The Shotgun Start

This installment of The 2025 Year in Review does NOT contain any unforeseen interruptions but DOES start with a good, old-fashioned Football Minute! Andy is on the road but joins Brendan and PJ for a quick segment regarding a possible Bears move to Gary, Indiana. Andy cannot believe that Kevin Warren would sit awake in his bed and send this open letter on the week of the biggest game in years. The three also share some thoughts on the first-ever "Golf Channel Games" and find that the format might be the best "alt-golf" viewer experience yet. Unfortunately for the broadcast and its advertisers, no one was suckered into wagering on the event. Andy departs for his own mega-podcast session with Tom Doak, leaving Brendan and PJ to carry the baton for this look back at May and June. PJ begins with the Charles Schwab Challenge, a week where the olds took over both Colonial (on the PGA Tour) and Congressional Country Club (on the Senior Tour). He recaps his drive to DC to take in the Senior PGA in-person and provides plenty of Don Rea content for those wanting more from Part 7. Brendan then heads to "Jack's Place," now a proper noun on big letter hats, for the Memorial presented by Workday. Ben Griffin couldn't go back-to-back starts with a win as he was chased down by - who else? - Scottie Scheffler. Rickie Fowler also used his sponsor exemption for good, qualifying for The Open with a top-ten finish! Joseph LaMagna then joins the recording as PJ shares Cameron Young's triumph at U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying and his ensuing close call at the Canadian Open. The Canadian Open also featured the pro debut of Luke Clanton, who was being treated like Cooper Flagg by the PGA Tour ahead of this momentous occasion. Finally, Brendan, PJ, and Joseph recap the third men's major of the year, the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club. They discuss the first-ever episodes of Lunch With The Boys, so much "Championship Rain," and J.J. Spaun's movies of choice, among other amusements from the week. Monday's episode will be a mega-recording as we attempt to finish the Open Championship ahead of Christmas!

In a plot twist that absolutely no one saw coming, Don Rea is somehow NOT the star of this episode recapping the 2025 PGA Championship. Masters winner Rory McIlroy joins Andy, Brendan!, KVV, and PJ to share some thoughts about his own historic year. Rory discusses the Masters win that made him a grand slam champion, his recent travels to Australia, the 2025 Ryder Cup, and much, much more. He even breaks some HUGE TGL news that may lead to one (1) Ballfrog win in 2026! After committing to a future appearance on "Lunch With The Boys," Rory departs and sets the stage for a look back at the 2025 PGA Championship: The Rise of Rea. Andy is tasked with researching the early-week festivities, including dumping rain and a sparsely-attended champions dinner. He then transitions to the main event: Tuesday's press conference featuring Derek Sprague, Kerry Haigh, and Don Rea Jr. Andy reads quotes from our live show from that very day, remembering when PGA members were referred to as "first responders" and recalling his own investigative journalism from a phone call to Augusta Ranch. Kevin Van Valkenburg picks things up for the first two days of play, detailing a leaderboard that prominently featured Jhonattan Vegas, Cam Davis, and Ryan Gerard. Mudballs run rampant after days of rain at Quail Hollow and players like Xander, Scottie, and more are very unhappy! KVV also has the honor of presenting on this year's installment of Blockie-mania, as Michael Block missed the cut after a decent first round. Brendan brings this episode home as he chronicles Scottie Scheffler's dominant Saturday performance that resulted in his third major championship. The 2025 Year in Review, although delayed, will continue on Friday!

Despite the almost four-hour runtime of Part 5, the show must go on as the self-imposed Christmas deadline inches closer and closer. Andy and Brendan are once again joined by PJ and KVV to chat through a set of four events following Rory's win at the Masters. Before the Year in Review gets back underway, the four recap this week's biggest news: Alejandro Tosti's performance at PGA Tour Q-School. Everyone is giddy to have Tosti back for another season on the big tour and they commend him for fighting through Q-School for a second time. Andy, Brendan, and Kevin also discuss some late-breaking golf news regarding the National Links Trust and the Trump administration's plan to renovate the three public golf courses in Washington D.C. The Year in Review resumes with a look back at the RBC Heritage and the immediate wake of one of the greatest wins in golf history. PJ runs through a week's worth of Rory reactions before unveiling the important stuff, such as Grant Horvat's Barracuda exemption (unused) and Wesley Bryan's PGA Tour suspension (still seemingly ongoing). Justin Thomas returned to the winner's circle in Hilton Head, getting over the finish line for the first time since the 2022 PGA Championship. Andy is next up with the Zurich Classic, where Rory McIlroy made his return to golf in a team event alongside Shane Lowry. Andy rediscovers the backboarding that occurred at a disastrous Chevron Championship and the power outage that led to the golf world being exposed to a Champions Tour Sunday on national TV. He also shares that one of the great technological achievements of our time happened this week! Brendan has the honor of recapping PGA Tour history, as Scottie Scheffler burned down TPC Craig T. Nelson Ranch and tied the all-time scoring record in a runaway win. All that may be great, but Brendan is most excited about the children in attendance chanting while a bulldozer wrecked the practice green ahead of Lanny's renovation. KVV comes in to close things out again, handling the first-ever Truist Championship. His findings lead the group down a rabbit-hole of past HSBC photo shoots, complete with a flying Henrik Stenson and Yao Ming. The 2025 Year in Review returns on Wednesday with the long-awaited Rise of Rea.

Less than halfway through this podcast, Andy asks the assembled group if this will be the "longest episode ever." As you could probably imagine, he was right. Per usual, he's joined by Brendan!, KVV, and PJ as they finally get through the first major of 2025 for the annual Year in Review. KVV, or more accurately known as "K-J Hawk," starts off the show with a recap of the Valspar Championship. He closes out the Florida Swing with notes from Viktor Hovland's improbable win in a Sunday duel against Justin Thomas before Andy and Brendan run through the two Texas events preceding the Masters. At the Texas Children's Houston Open, Dr. Chipinski didn't make any calls late on Sunday but was able to secure a big win over Gary Woodland, Scottie Scheffler, and Alejandro Tosti. Andy also has the honor of recapping the first-ever TGL Finals during Houston week, which leads to a debate about re-naming the SoFi Dome after Billy Horschel. Brendan is tasked with detailing Brian Harman's runaway win at the Valero Texas Open, but is also sure to note that the Cleeks were "trying to become the Yankees" and plenty of other LIV news from the tour's week in Miami. The last two hours of this episode are spent recapping "the tournament of a lifetime," the 2025 Masters. Andy, Brendan, and Kevin each share the biggest moments and memories from different parts of the week, resulting in a comprehensive recap of Rory McIlroy's triumphant completion of the career grand slam. Using their on-the-ground insights and usual research findings, the three provide a detailed picture of one of the great moments in golf history. The 2025 Year in Review will return on Monday as the dawn on Don Rea inches closer and closer.

The Year in Review returns after a week off and things are still moving at a snail's pace. Per usual, Andy has real concerns about finishing this eighth installment up before Christmas or even the start of 2026, but the group soldiers on despite some wanting to "pull a Notre Dame." This episode begins with a bevy of golf news, far too much for the second week in December. Andy, Brendan, KVV, and PJ discuss a potential LIV departure by Brooks Koepka, TGL's new trading card deal, and the 10th anniversary of Fried Egg Golf. Brendan repeatedly attempts to transition to the Year in Review, but Andy holds him up with a burning desire to unpack Philip Rivers signing with the Indianapolis Colts. Finally, as promised, the Arnold Palmer Invitational recap gets underway! Brendan recalls NBC missing the shot that won the tournament, a chip by Russell Henley on the 16th hole to take the lead over Collin Morikawa, as well as Morikawa's ensuing media controversy. THE PLAYERS is next up on the schedule, complete with Tosti Tales, a Will Zalatoris sighting, J.J. Spaun's rise toward the U.S. Open, and another Rory win. Andy, Brendan, and PJ all contribute with on-site memories from a week in the swamp resulting in a segment that goes so long that the Valspar is pushed to Friday's episode. Will we get to the Masters this week? Stay tuned to find out!