"This is the biggest bogey Finchem has ever made."
The surprisingly chipper talk of Tiger coming back unblemished meant this exchange from the SI Confidential went unnoticed:
Anonymous Pro: The thing that we thought would drive the Tour was the World Golf Championships. If anything, those events are killing the other tournaments. Why? The WGC tournaments draw top players away from regular Tour events, which we need now more than ever.
Bamberger: The Tour basically oversold Tiger, and in the end it's an uphill slog when he doesn't appear. The Tour's long tradition is about local events and local charities. They tried to join the big leagues and were somewhat successful but found that golf is still a niche sport, although it can break out from time to time. The WGC events haven't connected with anyone and at the same time have ruined the real heart of the Tour, stops like L.A. or Hartford or Colonial that are now unfairly perceived as second-rate.
Anonymous Pro: Tiger and Phil wanted the season to end sooner. They weren't playing after mid-August, sometimes not even in the season-ending Tour Championship. Now that the FedEx Cup concludes the season in September, they're taking advantage of the downtime they asked for by playing overseas for big appearance fees. Didn't Finchem know that was going to happen? I'm not blaming Tiger or Phil. I'd play in a dress for $3 million. It is the Tour's fault for allowing it, and it really rubs me the wrong way. This is the biggest bogey Finchem has ever made.
Short term I think it's terribly wrong to call the WGC concept a bogey. But in the post-Tiger accident and Great Recession economy, long term the events appear to bring as many complications as solutions.
I'm guessing that hard questions internally about the value of WGC events will be forbidden as long as Finchem is commissioner. But the combination of increased animosity outside of the U.S. toward the America-centric concept and the inability of stops like San Diego to draw sponsor interest, could mean 2010 will lead to a closer examination of the World Golf Championship concept. Long overdue.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009 at 08:35 PM
Reader Comments (22)
Finchem being out to lunch is no surprise; he benefited from the Tiger tail effect and had it easy...until the double whammy that hit him with the economic slid and now the fall from grace of his meal ticket. It will be interesting to see how he steers the ship now that it's rough going.
Having said that, 4 years from now I think aggregate purses on the PGA Tour will be down 25-40% and as such the business model tour headquarters proposes to their local franchisee's is going to have to change dramatically.
Appearance fees are nothing new (around LONG before TIger ever came along) and every top player takes advantage of them, Phil and Tiger just happen to command some of the highest fees. And as for "selfishness of American golf", I guess you are unaware that the PGA Tour completely bans the practice of paying appearance fees? You need not look further than the Euro Tour for the hallmark of of a refined appearance fees system. Perhaps if the Euro Tour also banned the practice you might get a chance to see the best players over there more often? Ahh, probably not.
Finally, the tourney in Australia said Tiger was worth every penny of the $3mm fee they paid him, and then some.
http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/61537
This story says the New Orleans team "didn't need the money" but took it just to keep their options open:
http://blog.nola.com/hornetsbeat/2009/04/new_orleans_hornets_are_fiscal.html
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/1228/companies-nba-basketball-heisley-memphis-blues.html
Sorry, they can't be World Golf Championships if they are HARDLY ever played outside the United States.
One should be in Europe, one alternating between Australia and South Africa, and one alternating between South America and Asia.
And, the HSBC Champions is NOT a WGC event UNLESS it gets the full benefits of exemptions etc...
The whole WGC concept is a joke to the rest of the world.
OK, I'm done ;)
Second, the WGC concept isn't even little TImmy's. Its stolen from Greg and Fox, right?
Tell ya what, I will
the WGC concept IS a bogey.
It's maybe even a triple. It's beyond a snooze, that's a big reason Tiger has made Professional golf nearly a hibernation. Golf is best when an unknown comes out of nowhere.
Four Majors is more than enough important tunamints and the PGA needs to be replaced the the OZzie Masters or Open.
Just as at the beginning of the 20th century - the "richest .01%" today also enjoy golf. . Since they are about to control 95% of all the money - they will relish the opportunity to "pass the hat" among members of their exclusive clubs and bring in 40 professional players to do exhibitions. . .Thus will begin again an informal Tour on which players travel together in hybrid vehicles and share rooms in motel 6's.
Of course the players will change their shoes in the parking lot not being allowed inside the club house. It will be grand fun when members have the professionals play with the same equipment used circa 1910. It will turn out many club members still have the clubs left to them by past generations. Callaway Golf Co.owns the early Spalding patents and agrees to manufacture golf balls to 1910 specifications (club logo optional.) High tech golf balls soon cost $50 each at retail.
Global warming caused drought plus 99.9% of the population unable to afford it) will force the closing of almost all golf courses in the world. . . Courses will then exist only in the enclaves of the very rich. . . Expert players will then come only from these richest families or those who caddy for them. . . With water such a problem these ultra expensive ($480,000 annual dues) clubs will have to use bottled water from undisclosed sources for hand irrigation. . . Geoff Shackelford will write an essay saying Augusta National GC is being over watered.
Go back into treatment, your Psych guy is calling.
US golf is a poor imitation of real golf - slow play, expensive, litigous and it's being spread to the rest of the world.
Why OZ to replace the PGA of America chump-yun-sheep?
A) No major is played on Couch aka Bermuda cultivars
B) The US PGA tournament has no character of its own
C) The US PGA Organization doesn't represent any part of golf except the US which is already (over-)represented better by the USGA and The Masters (run by a bunch of exclusionary power freaks - also bad for golf - one group like that is enough)
D) The USA is now a fourth rate world power and the ROW needs to move on
and
E) You can't possibly grasp what I wrote so I wonder why I hit : "Post" to try to educate such an imbecile
Wisconsin Reader - Global Warming? ??? Nice sarcasm, but be careful, someone will think you are serious
The Anonymous Pro, among a few others, were talking about how the groove rule helps people with good short games. They named Tiger and Phil as the two best. There's only one thing about that- the grooves of every club from the 5 iron down will be affected. I don't see how Tiger and Phil's short games are going to help them when they'll have a harder time pulling off a 180 yard 8 iron that spins back to 8 feet from the hole; and it won't help Phil save par from the hospitality tent.
One thing that's been proven by those in the know (Dave Pelz, among others) is that from the fairways, grooves react the same, regardless of volume. It's from the rough where things change. That said, I think the rule is going to hurt the wild-drivers (like Tiger, Phil, Holmes, etc.) and helps the guys that actually know where the fairways are located (i.e., Toms, Goydos, Stricker, etc.). They straight-drivers are going to have predictable outcomes, whereas the guys that can't find those same fairways are going to be in for a roller-coaster ride... will it spin back, or fly the green by 20+ yards?
We're sick and tired of whiny Brits who were clearly bullied as children.
http://ticketfront.com/event/US_Open_Golf_Tuesday_Practice-tickets looking forward to it.