A mini today where Nick and Mark have a listen to a voicemail from Mick in the UK who has a suggestion for a Top 5, in fact two Top 5's. We don't do the first one, and the second is impossible, because we cannot fit the answers into just 5.....Mick has asked Nick and Mark to name their favourite commentators, on or off course.

As we talk, more names come to mind, and a Top 5 is simply impossible...but what a wonderful chat about some legendary people in our game.

If we've missed anyway, let us know!

And we end this mini with a very special piece of audio. If your life has been impacted by Alzheimers, or you've lost your Dad (or Mum), it's worth a listen.

We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:

• Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partner
• BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;
• Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;
• FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;
• PING will help you play your best;
• Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;
• And Southern Golf Club.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Phew this is a big pod today, one of our longer ones....we try to keep the main pod no longer than an hour, but it's a tad hard in Masters week! We start today with Mark asking Nick how he prepared for The Masters given he played it 4 times. Nick explains what he did, and he talks about the first time he saw the course, and what he did. He explains the how the wind works on 11,12, and 13.

We talk about preparation in the lead-up, and Nick explains why living at Isleworth in Florida was the perfect preparation - if you know why, the story is worth hearing again, if you don't - it is wild. Mark asks about the risks of overdoing your preparation when you arrive at Augusta, particularly as the course is so hilly.

The facilities have had an upgrade at Augusta (of course they have, they're loaded), and we hear about the new carpark for the players....sheez.

Onto the Ryder Cup, with Tiger now not in consideration, who will be the captain for the US team? We talk about the names being mentioned and Nick and Mark suggest who they think it will be and why.

Mark runs through The Masters '6's'. That is: 1966, 1976, 1986, 1996, 2006 - all years where extraordinary things happened. And he tells a great story about Greg Norman from the 96 Masters, not great for Greg, or for Australians, but amusing in hindsight.

What about the Augusta National Women's Amateur - 18-year old Raegan Denton from Adelaide finished T4, the highest ever finish by an Australian in the tournament! A star on the rise for sure, and we award her our Hostplus 'Plus for Golf' this week. She certainly is.

After the turn, into the back 9....sorry, Masters week so it's the second 9. We hear about a few of the rules at Augusta, overall they are strict but they all add to the prestige.

For BMW our Touch of Class goes to Justin Rose, Nick watched his interview at Augusta and given the pressure he must be feeling, it really was a classy interview.

Then, for Betr, Nick lists the Top 5 memorable moments from the 12th hole at Augusta...there are some absolute rippers!

Feedback for Southern Golf Club is Masters centric this week: comments from you on 1986, on Rory from last year, The Shark in 86, Nick's results, and a great story from David in Brasil about Jack Nicklaus in 86, which Mark follows up with an amazing Golden Bear stat.

Lots of results for Nick to run through in the PING Globals today....we divert slightly from them to hear a story of Nicks run-in with US Police, and how he got out of it....sneaky...

And finally, Mark's Masterclass for Golf Clearance Outlet is on lag putting - when the greens are running hot, and there are undulating greens, lag putting is your friend. Nick and Mark discuss.

We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:

• Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partner
• BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;
• Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;
• FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;
• PING will help you play your best;
• Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;
• And Southern Golf Club.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's Masters week and today Nick O'Hern and Mark Allen preview the tournament. You'd think we'd start off by chatting golf, but no, Mark brings a fun fact about trees (albeit Augusta trees) to the table, and Nick counters with another 'tree trivia' item.

But after we get 'tree chat' out of the way, it's onto the real stuff. Nick and Mark discuss the Aussies and Kiwi, and what their chances are. Nick likes Min Woo the best of the Aussie and Kiwi players, Mark feels Adam Scott is in a purple patch and is the most likely of them. Each give their reasons.

What about Jason Day, can he win even with a toned down outfit on? And Cam Smith? The boys are not confident. Does Ryan Fox have the game to compete at Augusta? We discuss.

Then onto the power rankings, and we look at the big US and international players from 1-12-ish, deliberately skipping over one player who neither Nick or Mark enjoy watching. Nick wonders if, with the monkey off his back, Rory might go crazy this weekend, and we discuss how Scheffler might play with a new baby having just arrived.

Mark is red hot for one particular player, saying he believes in 'magic' at Augusta, and this player winning would be that.

Then we construct our Betr multi...and there is trouble in paradise. Nick and Mark agree on two of the legs, however have a disagreement on the third....so we 'rock paper scissors' it to see which we'll go with.

After the turn, an Augusta weather update from Nick 'meteorologist' O'Hern, then we hear back from Hummer on the pricing for the multi....it's pretty good! And Mark reckons we're on a roll so it's a good one to get on board. Mark might be whacking some mayo on what defines 'on a roll', given we won our last one, and we're hardly stringing multiple wins together, but hey, let's go with it.

Get on board at the Betr website here, or on the app - search Betr specials and you'll find the Talk Birdie To Me multi there.

We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:

• Hostplus, Talk Birdie To Me's official retirement partner
• BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;
• Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;
• FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;
• PING will help you play your best;
• Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;
• And Southern Golf Club.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.