Sandbagger Sessions

Episode 24: Aaron Rai SHOCKS the World at Aronimink

Aaron Rai is your 2026 PGA Champion — and we've got a LOT to talk about. Cole and Stefan break down a wild week at Aronimink, from the controversial "Diet Coke US Open" setup, to Garrick Higgo's now-infamous 1-minute late tee time that cost him the cut by a single shot, to the FootJoy rain gloves and iron headcovers heard around the world. Plus: Cole returns from the Flagstick Open at Equinelle with a tale of "Ireland-level wind," a missed 6-inch tap-in, and an honest C+ grade for his weekend. Stefan tees it up at Lookout Point in Fonthill, and we go deep on whether Rory's back on the "bitchy train," why Cam Smith is the Australian Patrick Reed, and how Eugenio Chacarra walked off a US Open qualifier playoff to catch a flight to Belgium. Throw in a Jordan Spieth pitch shot only five guys on Tour can hit, a heartwarming win on the LET (13 years after being given a 4% chance to live), Bridgestone's new black golf balls (??), Kingston's own Noah Steele Monday qualifying on PGA Tour Americas, and a full breakdown of the International Presidents Cup race where the Canadians are in trouble. Hit subscribe, leave a review, and let us know in the comments: was Higgo robbed, or were the rules just the rules? ---------------------------------------- ⏱ TIMESTAMPS * 01:47 — Cole's weekend at the Flagstick Open at Equinelle (Kemptville, ON) * 05:31 — Stefan plays Lookout Point in Fonthill: tiny Royal Dornoch-style greens on the escarpment * 08:50 — What IS an escarpment? (For our international listeners) * 09:40 — PGA Championship at Aronimink — the big breakdown begins * 10:32 — The "Diet Coke US Open" setup debate + Data Golf's rough stats * 15:30 — Aaron Rai wins his first major: work ethic over natural talent? * 17:11 — The FootJoy rain gloves, iron headcovers, and "me and my golf" logo * 20:48 — "Working hard is a talent" — Stefan's takeaway * 21:55 — Garrick Higgo's 2-stroke penalty for a 1-minute late tee time * 23:00 — Cole's rant: easy to be early, impossible to be on time * 27:36 — Jordan Spieth's 67-yard pitch shot — "only 5 guys on Tour can hit that" * 29:14 — Justin Rose, JT's 65 Sunday, Rahm + Cam Smith resurface from LIV * 31:36 — Patrick Reed gunning for the PGA Tour card via the DP World Tour top-10 * 32:13 — Rory kicks a fan out — is he back on the "bitchy train"? * 33:35 — Schedule talk: Canadian Open, Memorial, US Open, the Scottish Open question * 36:28 — Leonie Harm's LET win — 13 years after a drunk driver gave her a 4% chance to live * 37:31 — Kingston's Noah Steele Monday qualifies into PGA Tour Americas * 38:15 — Eugenio Chacarra leaves a US Open qualifier playoff for a DP World Tour flight * 40:58 — Bridgestone's new black golf balls — what are we doing here? * 42:46 — Picks time: Blades Brown vs. Si Woo Kim for the CJ Cup Byron Nelson * 45:23 — Is Corey Conners cooked? The Canadians' Presidents Cup standing * 47:21 — International points top 6 + Geoff Ogilvy as captain + the Snedeker playing-captain idea

Episode 23: PGA Championship Preview (who will be the dark horse?)

The PGA Championship is here, and Aronimink is the great unknown. Cole and Stefan break down the year's second major in obsessive detail — picks, dark horses, course strategy, and whether anyone can stop Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy from making this another two-horse race. First, they recap Kristoffer Reitan's stunning underdog win at the Truist Championship — a guy ranked 1,945th in the world four years ago, suddenly a PGA Tour winner and Top 25 player. Then they debate whether Quail Hollow actually deserves major championship pedigree, dig into the Aronimink setup (Donald Ross design, the tree removal debate, par 70 at 7,394 yards), and ask the question nobody's answering: if there's "no strategy off the tee," is this really a major championship test? Plus: their PGA Championship picks, a dentist-themed analogy for Cam Young that's somehow perfect, why Brooks Koepka is quietly the most interesting man in golf, Jordan Spieth's career Grand Slam shot, Cam Young's mysterious "rollback conforming" golf ball, and a brutally honest take on what "grow the game" actually means after Graeme McDowell's regret admission and Jon Rahm's telling no-comment on his LIV decision. Cole is also playing the Flagstick Open this weekend, Stefan gave him a last-minute driver fix, and the episode wraps with a free lesson on why you should probably stop taking swing tips from Instagram. ⛳ Timestamps 00:00 — Welcome to the new studio + Stefan's own swing-change update 01:30 — Listener Dan Eddy shoots his best round ever after the Breaking 80 episode 03:00 — Stefan's pre-tournament driver lesson with Cole + the Brooks Koepka quote on losing your swing 04:30 — Flagstick Open promo + why amateur tournaments are where real handicaps get exposed 06:50 — Club-slamming season: three re-shaft requests already this year 08:25 — Truist Championship recap: Kristoffer Reitan's run from 1,945th in the world to PGA Tour winner 11:00 — Does Quail Hollow actually deserve to host a major? 22:00 — Pick 'em update: Stefan's $3.5M lead heading into the second major 25:24 — PGA Championship picks revealed 27:00 — Aronimink breakdown: Donald Ross design, the rough, the side-hill lies 31:00 — The Aronimink tree-removal debate + the Augusta comparison 33:00 — Cam Young's "rollback conforming" ball — what is going on here? 35:00 — Kiawah Ocean Course war stories 36:00 — Scottie's "off year" by the numbers (spoiler: he's still No. 1 in strokes gained total) 39:00 — Rory's toenail saga + the post-Grand Slam mindset 44:00 — The Cam Young dentist analogy and why nobody remembers his wins 47:00 — Big Three or Big Four? Where does Matt Fitzpatrick fit? 49:30 — Jon Rahm's contract no-comment, Graham McDowell's regret, and "you cannot buy history" 54:00 — What does "grow the game" actually mean anymore? 55:30 — Bryson, Ludvig, Xander, Tommy — who's actually in the mix? 58:30 — Brooks Koepka as the sneaky pick + a "he just wants to win" appreciation 1:00:00 — Jordan Spieth's career Grand Slam shot + Ricky Fowler's resurgence 1:06:00 — Real dark horses: Sepp Straka, Russell Henley, Rickie Fowler 1:07:00 — Field deep-dive: how did Luke Donald get in? Plus the Canadian contingent 1:10:00 — Justin Rose's two-bag situation with McLaren irons 1:11:30 — The Michael Block redemption arc — is he in on the joke? 1:15:00 — Cole's Flagstick Open preview + a live-leaderboard call to the listeners 1:17:00 — Stefan's end-of-episode rant: please stop taking driver tips from Instagram 🎙️ Subscribe and hit the bell so you don't miss next week's tournament breakdown and PGA Championship recap. DM us at @SandbaggerSessions during Cole's tournament — you'll know which holes to ask about.

Episode 22: Want to break 90? Break 80? Listen to this.

Cole and Stefan are back — running on minimal sleep and maximum good vibes after Cole's bachelor party weekend at Wooden Sticks Golf Club in Uxbridge, Ontario. Four rounds in three days, hail, rain, snow, and a surprise appearance from their buddy James Duthie of TSN. Then it's straight into tour news, LIV Golf chaos, fantasy picks, and the main event — a full breakdown of exactly what it takes to break 90 and break 80, from a PGA of Canada golf professional. Whether you've been chasing that milestone for years or just want to shave strokes this season, this is the most practical golf improvement episode Sandbagger Sessions has ever done. ---------------------------------------- 📍 Timestamps * 00:00 – Bachelor party recap: 4 rounds in 3 days at Wooden Sticks, James Duthie makes an appearance, and middle-aged men asking for chapstick and massage guns * 04:00 – Tour news: Cam Young goes back-to-back, Stefan's fantasy picks sweep the weekend (Cam Young + Nelly Korda), and the embarrassing attendance at Doral * 06:30 – LPGA pay gap: Cam Young wins $3.6M, Nelly Korda wins $375K — the boys react * 08:30 – LIV Golf is (basically) dead: PIF pulling funding, anonymous owners calling investment "completely not viable" * 13:30 – Truist Championship picks * 18:00 – Main topic begins: Stefan breaks down what it actually takes to break 90 and break 80 (22 episodes in and we finally did this) * 20:00 – Breaking 90: The real theme is disaster avoidance — work your game from the green backward, stop trying to flush it * 27:00 – The three-putt stat that separates 90-shooters from 95-shooters, and why speed beats line every time from 30 feet * 31:00 – Play the right tees, give yourself a shot at the feeling of going low, and why Bryson's "breaking 50" series is actually genius practice * 34:00 – The driver trap: at 236-yard average carry, the guy trying to break 90 needs to stop OB'ing it, not hitting it further * 45:00 – Transitioning to breaking 80: why it's less different than you think, and the one thing Stefan would tell every 15-handicap today * 1:00:00 – Breaking 80 off the tee: pick ONE shot shape and never deviate. Dustin Johnson hits zero draws. Michael Kim draws everything. Both win on tour. * 1:02:00 – The speed training hack: end every range session with 30 max-effort swings — you're not trying to swing 110 on the course, you're raising your floor * 1:05:00 – Final summary: "Make better decisions" — from two guys who made terrible ones all weekend ---------------------------------------- 🏌️ Key Takeaways for Golfers: Breaking 90 and breaking 80 aren't about ball-striking — they're about decision-making, disaster avoidance, and ego management. Stefan and Cole break down the stats, the mental game, and the specific habits that will actually move the needle on your scorecard. ---------------------------------------- Subscribe for weekly episodes covering PGA Tour news, LIV Golf drama, fantasy picks, and real golf improvement content. #Golf #BreakingPar #GolfTips #SandbaggerSessions #LIVGolf #PGATour #GolfPodcast #HowToBreak90 #HowToBreak80 #GolfImprovement

Episode 21: Good trip, bad trip? Must haves and have nots for a good golf trip.

Stefan has a confession. Justin Rose made a questionable decision. And we settle the debate: what ACTUALLY makes a great golf trip? Episode 21 is packed — we recap the Zurich Classic, Nelly Korda's dominant Chevron win, dig into the new Full Swing season, break down the Ryder Cup captain situation in the US, and talk about the hottest amateur in golf right now. Then we go deep on what separates a legendary golf trip from a forgettable one — and the 8 types of guys every great group needs. Oh, and Stefan picked up a free electric push cart off someone's driveway. He has thoughts. So do we. 📝 FULL DESCRIPTION Stefan has a confession, and he's getting ahead of it before the rumours spiral: he picked up a free Motocaddy off someone's driveway and he might be an electric push cart guy now. Cole is not taking it well. From there, we get into a full week of golf — the Fitzpatrick brothers pull off one of the cooler wins of the season at the Zurich Classic, but we debate whether a team event should really be handing out PGA Tour cards. Nelly Korda wins her 3rd major at the Chevron Championship and looks absolutely unbeatable through 72 holes. Justin Rose decides to put McLaren golf clubs in his bag two weeks before the PGA Championship, and Stefan delivers a swift double bogey on that decision. On the Ryder Cup front, Jim Furyk has been named US captain for Adare Manor — and we don't love it. We also talk about Jackson Koiven, who according to DataGolf is now the greatest amateur since 2010, and who Stefan believes will be on the Ryder Cup team next year. Big call. We break down the new season of Full Swing, dig into the Alan Shipnuck Rory McIlroy book, and Stefan makes a compelling case that Bryson DeChambeau would be a cult leader if he wasn't good at golf. Then we get into the main event: what actually makes a great golf trip? Stefan runs through his top 5 factors (accommodations, meals, location, planning, and the group itself), Cole challenges the order, and we land on a full breakdown of the 8 personas you need in your golf trip group — the planner, the down-for-anything guy, the hidden gems guy, the games guy, the life of the party, the connector, the photo/video guy, and the overpacker. Plus the three types that will ruin a trip: the moody one, the person who can't sit in silence, and the FaceTime guy. Cole's bachelor party is this weekend at Wooden Sticks in Uxbridge. Scotland is coming. Episode 22 might include some field footage. Subscribe so you don't miss it.

Episode 20: Will LIV golf live? Ryan French Breaks It All Down.

Will LIV golf live? The biggest story in professional golf right now and possibly the biggest story in a number of years - and the man who broke it first is back with us. Ryan French (Monday Q Info) returns to Sandbagger Sessions to walk us through exactly how he broke the bombshell story that PIF is pulling its funding from LIV Golf, what it means for the future of the tour, and where professional golf goes from here. Ryan takes us behind the scenes: one unexpected phone call, 50+ calls to sources inside and outside of LIV, and a long conversation with his business partner before hitting send on a tweet that ended up with him on CNN, the Golf Channel and much more. He explains why he doesn't regret it - and why he was never doing it for the clicks. We also break down the weekend in golf, Hannah Green's ridiculous stretch of form, and make our Zurich Classic picks for a field so thin that Smiley Kaufman could have gotten in. ---------------------------------------- Timestamps * 0:00 – Welcome to Episode 20 * 1:03 – LIV bombshell teaser + Ryan French is back * 2:54 – Weekend recap: Matt Fitzpatrick wins in a playoff over Scottie Scheffler * 3:52 – Hannah Green is winning at an 80% rate in her last 5 starts * 5:10 – Zurich Classic field breakdown * 9:08 – Fantasy picks for the Zurich Classic * 11:35 – Ryan French joins: how tired is the man who broke golf's biggest story? * 13:43 – The timeline: one phone call turned into 8-10 hours of digging * 17:26 – What is PIF, who is MBS, and how does LIV's funding actually work? * 24:51 – What happened after the tweet dropped; and why the silence spoke volumes * 28:02 – Scott O'Neill's response, the deleted interview, and the PR disaster * 31:11 – The unnamed sources debate: Ryan pushes back * 36:56 – Vendors unpaid, players on edge - "hour by hour" inside LIV * 39:09 – The course correction: PGA Tour layoffs, purses coming down, and what golf actually is as a sport * 46:00 – Why has LIV been so divisive? Ryan gives his honest take * 47:10 – Ryan's prediction: what does the next 6 months look like for LIV? * 57:18 – Cole & Stefan react + their own predictions for player movement ---------------------------------------- A big thanks to our guest, Ryan French, for coming on and being so generous with his time. Make sure you follow Monday Q Info: @caseofthegolf1 on Twitter/X ---------------------------------------- Sandbagger Sessions is a golf podcast hosted by Cole Atkinson and Stefan Thedorf, a PGA of Canada golf professional. New episodes every week. #LIVGolf #RyanFrench #MondayQInfo #PIF #GolfNews #SandbaggerSessions #PGATour #GolfPodcast #LIVGolfDead #MattFitzpatrick #ZurichClassic