Author Archives: Shane

We’re back and chomping at the bit as Ryan Ballengee stops by to discuss his career in golf media, the pains of getting older, and also a bit of GOLF: Players Championship, Jordan, Rory, Horschel, Matsuyama, Tiger, and all your favorites. Literally every single one of your favorites, of all time. It’s a spine-tingler, we DO NOT recommend listening alone!

For more stories from the PGA Tour, pre-order my book, Slaying the Tiger, here.

We’re on iTunes now, daddy-o. Subscribe to ‘Friends of Tiger’ here.

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There are only two topics on the table today: Stephanie Wei’s credential revocation, and Rory McIlroy’s big win at the Match Play Championship. Enjoy!

For more stories from the PGA Tour, pre-order my book, Slaying the Tiger, here.

We’re on iTunes now, honchos. Subscribe to ‘Friends of Tiger’ here.

Download the mp3 of this episode here.

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It’s fight night in America! Keegan Bradley, Miguel Angel Jimenez, and a caddie called Pepsi mixed it up at the Match Play Championship, and Chris Solomon (NoLayingUp.com) and I are here to sort through the rubble. This is a shorter, emergency podcast, and we’re mostly talking Keegan-Miguel, but we share some of our own golf war stories and make predictions for the rest of the match play bracket. This episode is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL.

For more stories from the PGA Tour, pre-order my book, Slaying the Tiger, here.

We’re on iTunes now, bucko. Subscribe to ‘Friends of Tiger’ here.

Download the mp3 of this episode here.

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Today our lucky stars have aligned, and we’re joined by Ashley Mayo, Golf Digester extraordinaire and one of Sports Illustrated’s Top 100 Twitter follows. Ashley and I chat about her life and times, Golf Digest’s new hip young direction, and the upcoming Match Play Championship in San Francisco. Ashley has played TPC Harding Park since the re-routing, and we talk about the course and the groups that were announced on the Golf Channel special. Will Victor Dubuisson destroy all? We finish up by taking Twitter questions, covering everything from Poulter to the name of this podcast to how to behave around people you have a crush on to whether Ashley is interested in dating a Twitter user named PiltyBones. Don’t miss it!

For more stories from the PGA Tour, pre-order my book, Slaying the Tiger, here.

We’re on iTunes now, amigo. Subscribe to ‘Friends of Tiger’ here.

Download the mp3 of this episode here.

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Transatlantic heart-throb Luke Kerr-Dineen is on the program today, and it doesn’t take long before we get into the reallll good stuff. Luke wrote an article about Jordan Spieth’s high marketability, but we both puzzle over the fact that he’s kinda…dull. We go from there to a discussion about the differences between American and European golf fans, and as someone who has spent years on both sides of that big ol’ pond, Luke has a terrific perspective. Next, it’s on to Poulter, and whether he has a good point about not playing at the BMW PGA Championship, or if he’s just being his usual self. We field Twitter questions, share some predictions about the Zurich Classic, and generally just let it fly. NOTE: There are some audio issues on Luke’s end for the first 8 minutes. Hang with it, they get better after that!

For more stories from the PGA Tour, pre-order my book, Slaying the Tiger, here.

We’re on iTunes now, dawg. Subscribe to ‘Friends of Tiger’ here.

Download the mp3 of this episode here.

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I’m psyched to have my good friend Stephanie Wei on the show, and we waste no time getting into the nitty-gritty of Jim Furyk’s win at the RBC Heritage. He came out storming with a Sunday 63, and survived two grueling playoff holes against a game Kevin Kisner to win his first event since 2010. It’s a big moment for Furyk, and we talk about how people will view the playing legacy of one of the most thoughtful, but also contradictory, players on the Tour. We touch on Kisner’s heroics, and we round it out by talking about our experiences on the PGA Tour with angry players (*ahem* Els and Poulter *ahem*), paranoid tournament hosts, and overzealous locker room attendants. It’s a humdinger!

For more stories from the PGA Tour, pre-order my book, Slaying the Tiger, here.

We’re on iTunes now, homey. Subscribe to ‘Friends of Tiger’ here.

Download the mp3 of this episode here.

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Today I’m joined by CBS’ Kyle Porter—the perfect shot in the arm for our collective Masters hangover. We’re talking about Jordan Spieth and his appearance on David Letterman, Bubba Watson’s latest foray into the world of hip-hop, Phil’s lunacy, and why it seems like the PGA Tour pros like Spieth better than Rory McIlroy—and why we’re so ready to move beyond Rory and place the crown on young Jordan. Also, what’s going to happen in Hilton Head this weekend? It’s a really fun hour with Kyle, so don’t miss a minute!

For more stories from the PGA Tour, pre-order my book, Slaying the Tiger, here.

We’re on iTunes now, bro. Subscribe to ‘Friends of Tiger’ here.

Links: Jordan Spieth talking to his ball supercut. Bubba Watson rapping (3-minute mark).

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We didn’t fold after episode one! This week, we’re talking Jordan Spieth’s Masters victory with Shane Bacon of Fox Sports (you can read Shane’s post-Masters article here). We also touch on Tiger’s bone-poppin’ skills, Shane’s hilarious Tiger illustrations from last week, and the good and bad from Augusta. Also, is Jordan Spieth exciting, boring, or somewhere in between? Take a listen below, my friends!

For more stories from Tour, pre-order my book Slaying the Tiger here.

We’re on iTunes now, man. Subscribe to ‘Friends of Tiger’ here.

Download this episode directly here.

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In the first ever “Friends of Tiger” podcast, Shane welcomes Chris Solomon, co-owner and co-proprietor of NoLayingUp.com. It’s Masters week, and the dudes discuss all the hot topics, including Rory’s chances to win, Tiger’s resurgence, Spieth’s composure, and the ESPN player poll that has Bubba as the least-liked golfer on Tour. There are some red-hot takes in this episode—wear a flame-retardant poncho. Pre-order Slaying the Tiger, my book about the rising stars of the PGA Tour, here.

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Thesis: Regular season conference titles are far more valuable than conference tournament titles at predicting success. In fact, winning the conference tournament, especially without a regular season title, actually seems to hurt.

—Of the 60 Final Four teams since 2000, 17 (29 percent) won both the regular season and conference tournament titles, 15 (25.4 percent) won neither title, 20 (33.3 percent) won only the regular season title, and only seven (11.9 percent) won just the conference tournament.

—Of the 30 teams to make the title game since 2000, 22 have won their regular-season conference championship, for a solid 73.3 percent.

—Just 13 of the 29 (the Pac-12 had no conference championship in 2000) won the conference tournament title — 45 percent.

—Eleven of the 29 won both titles, 11 won just the regular-season title, and only three won just the conference tournament title. Three teams made the championship game in that time span without winning at least one of the two titles—all in the last three years.

Conclusion: In terms of making the championship game, winning neither the conference regular season or tournament is just as valuable as winning only the tournament. In terms of making the Final Four, twice as many teams who win neither title make it as teams who won only the conference tournament. When picking your brackets, avoid trendy conference tournament titleists.