The Shotgun Start

The Fried Egg
The Shotgun Start

The Shotgun Start with Andy Johnson and Brendan Porath of Fried Egg Golf is a podcast waiting for you early in the morning that quickly blasts through a variety of topics (usually) related to golf and (ideally) relevant to the day. It covers news from the pro tours around the world, amusing and important topics from the amateur game the rest of us play, and some irreverent stuff in between. There will be short interviews, previews, reviews, and dives into the archives. It provides what you need to know on golf through a rapid and fun catch-up discussion.

  1. 3 DAYS AGO

    Annual over-unders for 2025 in golf, TGL ratings boom, and alarming quotes from Sony

    A January tradition unlike any other, it's the latest installment of over-unders for the upcoming year in golf. The episode starts on a solemn note as Andy and Brendan discuss the ongoing fires in the Los Angeles area and sending positive thoughts to everyone in southern California. From there, the two discuss the ongoing reactions to TGL's opening night as Tuesday's ESPN ratings were stronger than many expected, drawing almost one million viewers. With a TGL match without Tiger or Rory managing a higher rating than Sunday at Kapalua, Andy wonders what happens if the simulator league continues to beat out early-season PGA Tour events. A listener emailed in her thoughts from an in-person experience at the SoFi Center, complete with her own Hammer flag (not delivered by FedEx). Pro Shop announced a new series of Creator Classics for 2025, prompting Andy and Brendan to wonder whether YouTube golf is a more viable career path than being a Minor League Tour player. Meanwhile, there is non-screen golf being played this week at the Sony Open. Ben Griffin was leading at the time of recording and Brendan learns about Griffin's budding TikTok stardom. This week's field has Ryan Palmer and Brandt Snedeker playing on career money exemptions, leading Andy down the path of another rant about the PGA Tour and its fields. Webb Simpson is also at the Sony and he had some interesting quotes about his 2024 season that was full of exemptions into Signature Events. The episode wraps with an energetic over-under segment, as Andy, Brendan, and PJ make picks for 2025. Will a LIV golfer win another major? Is Bethpage going to be close? How many starts for Blockie in 2025? All of these questions are answered, and more!

    1h 48m
  2. JAN 6

    Kapalua’s low score problem, Tour Champ match play!?, and TGL curiosity

    Andy and Brendan are back to recap the first PGA Tour event of 2025, a Hideki Matsuyama win at The Sentry. Andy is fired up about the a Bears win in Green Bay to end the NFL season and Brendan now has a playoff game to look forward to with the Commanders on Sunday Night Football next week. The golf talk begins with a look at Hideki's performance in his season-opening win, as he set the PGA Tour scoring record at a final tally of -35 for the week. Andy ponders whether Hideki's a Hall of Famer and the two try to slot him into a tier among the biggest names in pro golf. Kapalua takes some shots for producing yet another birdiefest, with chatter that they could be making the course into a par 72 for next year's event. Andy and Brendan then discuss Collin Morikawa's runner up finish and wonder why he has not tried to add speed to his swing like so many of his counterparts. In news, the Tour Championship may move to a match-play format, something Andy has been calling for for years. Peppy Peter and Adam Scott aren't sold on the idea, and Brendan shares some quotes from the two about other potential formats for the last event of the year. There's some optimism about the TGL debut on Tuesday night, as Ludvig will represent The Bay against Xander and NYGC on ESPN for the first-ever match. Andy and Brendan debate whether TGL will work, what "working" looks like in this sense, and applaud the amount of content surrounding the league's launch so far. Finally, this episode ends with a Sports Minute celebrating the merciful end of an awful NFL season for the Bears, Browns, and Jets.

    1h 23m
  3. JAN 3

    PGA Tour is back for ‘warm up’ at Kapalua for $20 million, plus free agent clothes and clubs moves

    Andy and Brendan went live on YouTube as the first round of the 2025 PGA Tour season wrapped. With round one of The Sentry (hard stop) over, they share their observations on both the on-course product and the shiny new features that the Tour's new billion dollar studio brought to the broadcast. "Walk and talks" returned in full force, with Peppy Peter getting the honor of the first interview of the season and JT confirming that Kapalua does go uphill. Will Zalatoris bulked up and finished his round at -8, good enough to be one off the lead, and Andy is impressed with his new look and reasoning behind the added weight. Tom Hoge is your leader heading into Friday and Brendan shares that Hawaii has absolutely nowhere for Tommy Tables to gamble tonight in celebration. The two discuss the big "free agent" moves off the offseason, with Max Homa signing with Lululemon and Cobra, and Akshay Bhatia moving to Travis Mathew. These partnerships are "redefining" what it means for brands to work with players and Andy applauds Homa's Thursday performance with so much change going on around him. Before getting into some news, Andy stops to rehash the Cheez It Bowl, won by the Illini, and Bret Bielema trying to fight Shane Beamer. In news, Brendan and Andy discuss Xander saying the US Ryder Cup team will be donating their pay to charity and Jonathan Wall's report that TGL players are toying with new, longer drivers in order to have better results on the giant screen. To wrap, Brendan shares a listener email about a magic show with a possible celebrity appearance.

    1h 5m
  4. The 2024 Year in Review, Part 8

    12/19/2024

    The 2024 Year in Review, Part 8

    Andy and Brendan return for yet another marathon episode of the 2024 Year in Review, covering the final men's major of the year and the end of the PGA Tour's regular season. Before the Year in Review kicks off, they discuss some takeaways from TGL Media Day, where the world got to see Billy Boy and Rickie Fowler hit some shots into the oft-memed giant screen. There's also some college basketball discussion as Andy looks forward to sitting on the floor for another Cal Bears game this season. The Year in Review kicks off with the week of the Scottish Open, a win by Big Shot Bob after he received a free drop coming down the stretch on Sunday. This week also contained the news of Keegan Bradley's appointment as U.S. Ryder Cup captain and Andy goes in-depth on the feud between Bryson DeChambeau and Mike Schy. After a quick pitstop for the five-man playoff at the ISCO, PJ starts off Open Championship week with notes from the practice days. He shares that Viktor Hovland got existential amidst his spilt from the Chip Monk, and Tiger fired back at Colin Montgomerie's calls for his retirement. Andy jumps in for Thursday and Friday's rounds at Royal Troon, focusing primarily on Todd Hamilton's opening tee shot on Thursday morning. Brendan finishes off Xander's second major win, attempting to contextualize his season among others who have won two majors in the same year. Brendan continues on with the 3M Open, won by Jhonny Vegas, before another group effort remembering Scottie's gold medal win at the Paris Olympics. Andy handles the PGA Tour's regular season finale, the Wydnham Championship, which could just be named "Kucharfest" for 2024. Thanks to Kevin Prise's intrepid reporting, Andy goes minute-by-minute for Matt Kuchar's Monday finish, one of the most ridiculous golf moments in recent memory.

    3h 11m
4.7
out of 5
1,603 Ratings

About

The Shotgun Start with Andy Johnson and Brendan Porath of Fried Egg Golf is a podcast waiting for you early in the morning that quickly blasts through a variety of topics (usually) related to golf and (ideally) relevant to the day. It covers news from the pro tours around the world, amusing and important topics from the amateur game the rest of us play, and some irreverent stuff in between. There will be short interviews, previews, reviews, and dives into the archives. It provides what you need to know on golf through a rapid and fun catch-up discussion.

You Might Also Like

To listen to explicit episodes, sign in.

Stay up to date with this show

Sign in or sign up to follow shows, save episodes, and get the latest updates.

Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

Asia Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

The United States and Canada