The Golf Insiders

03/07/2012 The Golf Insiders

Rich Bianco is joined in the studio by Jay Golden . Jay, PGA Professional at Winter Park Pines, is in for Holly G. The duo opens the show talking about Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy becoming Number 1 in the world. Bob Harig, EPSN.com, calls in from Doral to talk to Rich and Jay.  Donald Trump has purchased Doral and it remains to be seen if the name of the TPC stays the same. There are plans to overhaul the course next year. The Top 24 players will be playing with one another in pairs of three at the World Golf Championships - Cadillac Championship on Thursday and Friday. No. 1, 2 and 3 will be paired Rory will be joined by Luke Donald and Lee Westwood and then 4-6, and so on. The trio talks about the fact that the WGC events may be taking away from the normal PGA events since it takes the top 50 players in the world. Bob feels that maybe this is Tiger’s week for a win. Jeff Shain, Orlando Sentinel, calls in to talk to Rich and Jay about the Florida Swing. As the players prepare for the Masters. Jeff worked for 12 years at the Miami Herald is back in his old stomping grounds. Jeff talks about Trump’s purchase of Doral of $150 Million. Jeff feels that Rory and Tiger, Nick Watney or Lee Westwood should do well this week. Todd Lewis, The Golf Channel, calls in to talk to the duo about coming to the Golf Channel. Most may not know that Todd sang the National Anthem at a few of the Magic games in the past when he was the sports anchor for a local radio station. And that Todd used to be in a band that opened for REM. Todd talks about his interview opportunities with some of the players over the years and some of the questions that Tiger gets asked and how he handles it. Mainly the issue about not answering questions about his book in a recent press conference. The question was that Tiger had mentioned that he had thought about leaving golf and becoming a Navy Seal. Mary Bryan former CBS sportscaster, now the assistant coach for the UCF Knights, calls in to wrap up the show. Mary shares the recent success of the Knights and how they have gone from 100 from the start of the season to 34th now. Mary also teaches at Grand Cypress. Mary catches listeners up on the LPGA.

02/22/12 The Golf Insiders

Holly G and Rich Bianco are in the studio talking about the dramatic finish of the Northern Trust Open. Bill Haas beat Phil Mickleson in a playoff. Sergio Garcia also did well to finish 4th. Bob Harig, ESPN.com, kicks off the show talking about the finish at the Northern Trust Open. Thought that Phil should have left himself with 100 yards because he is one of the best from that distance in on the PGA Tour.  But he chose to hit 3 Wood and the rest is history. Holly and Bob talk about the early success of Phil and how that may help him heading into the Masters. They also talk about Keegan Bradley’s success at the Northern Trust Open and a great start at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship is underway today.  The WGC is set up completely off the world rankings with the top 64 players. Minus two players who chose not to compete but both are replaced. Todd Lewis, The Golf Channel, calls in to the show to talk to Holly and Rich about the excitement of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. How Wednesday and Thursday matches are so exciting.  Todd feels that the Europeans are more experienced with match play and that may be why the last two years the winners have been from Europe. Todd talks about the short game and great putters are favored at this match play event. You can check out Todd on The Golf Channel or online at www.golfchannel.com Both Bob Harig and Todd Lewis both pick Charles Schwartzel as one of the players to be in the finals. Follow Bob at espn.go.com/golf/ Jeff Shain from the Orlando Sentinel talks to the duo about the WGC.  They also talk to Jeff about the upcoming Florida Swing and the Honda Classic having Tiger Woods for the first time. You can follow Jeff at www.OrlandoSentinel.com or you can Tweet him @jeffshain. Holly talks to GolfSmith’s Dan Watkins about some of the new products that have just come out like the new adjustable clubs which are selling well. TaylorMade’s RocketBallz, Callaway, Cobra, etc. Also big are the new things are the forged wedges. GolfSmith also offers custom fitting.

02/15/12 The Golf Insiders

Holly G and Rich Bianco are in the studio talking about the finish 0f the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Championship. Bob Harig, ESPN.com, calls in to kickoff the show and talks to the team about Phil Mickleson’s win at the AT&T Pebble Beach. The up and down nature of Phil’s game made it surprising how he came back on Sunday. The fact that he was playing Tiger was an added bonus even though Tiger was in the hunt Sunday morning but ended up finishing 9 back. Bob talks about how Tiger drives the sport and nothing evokes interest like Tiger. Bob shares that the event was the highest rated golf event at Pebble in the past 15 years. “None of the stuff that Phil might have picked up from Butch Harmon about Tiger doesn’t help him unless he makes the shots, and he did.” Big Ten Match Play Championship, hosted by The Concession Golf Club in Sarasota, Fla., was recently won by Northwestern for the third year in a row. Jeff Shain, Orlando Sentinel, joins the duo and talks about Jessica Korda’s win on the LPGA Tour.  Jeff talks about the young players who are making a name for themselves on the LPGA Tour. Jeff also talks about Corey Pavin’s win on the Champions Tour and his incredible shot on No 14 to save par.  The Florida Swing on the PGA Tour is right around the corner with the tune up to the Masters. Vartan Kupelian from PGA Tour.com and Global Golf Post calls in and discusses Tiger’s Sunday downfall and the bigger issue of Tiger’s game … his mental game.  Vartan feels that it’s not just ball striking abilities or putting that is his problem. Tiger used to dominate everyone and his aura enabled him to win. Players feared his abilities and now they don’t.  On the flip side Phil Mickleson is playing some of the best golf that he’s played in a long, long time. Todd Lewis, the Golf Channel, wraps up the show talking about the Sunday dual between Tiger and Phil. The Golf Channel’s coverage Sunday early coverage was the most watched of any event on the Golf Channel.  Todd feels that Tiger is searching for the confidence that he had a huge amount of before. Todd comments on the fact that Phil now has 40 wins and feels that it is going to be a long time before someone will match that mark.

002/08/2012 The Golf Insiders

Holly G calls in from The Concession Golf Club in Sarasota, Fla. while Rich Bianco handles the show from the studio. The Concession, Jack Nicklaus signature golf course in association with Tony Jacklin, is hosting the Big Ten Match Play Championship Feb 10th and 11th. The event will broadcasted on Big Ten. ESPN.com’s Bob Harig calls in from Pebble Beach to talk about Tiger’s return for his first event on the PGA Tour of the season. Bob reports that the 3 courses the players are playing on this week at Pebble Beach are in great shape and Tiger is playing in this event for the first time in 10 years. Tiger’s iron play is been pin high which is what he is looking for and what Bob feels put Tiger in position to win at Abu Dhabi. Bob also commented on the fact that Tiger has not played enough competitive golf and the more he plays, the better he will get.  Tiger is teamed with Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo and is a scratch golfer, which should help Tiger and let him focus on his game. Love him or hate him, with Tiger back on the Tour, ticket sales have been up 30%. Phoenix Open is unique and that is how 515,000 show up.  Bob said that they are prepared for it and that the community is involved and embrace the event. Collegiate Reporter Asher Wildman from Golfweek is with Holly G at The Concession Golf Club talking about the Big Ten Match Play tournament that starts tomorrow.  Asher talks about recent PGA Tour winner Kyle Stanley and the fact that he knows him pretty well and how Kyle prepares for a tournament and how badly he wanted to win.  Asher feels that the young 20 something year olds are poised to win and it should be no surprise to anyone who follows the game. Asher says that UCLA, the lady’s defending collegiate champion, is so deep that they lost players to the LPGA Tour. He feels Texas is definitely the team to beat on the men’s side.  Asher also feels that anything can happen though in Match Play . UCF has two new recruits and is probably the favorite to win Conference USA for the men’s division. Check out collegiate on Golfweek at www.golfweek.com or follow Asher Wildman on Twitter @golfweekwildman. Every week there is a conference breakdown on Golfweek. The Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis calls in to wrap up the show. The trio talk about a new and improved Tiger and comment on his press conference. Todd’s biggest point that he took away from Tiger’s interview was that Tiger is more at peace with a lot of things.  Life, his game, etc.