"If the Tour decides to implement furrowing as part of a larger strategy to counteract technology..."

Ryan Ballangee writes about the bunker furrowing at Muirfield Village:

...the question is this - if the Tour decides to implement this strategy in the long haul, is this a good move by the Tour? The answer, like most things, is "it depends."

If you are a purist like I am, then the answer may very well be that it is good. Since there is no action on equipment restrictions, the Tour can add this into its arsenal of setup changes it can make in an effort to discourage bombing and increase the penalty for inaccuracy. The problem, though, is that many Tour stops do not have very significant bunkering. This means that furrowed raking would only be prominent at a percentage of Tour stops. In essence, it's a six shooter with two bullets.

If you are a Tour marketer, then this is a terrible idea. There are only four weeks of the year that fans look forward to the best players in the world being made to look like fools - the major championships. In particular, the number one week for that is the US Open. The rest of the year, the fans are looking for interesting setups that reward accuracy, are not too gimmicky, and attract good fields. If the Tour decides to implement furrowing as part of a larger strategy to counteract technology, then they may actually upset some of the top players in the process. This could prove to hurt the potential of the FedEx Cup (not that it has any right now) and fly in the face of its goals.

Oh but the irony is so sweet!

Paying Excessive Rent

Sam Weinman reports that the PGA Tour and Westchester Country Club have come to an agreement where the venerable course will host the new FedEx "playoff" event four of the next six years.

And here's why the Tour execs get the big bucks...

For the club, there appears to be much to like about the deal. In it, the tour would pay the club $800,000 in years that it hosts the Classic, and $400,000 in years that the tournament is played elsewhere.

Since the two parties haven't determined whether the event will be held at Westchester three or four years, the total value of the six-year contract would be either $3.6 million or $4 million. That's compared to the current contract that was supposed to extend through 2010, in which the club would receive $500,000 a year over the next four years.

Wow, $800,000 for not hosting two events. When did Westchester CC become a charity? 

More On 84

Thanks to Big K for the heads up on this Teresa Lindeman story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that sheds  a little more light on the 84 Lumber Classic's surprising demise.

But pretty soon, it became clear the higher costs of such things as moving from ESPN to CBS would bump the overall price tag up to the point where 84 Lumber expected to pay $100 million over the six-year contract.

That's money that could be used to build a lot of new stores plus help pay for acquisition of companies that can fill in services not offered by 84 Lumber now.

Ms. Hardy Magerko couldn't justify putting so much money and staff time into a golf tournament, especially since her customers are not the broad consumer audience that would be attracted to a CBS broadcast.

She broke the news to her father. "I didn't ask him. I basically told him," she said, knowing that he would hate losing the event. And he did, though she said he agreed with her assessment of the financial bottom line.

Ms. Hardy Magerko has mixed emotions about how things worked out with the PGA. She has offered to host the fall tournament another year if the organization can't find a replacement in time.

She believes the golf organization might have helped 84 Lumber more in making its numbers work. She said the PGA was unwilling to sign a deal shorter than six years or to allow the company to bring in a presenting sponsor to help share the expense, though she has heard it has been more accommodating for the group that stepped up to take the spot.

For now, 84 Lumber is prepared to put on its final PGA tournament in the fall and then move on. Ms. Hardy Magerko won't miss the constant meetings required to plan the annual golf event. That's time she can spend on the road meeting with her new store managers.

Drugs In Golf Story By Bloomberg

Here is a lengthy story courtesy of reader Tuco about golf's weak response to possible drug use and testing, courtesy of Bloomberg News writers Curtis Eichelberger and Michael Buteau. A few highlights:

Golf's most powerful organization, the U.S. PGA Tour, says there is no evidence of drug use in the sport and testing is unnecessary. Results from Europe suggest that rationale may be flawed.

While muscle-enhancing steroids aren't surfacing, other banned substances are: Marijuana, cocaine and ecstasy have turned up in French and Italian tests of amateur and pro golfers, according to documents from sports-testing agencies.   Golf's rule-making bodies have little control over the PGA Tour, whose 275 active players include Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. The tour's resistance makes it unlikely that mandatory, global testing of top pros will emerge in the next few years, current and former golf officials say.

"It's really a matter for the tours to embrace, and I think that's happening slowly, in the United States particularly slowly,'' says Peter Dawson, chief executive of Scotland's Royal & Ancient Golf Club, the sport's rulemaker outside the U.S. and Mexico."I don't think you're going to see a worldwide anti-doping policy in place in golf for some years.''

Because that look the other way approach worked so well for baseball, you know. Though I did find this encouraging from David Fay, who has been reluctant to push publicly for testing:

"It's just a matter of time before the sport of golf needs to deal with this in a comprehensive manner,'' says Fay, 55. The USGA, which oversees rules in the U.S. and Mexico, runs the U.S. Open. It has no control over the 47 other PGA Tour events, where $250 million in prize money is disbursed.

 And...

There are signs that young American golfers are using illegal drugs as well. The latest tests of U.S. college amateurs, in 2004, showed no positive results, yet an anonymous survey indicated drug use. The 2005 National Collegiate Athletic Association survey of a sampling of golfers indicated steroid use by 1.3 percent, amphetamine use by 3.5 percent, cocaine or crack use by 2.7 percent and marijuana use by 25 percent, according to the NCAA.

And...

The view of South African Ernie Els, a PGA Tour member who has earned $26.7 million over his career, is common among touring pros. "We're all-natural,'' he says. Els, 36, labels calls for drug testing in golf "ridiculous.''

We're all natural. Wow. Let's test Ernie first, because he's smoking something if he believes that.

If Congress requires random testing, the PGA Tour will comply, Combs added. He declined to respond to questions about other banned drugs or to comment about results in Europe. He also declined to say whether any PGA Tour golfer has been asked to take a drug test under the current policy, introduced in 1992.

At a press conference in March that focused on steroids, Finchem said there was no evidence of drug use among golfers, and he stressed that players adhere to a code of honor. Without proof, there is no need for testing, he said.

This is fun...

"These excuses are so lame, it's like reading something out of a Monty Python script,'' says Charles Yesalis, 59, an anabolic steroids specialist and professor of health policy at Pennsylvania State University in State College. "We don't have a problem because there is no proof, and we aren't going to test to get the proof.' This whole notion that there is something about carrying a bag of clubs that places you in a high ethical and moral plane is naive.''

And...

The Ladies Professional Golf Association, based in Daytona Beach, Florida, says it has no evidence of drug use among its members.

That's right, back acne and excessive facial hair have always been part of LPGA Tour life.

Drug testing will be conducted at the World Amateur Championships in October in Stellenbosch, South Africa, a first for the event."It's educational,'' says Fay, whose USGA is involved in organizing the tests. "We won't announce the results.''

 Golfing executives agree that any testing policy for pros or amateurs needs to be uniform across the globe. The European tour holds 46 events in 23 different countries.

And...

Stewart Cink, a 12-year veteran of the tour, says testing is probably a good idea if only to erase any doubt about drug use. Nothing players might take will make them better golfers, says Cink, 32.

"Everything you could take would diminish your performance,'' he says.

German government anti-doping officials are operating on the opposite assumption. They are working with German golf association executives to come up with a testing program partly because the anti-doping officials say golfers can enhance their performance.

"In every type of sport, it's possible to gain an advantage with certain substances,'' says Matthias Blatt, director of Germany's National Anti-Doping Agency. "Theoretically, golfers could even dope to increase concentration.''

 Beta-blockers, used to treat hypertension, create a more regular heart rate, possibly reducing anxiety and giving a player a steadier hand. They are prohibited in the Olympic sports of archery, curling and shooting and are often outlawed at chess and bridge tournaments, doctors say.

And finally...

In the U.S., Fay says it will probably take a crisis to get drug testing on the fast track.

"The court of public opinion doesn't seem interested in how it relates to golf because they sense it is a clean sport,'' he says. If there is a documented case or strong suspicion, that is when the interest level will spike.''

No More 2-Year Exemptions For Cup Team Players

One of the silliest PGA Tour exemptions is about to run its course, according to Doug Ferguson.

Trevor Immelman came within a 10-foot putt of winning the Wachovia Championship, a tournament he might not have been able to play except for a Presidents Cup perk that no longer exists.

The PGA Tour began offering a two-year exemption in 2004 to anyone on the previous Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup teams, provided they had some degree of tour membership.

More times than not, anyone good enough to make either team had no trouble keeping his card, although there were exceptions. Paul Azinger was picked in 2001 to play in a Ryder Cup that was rescheduled to 2002, and he was able to play in 2004 on that exemption after finishing 169th on the money list.

But what really infuriated players was the case of Immelman.

He tied for 17th in the PGA Championship to earn just enough money for special temporary membership. Later that day, Gary Player made him as a captain's pick for the International team, even though Immelman was 22nd in the standings.

It smacked of preferential treatment, not only because Player and Immelman are South Africans, but because Immelman's father is commissioner of the Sunshine Tour in South Africa. And just like that, he was exempt for two years on the PGA Tour.

"I think it's more important to win a golf tournament for a two-year exemption than it is to make one of those teams to get the exemption, or even theoretically be a captain's pick," Jim Furyk said after his playoff victory at Quail Hollow.

Furyk wasn't alone in his complaints.

The criticism was so strong that the tour's policy board rescinded the exemption in May last year. Because it was in the middle of Presidents Cup qualifying, the perk wasn't taken off the books until this year. That means the exemption is effective this year for Ryder Cup players, and through 2007 for Presidents Cup players.

Finchem Hosts Wachovia Gambler's Anonymous Meeting

John Daly's forthcoming book reveals that he has lost between $50 million and $60 million during 12 years of heavy gambling, AP's Doug Ferguson reports.

He told one story of earning $750,000 when he lost in a playoff to Tiger Woods last fall in San Francisco at a World Golf Championship. Instead of going home, he drove to Las Vegas and says he lost $1.65 million in five hours playing mostly $5,000 slot machines.

"If I don't get control of my gambling, it's going to flat-out ruin me," he says in the book, co-written with Glen Waggoner and published by HarperCollins.

And it looks like someone in Ponte Vedra has been reading Daly's book.

The book got the attention of PGA Tour headquarters, and commissioner Tim Finchem met with Daly on Monday at the Wachovia Championship in Charlotte, N.C.

Finchem said the book does not violate PGA Tour regulations, although "it is clear that he continues to be concerned about and grapple with significant personal challenges."

"I have expressed to John the tour's concern for his well-being, as well as his ongoing need to uphold the image and standards of the PGA Tour," Finchem said. "While we will continue to enforce the regulations and policies of the PGA Tour, I have advised John of the tour's willingness to support him in his efforts to deal with his personal issues."

Of more pressing concern to Finchem was a recent focus group that downgraded Daly's likability rating due to his propensity to not wear shoes during Monday outting play (as recently demonstrated on The Daly Planet). 

The Commissioner and Daly reportedly discussed the potential brand impact of such negative focus group scores, the first port o'call should Daly decide to go shopping, and better ways to interface his feet with footwear.

I Don't Know About You...

...but after reading this Gerry Dulac story on the 84 Lumber Classic's demise, I could take a big rain check on meeting  Joe Hardy's daughter:

"My dad, he can spend money," said Maggie Hardy Magerko, Joe's daughter and president/owner of 84 Lumber Co.

It was that spending, apparently, that helped lead to the demise of the tournament, which will be discontinued after this year as part of a growth plan by 84 Lumber to expand the nation's largest privately owned lumber and building supply retailer into a $10 billion company.

And that decision was made by Hardy Magerko, not her father, whom she says did not want to cancel the tournament.

"It was my decision," said Hardy Magerko. "I'm 40 and my dad is 83. We don't always agree on things. He has different motivation. I want to pass 84 Lumber to my sons. He likes legacies.

"That's our biggest dilemma. He spends too much money. I want to make money."

The 84 Lumber Classic agreed to a six-year sponsorship extension with the PGA Tour that would allow the tournament to move to June, beginning in 2007. Four months later, Hardy Magerko changed her mind because she said the cost of running the tournament for the next six years would have been $100 million.

Among the reasons: Hardy Magerko said her company will be spending "lots of money" to aggressively purchase smaller lumber and framing companies to eliminate competition.

So good to know the money is going to such a worthy cause. What a legacy!

More Norman v. PGA Tour

Greg Norman has plenty to say about his request to open the PGA Tour's books in this Greg Hardwig story (thanks to reader Dan).

"To me, an open book's an open book,'' he added. "Like I said, I'm not on any witch hunt. I just feel like I have the right, and I have the right as a shareholder of a corporation.''

Playing tournament golf isn't taking up Norman's time as he recovers from his second knee surgery in four months, the last in February in Pittsburgh. He hopes to start hitting balls in June, then return for the slew of Champions Tour majors in July and August, sandwiched around the PGA Tour's International.

Norman and Finchem have feuded over the years, most notably from allegations that Finchem had Norman's idea of a world tour squashed, then stole it and turned it into the World Golf Championships.

But Norman claims this goes beyond that; he's concerned about the future of the tour and feels the players should have all of the information and are entitled to it.

"Am I hoping to find something wrong? No,'' he said. "I think it's just the right of every player to make their decisions on the information that you can read in the minutes of the meeting.

"I feel personally that some of the decisions made in there are probably made without all of the information being disclosed to all of the members. That's what I feel. If I'm wrong, I'll gladly say I'm wrong. I'm not on a witch hunt here. I'll fall on my sword as good as anybody if there's nothing in there.''

The tour has offered to have Norman come up with a list of questions or issues he's concerned about and then release excerpts from the minutes concerning those. "That's not the way to go about it,'' he said.

According to Norman, the tour is afraid he will go public with information in the minutes. "That's not my style,'' he said. "I wouldn't do that.''

84 Classic Follow Up

Gerry Dulac has a little more insight into the impact of 84 Lumber's "aggresive three-year business plan," but the end of this emerging event is still a shocker:

The decision came as a surprise to just about everyone because the tournament recently reached a new six-year agreement with the PGA Tour to move the event to mid-June, beginning in 2007 -- a time spot that had long been targeted and desired by tournament host and sponsor Joe Hardy.

What's more, since the inception of the tournament, Mr. Hardy had spent more than $80 million to improve facilities, upgrade the Mystic Rock golf course that hosted the event and make the tournament one of the best late-summer stops on the PGA Tour.

In a statement released yesterday, Maggie Hardy Magerko, owner and president of 84 Lumber Co. and Mr. Hardy's daughter, said the tournament will be discontinued as part of a strategic growth plan in which the company wants to add 125 stores and hit $10 billion in sales by 2009. The firm also plans to close 67 "underperforming" stores; that move would affect 600 employees.

Mrs. Magerko unveiled the financial plan last week and immediately informed PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem. But the announcement that the 84 Lumber Classic will cease to exist didn't come until yesterday, when a tournament in Hartford, Conn., sponsored by the St. Paul Travelers Co., was named as a replacement.

Just When We Thought That They Were Out...

...Hartford is back in in the uh, FedEx Cup (formerly known as the PGA Tour).  Dont' worry, the PGA Tour didn't come to its senses and realize that it had shipped a 55-yaer old history and charity-rich event off to the fall.

Instead, according to Commissioner Finchem:

"The opportunity for Hartford to move into the June 2007 slot previously committed to the 84 Lumber Classic recently arose when 84 Lumber informed us that it had embarked on an aggressive three-year business plan and wanted to reevaluate the June sponsorship."

I'm open to suggestions on what embarking on "an aggressive three-year business plan" translates to?

Thanks to reader Robert for the heads up.

Finchem's Pay

Ryan Ballangee goes where apparently no other writer will dare, questioning the new 6-year, $4.5 annual salary given to Tim Finchem by the Tour policy board, and cutting salary, uh, points for various acts he sees as Commissioner missteps.

Speaking of the FedEx Cup, no one — even the Commish — seems to know how in the world this thing is going to work less than 12 months from now. What exactly has he been doing to make this happen since the concept was announced last fall? You would think that since the Tour will dramatically change in response to the concept that the boss would expedite the rules for how it will work.

It is astonishing that the Fed Ex concept would be announced without what appears to be much idea how it would work.

...the Tour response has been to encourage course lengthening (except at the TPC at Sawgrass for some reason) at tournament sites and to use pin placements that are nothing short of brutal on Sundays.

This remains a great mystery: why does the Tour refuse to lengthen Sawgrass? As much as I feel course lengthening  is a disastrous trend, it should be done at Sawgrass if you want to maintain some strategic interest during tournament play and until a change comes (if it does). Ballangee points out that the Tour has quietly encouraged course extensions and yet, here they are not budging on the "crown jewel" in the TPC family.

And...

NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue gets paid $5 million per year to do his job. Look at his track record over his tenure and see what he has accomplished — salary cap, enormous TV deals, and football has become the national pastime. Now compare all of that to what Finchem has achieved, and remember that he doesn't have to deal with 32 billionaire owners. And you're telling me that Tim Finchem is only worth $500,000 less than Tagliabue?

Tour Pension Numbers

Andrew Both writes:

At a meeting hosted by commissioner Tim Finchem last week, players were given some examples of their projected retirement payouts.

For example, a 2006 rookie who has a Fred Couples-type career - more than 20 very successful years on tour - can expect to receive a pension of about $247 million, according to the tour's figures.

OK, you say, but not many players have as good a career as Couples. True, but consider the case of a player who has a Don Pooley-like career, 20 years on tour averaging about 75th on the money list. He can expect a payout of about $142 million, not bad for a so-called journeyman.

Of course, these figures, provided to SportsTicker by a player at the meeting, are only projections, educated guesses at best, but even if they are grossly overstated, the tour's bottom feeders will still be very well taken care of barring a major long-term economic catastrophe.

Some of the newer tour members were flabbergasted to learn these figures, and there are skeptics who doubt their accuracy.

"Where is this money coming from?" asked one insider. "You're talking billions of dollars. Are these guys smarter than every other investor in the world? If a journeyman stands to get that sort of money, how much can Tiger expect?"

It seems the key to receiving a massive pension is longevity, keeping your job for a decade or more, even if you never win. And you thought it was all about the trophies.

Sean, try to keep the posts to 500 words or less!  And thanks to reader Noonan for this story.

"It's A Platform For What's To Come"

Just when you think one of those wonderfully empty MBA favorites is no longer en vogue at PGA Tour headquarters, along comes this story on the soon-to-be-demolished Sawgrass clubhouse...

The clubhouse will be replaced, but according to Dave Pillsbury, the Chief Operating Officer for PGA Tour Golf Course Properties, the old one will not be forgotten.

"It's going to be all about where we've been," he said. "It will be a platform for what's to come, but it's also going to celebrate where we've been. ... When you walk in the doors, we want you to be immersed in the history of this event and of Sawgrass."

Update on 2006-03-27 19:07 by Geoff

By my count, the Commissioner never used platform in last week's gathering with the media.

Build A J.W. Marriott, And They Will Come

Richard Elliott analyzes the Tour's relationship with San Antonio, including prospects of the Texas Open moving to the spring when the 36-hole TPC facility is complete. As always, the Tour's priorities have little to do with the quality of the courses...

In January, when he announced the makeover of the tour landscape, Finchem assured officials with the historic tournament and its sponsor that the completion of the TPC at San Antonio would be the catalyst for a likely move from the tour's lesser-regarded Fall Series to a prime position in the spring launch of the annual FedEx Cup.

Even this week, PGA officials have spoken with confidence of the bright future of San Antonio, thanks to a Tournament Players Club that, unlike models opened in recent years near Dallas and New Orleans, is projected to become a focal point for the tour activity west of the Mississippi.

The tour views the San Antonio project as similar to those in Scottsdale and Sawgrass, built for championship golf but complemented by luxury hotel accommodations.

"Most other courses," one tour official said Thursday, "don't have a J.W. Marriott sitting next to them."

Bellerive Here We Come

Dan O'Neill reports that Bellerive, that bastion of scintillating 60's golf architecture, will likely host the 2009 Western Open.