Another Week Talking About PGA Tour's No Comment Policy?

The PGA Tour's policy of not commenting on fines, suspensions or drug policy matters may be scrutinized this week due to a combination of strange circumstances.

There is the story of Xin-Jun Zhang, the PGA Tour China leading money winner in position for one of five Web.com Tour cards thanks to the PGA Tour's new relationship with the China Golf Association. Zhang was eligible for this week's WGC-HSBC Champions until the China Golf Association suspended him for at least two incidents of scorecard errors, though that may have been just the tip of the iceberg. The PGA Tour declined to comment on Zhang's case.

And then there is Dustin Johnson, defending champion at the WGC-HSBC who will not be present as he searches for deep hidden meaning in Jack Nicklaus's work at Sherwood Country Club (Golf.com editor Eamon Lynch Tweeted that Johnson twice shot 61 there last week). Johnson is in the midst of a leave of absence from the game (since July) with no return date specified.

GolfChannel.com's Will Gray noted the awkwardness likely in Shanghai.

When Johnson announced his leave of absence, which was followed by a report of a drug suspension that both he and the Tour subsequently denied, this week’s lack of a title defense was forecast as an understandably high point of awkwardness.

Johnson’s return to action remains unknown, though there appears to be a chance that fiancée Paulina Gretzky will give birth to their first child before he tees it up again in competition. At least there’s one silver lining for him during his sabbatical: thanks to the quirks of the OWGR, Johnson has moved up from 17th to 15th while his clubs have been collecting dust.

Johnson's name has also been in the news as HousingWire.com acquired the lawsuit filed by Johnson against an attorney who was on the board of Johnson's foundation.

The civil suit alleges that Hardwick used $1 million of the supposedly ill-gotten gains to pay providers of private jet services, used approximately $645,000 to cover losses in failed property investments and sent approximately $4 million to various casinos via wire transfers.

Hardwick also allegedly misappropriated funds from the firm and LandCastle to “fund a portion of his $3 million purchase of a luxury condominium unit in The Residences at The St. Regis Atlanta in February 2013.”

Johnson’s lawsuit alleges that before the allegations were made public, Hardwick approached Johnson about a “really good investment.” Hardwick allegedly advised Johnson that if he loaned the firm $3 million, the firm would pay him back $4 million in equal monthly installments over a 30-month term, beginning on Sept. 6 and secured by a promissory note.

Stephanie Wei links to the full text of the civil suit and notes a few other lowlights.

But back to the original premise: the no comment policy.

A thin case could be made for not commenting on the substance abuse or drug policy violations of the PGA Tour before golf became an Olympic sport. But in the case of Zhang, the incidents involve on course behavior related to the playing of events. Some are already coming forward on Twitter suggesting other incidents and with a Web.com Tour card on the line, it's not unreasonable to wonder if affected players will want scores, finishes and money earned reconsidered.

This all should be an interesting week in Shanghai if any journalists were able to get there to ask questions. If so, it's probably not what sponsor HSBC wants to be the event's focus, but by hiding why these players are not present, focus shifts to them instead to those who have shown up to play. Yet another reason the policy stinks.