Iss. #292 | Bryson and Tommy... They're Just Like Us!

<shrug> - Dustin Johnson after hitting a hole-in-one at the LIV event last week... or most everyone acknowledging there was a LIV event last week.

Bryson's searching for answers

SWING GPT

Bryson went viral after revealing that he used Gemini to analyze and ultimately fix his swing. He was having issues with not turning his hands over and "after talking to AI" he determined it was a grip pressure issue. To be a fly on the wall of Bryson talking to his AI would probably be an exhausting affair.

That said, while I was originally skeptical, talking to AI is by far one of my favorite use cases. I'll pull it up on my drive to work and just chat through whatever problems I'm looking to solve or advice I'm hoping to get. Total mess of thoughts. And beep-boop-beep, I've got ChatGPT giving me a five point plan to help my son get into golf AND save money on my car insurance by switching to Geico.

On the golf front, I had never considered asking it for advice and sure enough, after uploading two videos of my iron and driver swing... I've got a full on practice plan complete with feel drills and swing thoughts. What could go wrong??

Ready for a golf reality check?

MAN OF THE PEOPLE

Months back, Tommy Fleetwood revealed that he was embarking on a new golfing quest on his YouTube of learning to play left-handed.

Well, we've got a status update courtesy of TaylorMade as they posted his club fitting—and I'll say it was definitely an ego boost. Despite the overall takeaway being he is absurdly good left handed considering he spent his entire life playing the opposite. We were still treated to a couple relatable AF moments like topped iron shots and giant slices.

Worth the watch if you like remembering just how hard this game we love is.

Just In from "Golf's Longest Day"

WHAT A DAY!

Golf's Longest Day describes the final day of US Open qualifying where across the country golfers compete for a handful of spots to make the big dance.

This story is about Ben Kohles who, on Golf's Longest Day, had one of the longest and craziest 24 hour runs possible.

Kohles won the Korn Ferry Tour’s BMW Charity Pro-Am Sunday evening before quickly driving to the airport to catch a flight to his US Open qualifying round the following morning. He then proceeded to continue his red hot streak and qualify for only the second time in his career. “I feel like my head is still spinning,” Ben said. 

Yeah, I bet. You balled out, my man.

Sahith finding the deep cuts

GAMERS GONNA GAME

Found this nugget courtesy of Chris Powers at Golf Digest. Sahith mentioned in a post-round interview at the RBC Canadian Open this week that he played games in his down time—and the obvious follow up was, what games?

“I still try and play a little bit of chess. I haven’t done too much. I’ve kind of plateaued a bit. I need some help on that end. But, yeah, it’s just a way to get my competitive outlet off the course without any risk of injury.”

First off, amen to limiting the risk of injury. Relatable to other pro athletes and men (like myself) who are barreling their way to being "of a certain age."

He also added that he played an app called Balatro and this is where the quirk comes in.

Curious what Balatro is? Sure, who wouldn't be. Google shares that it's "a 2024 poker-themed roguelike deck-building game developed by solo developer LocalThunk, and published by Playstack." A sentence I always like to classify as written by someone completing a Mad Libs puzzle.

Digging further into what any of that means, the Balatro site describes it as "a hypnotically satisfying deckbuilder where you play illegal poker hands, discover game-changing jokers, and trigger adrenaline-pumping, outrageous combos."

No further help.

Watched the video... and while I still have no idea really what you are doing in this game. It appears to be poker with some crazy power up wild cards, a dash of Tarot cards, and you compete against computer "bosses".

Either way, you do you Sahith!