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June 12, 2025 41 mins

Dan reacts to the Pacers' Game 3 win. Are they now the favorites to win the series? NBA Finals play-by-play voice Mike Breen praises Indiana's poise and depth and gives his thoughts on the Knicks firing Tom Thibodeau. World Golf Hall of Famer Ernie Els reflects on Oakmont's brutal legacy, and shares stories of playing golf with John Daly before he was known to the public. 

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, well, well, who do you have winning now in
the NBA Finals. I was looking for an analogy, a
comparison outside of sports with the NBA Finals. And if
you've ever gone to a movie and you come home
and all of a sudden you say, now, this movie
was great, and then all of a sudden, it's who

(00:20):
was in it?

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Hmm this guy? Remember this guy?

Speaker 1 (00:25):
And he would hmm, okay, you know what, let me
google it and then I'll tell you who this is.
Like the usual suspects, there are no real stars in
there at the time, like Gabriel Byrne, Kevin Spacey. They
were all good actors, and then all of a sudden, go, man,
this movie. It was wild. It was really good.

Speaker 2 (00:46):
Who's in it? Oh? That guy and maybe that guy me,
you know, one of the Baldwin brothers. I'm not sure
which one. It's like, it's not Steve. I don't know,
Maybe it's Steven, it's not Alan. Yeah, Kevin Pollack, you remember,
so you had that.

Speaker 1 (01:03):
You kind of have that with the NBA Finals, and
maybe have that with the Indiana Pacers. You're like, they're
really good, but who do they have? Wellmember, the guy
who won a title in Toronto, and remember the guy
who was in Sacramento and then he got this guy
was like the ninth pick overall. And you know their coach.

(01:23):
He looks a lot like Jim Carrey, but he's bald,
like you know, all of this stuff where you're.

Speaker 2 (01:30):
Going, yeah, yeah, okay, you know.

Speaker 1 (01:32):
And then the other team has a guy who played
at Gonzaga, Like he's a seven foot guy who's got
a good handle. And then they got a guy who's
got hyphen in his name and he's the MVP.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
Huh. That's the feeling you kind of get. And it's
been fun, been exciting.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
And what you saw last night with Indiana was that
was a team that appeared to be in better shape
than Oka. See and if you watch Brian Winhorns brought
this up this morning on the mother Ship. There's like
eight minutes to go. They're at the free throw line
and you could see the Pacers are standing up and
Okasee is kind of holding onto their shorts and that

(02:13):
is a tired team.

Speaker 2 (02:16):
But the Pacers will do that to you.

Speaker 1 (02:17):
They're scoring and if they get I think there's a
stat when they get over one hundred and eleven points.
Maybe it's one, fourteen, they win. They win every time,
and they are controlling the pace. They are the Pacers
and they've done a really good job with that so far.
And Okasee has lost all four all of the fourth quarters,

(02:38):
all three fourth quarters so far. And you saw that
last night Indiana. The difference was the fourth quarter. Pacers
aren't going away. They don't know better. But Okasee is
still a great team. But this game on Friday night,
that's your series. Because if Indiana goes up three games
to one now all of a sudden, can you win

(03:01):
three games in a row. Yes, they can, because it
goes back to what I said when this series started.

Speaker 2 (03:07):
Indiana has no chance.

Speaker 1 (03:09):
Oh you got everybody picking maybe if not four five games,
jay Z bet a million dollars. Okac was gonna win
five ooops. And now here we are Pacers up two
games to one. Now the momentum is the next game.
You know, we react overreaction, Fritzy, all of a sudden

(03:30):
goes I think Indiana's gonna win. And he had Oka
see winning in what six games or five games to
start the series.

Speaker 2 (03:36):
Yep, let's just slow down.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
I have the Pacers in six Let's see maybe but
Okayc's gonna come back, and this is the chess match
that you have. Rick Carlisle is a great coach. And
then you start to wonder, Okay, if I'm oka see
what do I think they're gonna do next time? And
I'm thinking, you don't have to do anything. How about

(04:00):
you just continue to do what you're doing and then
see what they do. And as far as reacting, I
don't want to react because I think they're going to
react or counter their reaction. It's like, all right, let
me see if you can beat us this way. It's
going to be multiple guys going to SGA and we're
going to pick them up full court. We're going to

(04:21):
tire them out and hopefully we're going to be holding
on for the first three quarters and then you get
to the fourth quarter and then we're going to take over.
And the bench was so important. We've talked about this
many many times with different teams. What kind of depth
do you have and when you go to them, what
are you getting? Here is Rick Carlisle talking about his bench.

Speaker 3 (04:44):
TJ just brought a will, competitive will to the game.
You know, Mathurn jumped in there and immediately was aggressive
and got the ball in the basket, and you know, look,
this is the kind of team that we are.

Speaker 4 (04:57):
We need everybody to be ready.

Speaker 3 (04:59):
It's not always going to be exactly the same guys
that are stepping up with scoring and stuff like that.
But this is how we got to do it, and
we got to do it as a team, and you know,
we gotta make it as hard as possible on them.

Speaker 1 (05:12):
You can go to your bench. You just want to
make sure that your bench is ready to go. It's
like the Knicks, Hey, you're gonna go to your bench?
Well I can, but what are you getting when you
go there? And Okay, see has depth as well. You know,
these are very balanced teams. But you saw last night
a bench that was ready to go, and the energy
that playing in your building was certainly there.

Speaker 5 (05:34):
Yeah, the Thunder seemed to be in a much different
spot than the Pacers because the Pacers, when they look
at their defensive plan, they're like, how do we stop Sga?
The Thunder are like, how do we stop all those
guys on the bench? Yeah, how do we stop all
this the surge coming from the bench every game that's
just wiping us out?

Speaker 1 (05:52):
How do we stop all of those guys and Mathurin
it feels like has one game a series. Nie Smith
has one game each series. Namhardt has one game. That's
what you need. You need to have that guy.

Speaker 2 (06:05):
Where you go.

Speaker 1 (06:06):
Man, he just went off, you know Siakam when he
went off for what thirty eight in a game. You
just need to have that guy or guys. TJ McConnell
was wonderful last night, just forcing turnovers, steals, turning him
into points.

Speaker 2 (06:22):
You need a guy to have a game.

Speaker 1 (06:24):
Yeah, and it's not a guy that you expect, because
that's where you go. We did a pretty good job
on everybody, but not that guy. And Indiana has been
sharing the wealth so far. And that's a big win
last night. But Friday, Friday's the season FORROKC. And once
again we came into the NBA Finals and everybody said

(06:45):
they're one of the biggest favorites in the last twenty
five years. In fact, only one other team was a
bigger favorite, and that was Golden State and that was
about a decade ago. But other than that, it was ok.
See sixty eight wins, eighty wins total coming into the
NBA Finals, and you know, you had a situation in

(07:07):
the Eastern Conference Finals, where Tom Thibodau might have gotten
fired or in part because they lost to the Pacers. Well,
the Pacers are up two games to one to OKAYC
And by the way, with the Knicks, I don't know
what their plan B, C, D, E F is And
maybe i'd give them an F right now for their

(07:27):
plan B, C, D and E. But you guys are
zero for six from the floor so far, I think,
And maybe you wanted to get rid of Tom, like
we know that we don't want that coach, but we're
trying to find somebody that we can get to coach
the team right now. And they're asking for permission and
they're being denied, and you know, Brian Windhors talked about

(07:52):
this that you know, it's part of negotiations. Maybe maybe
Dallas is saying, we want a first round pick and
until then, we're not going to give you permission to
talk to Jason Kidd, and maybe the Knicks will go, okay,
we'll give you a first round pick and then it's
over with. But in the meantime, when all of a sudden,
you go, you know, maybe Mike Woodson might be a

(08:14):
head coaching candidate, like haven't we done this before? Or
Mark Jackson he helped build Golden State. Okay, didn't feel like
like the plan was to get rid of a coach.
The plan was who is There is no plan? Who
is going to be our coach? That's the feeling. So
all that goodwill you built up. What a great story,

(08:37):
this is fun, this is excitement you now the NBA
is better when the Knicks are in contention. We're going
to the Eastern Conference finals. And then all of a sudden,
it's like, yeah, it was a good year, but uh,
we're going to fire our head coach and uh, well,
who do you got who's coming? I mean you must know,
is Michael Malone coming in? And then all of a

(08:58):
sudden he's done And go, Okay, I'm surprised at that.
I thought it was one of those All right, we're
going to replace TIBs. We bring in Michael Malone. We're good.
We're even better because he's won a championship before. All right, Uh,
us open getting underway today. We'll keep an eye on
that the NBA Finals. Mike Breen will join us a

(09:19):
little bit later on as well. Seaton, what's the poll
question from the first hour of this program.

Speaker 5 (09:24):
Well, we might as well start with who's winning the
NBA Finals now, Pacers, Thunder mmmmm, okay, I think a
lot of us had the Thunder winning.

Speaker 2 (09:32):
Yeah, a lot.

Speaker 5 (09:33):
I think a lot of people had Thunder winning.

Speaker 1 (09:35):
Oh yeah, that would make them the biggest favorites that
we've had.

Speaker 2 (09:38):
In twenty five years. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (09:40):
The betting odds right now, the Thunder is still favored
to win minus two twenty. It was minus five to
twenty five yesterday. Pacers are plus one eighty five to
win the title. It was plus four hundred yesterday. And
the NBA Finals correct series score right now the favorite
is Thundered win in seven, and then the second favorite

(10:03):
Thunder to win in six. Then it's the Pacers to
win in six as well. Eight seven, seven three. DP
show any other pole questions that were considering today.

Speaker 2 (10:14):
This is a really interesting one from Paul.

Speaker 5 (10:16):
I don't know if it's necessarily a pole question, but
it's a great topic that maybe we could make a
pole question out of it. But the best movie with
no stars at the time.

Speaker 2 (10:25):
At the time, okay, Marvin the forty y old Virgin,
Steve Corell was not a star.

Speaker 6 (10:34):
Seth Rogan was not a star. The movie came out
in two thousand and five. They were not stars back then.

Speaker 2 (10:41):
Steve Corell wasn't It was star with the Office.

Speaker 6 (10:43):
It was Hey, the guy from the Office. Okay, you
didn't know who Steve Corell was.

Speaker 2 (10:47):
Paul Rudd was in there, the guy from Clueless.

Speaker 6 (10:52):
It was a lot of the guy from Blank.

Speaker 7 (10:54):
Okay.

Speaker 5 (10:54):
These are all massive successes though that you're it's like saying,
like Harrison Ford, Yeah, you know that guy from Star Wars.

Speaker 2 (11:00):
That's all anybody knows.

Speaker 6 (11:01):
It's like, oh, no, no, no, but I'm saying, Okay, I'm
saying at the time the time, it wasn't Steve Correll,
I know Steve corell is. It was the guy from Blank. Okay,
Paul Rudd was the guy from Blank.

Speaker 2 (11:13):
Okay.

Speaker 8 (11:13):
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Speaker 10 (11:30):
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Speaker 2 (12:05):
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Speaker 2 (12:19):
That's Covino and Rich.

Speaker 1 (12:22):
Mike Breen, Hall of Fame broadcaster calling his record extending
twentieth NBA Finals for the mother Ship. He's with Doris Burke,
also Richard Jefferson. It's the Thunder and the pacers and
somehow he has the energy to speak to us today,
and I'm curious about that. After you call a game
like just you have to be energetic, enthusiastic on your

(12:46):
game mentally.

Speaker 2 (12:47):
How tired are you after a game like last night?

Speaker 11 (12:50):
Well, especially with a game like last night, you're tired
because it's a long day in terms of preparation, but
you can't go to sleep for hours. It's just you're
so up. Especially when you see a game that good.
You want to talk about it. You want to talk
with the people you work with. It's hard to fall asleep,
but when you do, you're out. I probably would have

(13:11):
slept till two o'clock this afternoon.

Speaker 2 (13:13):
Ruined my day, Dan, Thank you Mike. Have you ever
had the Wislaine time you had the environment where you
can't hear yourself?

Speaker 11 (13:24):
Wow, Well, you can always hit yourself because of the headphones,
but there's often like I couldn't hear the whistle last night.
A few times, couldn't hear the whistle And okay, see
a lot of those buildings, it's so loud, and that's
why my hearing is deteriorating as I get older, because
you have to crank up the volume so high in

(13:44):
your headphones to overcome the crowd. Plus they have, you know,
a lot of arenas, although last night was not necessarily
the case. The music is blaring so loud as well
that it's it's hard on the hearing in terms of
long term hearing. But last night there was only a
couple of times that I just couldn't hear the whistle.
And you're looking for the rep to see if his
hand goes up, to see if a call was made.

Speaker 1 (14:07):
How often do you have sort of a premonition of
what's going to happen or you're you're planning for the
game to go a certain way?

Speaker 11 (14:15):
Well, every single night, and I think every broadcast team
does this. All right, who you got tonight? Who you
got tonight? Who you think? And I'll have stretches where
I might get seven or eight in a row like
nail it. Oh, they're going to win big tonight. It's
going to be a close one, but they're not going
to be able to overcome. And then I'll go years
without getting a single prediction, right, what.

Speaker 2 (14:38):
Was your prediction for this or last night?

Speaker 11 (14:41):
You know, it's funny, it's funny to say that, So
I really felt Indiana had a shot in Game one,
didn't think it was going to happen that way. And
then I just I just knew Oklahoma City was going
to was going to blow them out in Game two.
Last night, I and anybody I spoke to when they
asked me what I think, I said, I had no idea.
Indiana is so unpredictable. They can look like nobody can

(15:05):
beat him. They have stretches where it's which a struggle.
So I had no idea last night going in. But
there's just there's something special going on with that team
right now, that's for sure.

Speaker 1 (15:16):
And Ryan Windhors brought this up on ESPN this morning
that with about eight thirty to go in the fourth quarter,
it looked like OKC was a little winded. They were
at the free throw line, they're holding onto their shorts,
they're bent over. Meanwhile the Pacers are upright there. I
don't know if you got that sense, or Doris or
Richard got that sense of fourth quarter. Indiana has been

(15:37):
the better team in these first three games, no question.

Speaker 4 (15:41):
Richard actually said that on the air last night.

Speaker 11 (15:43):
He saw it early on as well, and it's something
you just have never seen. Both these teams that they
have thrived on wearing you down. For Indiana, in many
cases their offense is at such a pace by the
fourth quarter they wear you down.

Speaker 4 (15:57):
And obviously Oklahoma City, their defense.

Speaker 11 (16:00):
Is something that wears a team down as the game,
not only a game, but as a series goes on.
But that's the first time I've seen the Thunder look
that way. And there's such a confident team Oklahoma City
for a young team, and rightfully so. By the way
they've played, they looked unsure themselves in addition to being fatigued,
and I've never seen that from them.

Speaker 1 (16:21):
Well. Also, if I look at okc's Big three, their
average age is around twenty three. If I look at
the big three for Indiana, their average age might be
twenty seven. I know it's four years, but four years
can be ten years when it comes to experience or
just maturity there. Indiana hasn't been here before where they've
been to the Eastern Conference finals, but to be in

(16:43):
the NBA Finals, and I still wonder about that with
OKC getting over that hump, yes You're ready, feels like
this is a graduation of we lost second round, we
lost in the Western Conference. Now we're in the NBA Finals.
We've seen great teams who graduate to this moment. I
just wonder the maturity of we're asking twenty three year olds,

(17:06):
twenty two year olds to do what the great so
the Game did when they were maybe twenty seven to
twenty eight.

Speaker 11 (17:12):
Man, I could not agree more. You know, the whole
question for them coming in are they ready? Are they
too young? Is this their time? And they have to
prove that, and certainly they've proved it so far, and
even in the Denver series, I mean, this series is
far from over. The Denver series, they lose that heartbreaker

(17:33):
Game one, win big Game two, and then they lost
in Game three as well, and then they had a
couple of really close games that were going to be
tested against a Nikola Jokic team and they passed those tests.
So now Game four is going to be the next
test and we'll see how they do. But there's an
enormous difference in that in terms of twenty three and
twenty seven. And even though last year Indiana they they

(17:56):
got swept in the Eastern Conference finals that I know
this sounds ridiculous, but that was a close SUITEP three
of the games went right down to the final minute.

Speaker 4 (18:05):
They played well. They gained valuable experience.

Speaker 11 (18:08):
Last year in that Knick series, they were down two
to oh, they were down three to two, won a
game seven going away. I know the Knicks were a
little banged up, but the Pacers have really grown in
terms of playoff pressure. They've seen every possible scenario and
they've seen it together. Continuity is the most underrated part
of basketball. To have the same guys who know their

(18:30):
strengths and weaknesses, who've been through the wars together, and
that's what's showing right now.

Speaker 4 (18:34):
Indiana. They have a little bit more of that than
Oklahoma City does.

Speaker 2 (18:38):
He's Mike Breen.

Speaker 1 (18:39):
He's the play by play host of the NBA Finals
for the twentieth year Hall of Fame broadcaster. If we
had a shooting contest between you, Richard Jefferson and Doors Burke,
who's winning.

Speaker 11 (18:51):
It depends are we shooting free throws? That were shooting
three pointers? Are we shooting you know, it all depends
on the range.

Speaker 12 (18:59):
How about mid range mid range game? You know, like
SGA range mid range game. I'll stack my game up
with both of them. I've actually challenged Richard to a
free throw shooting contest, and he says he wants to
do it, but he's never really be any idea in
terms of trying to set a particular day for us

(19:19):
to do it. I think he's afraid of me, quite honestly.

Speaker 1 (19:21):
Well, he has everything to lose, Mike, Yes he does. Yes, Yes,
yes he does. Your full time job is the Knicks broadcaster.
H Can you tell me what the Knicks are doing
with their head coaching search.

Speaker 11 (19:35):
Well, they're obviously turning over every stone right now, and
that's you know, there's a lot of good candidates still
out there. It's been interesting to see how many teams
have quickly said, no, you cannot talk to our coach.
Although that's that's understandable, all under contract, and at this
point I think Dan, they can take their time. It's

(19:58):
not like I mean, there's a lot of still coaches
out there. I think they can talk to but there's
no need to rush it now. They really need to
do their homework, talk to people, talk not only to
the candidates, but people who play for the candidates, and
do an exhaustive search because there's no need to rush
it now.

Speaker 4 (20:16):
It's such an important decision.

Speaker 1 (20:19):
If you fire your coach, Did you have a successful season?

Speaker 11 (20:24):
Wow, that's an interesting way to put it. I think so,
I do. I think they had a very successful season.
They've taken the next step. I was certainly surprised at
Tom Thibodeau being let go from a standpoint of.

Speaker 4 (20:40):
Success and results.

Speaker 11 (20:42):
It's hard to say why, but clearly there was stuff
behind the scenes that were going on that they felt
it was time to make a change.

Speaker 4 (20:50):
But yes, it was a very successful season in my opinion.

Speaker 1 (20:53):
Did you get criticized that you didn't give Tyre's Halliburton
a bang because it was a mid range jumper or
one to three? I should say, like, is that your
policy that it's got to be a three for a bang?

Speaker 11 (21:06):
Well, I haven't checked the rules and regulations and the policy.
I think the warranty on the policy is out. But no,
there's really no. Sometimes it's a feel. In many cases
it's I preferred on a three pointer on this particular play,
he was moving so quickly. Also sometimes too, I like

(21:29):
doing it on a on a home team big bucket.

Speaker 4 (21:31):
Because the crowd overtakes it.

Speaker 11 (21:33):
That's that's one of the reasons I started yelling Bank
because I needed a concise call when the crowd overwhelms everything.
But that was just more of you know, this is
an unbelievable finish. He has a chance to win, and
that's the way it came out. But yes, I received criticism.
I've been attacked, but it's all part.

Speaker 2 (21:52):
Have you ranked your bang calls?

Speaker 11 (21:56):
Oh damn, no, hope you start not ask me that. No,
I have not right, But that's for that's for the
viewers to rank the bank calls.

Speaker 1 (22:03):
I can't do because I would say Steph Curry, I
thought that that one. What what was that the forty
footer that he hit it against OKC That I think
that kind of started it. But I also Ray Allen
game six of the twenty thirteen NBA Finals. Where does

(22:24):
that bang.

Speaker 4 (22:26):
In this discussion?

Speaker 2 (22:27):
Yeah?

Speaker 11 (22:28):
Yeah, no, the Curry thing, I was the first double
bang and that was that was It was a special time.
It was everything that led up to it, and I
would agree with that's that's one of my favorites.

Speaker 4 (22:38):
THRERAE.

Speaker 11 (22:38):
Allen one is is clearly as well because he doesn't
hit that the changes who wins the title that year.

Speaker 4 (22:45):
Playoff ones are special to me.

Speaker 11 (22:48):
Derek Rose hit a game winner in Chicago for the
Bulls in a playoff game against Lebron. Jeremy Lynn had
a couple of great bangs that that that were really
exciting during two and a half weeks to some of
the most fun games I've ever been a part of.

Speaker 4 (23:05):
So there's been there's been a decent amount that I've enjoyed.

Speaker 2 (23:09):
Will there ever be a triple bang? Mike?

Speaker 4 (23:12):
Stop?

Speaker 2 (23:16):
I want you on.

Speaker 1 (23:16):
Record, Will there be? What would what would bring about
a triple bang?

Speaker 11 (23:22):
I think I think I would sound like an idiot
if I did a triple bang. But again, it's not premeditated.
The double bank came out naturally. It just was so exciting.
So maybe in a finals game, if a guy hits
a three pointer at the buzzer to win a finals
game and to win a championship, that's the possibility.

Speaker 1 (23:42):
How about that Tyres Aliburton game on the line and
he hits a three and they win the title.

Speaker 4 (23:52):
I have no choice but to do it?

Speaker 11 (23:53):
Then, Okay, I'm under severe pressure to do it.

Speaker 2 (23:57):
Then now I'm going to watch the finals and.

Speaker 4 (24:02):
Pressure you know, now, this is unforgivable what you're doing.

Speaker 2 (24:06):
How does pressure feel, Mike?

Speaker 7 (24:09):
It doesn't feel very good?

Speaker 2 (24:13):
Are you going to do you rest your voice today?
I do, like, what do you do today?

Speaker 11 (24:18):
I drink a lot of tea with honey. I actually
I don't talk on the phone because I had an ears,
nose and throat. Guy tell me that when my voice
is struggling, don't talk on the phone because people tend
to talk louder on the phone.

Speaker 4 (24:34):
I was not aware of that. Are you aware of that? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (24:36):
If you've ever been on a plane when somebody lands
and then they're getting a hold of somebody who's going
to pick them up, listen to how loud that person is.

Speaker 2 (24:45):
Yeah, just landed.

Speaker 11 (24:46):
Okay, I don't agree. Hold on a second, I have
a call. Okay, I'll call you later.

Speaker 2 (24:54):
See.

Speaker 1 (24:56):
But whatever, If there's problems with you and your wife
and you don't get on the phone and you want
to text, I understand that. I mean, but that's on you, Mike.
I don't need to hear that.

Speaker 4 (25:05):
I can use it. Yeah, I could use it to
my advantage.

Speaker 2 (25:09):
Yes, I'm an ah the voice. I'll text you. I'll
text you.

Speaker 1 (25:15):
Hey, great to talk to you again. Thanks for thanks
for joining us, Mike bang Breen.

Speaker 8 (25:23):
Be sure to catch the live edition of the Dan
Patrick show weekdays at nine am Eastern six am Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio.

Speaker 1 (25:31):
WAP Beautiful day at Oakmont. Although I just saw Bryson
de Shambo hit a couple of shots in the rough
from one roff to another and then couldn't get it
out of the rough with the next one. If you
put it in the fairway, it probably looks like again,
not that difficult, of of course, the problem is trying

(25:52):
to keep it in the fairway.

Speaker 2 (25:53):
Yes, Paul, they were just showing an overhead shot.

Speaker 8 (25:55):
You know, the fly by cameras at the at Oakmont,
there was like nine bunkers and this sliver of fair
way in between them.

Speaker 2 (26:01):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (26:01):
Wild, But they've taken out like one hundred and fifty
bunkers over the years. I think they used to have
like three hundred there. Ernie Els knows all about that.
He won four majors, He won the US Open twice,
he won at Oakmont, winner of eighty pro tournaments worldwide. Ernie,
good to talk to you, Thanks for joining us. What
do you see when you see Oakmont?

Speaker 3 (26:22):
Hi?

Speaker 13 (26:22):
Dan, Good to be with you, my friend. Yeah, no, listen,
I put something on Instagram yesterday. You know, just because
weather played such a big part in golf. You know,
they've had some wet weather up there in the Oakmont area, Pitts, Pittsburgh,
and I just kind of reminisced of out time in

(26:45):
ninety four. You know, we had a heat wave, you know,
thirty one years ago, and the golf course was rock hard.
But with all the moisture up there in Oakmont, it's
nice and green. And as you just said, if you
could get it in the short grass, you can put
spin on the ball and you can get some control
in your game. And I think that's what most of

(27:07):
the leaders are doing this morning. And I went out
this morning with a bit of moisture and they putting
it in play and from there you can eat some shots.
They've already had two holdouts. We see those two holdouts.
I just saw one, Sane Lowdy just hold out on
number three.

Speaker 2 (27:23):
So do you like playing?

Speaker 1 (27:26):
Should the US Open be the toughest golf course you're
going to play that year?

Speaker 7 (27:31):
Yeah? I believe that.

Speaker 13 (27:33):
I mean all throughout my time, you know, at the
highest level, you know, the US Open was the toughest
challenge by.

Speaker 7 (27:41):
A bar none.

Speaker 13 (27:42):
You know, every nine and again you go to the
Open Championship. You know, I remember in two when we
played at Mierfield there was a Saturday just as dark
cloud came over and there was all havoc, you know, ensued.

Speaker 7 (27:57):
You know, even Tiger had a tough day.

Speaker 13 (27:59):
You known, have too many tough days in his prime,
but he had a tough one. And but other than that,
you know that the US Open is the toughest challenge
we have. You have some of the greatest championship golf
courses in this country, and they like to make them very,
very hard, which is so you know what you're in for.

Speaker 2 (28:19):
What were you twenty four when you wanted oakmand.

Speaker 7 (28:22):
Can you believe it?

Speaker 2 (28:23):
Yeah?

Speaker 7 (28:24):
Twenty four. It was a long time ago, baby.

Speaker 1 (28:27):
But if you could go back and tell that twenty
four year old something, what would you tell yourself?

Speaker 4 (28:34):
Well?

Speaker 7 (28:34):
A lot.

Speaker 13 (28:35):
I mean, you know, I remember, you know, in my
kind of my speech afterwards, I said, you know, people
will have to be patient with me. You know, I've
got a long way to go. So that was kind
of wise words from a twenty four year old, because
that's exactly what's ensued. You know, it was a long
it's been a long road. I did win another three majors,

(28:56):
you know, starting at twenty four to only when another three,
you know, just shows you how tough it can be
to win major championships.

Speaker 7 (29:03):
You know, I won my first one at twenty four.

Speaker 13 (29:06):
In my last one when I was almost forty three,
when you know, Adam Scott had a tough finish, you know,
at leven. So I've had some good stretches of golf. Thankfully,
I was. I've been in for the long run, you know,
to have a twenty year career at the top level,
you know, you're very fortunate to have that kind of career.

(29:28):
So it's been it's been a lot of fun, but
it's been a lot of a lot of kind of struggles.
You know, my game, there's so many disciplines in the
game that you have to master, and over time, some
of them decay a little bit just because of you know,
what's going on in your head. And you know, obviously
I had some putting problems and you know, that's that's

(29:51):
kind of that held me back a little bit. But
for the most you know, it's been a good run.

Speaker 2 (29:56):
When did you first hear the name Tiger Woods?

Speaker 13 (30:00):
I mean a long time ago. I mean I remember
playing the Buick Classic at Westchester Country Club, and that
was another favorite golf course of mine, and Tiger was
playing the program, and everybody was kind of talking about Tiger.
I think this was back in ninety four even or
ninety five. I mean, he's a couple of years younger

(30:21):
than me, so you know, we all kind of stood
around his little kid, you know, and everybody said that
he's going to be the next thing. So I met
Tiger back in those days, and he played in quite
a few events as an amateurs, and I was paired
with him. I think I was paired with him in
ninety five when John Dailey won the Open Championship at

(30:44):
s and Andrews, I was paired with Peter Jacobson, Tiger
and myself.

Speaker 4 (30:48):
You know.

Speaker 13 (30:49):
I was also paired with him in the US Opened
at Chenney Coock in ninety five, So we played a
lot of golf together at a very early age for him.

Speaker 7 (30:58):
So I've known him for a long time.

Speaker 2 (31:01):
Did you get it right away that, you know?

Speaker 1 (31:03):
Because some of the veterans told me, hey, he thinks
he's going to come out here and dominate. And I
remember one prominent golfer told me, it's like, hey, this
is completely different when you come out here and then
he wins like whatever. In Milwaukee, He's like hello world,
and you know, he didn't open the door. He knocked

(31:23):
down the door.

Speaker 7 (31:25):
Yeah. I mean it's like any other sports.

Speaker 13 (31:27):
You know, you go from cottage football or basketball or
baseball into the pros and there's a different talent level there.
You know, there's a different atmosphere, so to speak. He
didn't quite win his first one, he didn't win his
second one, but I think by the third one he
figured it out. I think he won in Vegas or

(31:48):
something ridiculous. You know, I remember speaking to Tiger. You know,
I had a close finish at the Open Championship with
Tom Lahman won in at Lithums and ANNs and I
finished second. You know, I was sitting in the locker
room that there's just a wall between the eighteenth Green
and the clubhouse where the locker room is, the men's

(32:08):
locker room. I sat there, I was having a couple
of beers, you know, just reflecting on you know, you
know how close it was, and Tiger sled in next
to me and he started talking to me, and you know.

Speaker 7 (32:21):
I was like, you know, what do you what do
you what do you mean? He says, no, you think
I'm ready? I said, what do you mean? What are
you talking about?

Speaker 13 (32:28):
I says no, you know, I'm thinking about turning pro
And I was probably one of the biggest mistakes of
my life.

Speaker 7 (32:38):
Back to st You're not good enough?

Speaker 1 (32:43):
Is Scotty has he graduated to the when we had
Tiger versus the field? Is it Scotty versus the field?
Now in these majors? In your opinion?

Speaker 13 (32:54):
I saw that you guys starting to talk about that.
Even the players are starting to as that. But just
when I'm reading comments of really high regarded players like
Justin Thomas, you know, saying how can I catch this guy?
You know that sounds like my language back in the day,
you know, with Tiger, how can I.

Speaker 7 (33:12):
Get close to this guy?

Speaker 13 (33:13):
So there's already a little bit of separation and and
and and truly so because the guy's phenomenal. I mean,
he's you know, I mean it gets his patch where
he's hot. You know, he's very tough to beat. And
to be honest with you, I've been watching the golf
this morning. Scott is this golf course has made for him?

(33:33):
You know, you have to hear it both ways. You
got to put it in the air. You gotta have
a good short gum. Everything gets tested. But it's not
the narrowest fairways I've ever seen at Oakmont, So it's
it's very playable, but in over four rounds, it's very
tough to beat this guy when he's at his best.

Speaker 7 (33:53):
So, yes, there is thought like Tiger this kind of golf.

Speaker 2 (33:59):
What is pressure feel like to you?

Speaker 13 (34:03):
Well, it depends on where you add in your game
when you shop, you know, when all your disciplines you
know you you've got them, got them intact. It's a
it's a measure of where you add in your game
and how you can prove things to yourself because the pressure,

(34:24):
the highest pressure is when you really get tested, you know,
and if you want to get tested against the field,
pressure is the is the best barometer to test yourself.
So it feels it feels like you're getting going through
a test where your game's at when you when you inform.

(34:45):
When you're not inform, it's one of the worst experiences
because you don't trust yourself. If this discipline that you're
not quite mastering at the moment, if it's driving, iron
played short game putting, especially under pressure putting. You know,
things fall apart if you're not, if you're not really
on top of things. So it can be it can

(35:06):
be good, and it can be really really bad.

Speaker 1 (35:08):
But you can't hide. That's the thing about golf is
when I play on the weekend, I can reload. You
got to go play your foul balls. Payne Stewart once
told me, Hey, the difference between us and a regular
player is our missus. We know we're gonna hit great shots.
It's our miss might be three yards off, yours might

(35:28):
be thirty yards off.

Speaker 2 (35:30):
But have you had that.

Speaker 1 (35:31):
Feeling on the golf course where you're go I could
just leave now and walk off the course and be
done with Go have a beer, and you know, I forget,
you know, the hell with the last round?

Speaker 13 (35:43):
Absolutely, you know, And the longer you play, the more
those kinds of situations can happen, you know, especially me
at fifty five. Now, if I have to put myself
in that situation and I'm not on top of my game,
that golf course will eat you alive.

Speaker 7 (36:02):
You know, if you're not on your game.

Speaker 13 (36:06):
The greens there are some of the most treacherous greens
you'll ever put on, You're going to see four parts there.

Speaker 7 (36:12):
Believe me.

Speaker 13 (36:12):
Over this week you're going to see daft shots out
of the rough. And you're right, and Paine Stewart is right.
In Major Champions of Golf, it's not about the great shots.
It is, yes, but there's those shots that you miss
and you don't have a chance of hitting a shot
near the flag. Where do you play it to We
have a chance to get the ball up and down

(36:33):
or save a stroke, or save two strokes, and that
at the end of the day can be winning or
losing the end.

Speaker 2 (36:40):
If I made you drink a beer each hole in
the Major, who would be who would have the most Majors?

Speaker 7 (36:50):
Without a doubt?

Speaker 2 (36:52):
John Day, Have you ever had a nineteenth hole sit
down with John where you have a couple of couple
of beers.

Speaker 13 (37:02):
Now, listen, I've known John before the US public knew
about John. John came down to South Africa late eighties,
early nineties and he was a superstar down there before
he became a superstar in the US. He won some
tournaments down there. We were very young in those days,
and you know, if I was going to go to university,

(37:25):
I had to do military service. But I had a
couple of US college offers, and I would have gone
to Arkansas.

Speaker 7 (37:33):
Can you imagine that.

Speaker 2 (37:34):
You and John?

Speaker 13 (37:36):
Yeah, you know we might have. We have definitely met there.
But he's a good friend. He still plays champions to
a golf No, undoubtedly the guy. You know, he's slowed
down a lot now, but in his heyday, I know
even I could come.

Speaker 7 (37:53):
Yeah, I could have a couple.

Speaker 2 (37:58):
It's good that John slowing down, Ernie.

Speaker 7 (38:01):
Yeah, well we all slow down, and yes we did.

Speaker 1 (38:05):
And you know when I brought up pressure, I was
wondering about you know, we can't fathom what Rory was
going through that Sunday at Augusta, because it was like
it wasn't joy. There was relief, real relief there. What
is that feeling like of you just want the round,
like you're just holding on for dear life and just exhale.

Speaker 13 (38:27):
That is so true what you say. When I watched it,
I was I was an agony for him. You know,
I could see the pressure even when he was making
puts like a number ten, and so there was not
a big relief of smile on him on his face
because he knew there were really tough, difficult holes coming up,
you know, eleven and at twelve. I mean there's a

(38:49):
disaster on every single hole at Augusta, you.

Speaker 7 (38:52):
Know, very much like in major golf.

Speaker 13 (38:54):
So but the one that really shocked me because he
got really lucky on eleven because it was one one
roll away from making double. The ball was going in
the water on his second shot. But then on thirteen
when he laid up, I think even he surprised himself
because he's such an attacking player that he laid up

(39:15):
and he thought, Okay, I never really play safe, but
I'm going to play safe. And then he dunks his
third shot in the creek right of the hole where
there's a slope that brings the ball back down to
the hole. So that's when I realized, Wow, he's really
trying harder. And then he comes back with the tough shots.

(39:36):
You know, I'm fifteen, he here, you know, it makes
eagle there, sixteen he is an unbelievable shot. Seventeen, that
iron shot, and then on eighteen he screws it up.

Speaker 7 (39:48):
It was agony to watch, to be honest, but happy
for him.

Speaker 2 (39:52):
What's the coolest thing in your office?

Speaker 7 (39:55):
Well, I'm saying yeah, our design office.

Speaker 13 (39:59):
You know, my my guy, Greig Letchy, he just left
the office.

Speaker 7 (40:02):
I'm sitting on his computer.

Speaker 2 (40:04):
Okay, who are these things?

Speaker 7 (40:05):
You know? I've got some memorabilia. I've got a photo
Pebble Beach. You know, I never one day, but beautiful photo.

Speaker 13 (40:12):
But I got some US open stuff here, and i
got some signature stuff from Jack Nicholas and Arnold Palmer
and and and so on. And I've got some other
sports memorabilia. So it's almost like it's almost like your
place there. I see you've got a lot of.

Speaker 2 (40:26):
I got a lot. Yeah, I got a lot. Do
you ask Tiger for an autograph?

Speaker 7 (40:31):
I've got an autograph from him, absolutely, but a name too. Well.

Speaker 13 (40:35):
Now, you know, as as he gets old, I'm going
to get more work.

Speaker 1 (40:43):
Yes, yeah, you don't want to get it when you're
competing against him.

Speaker 7 (40:47):
No, No, we went to we were you know, rivals,
so to speak.

Speaker 13 (40:51):
But he he got me eighty five but percent of
the time unfortunately.

Speaker 2 (40:56):
Great to talk to you. Thanks for sharing, Ernie.

Speaker 7 (40:58):
You're the best. Thank you.

Speaker 2 (41:00):
That's Ernie Else
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