Mark Greenhalgh 0:55
Here are your hosts, Hal Sutton and Mark Greenhalgh. Be The Right Club Today Podcast presented by Makefield Putters for the week of October 20. Hal Sutton, Mark Greenhalgh here. Hal, how’s it going this week?

Hal Sutton 1:07
Mark, in the air.

Mark Greenhalgh 1:10
Oh yeah. I don’t know, do you like fall? I’m a summer guy. I’m a hazy, hot, and humid kind of person. What’s your favorite time of year?

Hal Sutton 1:20
Fall’s my favorite time of year. I love football, and I love it cooling down. I don’t like cold weather, but I like to see it cool just a little bit.

Mark Greenhalgh 1:29
I don’t know, I might have to retire in Aruba where it’s 95 every day. I’m out at my son’s soccer practice the other night… the breeze is blowing, it’s sprinkling, and I’ve got jeans and a hoodie on, and I’m cold at 70 degrees. Hal, I don’t like it.

Hal Sutton 1:55
I can see you’re a hoodie guy, Mark. I’ve never worn a hoodie in my life. Maybe that’s why I can handle the cooler weather.

Mark Greenhalgh 2:07
Well, let’s get to our weekly recap across the major tours, our topic of the week about major championships, and then what’s coming up on the schedule. We start with the PGA Tour, but they had the week off. Rare these days.

Hal Sutton 2:38
Crazy. Seems like they go nonstop now.

Mark Greenhalgh 2:41
Yeah, 24/7, 365… but not this week. So that begs a question: at the peak of your career, how many events felt like the right balance? You played 31 events your rookie year in 1982. You also played 31 in 1995. Many seasons you were around 26–28. Was that the sweet spot?

Hal Sutton 3:34
I felt like 26–28 was right. The 31 my first year was because it wasn’t an all-exempt tour, if you made the cut, you didn’t have to Monday qualify. So I kept playing. Later in the year, I started playing better and making money, so it made sense to keep going. With the all-exempt tour today, players can pick and choose more.

Mark Greenhalgh 4:27
Yeah, and in ’95 you threw another 31-event season in there. You had a win, a couple seconds, four top 10s… seem like you were in a groove.

Hal Sutton 5:13
I was trying to get my game back. In ’92 and ’93 I didn’t play well, lost my card, had to use my all-exempt winner status, and then came back as Comeback Player of the Year. How much you play depends on what you’re trying to accomplish and how you’re feeling.

Mark Greenhalgh 5:54
Well in ’95 you missed six cuts in a row and then, boom, T27, then 4th, then a win. For amateurs it’s hard to understand how players can suddenly “find something.”

Hal Sutton 6:31
Golf is a game of feel, not science. When you’re missing cuts, you’re searching. Suddenly you feel something familiar, a position, a motion, and then it starts showing up in competition. Change is extremely difficult.

Mark Greenhalgh 7:31
I agree. With video, slow motion, you can break down a swing into 1,000 frames. But personally, video often messed me up. Did you rely on video?

Hal Sutton 8:18
I had plenty of video, but many times I’d practice for hours thinking it must look different, and on video it barely changed. Big changes are very hard the more balls you’ve hit in your life.

Mark Greenhalgh 9:00
Onto the DP World Tour: the DP World India Championship where Tommy Fleetwood continued his end-of-year run, winning by two over Keita Nakajima for his eighth tour win. The best part, his son Frankie got to run out on the green for the first time.

Hal Sutton 9:34
The joy comes from sharing it with the people who’ve supported you.

Mark Greenhalgh 9:49
Tommy has now won on the PGA Tour, played great Ryder Cup golf, and won on the DP World Tour, all in a short span. He’s now up to No. 5 in the world. Does this raise expectations for a major in 2026?

Hal Sutton 10:18
Of course. Everyone has expectations of him, but none greater than his own. He wants to keep climbing.

Mark Greenhalgh 10:40
We’ve seen similar surges, like Viktor Hovland, only for changes to derail momentum. Sometimes not changing is the right move.

Hal Sutton 11:32
Players are always searching. People pressure them to improve even when they’re already great. Change doesn’t always help, my friend Payne Stewart changed clubs and the ball at the same time; it didn’t work well.

Mark Greenhalgh 12:15
We’ve seen Phil do it, and Tiger. Even the best struggle with major change. Over on the LPGA Tour, Se Young Kim fired a final-round 67 to win the BMW Ladies Championship, her 13th title and first win in five years. Hard to believe considering how dominant she once was.

Hal Sutton 13:47
You never know what’s going on in someone’s life.

Mark Greenhalgh 13:50
Since Se Ri Pak won two majors in 1998, 17 Korean players have won LPGA majors, plus many from Japan and China. Amazing how one player can transform golf in a country.

Hal Sutton 14:31
People in other countries admire and follow differently than we do here. In the U.S. we have so many distractions. Overseas, the focus is greater.

Mark Greenhalgh 15:13
Same on the men’s side, Seve Ballesteros, José María Olazábal, then Sergio García, Jon Rahm, a Spanish pipeline. Same in Sweden because of Annika. Same in Australia.

Hal Sutton 16:11
Other countries often make golf more fun. They have team leagues, junior competitions. Here, private lessons dominate, kids learn in a simulator instead of on the golf course. Parents invest so much money that the kid feels pressure instead of joy.

Mark Greenhalgh 17:25
I try not to be that parent. My son plays soccer, but if he wants to hit whiffle balls, great. Same with golf. I try to stay hands-off.

Hal Sutton 18:07
Finding the right balance as a parent is tough.

Mark Greenhalgh 18:26
Let’s drop in a Makefield Putters promo…

Hal Sutton 19:39
The thing I love is the ball gets rolling quicker instead of bouncing.

Mark Greenhalgh 20:09
Bentgrass to Bermuda transition taught me that too. On Bermuda, skid kills you.

Mark Greenhalgh 20:35
Korn Ferry Tour is done for the year; Q-School in December.

PGA Tour Champions: Justin Leonard came back from three down to win the Dominion Energy Charity Classic by one over Thomas Bjørn and Ernie Els. Hal, do we really need playoffs on every tour?

Hal Sutton 21:47
Players need a break where they’re not losing ground. Back when I played, the season ended in late October, and nobody passed you in silly-season events. Now it’s nonstop.

Mark Greenhalgh 22:25
True. That wraps up our recap. When we come back, our topic of the week: major championships.

BTRC Audio 23:45
Now back to more Be The Right Club Today…

Mark Greenhalgh 23:51
Welcome back, Hal Sutton, Mark Greenhalgh. Let’s talk major championships. Earlier this year, Gary Player ranked them:

1. The Open Championship
2. The U.S. Open
3. The PGA Championship
4. The Masters

He based it mostly on age and tradition. I rank them:

1. Masters
2. Open Championship
3. U.S. Open
4. PGA Championship

Hal, how do you rank them?

Hal Sutton 24:54
PGA is number one, for obvious reasons. But seriously, the Masters has the weakest field. Tradition-wise it’s number one, but not strength-of-field. The Open’s been around the longest. The U.S. Open is mentally brutal. It’s hard to rank them, venue changes everything.

Mark Greenhalgh 26:25
Should The Players Championship be a fifth major?

Hal Sutton 27:34
It has the strongest field. You can make a case either way. People have debated it forever.

Mark Greenhalgh 27:55
LPGA and Champions Tour both have five majors. Seems logical to me. It’s one of the hardest and most prestigious events to win. And yes, you’d be a three-time major champion.

Hal Sutton 28:48
Well, I’ve learned I have little influence over other people’s decisions. I won’t lose sleep over it. I’m happy with my career, and happy I don’t have to wake up worrying about hitting fairways anymore.

Mark Greenhalgh 29:17
Fair enough. I think the PGA Championship has done the best job with course setup the last decade. They reward good shots and penalize bad ones, simple. Kerry Haigh has done a great job.

Hal Sutton 30:07
I’m a big Kerry guy. I didn’t love the Bethpage setup this year, but that may have been the captain’s input.

Mark Greenhalgh 30:25
Even Augusta National, the par fives used to create drama, now they’re so long that eagles rarely happen. They’ve “Tiger-proofed” and “Bryson-proofed” the course so much that the Sunday roars aren’t the same.

Hal Sutton 31:42
They’ve made tremendous changes. People worry too much about preventing something instead of allowing excitement. You used to see eagles regularly, now you don’t.

Mark Greenhalgh 32:19
By the way, did you ever try not to win the Par-3 Contest because the winner never wins the Masters?

Hal Sutton 32:33
I won it once, so no, I didn’t try to avoid it. Maybe I should have! Players often care too much at Augusta. It can crush you mentally.

Mark Greenhalgh 33:14
Do you think now that Rory’s won one, he can win multiple?

Hal Sutton 33:44
He certainly can. It’s all mental for him, not physical.

Mark Greenhalgh 34:02
Does the USGA depend too much on the right weather?

Hal Sutton 34:22
They won’t take it anywhere hot. That eliminates many great courses. And yes, they’re obsessed with par.

Mark Greenhalgh 34:58
When it’s dry and windy, it gets out of control. When it rains, it’s too easy. Razor’s edge. PGA setup seems far more consistent.

Hal Sutton 35:39
That’s the right attitude, reward good shots, penalize bad ones.

Mark Greenhalgh 36:47
I go back to Pebble Beach, 17th hole. Guys couldn’t hold the green even with perfect shots. That’s not golf to me.

Hal Sutton 37:16
They’re committed to their own philosophy, no matter what people say.

Mark Greenhalgh 37:58
Which upcoming venue are you most excited about? Shinnecock, Pebble, Winged Foot, Pinehurst, Merion, Riviera…

Hal Sutton 37:58
They’re all great. I don’t know much about Frisco. But yes, money drives some decisions. Aronimink is a great classic course. Shinnecock can be anything depending on weather.

Mark Greenhalgh 38:40
Pebble is beautiful, but hosting every year makes it tricky as a major venue.

Hal Sutton 39:11
If God told me tomorrow was my last day, I’d ask for the first tee time at Pebble. But yes, it’s short now.

Mark Greenhalgh 39:54
Pinehurst No. 2, remember the Rory vs. Bryson year? Rory flags one on 5, ball rolls off the green, around a bunker, into pine straw. A great shot turning into a six. I hated that.

Hal Sutton 40:58
Modern courses are designed with massive runoff areas, balls can roll 100 yards backward.

Mark Greenhalgh 41:23
Top three best players to never win a major? I say Colin Montgomerie is the lock.

Hal Sutton 41:36
Yes. Also Lee Westwood. And Luke Donald. Americans, Matt Kuchar.

Mark Greenhalgh 41:59
What about Sam Torrance?

Hal Sutton 42:11
Sam was great. His father was a great teacher. Sometimes it’s just timing, right shot at the right moment.

Mark Greenhalgh 42:48
We should get him on the show.

Hal Sutton 42:53
I could probably make that happen.

Mark Greenhalgh 43:14
What about the major rotation, do you like it?

Hal Sutton 44:45
I like a rotation, but I hope money doesn’t dictate everything.

Mark Greenhalgh 45:03
Chambers Bay was a debacle.

Hal Sutton 45:23
Modern agronomy makes greens too fast, you can’t play them traditionally anymore.

Mark Greenhalgh 45:57
Agreed.

Mark Greenhalgh 47:19
Time to wrap it up, PGA Tour is at the Bank of Utah Championship at Black Desert Resort, won last year by Matt McCarty.

Hal Sutton 48:23
You need a computer now to follow exemptions.

Mark Greenhalgh 49:09
DP World Tour: Genesis Championship in South Korea, Byeong Hun An beat Tom Kim last year in a playoff.

Hal Sutton 49:57
Pressure every week.

Mark Greenhalgh 50:01
LPGA: Hanwha Lifeplus International Crown, team event. Strange team makeup this year.

Hal Sutton 51:18
Many things are money-driven.

Mark Greenhalgh 51:26
Korn Ferry done; Champions Tour at Simmons Bank Championship, won last year by Pádraig Harrington, two-time Open champion.

Hal Sutton 52:03
Little Rock loves their golf, hope it’s a great event.

Mark Greenhalgh 52:16
Rumor is our next episode will feature John McGinnis as a guest.

Hal Sutton 52:44
He’s great, that’ll be a fun show.

Mark Greenhalgh 52:56
All right, thanks for listening. Hal Sutton, Mark Greenhalgh. See you next week.