw last
01:51week at the philly cricket club and the truest championship and a unique golf course design what
01:57has been the sentiment from the players getting ready for the pga championship based on the golf
02:02course this week in charlotte you know i've seen a lot of that on social media ben and you know as a
02:08pga professional and here at the pga championship i think people are getting kind of confused i think a lot
02:13of the negative sentiment comes from the fact that the pga chose a venue that's already commonplace on
02:19the pga tour and we look forward to the majors because we go to a place like oakmont or we go to
02:24a place like royal port rush and we have just an absolute spectacle of two other major championship
02:30sites this year and then to go to a pga host pga tour hosted site i think that that's kind of tainted
02:36what you know everyone's opinion is of what this championship's all about everybody loved valhalla
02:42last year the year before that oak hill these are places we visit very very rarely and i think that's
02:47more of what the sentiment is about than the fact that this is not a championship style golf course
02:52this golf course is the real deal and for anyone that would criticize the design of it i mean have you
02:59ever looked at the golf course in northeast georgia there because they're basically mirror images of
03:03one another you've got water hazards and areas that are just coming right at just the right time
03:08you've got perfectly placed bunkers you've got rolling hills and you've got tons and tons of
03:13green grass so i think really what it comes down to ben i just want to separate the two is just that yes
03:19we probably shouldn't have come to a pga tour venue but the golf course itself it's championship ready
03:24the stars of the golf course and also the golfers that will play that golf course here scotty
03:30sheffield the favorite this week no surprise a four to one price rory mcelroy plus 450 and bryson
03:36de chambeau seven to one give us some of keith's keys about some of these big boys on that leader
03:40board well the big three that we have right now they're all playing well and they all kind of do
03:46these things you know i love to give you three things donnie so here we go you got to be a bomber
03:50this is a bomber's paradise there's two things i'll mention rory's won here four times because he
03:55plays a draw now for a right-handed golfer that's a right to left ball flight it super suits this
04:00landscape the second thing is is that don't believe what you read or what you hear there is no
04:05rough here the bombers it's a paradise they're going to have a ton of fun and there's nobody
04:10longer than bryson and rory at the top of the board and that's why they sit there number two
04:14you have a lot of long iron shots here par 71 7600 yards there's a lot of grass to chew up and it's
04:20going to happen on the par threes three of them over 200 yards and on a bunch of these long par fours
04:25that are over 500 yards and the last thing is is that more so than any other venue on the pga tour
04:31and augusta national you have to be able to putt here you got to be able to roll the rock
04:36nine of the last 10 winners have gained over three strokes on the field with their flat stick and that's
04:43substantial when you look at something like strokes gained and you do a breakdown again the comp course
04:47augusta national golf club the winners there 95 percent of their gains on the field come t to green
04:53and only five percent with the putter you go over here to quail hollow club and it's like a 60 40 split
05:0040 with the putter it's a big deal and you better be able to putt if you want to win this championship
05:04so keith we'll get to some early leans on the early line in just a moment but let's focus
05:10on rory mcelroy because the first major championship of this year one of the great scenes not just in
05:16golf or the masters but maybe in sports in recent memory rory exercising those demons in the playoff
05:23hole to win his first career green jacket and of course complete the career grand slam also his first
05:29major championship keith in 11 years second best price for mcelroy entering this week at the pga
05:36championship does he enter this week in charlotte with the weight lifted off his shoulders and the
05:43ability to play pretty free well to answer your question ben in the press room this morning
05:48he seems pretty happy with himself i'm gonna say um i'm not quite sure if that means that the
05:54pressure is lifted because we've jumped right back into a place where everyone expects him to win
05:59again they've they've expected him to win at augusta forever over a decade and now they expect him to
06:04do it here and to be quite honest no one's ever gone back to back now the pga has only been in may
06:09for seven years but only three guys and it's only happened four times where someone's won the pga
06:14and the masters in the same year and that hasn't happened for like 60 years guys i think it's a lot
06:20to ask to have rory come in and be ready to go especially against the other two that he's going
06:25to compete against this week we have not seen a men's golfer win two consecutive major championships
06:32in a decade since jordan speed did so to start the 2015 season the masters a green jacket and the u.s
06:39open keith let me ask you this live right here doing some live producing are you free to stick
06:44around for the first few minutes of our next segment we need some of those early leans on the early line
06:49i don't want to rush us here in the final 30 seconds ben donnie i am here i'll hold on throughout
06:55the break absolutely i i mean to further go you know go ahead on rory right i mean you have to
07:03really pay attention to why he is so good here and then you know rate that out against some of the
07:08other golfers right bryson he's also long who else can putt this place you know i can't wait to talk
07:14about it more
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