Smylie and Charlie dive deep into LIV Golf's uncertain future, breaking down the reported $250 million investment from BC Partners, the shift to a player-equity model, and what a 10-event "LIV 2.0" schedule would actually look like. They also unpack the confirmed cancellation of the Team Championship in Michigan, leaving Indianapolis as the tour's lone remaining event of 2026.

Plus: Bryson DeChambeau's headline-grabbing New York Post quotes, why he might be the one player who keeps LIV alive no matter what, the brutal math facing Jon Rahm if he wants back on the PGA Tour, LIV's business missteps (from its team-branding strategy to its mounting legal bills), and a fun hypothetical — could a Bryson-led YouTube golf tour actually work?

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Chapters

0:00 Intro & why we're breaking down LIV's future
1:52 LIV 2.0 restructuring — bankruptcy, equity, and the "$250M mini tour"
5:12 Who's funding this? BC Partners and the players-investors standoff
8:30 Which players get a fast track back — Rahm and Niemann
9:24 Bryson's New York Post quotes, dissected
10:26 Bryson's YouTube empire and why he's all-in on LIV
14:56 The failed $500M ask from PIF
16:14 Bryson's major exemptions status through 2029
17:41 Bryson is the engine keeping LIV alive
19:50 The Q-School pathway back to the PGA Tour
22:24 LIV 2.0's reality check: purses shrink from $40M to $15M
24:37 Who pays the penalty? Koepka's buyback and Rahm's price tag
27:37 Jon Rahm's business decision
29:09 LIV's mistakes: legal fees and a fumbled team-branding strategy
33:25 The road not taken — a joint venture instead of a rival tour
36:34 Could LIV become a YouTube-native golf brand?
38:21 Selling YouTube golf to sponsors — the measurement problem
40:36 Hypothetical: a Bryson-led touring roadshow
42:28 LIV's other lawsuits: Premier Golf League and Mobii Systems
47:17 Prediction: Rahm's decision and a September deadline

#golf #LIV #pgatour #jonrahm #brysondechambeau #smylieshow #smyliekaufman

PART TWO: LIV GOLF SEGMENT: Dropping tomorrow morning (08/11/26)

With a third straight PGA TOUR winner under the age of 24 in the books thanks to Michael Brennan's Sunday birdie streak, Smylie Kaufman and Charlie Hulme look back at his year, and the continued emergence of young American talent on the PGA TOUR. SK and CH also discuss which big names made or missed the FedEx Cup playoffs, discuss the origins of "AimPoint" green reading, and review some comments from Brooks Koepka after missing out on the playoffs.

Don't forget to like, comment, subscribe, and follow us on socials @thesmylieshow!

Chapters

0:00 Intro & this week's storylines tease
1:19 Spotting a Smylie Show hat at the Wyndham Championship
2:45 Sick kids and a rough week at home
6:37 Michael Brennan wins the Wyndham Championship
8:13 Brennan's rise: Korn Ferry Tour to PGA Tour winner
11:09 Brennan hires putting coach Marcus Potter
11:27 Young Americans and the Presidents Cup conversation
13:03 Ben James, Miles Russell & American golf's next wave
14:02 Brennan's FedEx Cup jump and Presidents Cup odds
15:06 Why winning on the PGA Tour still matters most
16:33 Heat, humidity, and the "worst month" debate (plus a daylight saving tangent)
20:47 Jackson Koivun sneaks into the FedEx Cup top 70
24:26 The AimPoint putting debate
30:45 Tom Kim climbs to 26th; three playoff streaks snapped
31:42 Brooks Koepka's brutally honest 94th-place assessment
32:55 Diagnosing Koepka's season & his road back from LIV

#golf #pgatour #golfrecap #golfhighlights #smylieshow #smyliekaufman #golfpodcast #wyndhamchampionship #michaelbrennan #fedexcup 

Sean Foley joins the show to break down Michael Thorbjornsen's first PGA Tour win at the Rocket Classic — a bogey-free final-round 63 that came together in barely six weeks of work with Foley, built around going back to video of Thorbjornsen's swing from Stanford in 2018. Foley walks through exactly what he saw, what they're working on, and why the answer was already in Thorbjornsen's own history.

Plus: Foley digs into his full player room this summer — Tom Kim's emotional Genesis Scottish Open win, Michael Kim's historic 59 at the 3M Open and the three-month process of retraining his swing around a stronger grip, Ben An's four-year driver transformation, and the "humans first, golfer second" coaching philosophy he's built over two decades on tour with players like Tiger Woods, Justin Rose, and Hunter Mahan.

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Chapters

0:00 Intro & congrats to Sean Foley on Thorbjornsen's Rocket Classic win
2:08 Foley on watching Thor's win & his history with Michael since age 16
4:02 Foley's 20-year coaching evolution — "player support," humans first golfer second
6:29 Scottie Scheffler's rising floor & the new generation's mindset
7:28 Tom Kim & Thorbjornsen's shared high expectations turning pro
8:23 Coaching Tom Kim: rebuilding posture, connection & swing DNA
11:09 Thorbjornsen's swing fix: back to his 2018 Stanford video
12:14 Breaking down Thorbjornsen's swing — grip, posture, wrist angles
19:32 Thor's shot-shape arsenal beyond the draw
21:13 Foley's coaching philosophy
23:23 Michael Kim's comeback
25:16 Retraining Kim's pattern — hitting snap hooks for 3 months
28:16 Coaching psychology — bad memories & letting players enjoy wins
30:18 Consistency over "feel" & the dad-as-coach dynamic
32:35 Enjoying golf vs. having fun — and Foley's "do no harm" rule

#golf #pgatour #smylieshow #michaelthorbjornsen #rocketclassic #smyliekaufman

Charlie Hulme and Smylie Kaufman break down Michael Thorbjornsen's first PGA Tour win — a bogey-free final-round 63 at the Rocket Classic, sealed by a long birdie putt on 18 that held off a hard-charging Xander Schauffele. Thor's putting coach, Stephen Sweeney, joins the show to explain how a stance and ball-position overhaul helped refine a raw approach into more short makes and better speed control on long putts.

With the final PGA TOUR regular-season event up next, we take a bigger-picture look at the rest of the season and beyond. Which players are in danger of losing their cards, missing the playoffs, or not qualifying for signature events? And how would all of this look via a restructured competitive format in 2028?

Plus: Detroit Golf Club's Donald Ross restoration, debating our favorite golf course design features, and the fantasy game Smylie would like to see in 2028 with the Championship and Challenger Series in place.

Check out our original putting instruction video with Stephen Sweeney here: https://youtu.be/JVh5Xy7YRQM

CHAPTERS:
0:00 Intro: Charlie's HVAC and studio backdrop saga continues
3:15 Smylie plays through a mild flu — new Sam Burns/Scottie Scheffler swing thoughts
6:58 Charlie's putter and grip breakthrough
8:14 Detroit Golf Club's Donald Ross restoration & tour's vanishing classic courses
16:03 What makes a golf hole memorable
19:16 Favorite/least favorite design features: cross creeks & sloped tee boxes
23:52 Caddie yardages: raw numbers vs. adjusted advice
27:39 Stephen Sweeney joins to talk Thorbjornsen's win
33:36 Thorbjornsen's raw putting DNA — from cross-handed to fundamentals
39:12 Video breakdown: fixing Thorbjornsen's stance & ball position
45:14 Thorbjornsen's ceiling
47:27 Sweeney's new ventures: Golf.com content & The People's League
55:25 Rocket Classic recap: Thorbjornsen's bogey-free 63 & the winning putt
57:37 Xander Schauffele's runner-up finish & 2026 bounce-back
58:21 FedEx Cup Playoffs / Top 100 PGAT Bubble Discussion
01:08:00 Presidents Cup Outlook
01:12:00 Future PGAT Changes

#golf #pgatour #rocketclassic #MichaelThorbjornsen #SmylieShow #SmylieKaufman 

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