A Monday playoff between Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler will serve as an exclamation point to one of the best golf weekends of 2026 thus far. Andy and Brendan! are fired up for this episode, recorded after watching a birdie-fest at TPC River Highlands, another women's major, and Blockie's near-perfect Champions Tour debut. They can't help themselves and begin with a brief section on the Dick's Open, an event that made some consider if the Champions Tour really needs Tiger Woods at all. Upstate New York's finest sporting event provided plenty of fodder, from Bob Papa singing Zac Brown Band, to the emergence of a "Paddy Stopper," and so, so much Michael Block content. The two then move on to the unfinished Travelers Championship, where a score of -21 got into a playoff to be held on Monday morning. Andy and Brendan discuss Viktor Hovland's turnaround from hitting hundreds of balls on the Shinnecock range after a missed cut last week to now potentially a Signature Event win in just seven days. They also debate whether Scottie Scheffler already missed out on multiple chances to win the tournament in regulation on Sunday afternoon on an extra-soft course after a lengthy rain delay. Andy is hung up on a Keegan Bradley quote from earlier this week alluding to the Travelers as a "vacation week" after a tough U.S. Open, and openly wonders if TPC River Highlands can fit into the PGA Tour's new Championship Series model. While the event itself is enjoyable, does the golf course leave too much to be desired as true test of professional golf? Haeran Ryu won her first major championship at the KPMG Women's PGA at Hazeltine, holding off a charge from Brooke Henderson, Ina Yoon, and Nelly Korda. The broadcast coverage was the big story of this Sunday, with a weather delay pushing the finish off of NBC and moving it to Golf Channel. A lengthy discussion about rights deals and coverage windows ensues, with ideas about ways for the LPGA to branch out and not be buried by non-major PGA Tour events on its biggest weeks of the year. Lastly, Andy and Brendan react to Alan Shipnuck's latest article on Phil Mickelson, full of more scandalous details following up on the Golf Digest report about Phil being removed from The Farms in San Diego.

 

Celebrate "The Summer of Cotton" with B. Draddy with promo code SGS30 at BDraddy.com!

We’re hosting our first Fried Egg Golf event at Pasatimepo later this month and we have a few spots remaining. For more information, head to thefriedegg.com/events!

A Monday playoff between Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler will serve as an exclamation point to one of the best golf weekends of 2026 thus far. Andy and Brendan! are fired up for this episode, recorded after watching a birdie-fest at TPC River Highlands, another women's major, and Blockie's near-perfect Champions Tour debut. They can't help themselves and begin with a brief section on the Dick's Open, an event that made some consider if the Champions Tour really needs Tiger Woods at all. Upstate New York's finest sporting event provided plenty of fodder, from Bob Papa singing Zac Brown Band, to the emergence of a "Paddy Stopper," and so, so much Michael Block content. The two then move on to the unfinished Travelers Championship, where a score of -21 got into a playoff to be held on Monday morning. Andy and Brendan discuss Viktor Hovland's turnaround from hitting hundreds of balls on the Shinnecock range after a missed cut last week to now potentially a Signature Event win in just seven days. They also debate whether Scottie Scheffler already missed out on multiple chances to win the tournament in regulation on Sunday afternoon on an extra-soft course after a lengthy rain delay. Andy is hung up on a Keegan Bradley quote from earlier this week alluding to the Travelers as a "vacation week" after a tough U.S. Open, and openly wonders if TPC River Highlands can fit into the PGA Tour's new Championship Series model. While the event itself is enjoyable, does the golf course leave too much to be desired as true test of professional golf? Haeran Ryu won her first major championship at the KPMG Women's PGA at Hazeltine, holding off a charge from Brooke Henderson, Ina Yoon, and Nelly Korda. The broadcast coverage was the big story of this Sunday, with a weather delay pushing the finish off of NBC and moving it to Golf Channel. A lengthy discussion about rights deals and coverage windows ensues, with ideas about ways for the LPGA to branch out and not be buried by non-major PGA Tour events on its biggest weeks of the year. Lastly, Andy and Brendan react to Alan Shipnuck's latest article on Phil Mickelson, full of more scandalous details following up on the Golf Digest report about Phil being removed from The Farms in San Diego.
&nbsp;
Celebrate "The Summer of Cotton" with B. Draddy with promo code SGS30 at <a href="https://bdraddy.com/">BDraddy.com</a>!
We&rsquo;re hosting our first Fried Egg Golf event at Pasatimepo later this month and we have a few spots remaining. For more information, head to <a href="https://www.thefriedegg.com/events">thefriedegg.com/events</a>!

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.

The Shotgun Start

A heated Travelers debate, LPGA coverage windows, and the continued fall of Phil Mickelson

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/e63e97f3-3569-453c-98e9-b478002a65b1/transcript