The Shotgun Start

Golf's Preeminent Birthday Podcast makes a triumphant return to celebrate Andy Johnson's 40th birthday. The birthday boy is a bit worse for the wear after a "full swing" on Saturday night, but has plenty of stories to share with Brendan after his weekend running a garage sale. Andy's garage sale was NOT the only family-first event on the schedule this week as the Fitzpatrick brothers took home the trophy at the Zurich Classic. Matt Fitzpatrick might have wins in back-to-back weeks, but his younger brother, Alex, now has a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour and a spot in the upcoming PGA Championship thanks to a successful week in New Orleans. Andy and Brendan recap a chaotic finish to the PGA Tour's lone team event where it looked like nobody actually wanted to win before one of the best shots of the year from Matt Fitzpatrick on the 72nd hole. In non-Fitzpatrick takeaways, Andy is stunned to hear that Joseph LaMagna has sold off his Davis Thompson stock after a tough Sunday, and Tom Hoge was spotted at the casino late on Saturday night ahead of a t6 finish. After Brendan and KVV's special YouTube episode on Friday, Andy offers up his take on Jim Furyk leading Team USA at the 2027 Ryder Cup and wonders if Nick Saban would've legitimately been just as good of an option. Nelly Korda made her jump into the "temporary water feature" at Memorial Park - or as most people call it, a pool - after winning her second Chevron Championship and third major. Korda went wire-to-wire in Houston, but it remains to be seen if the event was a business success for the LPGA given broadcast constraints and what seemed like limited attendance. To top it all off, the much-anticipated pool jump was cut from the NBC broadcast and moved behind the Peacock paywall at the last minute. Paul Azinger made the most of his time on cable TV with Bob Papa this weekend while calling the Mitsubishi Electric Classic, filling PJ and Brendan with joy due to his one-liners. Retief Goosen held off a charging Stephen Ames and Zach Johnson to win the event. Lastly on the recap schedule, Andy's Event of the Week on the Legends Tour didn't go well for tournament host Ian Woosnam and questions arise about Henrik Stenson's inability to contend on the Euro's version of the Champions Tour. We will return on Wednesday to preview the return of the PGA Tour to the Blue Monster at Doral.

Visit your local Golf Galaxy and download the Golf Galaxy mobile app today!

Brendan! is back stateside and returns just in time for the seventh annual Zurich Classic Walk Up Music Quiz! Before we get to that, Andy is eager to discuss a bit of their trip to Scotland as part of the first-ever segment of "Pillow Talk." Brendan shares some shopping woes when trying to get gifts for his family and Andy is still reeling from his 24-hour travel day earlier this week. Brendan then calls Andy out for his new TaylorMade Spider putter, supplied to him by Big Equipment after he called for them to be banned on Tour earlier this year. After missing out on Wednesday's discussion about the "Pool Seen 'Round the World," Brendan gets some takes off about the Chevron's new "water installation" and Andy wonders how the LPGA can allow this to be the main storyline of the one major championship they own. He also takes some (deserved?) shots at the city of Houston, as well! Ian Poulter did NOT miss Wednesday's episode and decided to take to X, the Everything App, to cement his status as an impending PROBLEM on the Champions Tour. The Boys are praying that he will be their next guest for Lunch to break down his big debut at the US Senior Open in July. Andy and Brendan also discuss the ongoing LIV funding saga and doubt if anyone can even come close to replicating the purses that the PIF has funded in the last five years. Lastly before this episode's main event, PGA Tour is out of Hawaii and announced dozens of layoffs on Thursday as a cost-saving measure as the for-profit business moves forward. Andy and PJ went to town on the 2026 Zurich Classic Walk Up Music Quiz, peppering Brendan with songs for perhaps the worst field in PGA Tour history. How do Shawn Mendes, the Eagles, Gordon Lightfoot, and Nelly all fit into this week in New Orleans? You'll have to listen to one of our favorite annual segments to find out.

Use our code FRIEDEGG at ⁠eightsleep.com/friedegg⁠ for up to $350 off the Pod 5.

A jet-lagged Andy is back in America and is joined by Shane Bacon for this Wednesday episode about slightly more than nothing. This wide-ranging conversation hits on dozens of important topics, such as the core values of Talor Gooch's new OKGC team, TGL's choice for 2026 Player of the Year, a Newark airport review, and a dramatic reading of this week's Legends Tour field in Barbados. There is actual golf discussed at some points, as Andy, Shane, and PJ dive into the Zurich Classic and the ridiculous teams competing for 400 FedEx Cup points and a two-year exemption this week in New Orleans. Shane offers his thoughts on the new pool at Memorial Park ahead of this week's Chevron and throws the gauntlet down on Nelly Korda's recent performance in major championships. In non-pro golf news, PJ recaps his day with the USGA at Winged Foot and his new GHIN before Shane brings us home with the story of his latest hole-in-one. If you made it this far in the description, congratulations! Also... why? Nevertheless, we hope you enjoy this episode!

Andy, Brendan!, and Kevin Van Valkenburg check in from Scotland, recording this episode from separate bedrooms in the same house overseas. Andy declares a "Victory Monday" despite not publicly submitting his "pick" of Matthew Fitzpatrick to win the RBC Heritage on Wednesday's episode. Constable Fitzy took down Sheriff Scottie Scheffler at Harbour Town after one playoff hole, securing his second win of the 2026 season. The three discuss Fitzpatrick's ascent to the top five of the OWGR after being outside of the top 70 at this time last year and how working with Mark Blackburn could be a perfect personality match for the Englishman. The crowd in Hilton Head broke out USA chants down the stretch on Sunday, leading to Jim Nantz dropping the word "jingoistic" on the CBS broadcast. Brendan also points out two other stories from the week in an ill-timed club toss from Max Homa and another disappointing showing from Tony Finau. Attention then shifts to a busy week at LIV Mexico City, where Jon Rahm won again and Bryson DeChambeau withdrew with a wrist injury after complaining about course conditions earlier in the week. What does this latest Rahm win mean? Will LIV actually be back in Mexico City next year? Will Scott O'Neil find funding to keep the league alive moving forward? All of these questions are discussed at length after Brendan, Andy, and Kevin missed out on Friday's newsworthy episode about PIF pulling funding from the league. PJ chimes in to recap a dominant win from Stew Cink at the Senior PGA Championship before this episode wraps with a smorgasbord of random news items from around the golf world.

We’ve teamed up with Shady Rays to bring you an exclusive offer. Head to shadyrays.com and use code: SHOTGUN for 40% OFF 2+ pairs of polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the shades rated 5 stars by over 300,000 people.

Visit your local Golf Galaxy and download the Golf Galaxy mobile app today.

Mr. PJ finds himself in the "Big Chair" once again with Andy, Brendan, and KVV in Scotland this week! He's joined by Fried Egg Golf's Garrett Morrison, also known as his Golf Architecture 101 professor, for a deep dive into the last 48 hours of LIV Golf's existence. Starting late Tuesday night, rumors began swirling that LIV would be shutting down after the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia decided to pull its funding from the tour. PJ and Garrett run through a detailed timeline of the last two days, parsing through various reports to drill down to the facts as we currently know them. They then discuss some of the various questions that come with the PIF potentially shutting off the unlimited money faucet, such as will LIV Golf exist moving forward and how will they keep up with high-dollar purses and guaranteed contracts? These reports are a winding journey, featuring some of golf's preeminent journalists, a former ESPN NFL anchor, and even Rich Lerner dipping his toe into the prediction market sector. To end this Friday episode on a lighter note, PJ shares an unsubstantiated rumor with Garrett about the golf course "renovations" underway at the site of this fall's Good Good Championship.

Find details and store location information at perfectpractice.com/costco or shop at perfectpractice.com and use promo code SGS for 20% off!

Use our code FRIEDEGG at eightsleep.com/friedegg for up to $350 off the Pod 5.