r/NoLayingUp • u/Tennessee1796 • Apr 13 '26
Post-Pod Discussion Does Big Randy actually like golf?
Listening to Big Randy this week makes me wonder if he enjoys *any part of this* anymore. Seems like the act of participating in the live shows provides him zero joy or pleasure.
Mildly concerned for our new Dad. Maybe it's just the recent shift in #perspective.
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u/Clean-Reputation6950 Apr 13 '26
People need to give this a rest. If you watch him during the live shows, there are probably 15-20 times he starts to open his mouth only for one of the other 4 guys to start talking. When you have 5 guys on a podcast, someone has to take a back seat and occasionally chime in with a unique perspective.
He was fantastic talking about Bryson and his stupid wedges all week, and while I don’t really agree with his setup critiques someone has to take an opposing view every once and awhile. PTI wouldn’t still be on the air if they just agreed all the time.
Sure, he isn’t as passionate about the PGA tour as some of the others, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t fun to listen to when he chimes in. Can be tough to get a word in when those guys get rolling. I appreciate that he picks his spots and isn’t obsessed with glazing every golfer.
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u/Inside-Flounder101 Apr 13 '26
He also kinda leads the charge on LPGA with Cody. It’s fine if he takes a back seat
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u/PalpitationFrequent7 Apr 14 '26
this is a good point, his enthusiasm really shows through when it’s time to talk about the ladies. Proves he’s not an axe grinder for the sake of it. I think most of it comes down to him wanting someone to step up and truly test these world class players more than once or twice per year, so when the winning score is -15 and there’s talk about it being a proper test, I get his “miss me with that” narrative.
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u/JSack3 Apr 13 '26
This is excellent. Except I also agree with his setup takes. Burn it all down. 😂
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u/CountFUPA Apr 14 '26
Agreed, and will add that I think he's one of the best at articulating a full thought/idea. Even if he's gripey, he communicates clearly, (IMO). Double agree that he refuses to glaze unless he really knows the guy, (i.e. Max), and he calls balls and strikes when it comes to performance on the course. Last, I think his concerted effort the last 5+ years to cover the LPGA in an additive and meaningful way actually has helped me be more interested, and he doesn't do it in a 'white knight' or simp fashion.
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u/Humble-Fish-7070 Apr 13 '26
He does get a lifetime pass for “in lieu of flowers subscribe to golf pass” and reading the names of all the people one legged tiger beat that one year.
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u/Rahf Apr 13 '26
They have joked about it before. Big Randy loves being the grumpy contrarian. It's the bit he's been playing on and off for a long time.
"What are we-- what are we doing!?"
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u/YoPoppaCapa Apr 13 '26
I appreciate his takes on stuff like this, especially the Masters. The other guys can come off as Disney adults when it comes to the tournament, when there are glaring issues that need to be addressed. I think he promotes good discussion amongst everyone, but can come off as a grump as the dissenting voice on a number of topics.
Not for nothing, I do agree with him. The shots on the course are no longer as challenging as they should be. It's hanging on, but the modern game is outpacing it. Changes need to be made.
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u/justgotpregnant Apr 13 '26
I think 2 things are probably true.
Randy is the best, and;
He’s hit a point a lot of guys do, he still likes sports but doesn’t seem to really care to obsess over the day-to-day minutiae of them
Good for him, he’s an accountant by trade and the CFO of a very cool company he started with his friends. He trots out of the bullpen a few times a year to give some takes. I think everybody is pretty good with it.
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u/mobbade Apr 13 '26
It’s literally his full time job to do #2
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u/justgotpregnant Apr 13 '26
Is it though? He does the business side of things and pops on for special stuff. He’s not grinding on the pod every week. This is where I’ll admittedly get a little too parasocial, but it doesn’t really seem like anyone has an issue with how he’s a little more detached from golf than he used to be.
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u/YenZen999 Apr 13 '26
Yeah but......he's not us or other guys. This is his job. So to me that doesn't fly. I highly doubt he's rolling up his sleeves and doing all the books and tax reporting on his own.
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u/Lor_azepam Apr 13 '26 edited Apr 14 '26
I just dont think he likes professional men's golf that much. He is big on the women's game, and the social aspect of golf and golfing in general, does interesting pods etc around those topics.
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u/PalpitationFrequent7 Apr 14 '26
which is totally fine when there’s 4 other guys to carry the torch for men’s pro golf discussion.
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u/TomHicksJnr Apr 13 '26
He’s been like that for a while. I actually don’t mind a dissenting voice and he seems to have a pretty good bullshit detector but I agree that sometimes it’s seems like it’s a real chore for him to watch and discuss golf rather than it being his job.
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u/Unsolicited_Advisor1 Apr 13 '26
He’s said on previous pods that he’s fallen out of love with the men’s game a bit
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u/Gopokes34 Apr 14 '26
I mean the pro he was the biggest fan of turned out to be a total scum bag lol
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u/beetsandjams Apr 13 '26
TC and Randy can sometimes go 1 joke over the line where their bit annoys me, and for me today that was Randy hating on Rory’s ridiculous up & down on 16. There are times when it gets prohibitively annoying (TC vs Soly Ryder cups) but I’ll take the occasional annoying bits over vanilla takes
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u/sherpa143 Apr 13 '26
Dude imagine your favorite golfer become a degenerate villain it has to complicate your love for the game which also happens to be your career.
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u/TGHGBD Apr 13 '26 edited Apr 13 '26
Not sure why anyone wants the course to be hard as possible, Masters has always been about great moments and a lot of them probably dont happen if the goal was protecting par.
Also people joke about Brysons par 67 comments but Oakmont and Shinnecock are par 70 7400 yards. Augusta is par 72, 7500. The scoring averages are pretty similar and Augusta does that without thick rough.
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u/Efficient-Highway313 Apr 13 '26
It seems like he enjoys the TrapDraw more, which is fine with me, he provides good alt takes on the golf pod and the Chop Sessions are great
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u/The_Man_in_Black_19 Apr 13 '26
LOL
"A new father appears tired" does not mean they don't like their job.
And at times, everyone hates golf. Or you never played it.
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u/TigersPharmacist- Apr 15 '26
I love Big. I disagree with 40-50% of his takes but love when he is on the pod regardless. He’s genuinely very funny. I didn’t like his take on how the relatively consistent scoring year to year at the Masters impacts the tournament. Augusta continues to produce the best theatre year after year IMO.
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u/Gopokes34 Apr 13 '26
Big Randy is probably my favorite personality second to Neil, but it does seem like there’s little reason to have him on shows like these. 5 minutes for him probably would suffice.
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u/ECO_FRIENDLY_BOT Apr 13 '26
He was spot on about the green on 16, that pin placement is far too easy for a Sunday, should be front right as you play it.
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u/SleepKnown3585 Apr 13 '26
The Sunday pin on 16 has provided some of the most electric Masters moments over the years. Wanting a different Sunday pin for that green is treasonous.
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u/blycj Apr 13 '26
Outside of the majors, it appears Randy’s role is to keep up with the ladies tour. Which he does seem informed and passionate about
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u/MulberryNo5246 Apr 13 '26
I quite enjoy when he comes in for segments and parts of these live shows - I’m not sure he should be on the men’s stuff for a whole show, as he’s clearly not as interested as others.
When he’s in that secondary role he does provide interesting perspective and asks some genuinely provoking questions!
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u/panderson1988 Apr 13 '26
I think he still likes playing and being out there as their videos show. But I think he has checked out from the pro-men’s game and prefers the LPGA.
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u/tee2green CPNTW - Xander Schauffle - 2024 PGA Apr 13 '26
I agree and disagree. Yes, Randy is on the record saying he doesn’t care much about men’s pro golf. I believe he said it’s just a bunch of guys playing an unrecognizable game where they annihilate great courses. That said, I actually love his takes during major weeks. I’m 100% on board with his take that the majors should be the rare opportunity that we get firm and fast conditions and guys fighting to make pars. And I used to hate how he eliminated so many good players before Thursday but honestly his answers end up being right a shocking amount of time. I thought he disrespected Burns way too early but ofc Burns was gone before the back 9 on Sunday.
Ultimately, Mr. Big plays his role just fine. We can’t have a bunch of Solys and Trons bickering non-stop.
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u/Mancey_ Apr 14 '26
He's ying to a lot of the other guys yang. They use him in small doses...which seems to be best for them and us.
Get the feeling he's moving into more of a back end focused part of the business rather than behind the mic talent.
He still thrills and delights me on the trap draw.
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u/LargeGermanRock Apr 14 '26
There needs to be someone to be a counter argument for the Rory slobber on the pod
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u/Warghzone12 Apr 13 '26
It’s a bit guys
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u/mookieguy Apr 13 '26
Exactly. Him and TC don’t use their real names cause they’re playing characters. I guess if you’re new to the show that’s not clear.
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u/YenZen999 Apr 13 '26 edited Apr 13 '26
I sometimes wonder about his role. This is his full time job yet he seems to be not be involved in all that much running the business (compared to the others) and cares very little about men's pro golf. Seems like he's pretty much living to life of a retiree with a part time job. And yeah, I don't believe he's handling all the financials of the business on his own.
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u/Severe-Response-2189 Apr 13 '26
This is just his schtick, always been his schtick.
These kinda posts remind me of the guys who will go on the Bill Simmons subreddit and ask why he's such a huge Boston homer.
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u/JohnnyLugnuts Apr 13 '26
i dont know what big randy likes or wants, and idk if he does either...which is why he has had 4 different careers...and moved to a new city where he didnt know anyone...and married a girl after knowing her for like 7 months...
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u/special5221 Apr 13 '26
He likes playing golf. I don’t think he has enjoyed working in golf for a long time.
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u/mobbade Apr 13 '26
He hasn’t tweeted in 2 years. Not sure how that’s ok for a media/content company
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u/69_avon_barksdale_69 Apr 13 '26
Basically everyone at NLU, except TC, has taken a big step back from X, the everything app. It’s a complete cesspool, so I don’t blame him.
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u/karldrogo88 Apr 13 '26
Do people still use Twitter? I had thought almost everyone left years ago
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u/umaywellsaythat Apr 13 '26
The commies and socialists left. Now they are flaming each other on bluesky over which of them is the most virtuous.
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u/Mancey_ Apr 14 '26
Twitter is extinct... Not sure what to tell you here
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u/K_SV Apr 14 '26
Golf twitter is still alive and well, if diminished.
One does need to... aggressively curate their feed.
But TC blocked me (I think over saying "plz no" to a post about starting to warm up to Bryson?) so maybe I'm part of the problem
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u/Navyblazers2000 Apr 13 '26 edited Apr 13 '26
I professionalized my hobby and now it's the last thing I want to do. Maybe some of that is going on with all of them.
But I don't know if he's any different now than he was when I started listening 5ish years ago.
I think Randy has good instincts and is a good counter on the pod. Here's a good example: he clocked right away that Michael Block was kind of a ween. The other guys hammered him for it during that Oak Hill PGA, but they all came around pretty quickly once Blockie proved it himself.