A Butterfield Bonanza, Rory gets his own award, and the ‘Colon Fun Run’
Andy and Brendan! are joined by "The Boys" for this Wednesday episode in honor of the Butterfield Bermuda Championship. Andy is especially jazzed after a big Packers loss on national TV moving the Bears into a tie for first place in the NFC North. He attempts to once again besmirch Aaron Rodgers but quickly is moved to golf talk with a loaded schedule of events to discuss. Brendan attempts to deem the Butterfield as the "Event of the Week" but is shamed into giving it to the Schwab Cup Finals by Andy as a nod to PJ's continued Champions Tour coverage. Andy, Brendan, and Joseph LaMagna run through the field in Bermuda and Brendan shares his investigation into how some amateurs found their way into the event. The DP World Tour finals are next up on the "Schedule of the Week," with Rory McIlroy poised to secure yet another Race to Dubai win. The DPWT announced the new "Rory McIlroy Award" on Tuesday, now given to the European with the best performance across a year's four majors. To Brendan and PJ's surprise, Joseph reveals that Rory is ineligible for this award, leading to questions about why this even exists. The ANNIKA Driven by Gainbridge at the Pelican has made plenty of headlines due to a Kai Trump sponsor exemption and Caitlin Clark's Pro-Am round having extended coverage on Golf Channel. Finally, PJ previews the Charles Schwab Cup Championship as the 2025 Champions Tour season comes to a close. Andy makes plans for next year's swan song at Phoenix Country Club that involves PJ running a 5K race to raise money for colon cancer research. There's a brief discussion of some news surrounding the now-announced teams for the "Golf Channel Games," but Joseph isn't sure what to make of this made-for-TV spectacle. "The Boys" are then put on the hot seat by Andy and Brendan as they're quizzed about the future of "Lunch with The Boys," the Indianapolis Colts, and more.
--------
1:12:10
--------
1:12:10
The Griffin scale, Circus LPGA finish, Football agonies
Much to the dismay of one YouTube commenter, Andy declares this as yet another Victory Monday episode! He's excited about the latest Bears comeback win but instead eggs Brendan and PJ on to discuss the Tank Bowl between the Jets and Browns on Sunday. After a quick recap of the misery at the Meadowlands, Andy and Brendan move into a weekend recap of all things pro golf. "Benny Booms" secured his third win of the calendar year at the World Wide Technology Championship with a 63 on Sunday, moving into the OWGR top ten and bumping Collin Morikawa out. Griffin's breakout 2025 is discussed at length, and Andy and Brendan try to figure out how likely he is to win a major next season. On the DP World Tour, Aaron Rai took down Tommy Fleetwood in a playoff at the HSBC Abu Dhabi to win the first playoff event. Rory McIlroy made things interesting with a 62 on Sunday, falling one shot short of the playoff. Brendan credits Rory for staying in the fight after a season full of wins which may make a random DPWT event seem somewhat meaningless. The rains did NOT bless the LPGA's Toto Japan Classic. Weather caused the final round to be stopped while it was in progress and the tournament reverted back to the 54 hole scores as the final leaderboard. This led to a playoff conducted on a makeshift 130-yard "par 3" that was actually a rain-soaked par 5. Andy pleads with the LPGA's new commissioner to fix the league's recurring issues and maybe consider playing more events in Asia due to great fan turnouts. Min Woo Lee announced that he will be playing on the PGA Tour for 2026, putting to bed any rumors of his departure for a LIV contract. This Dr. Chipinski storyline segues nicely into some TGL talk before NFL Minute rounds out this episode with a new Andy conspiracy about Aaron Rodgers.
This Friday episode brings a game of Quote Roulette and the conclusion of the first-ever "Draft Week" to start your weekend. Brendan is ready to skip forward to Sunday afternoon's big Jets-Browns tilt at MetLife Stadium with rumors swirling that he may meet up with PJ to watch the game in-person. Andy and Brendan run through the early leaderboards for the HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship and World Wide Technology Championship before diving into press conference clippings from around the world. Rory McIlroy wasn't impressed by LIV's move to 72 holes and doesn't think they'll be getting too many OWGR points as things currently stand. Lee Westwood took exception to these remarks by the Masters champion, saying that Rory may change his mind next week on whatever he said anyway. Westy believes that the LIV fans are the biggest winners of this "innovation" as they'll be seeing an extra day of golf! Paul McGinley spoke to Bunkered about the impending DP World Tour fine decision on players like Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton. McGinley believes there are larger things at play for the future of the DP World Tour's existence and acknowledges that making Ryder Cup players be members is one of few cards the Euro circuit has left. Perhaps most importantly, there was some late-night beef between Joe Mayo and the Short Game Chef on Instagram on Wednesday night. In a now-deleted Instagram post, Mayo started a grease fire in the Chef's kitchen, airing out some past texts and conversations and calling out the Chef's teachings. Andy and Brendan are giddy about this long-winded IG caption and lose it when Joseph LaMagna joins in to share a comment about "extra Mayo." Lastly, the President of the PGA of America spoke to the 31,000 or 34,000 or 37,000 members this week and apologized for "harming the association" in past months. We play the audio of this apology and have added it to the soundboard. "Draft Week" wraps up with a double whammy and a new guest: Joseph joins Andy, Brendan, and PJ to draft 2026 Pro Golf Venues AND the best players in the world age 28-and-younger.
--------
1:10:40
--------
1:10:40
LIV “innovates” to 72-hole tourneys, Drafting the best events of 2025
"Draft Week" continues on this Wednesday episode as Andy, Brendan, and PJ pick their favorite PGA Tour events of 2025. Speaking of draft picks, the show kicks off with Andy immediately having PJ answer for an explosive trade deadline for the 1-7 Jets. The Jets choosing to stockpile future draft picks rather than have actually good players on the current roster is quickly tied into golf and the constant need to find "who's next." Michael Brennan could be "next," and he's back in action this week as the PGA Tour heads to Mexico for the Worldwide Technologies Championship. Andy and Brendan briefly discuss the field for the event, including Brennan, Ben Griffin, and U.S. Open champ J.J. Spaun. The DP World Tour playoffs begin this week with Rory, Tommy, and more teeing it up at Yas Links for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. Brendan mentions the event's defending champion, Paul Waring, which leads to a guessing game on Waring's 2025 PGA Tour earnings. There was some real, substantial golf news on Wednesday afternoon as it was announced that LIV Golf will begin playing 72-hole tournaments in 2026. Andy and Brendan find great humor in the fact that this is being spun as "innovation" and the next phase of growing the game, despite now being the same as the PGA Tour. They discuss whether the top players will start to separate themselves even more given another 18 holes at every event, and also mention some new trademarks filed by the league for potential team names. The back half of this episode contains a bit of a Year in Review appetizer in the form of a Best 2025 Events Draft. The three briefly look back at the year and select their favorite highlights from the PGA Tour schedule and a few wildcards.
--------
1:10:04
--------
1:10:04
Golf's most popular player draft & McDowell's dumb LIV comments
It's "Draft Week" here at The Shotgun Start! Andy and Brendan went LIVE on YouTube for this Monday episode, kicking things off with an NFL Minute celebrating a miraculous win by the Bears on Sunday afternoon. Andy is riding high while Brendan is down in the dumps about his Commies and the latest Jayden Daniels injury. Having just re-signed with Smash GC, Graeme McDowell is NOT down in the dumps and instead is positioning himself for a run as the European Ryder Cup captain in 2027. Speaking to Bunkered, McDowell said that he'd like to be the "olive branch" that brings European golf back together and that the divisiveness in the game has come from the top players and not guys like him trying to "eke out a living." Andy and Brendan go off on these quotes, citing McDowell's LIV earnings and reported signing bonus and wondering why he's no longer a DP World Tour member, which seems to be a disqualifying factor in being the next captain. In other LIV/DP World Tour news, Tom McKibbin went wire-to-wire in Hong Kong to secure an invite to the 2026 Masters and an exemption into the Open Championship. Brendan suggests LIV should prop McKibbin up as the prime example of playing a worldwide schedule that still allows pathways into the major championships that do not involve OWGR points. Andy then debuts the much-anticipated 2026 TGL Power Rankings as the league approaches season two. Who does he have ranked first? You'll have to listen to find out! "Draft Week" then gets underway as Andy, Brendan, and PJ draft players as if they were handing out sponsor exemptions to their own tournaments. This popularity-focused draft goes for more rounds than expected, allowing for some insane picks to come into play by the end. To close things out, the "Internet Invitational" is briefly discussed after Andy watched the first week's episodes on Halloween night.
The Shotgun Start with Andy Johnson and Brendan Porath of Fried Egg Golf is a podcast waiting for you early in the morning that quickly blasts through a variety of topics (usually) related to golf and (ideally) relevant to the day. It covers news from the pro tours around the world, amusing and important topics from the amateur game the rest of us play, and some irreverent stuff in between. There will be short interviews, previews, reviews, and dives into the archives. It provides what you need to know on golf through a rapid and fun catch-up discussion.
Canada - english