Some Open questions for Troon, R&A leadership changes, and lingering Pinehurst critiques

Brendan is joined by the inimitable Geoff Shackelford for this Wednesday episode of the Shotgun Start, and they begin by pondering whether Andy has achieved “America’s guest” status. Then they quickly transition to the upcoming “links season” in pro golf with Geoff’s impending trip to Scotland and with The Open and the Scottish Open fast approaching. There’s a chat on the current issues with the Scottish, where Troon falls in the Open rota and what really works for it as a venue, and some favorite memories from walking the grounds at the 2016 edition there. Then they have a lengthy chat about the R&A announcing a successor to Martin Slumbers, what it says about the direction of pro golf, Slumbers’s tenure, and what that new job must confront right away. They then bounce back to the last major at Pinehurst for some Shackelford thoughts on how the course played and a few spots that could be fixed ahead of the next U.S. Open, which is already coming up soon. They close with a few thoughts on Scottie Scheffler’s season which dovetails into some big Open storylines and the prime contenders, namely Rory McIlroy.