The Golf Insiders 09-16-2015

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Holly G is in the studio with special guest Jay Golden, PGA instructor at Winter Pines Golf Course, who has been out on the Web.com Tour caddying and instructing Rob Oppenheim try to qualify for the PGA Tour. Oppenheimer finished 26th in the Web.com standings, just missing the automatic qualifying for his card given to the Top 25 on the Web.com Tour. Now Oppenheim heads into the qualifying tournament.

Bob Harig, ESPN.com, calls in from BMW Championship at Conway Farms on the eve of the third leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs. After a week off, the 70 players return as they head into the final stretch. Bob said he feels that the players are more rested than they were a year ago. There is no way you can do this mentally and physically without a break. This is a lot of high-end golf. 

Next year the week off comes right before the final FedEx Cup Championship and the Olympics are mixed in with the Tour schedule.

Jay asks Bob if he thinks the players have the feel that this is a gigantic event. Bob says "Honestly, No" and that's the hurdle the PGA is trying to overcome.

Bob said that after someone like Jordan Spieth finished 1st, 1st, 2nd and 4th in this year's major championships, how much does he have left in the tank to turn back around and head into the "Playoffs"?

Bob said that the "money part" of these tournaments is not the issue, Bob thinks it lacks what the majors have. They'd be better off with 3 events in a row and have them come a few weeks after the end of the season.  

Holly brought up the fact that Sergio Garcia took two weeks off and went on vacation and didn't play the first two events and still may win the final two playoff events. 

Jay mentioned that there are a lot of theories why the FedEx Cup started and then asked Bob why he thinks the PGA started the FedEx Cup playoffs?  Bob said that the Tour doesn't have a stake in the Major Championships and the Tour wanted to create something outside of the Majors. Before the FedEx Cup, golf died off at the end of the calendar year and no one paid attention to the tournaments in the fall. Bob feels that playoffs have done a great job at revitalizing the season. They came up with the point system.

"One of the reasons the NFL is so popular is that there is an 8-month break for fans and once the Super Bowl is over we can't wait for the next season to begin," Harig pointed out. "Having these tournaments is way better off than what we had before ..."I think it's great!, Harig stressed.

Holly asks Bob about Jordan Spieth and have we forgotten him already?  Bob said that Spieth said he hasn't had a let down after all of his success this year. Bob picked Hunter Mahan to win the BMW even though he's way down on the list. Who is going to win the hole thing depends on the Top 5 after the this week. Bob likes Rory.

The fifth major on the LPGA Tour,  the Evian Championship, was won by Lydia Ko who became the youngest player to ever win a Major.  Holly talks about the final event and that the LPGA players are headed to Germany for the Solheim Cup. 

Jay and Holly talk about the Web.com Tour playoff systems. Jay says that he "discovered" Caddying is 90 percent of what you don't say and 10 percent of what you do say. Jay said that he feels that as a caddy ... "You have to be Sigmund Freud and Butch Harmon at the same time."

Jay has also been working with Kaká from Orlando City Soccer on his golf game. Jay talks about how great an athlete and nice person Kaká is.

Jeff Babineau, Golfweek, calls in from Conway Farms and talks about the FedEx Cup Playoffs with Holly and Jay about the golf course. Jay asks Jeff if he thinks the FedEx Cup Playoffs are all that they are made out to be. Jeff said that he feels that it is better than what the Tour had and gives more of an exciting feeling to the Tour than in the past.

Holly asks if Billy Horschel's big three weeks last year changed his approach to golf moving forward? Jeff said he thinks it definitely puts a lot of pressure on Billy.

Jay talks with Jeff about how Spieth had such an incredible year and had an incredible run this year that maybe it took a lot out of him heading into the FedEx Cup playoffs. Jeff thinks that it might have caught up with Spieth.

Jeff thinks Zach Johnson will win this week. But no matter what happens there is a good field going into the Tour Championship regardless. 

Holly picks Jim Furyk.

Holly updates listeners on the Solheim Cup, which was something her team at the LPGA came up with in the 1990s. Holly was the Director of Communications at the time the Solheim Cup was "birthed."

Jeff Shain, Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette in Hilton Head, S.C. and a contributor to PGATour.com, calls in to wrap up the show. Holly asks Jeff about the LPGA's last two weeks. Lydia Ko won the Evian. We in the media may have under played Lydia. Jeff recaps her blossoming career at such a young age. Ko won the Race to the CME Globe in 2014.  Jeff said that Lydia reminds her of Lorena Ochoa.

Holly then turns her attention to the Solheim Cup. Jeff said that this is a critical Solheim Cup for the USA being that the USA has lost two in a row and three consecutive losses would be devastating.

If you look at world rankings, the US is a stronger team on paper but he Europeans seem to have that team edge.  Jeff points out that these are almost the same two teams from a year ago that saw the Europeans stomped the USA team.