Secret Golf Podcast

[MUSIC PLAYING] It's Secret Golf. It's what I'm looking for. It's where I get up every morning with all my good-timing friends, keeps me coming back for more. Secret Golf, we're headed down the road. We just loaded up a big show, going looking for the hardware store, home until the wheels fall off. It's Secret Golf. Shh-- it's a secret.

DIANE KNOX: This is Secret Golf with Elk and Knoxy. It's another podcast in a week where we're doing something a little bit different. And we have a lot to talk about. I'm Knoxy and Elk is here as well. Hello, you.

STEVE ELKINGTON: How are you Diane?

DIANE KNOX: I'm great, thank you. How are you?

STEVE ELKINGTON: Good. I'm looking forward to today's topics. We had a lot of our mailbag seemed to be full of questions that need to be answered today.

DIANE KNOX: Yes. It seems as though people want your opinion on an awful lot that's going on in the golf world, right now. So we'll move on to that in a little while. But first of all, you're in Houston, so we're just looking for a little Hurricane Harvey update and the cleanup operation in Houston. How is it going?

STEVE ELKINGTON: It's been a battle. You know, when you go out in the streets and you drive past people's homes, they have all their-- you know, their stuff lying out on the street, and they haven't been out to be collected yet. We still have-- some of our neighbors staying in our guest house, because their house went well-- you know, way under. And it's just been-- it's been a nightmare for Houston people.

There's been a lot of good that's happened during the storm with Texas people have come together and they're helping one another, including our own University of Houston golf team where my son is on the team. They went around and rescued people in the storm.

And J.J. Watt has raised $20 million, basically, over the internet, for people in need. It's been just amazing what sports and athletes can do.

DIANE KNOX: And the thing is-- is people of Houston-- the people of Texas coming together. But really, it's people across the whole of the US, because everyone's fund-raising efforts have just been unbelievable. The scary thing is Hurricane Irma is now making its way towards Florida. I'm in Jacksonville, in Florida, and I guess the preparations are starting for us to figure out what we're going to do, and see what the weekend brings.

STEVE ELKINGTON: I see that Irma is packing 180 mile an hour winds. And I've been through a few hurricanes, here in America, and I've been through two floods that actually scare me more than a fire. Believe it or not, I was in two floods when I was a young boy in Australia, and it was just terrifying, both times, because we were on our roof forever. But--

I can tell you, I'm a pretty stout-sized guy, pretty-- 220 pounds. And a hundred miles an hour we had on our porch, here for 20 hours 10 years ago, and I can't even walk up and down my porch. So I can't even imagine, Diane, what 185 would bring, and what sort of damage that's-- you know.

I've seen already the track that Irma is coming along. It looks like it's going to curve up and come into Florida, and that's just-- if you listen to his podcast, and you think, oh, you know what? I'm going to hang around and check this out and see what happens. Don't do it. Don't do it.

DIANE KNOX: I live at the beach in Jacksonville, so I spent last night packing stuff into plastic boxes and then-- I think the mandatory evacuation is probably going to start from tomorrow. So I will be preparing to leave and go and see my parents, I think.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Yeah, I don't blame you. And we would be remiss, of course, if we didn't talk about our own Secret Golf member, Stacy Lewis. Why don't you tell us about that story? Because that's emerging story, they say, that could be the story of the year for a golfer.

DIANE KNOX: I think so, too. So Stacy Lewis, she played last week in the Cambia Portland Classic. Stacy's from Houston. Her husband, Gerrod-- he's been on our podcast before-- a good friend of yours. He's a coach at the University of Houston.

But he-- well first of all, we'll get you to tell the story about Gerrod going up to see Stacy in a little while. But she did say that any of her prize money-- all of her prize money, no matter where she finished-- was going to be donated to the Harvey Relief Fund. So Stacy-- I was watching her all weekend, and she got off to a great start. And she went on to win $195,000. So fantastic for Stacy Lewis to get that victory, but even more special because she donated all of her prize money to the victims of Hurricane Harvey and to the cleanup.

The other great thing is that her main sponsor, KPMG-- they matched it. And there's been a lot of matching and extra donations since then. So Gerrod-- you were talking to Stacy's husband, Gerrod, Elk. And he wasn't actually there for most of the tournament, was he?

STEVE ELKINGTON: He was not. We were sitting here texting. And and you know, the interesting thing, I think, about Stacy Lewis was she's an ex number one player in the world. She's won majors. Her, and Gerina Piller, of course, and Brittany Lang were on the winning Solheim Cup just not three weeks ago up in Iowa.

And she hasn't won on tour in three years. And you know, I'm always interested in seeing veteran players that have gone through a stretch of not winning. What-- you know, what flips the switch? And what changes something? And it was interesting to me, you know, about Stacy getting out in front by four strokes. And I was talking to Gerrod on the phone and he's like, hey man-- he says, yeah, I think she's got this one. You know, because she's sort of deflected the pressure away-- whatever that pressure was of thinking about herself or to thinking about-- I don't know what she's thinking about.

I can only imagine-- OK. She said at the beginning of the week, I'm going to give all my money. OK. That's noble and that's awesome, but, you know, if you come in 45 it's not going to be that exciting a number. But it's still noble. But when you get in the lead, and now everybody, all of a sudden, has become news in the country that Stacy Lewis indeed has a chance to win for the first time in three years, and she's going to donate all of her prize money. Then it became a really, really important story.

Gerrod said, you know what, I'm going to get on a plane. I'm going to go out there. I said, get on a plane. And Go out there. So he did. He got out there. And he didn't go out on the course and see her. He didn't want to spook her. So he waited-- he waited in the truck with Jim Gallagher, watching on the TV in the truck, and watching it.

And it got really tight. She was up four. And then, at the end, she finished up having to make four at the last hole to win this event. And, of course, she did. And then, Gerrod surprised her on 18. And I think Stacy is-- this type of girl that she is, I think-- I read her lips. She says, you almost made me cry. I was like, I was crying. And I'm worried about Stacy crying. I was crying.

DIANE KNOX: But as you say, she hasn't won for three years. So first of all, there's that kind of like, I guess the relief of winning. When you haven't won for a few years, when you used to be the best in the world, and then you get that win-- that's amazing. Of course, it's amazing. It's always going to be great to finish first.

But then, for Stacey to know the difference that she has made with that money to people's lives in her home city. That has to just be the icing on the cake.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Yeah, I've already talked to Gerrod They're not sure yet how they're going to put this all together. I know you noted already that KPMG, her sponsors, great, great friends of the tour-- they sponsor the PGA for the women's PGA-- they doubled it. So there she is at $400. And then, I think, oh, Marathon Oil Company from Houston, this Stacy wears on her chest of her shirt-- gave a million.

And Stacy went to University of Arkansas. And Arkansas have some of the most wealthiest companies-- two of them that stand out right, that have so, so admirer of Stacy Lewis's-- Wal-Mart, number one, makes the most money of any company in the world, and then, Tyson's Chickens.

So I don't know for sure, but I think Mr. Tyson put in $100,000. So Stacy now, of that one gesture at $200,000 for winning, and now it's up to like a million five. It's so good. Stacy played golf course at the Woodlands High School. She has scoliosis when she was a girl. We know that story, if you follow along with Secret Golf, which she didn't think she'd be able to play golf, and she has those wooden-- sorry-- metal rods put in her back.

So-- you know, it's wonderful to see our players win on the tour. I think for Stacy, going forward, it just reiterates that she's good enough to do it. I mean you get to wonder when you see Lexi Thompson, and you see all these girls that are winning, you know, on the tour-- you know, Lydia Ko. You wonder if your good is still good, right?

And of course, she's answered that now. And you know, when I look at these girl players, they play almost every week on the tour. Like, when she won the Solheim cup and they had a big party and all that-- I probably would've went home for two weeks. She went on to play in somewhere else, and then she went to Portland and won. Now she's in Indianapolis playing again at an event that's never been played before, so they need her presence.

I just think the LPGA is a little bit under the radar. I think the girls play so well over there. I don't know why the girls don't get more publicity.

DIANE KNOX: I do think it's changing. And I was looking at the leaderboards all weekend. Gaby Lopez was up there for a while, Gerina Piller, as well. So our Secret Golf girls are on great form right now. Brittany Lang, of course, part of the US winning team at the Solheim Cup.

Do you think the win at the Solheim Cup played a big part in Stacy's win in Portland?

STEVE ELKINGTON: I would say, no. And the reason I'm saying that is because she didn't play that good at the Solheim Cup. She only won-- she got beat three times in the Solheim Cup. She only won one match. She played four times and lost three-- two with Gerina and then she lost her singles match, so-- it looked like her putting wasn't that good. But of course, everyone knows in golf that if you're a decent putter, you're not very far away from being a good putter.

So I think she was disappointed. I think it went the other way, Diane. I think she was mad at her performance even though they won. I'm only guessing, of course. I think she was mad at herself and she went and said, you know what? I got to fix this, right here, or I'm never going to win again. And anyway-- she-- the rest is history, of course. But I think it did the opposite for her.

DIANE KNOX: And then the additional focus of wanting to raise as much money as possible to help people in Houston. So well done to Stacy, though. It was brilliant. And I'm so glad that Gerrod flew up to celebrate with her on the 18th green. That was very sweet.

So the next thing to talk about-- well, as you said, our mailbox is filled. You put it out on Twitter that you wanted as many questions and topics that people could get in touch with and get you to discuss on this podcast.

The FedEx Cup-- a lot of people talking about the FedEx Cup, right now. Obviously, we're in the playoffs. So we're going to talk about that for a little bit. Elk, first of all, what are your thoughts on the FedEx Cup playoffs?

STEVE ELKINGTON: Well, I'm all for the players making a lot of money. That's fantastic. I mean, we've got-- we've got three of our players, Secret Golf players that are still in the playoffs. I think, you probably got to be in front of you, but I know Pat Perez has won over $4 million. He's intense.

We've got Brian Harman and Dufner. Dufner's like 25th. What's--is Harmon up There

DIANE KNOX: He's in 15th place for Harmon. And then, Dufner is 25th. So those are our three--

STEVE ELKINGTON: So we've got three of our players in the top 25?

DIANE KNOX: Yeah, amazing.

STEVE ELKINGTON: As well as Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson have made the playoffs, what they are to date, I still am not that excited about it. I don't really understand it. I don't know how you win it. I do know how you win it in theory. I don't know who's in front or who's-- how do you--

There's no way to sort a gauge, for me-- in other words, right now all I'm hearing on the TV is this guys may not be in next week. Bubba Watson just made a bogey and he's not going to play. And two weeks from now, in Chicago, he's going to drop to 73rd, and then, another guy is 70-- you know what? I don't care about the guy in 73rd. This is the playoffs. I want to talk about the top.

And you know, of course, I'm old school. And we used to play by money. We used to play, you know, by the money list. So you could-- it was easy for the viewer to scroll down and see if it was possible for someone to go over someone else.

Now that being said, Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth was remarkable. That's what everyone was looking for last week, I guess, or two weeks ago. And then, Justin Thomas-- Justin Thomas is emerging as, you know, one of the next great American players.

I always get a kick out of-- I see that swing, that little swing when he was a little kid on the TV that [INAUDIBLE] keeps running where he's just got such a long and loose swing and his pants are too-- Yeah, it reminds me of Sam, you know, when he was out playing golf. They're so little. And Jason Thomas is not that big in stature, as far as size, but he has so much leverage in his swing.

And the other thing I like about him and Spieth is that they only ever had one coach. Justin Thomas's dad coaches him and he doesn't listen to anyone else. And I think, for me, that's really important. Because when you've only done what your dad has told you, or you've had one coach, like Jordan Spieth, you get really good at what you do.

Now, if you overhaul your swing, and let's say I did that today, it's going to take me a while to get good again. You with me? In other words, I got to-- a lot of trust, but-- these guys-- if I hear NBC say one more time that those two guys are friends, I'm going to throw up.

At any rate, the thing that they have going for them is they love golf. They love it. They are enthralled. They are dipped in it. Jordan Spieth talks about, oh, well I'm not that worried about winning the PGA this week. I'm going to play in 25 more of these. Justin Thomas plays golf when he's not competing on the tour. So these guys just love golf.

And we see so many people that are burned out of golf and they're not playing up to their potential.

DIANE KNOX: Yeah. I mean you were talking about that video of Justin Thomas when he was a little boy-- I saw something the other day and it was three videos of him together from different stages of his life. So the one when he was a little kid, then there was a current on was at the end, and one from a few years ago, in the middle. His swing is the same. He's got that little twirl in his swing that he's had ever since he was a child. So he's kept it constant and he's getting the best results of his life right now.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Yeah. And you know the tour, by the way, the tour has always had a pack leader. I invented a term for the 125, the top 125 money list. I used to call that the penguin theory. And what the penguin theory is out on the-- out in the ocean there's a rock that sits out in the ocean. And there's room for 125 penguins to sit up on top of that rock. And swimming around the rock there's hundreds and hundreds of other penguins looking to jump up on that rock. Well that's like the PGA Tour.

What you need to do is you need to stand in the middle of the-- middle of the rock, Diane. You don't want to be out on the edges of the rock where you can fall in. you with me? And fall off tour and not get back on.

The other idea that I had was called the pack leader. Now, the pack leader of the tour whether they-- whether they want to have that role or not, there still is a pack leader, like a lion pack. And it's been Tiger Woods for probably the last, whatever, 15 years. And what that means is everybody-- all the rest of the pack, all of us-- we look at Tiger as wanting what he has.

So Tiger had all these majors. Some of us one, or whatever. And we're all try to be like Tiger and catch up to that. It was Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman, you name the number one. There's always that pack leader. Well right now, the pack leader is Jordan Spieth. And Justin Thomas is-- says it in his interviews-- he says, I am so mad when-- that Justin-- that Jordan Spieth has three majors and I only have one, and I'm still hungry, and all this.

It's the pack men-- the pack mentality that he's still chasing that pack leader. Jordan Spieth doesn't have to even admit that he's the pack leader. I'm just telling you that he is one. Dustin Johnson is up there pretty good. He doesn't seem like he's a pack leader. Rory's not a pack leader. Jason Day is not a pack leader. There sort of-- I think Rory, more than anyone, has been affected by Tiger not being on the tour, because he doesn't have anyone to chase anymore. And that could be his-- his not playing that well this season could be that he's just either a little injured and maybe not focused quite on the prize, if you know want I mean.

I don't like the gap in the-- I don't like the gap in the playoffs, but I know it takes four-- it's just too much to play them all in a row, so-- I just-- you know what? I'm not into the playoffs. End of story.

DIANE KNOX: Now we're down to the top 70. I have to mention it, because you were talking about the bubble, as they're calling it. And after the Dell Technologies Championship last week, my brother, Russell Knox, finished 71. Ugh, 71.

STEVE ELKINGTON: So that was even painful for you. You were in the family. Nobody wants to know about 70-- I'm sorry.

DIANE KNOX: I think nobody wants to know about 72 onwards. I think 71, you've got to feel the pain.

STEVE ELKINGTON: 71 is-- that's painful.

DIANE KNOX: Painful. I spoke to him today, and I did not mention it once. We didn't talk about golf once. So I think he's quite happy to not have to deal with it for a little while.

STEVE ELKINGTON: You know, the funny thing is, at the beginning of the year, you know, Diane, if you would went to your brother and say, where do you think you'll finish on the money list this year, you know? And you know, he may get a little cocky and say, yeah I'd like to win three times and finish in the top 30. OK. What's realistic, you know? And he might say, well you know top 50 is a good benchmark. You know, to be in all the majors, you know the majors, and all that. So 71st-- I would tell him 71st is not far from 50. It's only 20 people. That's OK. You're in the middle of the-- you're in the middle of the penguin theory. You know, tell him that--

DIANE KNOX: I'll tell him that.

STEVE ELKINGTON: --he's in the middle.

DIANE KNOX: That might make him feel better, because I'm sure he-- I'm sure if you'd asked him at the beginning of the season, 71 would not have been his number. Nowhere near that.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Exactly. Exactly.

DIANE KNOX: OK so--

STEVE ELKINGTON: There's never been more distance between 70th and 71st is what you're saying?

DIANE KNOX: I mean, I don't care about the FedEx Cup Playoffs anymore, and I don't want to watch them at all.

STEVE ELKINGTON: I don't blame you.

DIANE KNOX: Yeah. Right, the next thing that a lot of people get in touch with on Twitter to get your opinion on, and I am very excited for this next bit of the podcast, is the President's Cup. So the President's Cup is happening at Liberty National in New York starting the 26th of September-- so a couple of weeks to go. And it is the US team against the International team.

So Elk, first of all, do you want to just talk about the President's Cup in general-- your thoughts on that, before we delve into the issue that I know that we're going to delve into?

STEVE ELKINGTON: Well, for those that don't know what the President's Cup is, it's the US versus the rest of the world minus Europe. So I was in four President's Cup teams back from '96 or '94 on, and we only won once, which was in Australia at Royal Melbourne. We'd been whitewashed by the Americans. They play so well in the President's Cup. It's a great advantage.

It's the brainchild of Tim Finchem. He wanted to not leave out the American-- oh sorry, he did not want to leave out the international players from playing in a team event, like the Ryder Cup. And you know, it's only good if it's close, right? And of course, both teams are loaded. OK. Well why don't you tell me who my team is. Who's in my team?

DIANE KNOX: So captain is Nick Price.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Oh, yeah.

DIANE KNOX: Then, in the team-- Hideki Matsuyama,

STEVE ELKINGTON: Great.

DIANE KNOX: Jason Day,

STEVE ELKINGTON: Aussie, yep.

DIANE KNOX: Of course. Another Aussie in Adam Scott.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Adam Scott-- everybody-- all the girls love Adam Scott. That he just had another baby. What-- is that-- does that even matter, anymore? Is he still a sex symbol if he's got kids now? You tell--

DIANE KNOX: Of course he is.

STEVE ELKINGTON: You are the perfect person--

DIANE KNOX: Adam Scott has got the best bum on tour. I'm putting it out there, right now.

STEVE ELKINGTON: He does?

DIANE KNOX: Yeah.

STEVE ELKINGTON: OK. All right. So let me ask you a question, because if a guy is off the market like that, can he still be like a super sex symbol like Adam Scott? Because guys don't look at guys, like we think they're good looking or whatever, you know what I mean?

DIANE KNOX: Yeah, I think you're always going to admire from afar someone like Adam Scott, of course. But then you've always got respect for the fact that if they're married and they have a family is great, but you can still-- they're still eye candy.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Oh, OK got it. OK. All right. Let's keep going.

DIANE KNOX: We need that. Louis Oosthuizen.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Oh, great.

DIANE KNOX: I thought you were going to say, Oh, eye candy. [LAUGHTER]

STEVE ELKINGTON: No.

DIANE KNOX: Great bum.

STEVE ELKINGTON: No.

DIANE KNOX: Charl Schwartzel.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Oh yeah. Great-- one of the greatest strikers ever.

DIANE KNOX: Marc Leishman.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Another Australian.

DIANE KNOX: Yes. Branden Grace. Of course, great year for him after [INTERPOSING VOICES]

STEVE ELKINGTON: --South African.

DIANE KNOX: And he set the-- the major record at the Open, this year.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Lowest score in a major championship history.

DIANE KNOX: Jhonattan Vegas.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Yes. Jhonattan Vegas lives here in Houston. Just won in Canada. Great.

DIANE KNOX: Si-woo Kim, players champion from this year.

STEVE ELKINGTON: God, how could you-- that guy was just so precise.

DIANE KNOX: Yeah, dialed in. And Adam Hadwin.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Hadwin shot 59, and won this year in Canada. You know what? I'm glad we got a Canadian on there, because Canada represents more than any other country. They travel. They go to the Gulf. I can be playing with Mike Weir in the day-- I could be playing at Greensboro, North Carolina at a 750 off the 10th tee on a Thursday and walk down there in the fog, and there'll be 2,000 Canadians standing there waiting to see Mike Weir play. It's amazing. They come out of nowhere. They come out of rabbit holes, Canadians do. OK. That was good.

DIANE KNOX: And then the two captain picks in Emiliano Grillo and Anirban--

STEVE ELKINGTON: Anirban Lahiri.

DIANE KNOX: Lahiri.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Yeah. Anirban Lahiri from India-- that ought to be good. We ought to be able to add another 7 billion people to the telecast with Anirban. If he was playing cricket, we'd have more. But--

And of course, Grillo won at the Frys this year. I haven't seen much of Grillo, so I'm going to be interested to see him. I know him and Jordan Spieth have been tweeting against one another about how Jordan Spieth is going to crush him in the singles match.

DIANE KNOX: Oooh.

STEVE ELKINGTON: I like it.

DIANE KNOX: You feeling good about your international team, though?

STEVE ELKINGTON: I don't know how I could feel any better, to be honest with you.

DIANE KNOX: Oh, you don't say.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Look-- look at the lineup. I mean, it's just ridiculous.

DIANE KNOX: Well, do you want to hear the US team?

STEVE ELKINGTON: I certainly do.

DIANE KNOX: So captain by Steve Stricker. You have the power houses in there-- Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth--

STEVE ELKINGTON: Wait a second. Hold on, hold on. Why did you open up with that, when you said-- you didn't open up like that for us. I mean, we've got some long hitters--

DIANE KNOX: I'm sorry.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Louis Oosthuizen's a powerhouse. Adam Scott's powerhouse. Jason Day's powerhouse.

DIANE KNOX: If you were to talk about the powerhouse right now though, it would be Dustin, surely.

STEVE ELKINGTON: OK. Fair enough. I just wanted to make sure-- I just want to see where you-- where your allegiance was lying there. Sorry.

DIANE KNOX: It's got nothing to do with his butt, anyway, put it that way. So--

STEVE ELKINGTON: OK.

DIANE KNOX: Dustin Johnson--

STEVE ELKINGTON: He walks like a girl, by the way, doesn't he? He swings his hips back and forth like a girl.

DIANE KNOX: I have never noticed his walk, but I'm going to check that out from now on, definitely.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Yeah. Everybody says that.

DIANE KNOX: So Dustin, Jordan Spieth,

STEVE ELKINGTON: Yeah.

DIANE KNOX: Oh, you don't say-- you're just like, yeah.

STEVE ELKINGTON: He's good. He's good.

DIANE KNOX: There's nothing else I can say. Man of the moment, Justin Thomas, of course.

STEVE ELKINGTON: He's good.

DIANE KNOX: Daniel Berger.

STEVE ELKINGTON: He's good.

DIANE KNOX: Yeah. Rickie Fowler.

STEVE ELKINGTON: He is really good.

DIANE KNOX: Brooks Koepka.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Unreal. US Open champ.

DIANE KNOX: Kevin Kisner-- it's been a great year for him.

STEVE ELKINGTON: So good. Love Kisner.

DIANE KNOX: Matt Kuchar-- how can you not love him?

STEVE ELKINGTON: Kuchar-- I mean, guy-- you know, he close his eyes and hit it straight.

DIANE KNOX: Patrick Reed.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Great. How could you not have him?

DIANE KNOX: Kevin Chappell.

STEVE ELKINGTON: I love that he made it at the end. That guy-- that guy hits the ball. He's got the best swing, that Kevin Chappell. He has the best-- one of the best-- if you haven't seen Kevin Chappell hit the ball prop, and you get to see him-- go watch that guy. That's my next Justin Thomas guy coming up like--

DIANE KNOX: Well he got in there. He finished at 10th, so of course he got in. But he only got into the 10th place by 0.073 points ahead of Charley Hoffman, who was one of the captain's picks.

STEVE ELKINGTON: It's really interesting that you say that, because you said 0.0-- that's really close right? Over two years, right?

DIANE KNOX: Mm-hmm. 0.073 points. And then, the second captain's pick-- or maybe it was the first captain's pick, who knows-- is Phil Mickelson. Now we've had-- we said that we put this out on Twitter. We had-- it kind of opened up and said anything you want to talk about, anything you want to hear Elk's opinion on-- this was by far the most popular thing that everyone is talking about this week, is Phil Mickelson being a captain's pick for the US President's Cup team.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Well as you noted there, it wasn't even a pick. Because you know, I was on a debate team, Diane-- I think you know that, because we do a lot of debating in my company-- but once you get a topic, you flip a coin to see which side you debate. So I think every writer out there I read this week, they all gave their spiel on why Phil Mickelson should be a pick.

And NBC, basically, were running ads for Phil. You know, they-- that was the most-- I'm going to argue it on the other side, Diane, if you don't mind.

DIANE KNOX: Go for it.

STEVE ELKINGTON: So NBC and Dan Hicks were showing Phil play on the weekend, and they were saying, and surely, he'll be picked. And he's seventh or eighth for President's Cup. And you know what? They don't know that. It's just a conflict of interest. They were promoting Phil Mickelson to be picked so they could have him on his team when they shoot the President's Cup in a couple of months from now.

But let me back up just a little bit, because Phil's a master at playing the press. And you know, he hasn't been playing very good this year. And he has been saying things like, I really want to make this team, but I need to show Captain Stricker something, something. I need to show him something. I don't want to play, if I'm not showing him anything.

So he shows up this week in Boston, and he has a great round. He goes to the press and says, you know, the reason I'm playing good now is I just went to the doctor. I have this undisclosed illness, and he's helped me with my focus. My focus is back.

So they picked up on that. Boy, they sprinkled those breadcrumbs down. Those media-- they gobbled them up like little marshmallows. And they went out now, well, there's no way Phil Mickelson is going to play the good now the rest of his life, because he's focused.

I just-- I'm just not buying it. And I'll tell you why I'm not buying it, because I don't think-- I think it was an inside job. I think he was always going to get picked and I'll tell you why. NBC never mentioned who was-- Diane, you tell me, you watched the telecast after Charley Hoffman. Who did they have to go over to get to Phil Mickelson at number 15? Who did they mention on Saturday or Sunday that they had to go over?

DIANE KNOX: Well, we had some of our guys in-- Jason Dufner and Brian Harman.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Jason Dufner was number 12-- never mentioned once on the telecast that he had a chance to be on the President's Cup team. Won Jack Nicklaus's Tournament this year. Brian Harman won in Charlotte. The greatest chipper and putter on the PGA Tour, and came within one stroke of-- came within 70 holes. He was leading the US Open that Brooks Koepka won. One of the greatest up and down merchants in the history of the game-- never even got a mention.

And I think it was just going to happen. It was going to be the 10 that made it. 11 was Phil and 12th was Charley Hoffman at number 11, it was backwards. And it's the greatest inside job of all time. I just-- I'm sorry, I can't-- I'm just not buying it.

DIANE KNOX: Well so, you would say-- [INTERPOSING VOICES]

STEVE ELKINGTON: But, on the other side, he's got a great record in the President's Cup.

DIANE KNOX: Yeah.

STEVE ELKINGTON: The thing is, the team, as you noted, Diane, they're all up and coming players. Phil is not up and coming. He's at the peak, maybe, starting to turn down. Why take that guy? Let some other guys get in there and get some experience. The team's loaded. I mean, come on.

DIANE KNOX: The last time Phil won was the Open in 2013. And, as you were saying, and he said it, too, his form has not been great. He had to show Captain Stricker something. And--

STEVE ELKINGTON: Well, what did he show great?

DIANE KNOX: Well he finished sixth last week. And the other stat is Phil's played in every team event for the US-- so Ryder Cup and President's Cup since 1994. Every single one.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Yes. And we know that-- we know at some point, that has to end, right? And I think he's even-- I think he's even made every team legit-- like he hasn't ever been picked before, I don't think. So, I just don't-- OK. He's had a nice run. You know, he's played in lots of teams. Why not use the advantage of him not making this one?

He hasn't played good. You're passing over guys that almost won majors. And both won. And I didn't even mention Gary Woodland. He's a long hitter. He's a good player. Why? Why would you do it? The tour like stories. They like stories. NBC likes stories. Phil adds a big story to the President's Cup. End of story.

DIANE KNOX: Oh well. We will have to see what happens in the next couple of weeks, then, when, um-- when the President's Cup heads to New York.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Now-- now, what overflowed my mailbox, Diane, was your picture of you in the blue bikini the other day-- would you-- would you mind telling us a little bit more about that? And were you fishing in the blue bikini? Cause you're on the end of a boat.

DIANE KNOX: When you say fishing, I know that you don't mean, was I physically fishing with a rod off the boat. You don't mean that at all.

STEVE ELKINGTON: You were fishing for men, were you?

DIANE KNOX: OK. In my defense-- first of all, it was a Labor Day, and I was out with my friends, in Jacksonville, on the water, on the boat. Secondly, I put the picture on Instagram, and my Instagram audience is very different to my Twitter audience. So I would like to say thank you to you who took the picture from my Instagram and then presented it to the Twitter masses. So thank you.

STEVE ELKINGTON: We're thinking that--

DIANE KNOX: Thanks.

STEVE ELKINGTON: I'm thinking that-- well Jason Dufner tweeted it, so he must have liked your blue bikini, too, because he has like 600,000 people that follow him, so that blew up my mailbox over here, but-- should we continue to have-- I think we should ask them on this post-- shall we continue blue bikini Wednesday podcast, or blue bikini Thursday podcast? And how many colored bikinis do you have? I think you did it to mess up your friends in Scotland, because there's no way anyone was wearing a bikini in Scotland on Labor Day was there?

DIANE KNOX: Well, they wouldn't even know what Labor Day was in Scotland. But I'll tell you what, we can continue with the bikini them--

STEVE ELKINGTON: I mean, on that day, in Scotland, was anyone in anything other than a tweed blouse?

DIANE KNOX: They were probably in rain gear. We can do the bikini theme, but I think that it's only fair that one day you don the blue bikini and we see what happens on Twitter then.

STEVE ELKINGTON: That would be something there to see.

DIANE KNOX: That would be terrifying.

STEVE ELKINGTON: It would have to be-- it would be terrifying. OK. So I think that was a pretty good podcast. I think if you would like to submit any questions, you can do that a Secret Golf and ask us any of your pointed questions that you need some opinions about. Mostly, Diane-- very interjected, from me, occasionally.

DIANE KNOX: I do like the-- I do like the opening up the questions on Twitter. We're at Secret Golf on Twitter. So if you want to send your questions that way. And of course, you are at Elk PGA, and people do send questions to you, very regularly. And you're very good at replying. It's got to be said.

STEVE ELKINGTON: And of course, if you make some terrible question to us, you might get read out and blown up over here on this podcast, if you want to be a complete goose and make a fool of yourself. And we'll call your mother.

DIANE KNOX: OK. We're OK with that, though. It's entertaining. It's good for us.

STEVE ELKINGTON: We'll call their mother and tell them. And that is-- that's the conclusion of us today. And until the third leg of the FedEx Cup continues.

DIANE KNOX: Well hopefully, our podcast will be back next week after Hurricane Irma passes through. And fingers crossed doesn't cause too much destruction here, in Jacksonville.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Amen to that.

DIANE KNOX: So don't forget, you can follow us on Twitter at Secret Golf. Any questions, get them over to us there. We're also on Instagram and on Facebook. And don't forget, check out SecretGolf.com That's where all of our players are, our secret instruction, are player channels with the likes of last week's winner on the LPGA Tour, Stacy Lewis, Pat Perez, Jason Dufner, Brian Harman-- all involved in the FedEx Cup playoffs still. And you can find everything you need to know about their game at SecretGolf.com.

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