West Coast Swing Impact?
/Larry Bohannon says the Tour's possible move to an emphasized fall finish will make it tougher for the West Coast Swing to attract star players.
When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
If PGA Tour Players Could Rewrite The Rule Book
/Jim McCabe talks to Tour players about what rules in golf they'd change. Naturally, intense self-interest come roaring to the top of their lists. Shorts, sand filled divots, etc...
They're Better Athletes...
/How do you hurt youself playing Ping Pong? Vijay did.
Putnam Story
/A nice story on Michael Putnam's impressive debut in Hartford.
2007 Tour Schedule Update...Sort Of
/
AP's Doug Ferguson gets the latest
on the 2007 schedule and new TV deal from Tim Finchem. I'm not really
sure what all of this means except that they still haven't figured out
what they're going to do."You want to grow," Finchem said. "To compete effectively - even if you weren't going to grow, just to maintain your position - you look at who you're competing with. And everyone you're competing with is changing to get better, sometimes dramatically."
Finchem says there are still "a number of options," but two sources who are privy to the discussions said last week that the tour is focused on a playoff race that would begin shortly after the PGA Championship and include four tournaments that lead to the Tour Championship.
"You need to challenge yourself every few years and say, 'Are we taking all the steps necessary to allow us to compete effectively?'" Finchem said. "It may develop that you say, 'You know what? There's no better way to do it, so let's just leave it alone.' It's certainly easier to do that. But I think it's been good to challenge what we're doing, and I think the likelihood is we'll make some changes."
"It's taken a lot longer than we thought," Finchem said. "It's going to be very late in the year before we get to television (negotiations). I would be concerned about that, because we don't like to be within a year of starting the next season. But this year is a little different in the sense we've extended so many title sponsors."
Commissioner, The One Thing We've Talked About...
/
...is the distance issue. Right? Naw. During the NEC's final round Art of the Monotone
demonstration by Commissioner Tim Finchem, CBS's Jim Nantz appeared to
be headed for a question about the most talked about issue in the game.
What was I thinking?JIM NANTZ: Commissioner, one thing we've talked about really on every one of our telecasts this year...is this remarkable Drive to a Billion. You can't shout it loud enough for the sports fan for it to maybe sink in.Finchem went on to predict (admirably) that this was a product of the efforts of the individual tournaments, and that the Tour will reach the billion dollar mark this year (gosh, you think it'll be the Tour Championship?). Nantz then asked if Finchem had any "special memories" of 2005 to this point.
TIM FINCHEM: We had such a great start with the media focus on the "Big 4." And three of those guys have won four times each. And of course Ernie is laid up now which is very sad for the President's Cup not to have Ernie [very nice plug]. But you know I think that there have been so many playoffs, so many tournaments coming to the last hole, that has been terrific this year. It's really helped keep viewers at home tuned into the telecasts.The only time he broke from his monotone was to emphasize the first of three "young" mentions.
And the other thing I think is more and more really good young athletic players are coming. These young guys are really something and there seems to be more and more of them every year. And they're good, attractive, positive thinking young men that I think will add a lot to what the PGA Tour is going to be about for the next 20 years.
