Tour and Tiger Return To D.C.

 Does this mean Tiger really hates Denver's altitude that much?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 27, 2007
PGA TOUR, TIGER WOODS FOUNDATION ANNOUNCE
NEW TOURNAMENT IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
Finchem, Woods to Announce Event Details at March 7 Press Conference

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL - The PGA TOUR, in conjunction with the Tiger Woods Foundation, announced today that the TOUR will return to Washington, D.C. as a result of the two organizations reaching a long-term agreement to create a new PGA TOUR event in the nation’s capital, beginning in July, 2007.

The new tournament will be held the week of July 2-8 with the Tiger Woods Foundation serving as the event's host organization and primary charitable beneficiary. A press conference is scheduled for March 7 in Washington, D.C. where PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem and Tiger Woods will announce further details of the tournament, including the title sponsor, total purse, and the charitable vision for the event.

"After an extensive search, we are very excited about our partnership with the Tiger Woods Foundation to bring a PGA TOUR event back to our nation’s capital over the 4th of July holiday celebration," Finchem said. "We are delighted to be able to work with Tiger and his Foundation, and I look forward to joining him on March 7 to announce a very strong title sponsor and additional details of the tournament."

"This is a wonderful opportunity to expand awareness and interest in the work we're doing for millions of kids across the country," said Woods, founder of the Tiger Woods Foundation. "I'm grateful the PGA TOUR selected us as partners and am very excited my Foundation will host another amazing event, this time in our nation’s capital. I'm delighted to think of all the young people this will help us reach."

Additional information on the time and location of the March 7 press conference will be released later this week.

Shapiro On Washington's Prospects...

...and it doesn't sound too promising, at least for a PGA Tour event returning anytime soon.

Ralph Shrader, chairman of Booz Allen, which sponsored Washington's tour event the last three years, said in a telephone interview that no one from the tour has approached him about sponsoring the 2007 event. The date opened up two weeks ago when the International in Castle Rock, Colo., opted out of this year's schedule because a title sponsor could not be found.

"Given the tour's decision to pull the Presidents Cup out of Washington, I don't even know if we're even on their radar screen," Shrader said. "They haven't talked to me at all, and no one has offered encouragement that they're even anxious to talk to us."

And this may be even more surprising from a fellow at Congressional, one of the only viable sites in the area... 

"I think their first step is to talk to a potential sponsor, and if any of those stepped up to the plate, that's the city where the tournament would go," Brundred said. "But we haven't heard word one from anyone, and I guess that's a little surprising."

"What are we doing here?"

That's the question AP's Doug Ferguson asks while sitting in the press tent at The Gallery, home to the WGC Match Play.

What might help is taking this tournament to golf courses that could add some sizzle, and not just from the desert sun. The Gallery Golf Club is a nice piece of property, a blend of lush green and desert brown. But it still begs an important question.

What are we doing here?

No doubt the tournament will help sell homes on Dove Mountain. But it won't do the fans much good. The course goes out some 3 miles before making a U-turn, with only about four holes in the middle where fans can hop around and watch more than one match. The only way to get from No. 5 to No. 11 is to follow the routing, or dodge rattlesnakes traversing the desert.

At this point I will spare you my now annual rant that this event would be great at PGA West's Stadium Course because, well, the Golfobserver.com column I wrote about it has disappeared into cyberspace.
 

GolfDigest.com's Ron Whitten reviews The Gallery and, well, reminds us that the PGA Tour still has a long way to go when it comes to mixing architecture with commerce.

But people persist, because there's this theory that some courses make better match-play courses than stroke-play ones. If a course is fraught with obstacles and perils, or better yet, has lots of high-risk/high-reward gambling situations, so the theory goes, it's a terrific venue for match play but a humiliating place on which to keep score. That's a good, logical theory, but one that gets trampled upon by PGA Tour officials when they choose, and then set up, a course for their match-play event.

A prime example is The Gallery, on cactus-dotted slopes of Dove Mountain, a first-class private club with 36 holes that allows non-member play for those who stay overnight in one of its pricey but plush golf cottages. (See the club's website for details.) The Gallery's North Course, opened in 1998, was co-designed by former PGA Tour player John Fought and his then-design partner Tom Lehman and is known primarily for its deep-dish fairway bunkers and its 725-yard par-5 ninth. You would think the PGA Tour would eagerly award a match-play event to a course designed by two Tour players, particularly one with returning nines, 125 bunkers and ponds guarding two greens. But instead, The Accenture will be played on the South Course, five years younger and designed solely by Fought, without Lehman's influence.

Okay, here's the setup part.

But when I played the course last December, alternate fairways on the uphill par-5 10th and 362-yard 12th were both being grown to rough. They'll be taken out of play, converted to bleacher and/or skybox space. So much for match-play options.

What's more, the Tour will play The South in excess of the 7,351 yards listed as the maximum on the scorecard. Fought recently added four new back tees, so the course can now be stretched to 7,550 yards. Yes, it sits at an elevation of 3,000 feet, so it won't play that full distance, but why cater to ball-bashers in a match-play event? Why not set up the course to play around 6,900 yards and give underdogs like Corey Pavin a chance?

Sigh.

WGA's The Last To Know

From Ed Sherman in the Chicago Tribune, following the news that Harding Park would be getting the tournament-formerly-known-as-the-Western-Open:

The former Western Open might really be going west. But in another bizarre twist, it appears as if the Western Golf Association might be the last to know.

The BMW Championship--the new title for the Western Open--will be played at Harding Park Golf Course in San Francisco in 2013 or 2014, with perhaps another one to be held there between 2015 and 2019, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The BMW would be used to help the PGA Tour fulfill a five-tournament deal it made with San Francisco.

BMW tournament director John Kaczkowski said Sunday he didn't know anything about a proposed move. It seems inconceivable that the tour neglected to contact the WGA to at least say this option was on the table, but sources confirmed that's the case.

"We haven't had any official conversations about San Francisco," Kaczkowski said. He added that the WGA hadn't looked beyond 2010 in terms of rotating the BMW out of Chicago.

But the Tour is claiming the SF Chronicle and AP story on the Harding situation were incorrect:

"We're far from the end of the process," Combs said. "We're in the middle of discussions. We need more discussions within the city and our own policy board."

Asked about the possibility of the BMW being held in San Francisco, Combs gave a blanket statement.

"As it relates to the first three playoff events, you'll see some rotation of markets and/or venues," he said.

Media-ocrity

 JIM NUGENT JOINS PGA TOUR PARTNERS MAGAZINE AS PUBLISHER

Distinguished Golf Industry Leader Joins Official Publication Of the Largest Golf Membership Organization in North America

Does this mean he won't be continuing the newsletter that was so well received by the Golfweek folks?

I wonder if he'll finally get to make his case for Tiger as an NFL-caliber athlete?

Gosh, and I was almost missing his pro-technology shilling in Golfweek, except of course I stopped subscribing.

Minneapolis, MN & Ponte Vedra Beach, FL – North American Media Group, an industry leader in publishing and affinity marketing, jointly announced with the PGA TOUR that veteran golf business leader Jim Nugent has been named publisher of PGA TOUR Partners magazine.

Affinity marketing? Is that a fancy way of saying propaganda publishing?

In his new role, Nugent will direct all advertising sales efforts and lead the brand vision of the magazine.

The brand vision...oh to be in on those meetings. 

Nugent will work closely with both the PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Partners editor Tom Stine to continue to broaden the appeal of the magazine to both readers and advertisers alike. He will be based in Orlando, FL and will report to Vice President/Group Publisher Russ Nolan in Minneapolis.

Nugent joins PGA TOUR Partners after a distinguished career with Golfweek. A seasoned media executive with 25 years of experience in the print, broadcast and digital environments, Nugent is a well-recognized and respected member of the golf industry. He joined fledgling Golfweek shortly after it was acquired by Turnstile Publishing Co. and led the business and editorial teams that developed it into a solid business enterprise and an award-winning national journal. Prior to his 16-year tenure at Golfweek, Nugent served as Vice President of Pegasus Broadcasting, where he directed all revenue functions, including a financial restructuring and ultimate sale of the highly leveraged company. Nugent spent the early part of his magazine career at Ziff Davis and Time Inc. He sits on the Board of Directors for the American Junior Golf Association and the Executive Board for Golf 20/20, whose mission is to address the future of golf in a strategic manner, with an emphasis on accelerating growth and participation, and creating new avenues of access into the game. Nugent earned his MBA at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgetown University.

Nugent succeeds PGA TOUR Partners’ former publisher Seth Hoyt, who retired in January after an illustrious publishing career spanning four decades.

And now its time for the group hug quotes.

“We’re very confident that Jim’s vast experience in the golf market combined with his enthusiasm for our unique publishing model and forward thinking can take PGA TOUR Partners to a new level of success,” said Nolan.

"The PGA TOUR is delighted to welcome Jim as the new publisher of PGA TOUR Partners," said Tom Wade, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for the PGA TOUR. "Jim's very significant experience and knowledge of the golf industry will be a key ingredient in making the PGA TOUR Partners magazine even more relevant and informative for the TOUR's growing fan base."

“This is a special time in the history of this magazine property, and I am honored and thrilled to be chosen to lead the development of this brand," Nugent added.

Harding to Host...

The Western Open the BMW Championship! But it'll be spun as falling in line with the old Western, which moved around the country and was once played at Presidio.

Maybe that year they could play the Western in Chicago on July 4 weekend? Just a thought. The date is open.

Hey, did you know Laurie Auchterlonie won the second BMW Championship at Midlothian? Just an FYI.

Anyway, Ron Kroichick details the move and Harding getting the President's Cup in '09 despite the temptation to bring it to Riviera so that they could play before lackluster crowds and even less enthusiastic corporate support.

The revised deal also will bring the BMW Championship, one of the PGA Tour's "playoff" tournaments, to Harding in 2013 or '14. That event, scheduled this year for Sept. 6-9 outside Chicago, is the third of four postseason tournaments in the tour's new FedEx Cup schedule, a yearlong points race designed to create a climactic finish to the season.

Harding would host one other elite-field, PGA Tour event in the next 12 years, plus the Schwab Cup, the Champions Tour's season-ending tournament, in 2010 and 2011.

The original contract between the city and tour called for five marquee events at Harding over a 15-year period. San Francisco officials hoped those tournaments would help pay for the course's extensive renovation in 2002 and '03, which was projected to cost $16 million but ran more than $7 million over budget.

Playing Havoc With Their Games

I don't know about you, but I'm getting a little tired of hearing players complain about Denver's altitude messing with their games. From Anthony Cotton's story on the International's demise:

Also, PGA players have long spoken of the difficultly (SP) in adjusting to a golf ball traveling farther in Colorado's thin air, which then plays havoc with their games when they return to sea-level events.

"Sadly, he doesn't pay much attention to that, and never has."

In his Scotland on Sunday column, John Huggan lets Greg Norman rant about the usual stuff. I still enjoy reading it even if he's made many of these points before. Well, he's taken it up a notch on the topic of his good buddy, Tim Finchem.

"I can't fault Finchem in some respects," said the two-times Open champion in Dubai. "You have to say he has done a good job in getting prize- money up in America, so that players from all over the world are going there to play. But when you are the leader of the free world, as the United States is, you have responsibilities beyond that. President Bush has global responsibilities on his shoulders, whether he likes it or not, because of the power of the position he is in. It is the same for Finchem.

Ouch, a Bush-Finchem analogy. Has Greg turned on 43 too?

"He has a responsibility not to forget the rest of the world. He must support the likes of the European Tour, the Australian Tour and the South African Tour. Which has not been happening. Finchem has to be aware that every decision he makes has an impact around the world. Sadly, he doesn't pay much attention to that, and never has."

Now now, he $ee$ great potential in China!

On the subject of the world No.1, Norman is just one of a growing number of informed observers despairing of the fact that, Woods and one or two others apart, the sharp end of the professional game is populated by an ever-growing number of golfing robots devoted to hitting basically the same shot, time after tedious time.

"Because I grew up in an era when we could manoeuvre the ball maybe 60 feet in the air either way, I wonder at the game today," he sighed. "You don't see that any more. There were a lot of shot-makers in my day. And now, even though the very best players still come through, technology has bunched the players up. Tiger, of course, is the exception that proves the rule.

"I see so many players making a lot of prize-money without ever winning a tournament. In my day, you could make the cut, and still not win any money. You had to play hard to get anywhere. I realise people don't like hearing the old war stories about what we went through, but the powers that be in golf - the USGA, the R&A and the PGA Tour - should put some restrictions on the equipment used by the best players in the world."

They should, but that would require an ounce of integrity!

"I would rule the golf ball back to 1996 specifications, number one," he declared. "It's a crying shame that so many of the world's great courses have been lengthened by 400-500 yards for one week a year. The cost of that is just ridiculous, especially when you multiply it 30 or 40 times. That money could be better spent elsewhere. Golf is too expensive, and getting more expensive.

"I look at the Open at St Andrews two years ago. There were four tees there not even on the golf course. And I think of golf courses like Merion or Inverness. There is a long list: Royal Melbourne and Royal Sydney in Australia. The men who designed those great courses must be rolling over in their graves. I know I would be, in their position."

Greater Greensboro Course?

Thanks to reader Paul for this Robert Bell story on the likelihood that Forest Oaks is doomed as a PGA Tour venue. Bet they're glad they've poured all of that money into modernizing the design for PGA Tour play!

 Officials are hoping a move to Sedgefield will build on the momentum from this year's new date on the PGA Tour.

Well, until they realize that "new date" isn't so hot. Well, unless you are interested in the race to make it into the top 144. That Kevin Na-Todd Hamilton points shootout will be fasinating...to their immediate friends and family.

Despite improvements to Forest Oaks, including a $3.5 million renovation to the course just four years ago, Wyndham officials said last year they were exploring moving the tournament to a course closer to downtown Greensboro and Winston-Salem.

Sources said the biggest worries — parking and space for tents and bleachers around Sedgefield's tight course — can be worked out. Patrons could park at Grandover Resorts and take a shuttle to the course. Corporate tents — which generate most of a tournament's revenue — would be smaller, but Sedgefield's Tudor clubhouse also could be used.

Another plus: Sedgefield is in the midst of a $2.7 million renovation of its Donald Ross-designed course that should be complete by this spring.

Well at least they might be moving to a Ross course! 

World Golf Championships Now Concentrated In World's Center

That new WGC event in China is no longer a WGC...

That means all the WGC events this year will be played in the United States — the Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona next month, the CA Championship at Doral in Miami and the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone in Akron, Ohio.

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem and European tour chief George O'Grady said last fall that Mission Hills would host the World Cup for two years, then get a World Golf Championship the following 10 years.

It was not immediately clear how the announcement Monday affects those plans.

Oh I think it's pretty clear!

"If you are not moving forward, you are moving backwards."

Larry Bohannan nabs a rare sit down with Commissioner Tim Finchem to talk about the demise of the once great event known as the Bob Hope Classic, and it's nice to know that the MBAspeak isn't confined to press conferences.

On the move to The Classic Club:

"If you are not moving forward, you are moving backwards. This tournament for a long time sort of set the bar in a lot of ways toward charitable giving, going back to the 1970s," Finchem said. "They need facilities that they can use to effectively market the tournament in today's world.

"You see all the other sports building new facilities. These facilities allow us to give the customer, the fan, a better experience."

Yeah it really looked like it the last two years!

And regarding the pro-am...

"I'm not so sure that the experience for the amateurs here can't be even more effectively marketed. It has been effectively marketed through the years."

Today's key phrase, effective marketing. As opposed to mere marketing. This man makes $7 million a year!

On the Nationwide Tour caliber field...

"From a field standpoint, you always have in a multi-day pro-am, whether it is here or Pebble Beach, you've got some players who like that format and some players who don't," Finchem said. "That is always going to continue."

But Finchem said it's important to look at the field as a legitimate PGA Tour field even if some stars are absent or avoid the event.

"The tour as a whole continues to get stronger and stronger. The fan base is getting bigger. We've got more stars. Here you've got some international players sprinkled in, I'm glad to see Phil make his debut after five months off this week."

Yep, stronger and stronger, that's why there were more world ranking points available in the Persian Gulf than Palm Springs. Fan base bigger? More stars? Uh huh.

On The Golf Channel GOLF CHANNEL and the new TV deal:

"We are going to learn more after the first couple of years of this new schedule.

First couple of years? More like first couple of months. 

We see good underlying trends with the Golf Channel. We like their presentation. We think it is getting better."

One key to the new deal is the potential for growth for Golf Channel, which currently reaches about 75 million homes.

"We like the way their distribution is going. We think we are on track for them to be in 90 million homes by '09," Finchem said. "By that time, all of the fan base of the sport will understand where the Golf Channel is. And that creates a really good base for us."

It's all about the base!

Azinger Elected To PAC Board

Oh to be a fly on the wall at those Player Advisory Council meetings. Doug Ferguson reports:

PLAYER ADVISOR:@ Paul Azinger has been one of the sharpest critics of PGA Tour policy, from title sponsorship to player input over the new FedExCup. Now, the Ryder Cup captain will have a small say in matters.

His peers elected Azinger to the 16-member Player Advisory Council, which reports to the main policy board. Next up is an election to see who will be chairman of the PAC, and that player eventually is appointed to the policy board. But that's one election he won't win, because Azinger is taking his name out of consideration.

"I'm more interested in making history than making policy," he said.

Judging by past comments like this from Azinger, his sense of humor will make those meetings most interesting. 

Tampa Sponsor

PODS...the company that Kirk Triplett represents, has signed up. Bob Harig notes:

PGA Tour sponsorships run about $7-million per year or $42-million over the six-year contract, which is tied to the tour's network television deals. The PODS Championship will be televised for the first two rounds on Golf Channel and the weekend rounds on NBC, Channel 8 locally.

Title sponsorship dollars fund part of the $5.3.-million purse, with the remaining money coming from the PGA Tour. The sponsorship also covers a required minimum of advertising dollars to be spent on television as well as tournament operations.

PGA Tour officials, however, have suggested that PODS is not paying the full sponsorship amount, hence the need to secure other funding.

"Including, for the first time, TOUR-branded apparel for kids"

Thanks to reader Scott for noticing the great news that PGA Tour PGA TOUR branded apparel will now be available for children. It's all about family values further extending the brand.

"We are pleased to have the following companies as new retail licensees of the PGA TOUR, which further extends the TOUR brand into new product categories, including, for the first time, TOUR-branded apparel for kids," said Leo McCullagh, PGA TOUR Vice President for Retail Licensing and Consumer Marketing. "Many of these companies will exhibit their TOUR-licensed products at this week's PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando."

Oh Canada Stop Complaining!

Thanks to reader Noonan for noticing this Chris Johnston story on the Canadian Open's struggle to find a sponsor, and the PGA Tour's Ty Votaw's condescending rebuttal (to their faces!):

The 'For Sale' sign hanging on the title sponsorship of the Canadian Open is beginning to fade with age, but the PGA Tour isn't worried about the lingering vacancy.

Tour executive Ty Votaw believes it's only a matter of time before a company steps forward and pays the $6-million (U.S.) a year needed to get its name on the event.

"The PGA Tour brand is strong," Votaw said yesterday after speaking to the Royal Canadian Golf Association's board of governors. "The history of golf in Canada is strong. I think the event itself is a selling point. It's a question of finding the right [fit]."

This is the fun part...

Votaw, however, believes the tournament's place in the run-up to the new FedEx Cup playoff system should boost the field and sponsorship interest.

"It's not less than ideal, it's not lousy and it's not between a rock and a hard place," said Votaw, the PGA Tour's executive vice-president of international affairs. "We want to build a crescendo to the end of our year.

"You should be proud that you are within that group rather than bemoaning that you're in that group."