Issue No. 177 | April 1, 2025

A couple of quick updates before we get to Chef Woo.

First, our Masters fantasy contest is rocking and rolling. We have over 100 people in it (it’s free to join if you’re a member), and we’re giving away $4,000 in prizes.

You can read more here about how to join the contest.

Second, if you are a member and tried to join from an international location, I’m sorry that it is unavailable. It’s my fault for not clarifying that on the front end (I tried to think of every use case and obviously failed!), and I am happy to refund anyone who purchased a membership for the sake of playing our contest.

Let’s get to the good stuff.

But First!

On a week in which torpedo-shaped baseball bats are being talked about constantly (another very normal sport, by the way), it is fitting that the presenter of today’s newsletter makes a product for one of the most heavily-regulated industries in the world.

The moment it clicked for me with Seed Golf was when founder, Dean Klatt, explained to me that the golf ball is perhaps the most regulated piece of equipment in all of sports. The implication being that any given company can only make it so good.

If that’s true — and I believe it is — then it is reasonable to presume that the companies with less marketing firepower are making products that are tantamount to the behemoths. This is part of Seed’s entire thesis: You get an elite product at a valuable price.

This makes so much sense to me from a business perspective, and we are proud to have partnered with Seed for 2025. We’re also proud to be giving away three dozen of their golf balls (with our logo on them) next week during the Masters to our subscribers. Be on the lookout for that.

OK, now onto the news!

Houston Thoughts

Yes, my mind has turned almost fully to the Masters, but also that Houston Open weekend was extremely fun. Some short thoughts before I dive back into my pool of Masters research and preparation.

• Min Woo is a character, full stop. There aren’t enough Min Woos. We can yell about whether he’s as good from tee to green as, say, Harris English, or whether his short game can stand up when the best in the world are barreling downhill at a major championship. Those are fine things.

But he has something a lot of guys will never have: Gravity.

The joke that Harris English is Hudson Swafford is Taylor Moore is whoever else you want to throw in there is funny because it’s at least partially true. NPCs are NPCs for a reason, and though Chef Woo may never win a major championship, he is integral to this entire pro golf production because he has substance, because he’s fun and because my five-year-old daughter asked if “that was Chip-in-skee?” when we turned the golf on following a Target run on Sunday.

You think my five-year-old knows who Taylor Moore is (no offense to Taylor Moore, of course)? Here’s a good example of what I’m talking about …

Anyway, that’s my Min Woo take. Also, I think he might have more nicknames than Shaq.

• Does Houston low key kinda rule? I can get way out over my skis in a hurry talking course setup and architecture, but it looks terrific on television and Sunday was genuinely a great time. Is it the toughest course in the world? No. Can players go ham if it’s soft? Absolutely. But I still think it’s kind of great.

• Absurd take here, but I think pro golf events should be designated a status based on announcer wardrobe. Suit and tie for the big boys only. The majors, the Players, maybe a couple of others. Button down shirt, no tie, jacket optional for the siggys. Polos for the non-siggys. T-shirts for the Deere and 3M.

• Rory’s run of eight 3s in a row on Sunday had me wondering what the record for most 3s (or better) made in a row at a PGA Tour event is. I reached out to the Tour but no response. Seems like a very difficult stat to figure out.

Normal Sport

1. Having trouble reconciling the series of events that led me to a point in life where the words “piss turtle” were tweeted and I was tagged in, and all of that somehow made sense. Putting the MBA to good use.

Also, this is hilarious. Normal sport.

PISS TURTLE

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports)
8:27 PM • Mar 30, 2025

2. This is like doing a free throw routine but if it was on a layup. Which is, as was pointed out many times on Twitter and elsewhere, an aspirational commitment to the bit. Although after he did it I couldn’t tell whether it was a commitment to the “I’m a character” bit or the “Tosti is angry at me for slow play, well watch this” bit.

Either way, he understands what it means to be an entertainer.

3. Michael Kim shooting 69 in the final round and immediately tweeting at someone with the handle @VC606 who goes by the name, Nosferatu, to see if he did enough to get into the top 50 in the world and the most prestigious golf tournament of the year is as normal sport as it gets.

(This is exactly what I would have done, by the way — Nosferatu is a wizard).

Also, the final total between Kim and Ben Griffin in terms of OWGR points was outrageously close.

Probably one or two shots’ difference. Imagine doing this and then winning the Masters. A good bounce at Memorial Park could be the reason you’re a Masters champion.

Insane, insane sport.

Reporting live from Chef’s kitchen.

Question of the Week

I wrote this week about how the first major of 2025 is the Rory-Scottie Masters. There are some books that have both of them shorter than 7-1 while the next shortest are Ludvig and Morikawa at ~14-1.

That’s unusual, or it has been in recent years (more on this on Thursday).

Because there are so many bad actors on Twitter, I had to clarify that this does not mean I believe Rory + Scottie is a better bet than the field. Of course the field is a better bet. At 4-1, the implied chance of winning an event is 20 percent. At 6-1, the implied chance is 14 percent. So even at those low numbers, the chances the field wins over Scottie and Rory are are still 65 percent.

Anyway, one reader asked me how far down the odds list I would have to go before I picked against the rest of the field. Amazing question. There is a mathematical answer and a gut-check answer. I’ll give you both.

Mathematical answer.

Let’s use the Bet 365 data above for our example, mostly because it has the cleanest numbers. The tipping point there where you get over 50 percent implied odds is … Bryson.

So the answer to the question of would you take Scottie-Rory-Ludvig-Morikawa-Rahm-Bryson or the field is not the field.

I think that’s probably about what my gut tells me, too. You could maybe talk me into cutting it off after Morikawa or Rahm. Like, I would have a very, very difficult time taking the field over a Scottie-Rory-Ludvig-Morikawa-Rahm group given that Bryson has just one top 10 at the Masters … ever.

Your opportunity to make me look like a fool: Participate in our 2025 Masters contest.

Corrupt Golf Media

👉️ I recently did a written Q&A with Three Point Four Media about what it has felt like to go out on my own. I love giving interviews like those because it helps me work out what I actually believe about all of this.

👉️ I also recently did a pod with some friends about competitive youth sports. Many thoughts, many takes. I’m sure I’m wrong about some of it, but in it you’ll hear about my vision for my own kids and their friends.

👉️ This is a good torpedo bat take from JLM. What a sentence.

👉️ This short Nicolas Colsaerts interview about the Ryder Cup is one I’ve seen before but it rocked me a little bit when it meandered through my feed this time. I know it’s Masters time and all that, but man. It is so good. Also: 178 days until the Ryder Cup.

👉️ Dylan doesn’t get enough credit for these interviews. This compilation with a bunch of guys like Bryson, Brooks, Phil and others who will be playing Augusta is excellent. I actually thought the Shane Lowry part where he talked about the different drives he tries to hit at ANGC was the most interesting.

Take of the Week

This is a very good and underrated one.

The Rory-Scottie Masters

I’m sure I’ll write a lot more on this over the next week, but as stated above, this is the Rory-Scottie Masters. I don’t make the rules.

Here are their numbers since last Masters.

• 42 starts

• 11 wins

• 24 top 5s

• 37 top 25s

• 1 MC

• ~5.4 SG/round

If you beat both of them, you will probably win the Masters. Other than Morikawa, nobody else has been close to the numbers they’re putting up so far this year.

But here’s the interesting part: Morikawa has quietly been better than both of them in terms of SG tee to green and SG overall this year. I don’t think you trust him as much as you do Rory or Scottie, but getting a two-time major champ who’s been better than Rory/Scottie from tee to green at 14-1 is theft!

Masters Stat of the Day

Here are the number of first-time Masters winners by attempt.

This is meaningful because … Sergio. But also because this is Rory’s 17th (!!) attempt. How is this Rory’s 17th Masters?! As was pointed out, it’s extremely difficult to play in that many Masters without winning one because it means you’ve been one of the best players in the world for nearly two decades but also not won a Masters. Same for Sergio.

The second thing that stands out on this list is that Phil didn’t win his first until his 12th attempt, and then he won two more. Crenshaw won his first at 13 attempts and went on to win another (in his 24th attempt!).

One of the sick stats in the Masters media guide (which I may have memorized at this point). Number of attempts at time of sixth Masters …

1. Nicklaus (28)

2. —

Quote of the Week

I loved this from Gary Woodland after he nearly won Houston on Sunday.

I am also thankful … that you chose to read a golf newsletter that is 2,031 words long.

We are sustained in part (in large part) by readers who are fans that decide to join the Normal Club. With the Masters just one week away (!) and most of that content for paid members only, it is the perfect time to jump in!