“In all honesty, people thought the FedExCup was confusing. Wait until they see this."

Steve Elling sets up the impending disaster that is the PGA Tour's plan to change Q-School and create a FedExCup-lite playoff between players from the PGA and Nationwide Tours.

But for a sport long hailed as one of the most democratic in all sports, Q-school, which dates to 1965 and used to be contested twice annually as the main boulevard to the tour ranks, is about to be sold down the river in an attempt to prop up the value of the satellite Nationwide, a tour property that needs a new title sponsor after the insurance company's contract expires later this year.

The latest details of the plan were pitched to players last night in San Diego and as expected, at least one player made clear it's not going over well. Stephanie Wei quotes a player who attended the mandatory meeting.

“Not to be stagnant and not forward thinking, but things are going really, really well right now, and you just got done saying this is the best season we’ve ever had, but we need to fix it, we need to change it like there’s something wrong? I just don’t understand it.

“Right now when I tee it up on the PGA Tour, I know what I have to do on the PGA Tour to keep my card. Well, there are all these different situations that can be presented (in the new proposed format) — are you going to work hard at the FedExCup or are you going to work hard at the Money List?

There are two or three transitional periods where things are going to overlap, and I just left (the meeting) shaking my head, and I’m sure a lot of other people did, too, to the point of why are we going to do this, instead of, ‘Hey, if I finish outside the top 125, I’ve got to go to Qschool and I get an opportunity to get my card back.’”

"If you mention player meeting to the average tour player you will get eyes rolled and a sigh."

John Maginnes previews this week's PGA Tour player meeting and gives us an insider's take on what these PTA-gone-bad sessions are like.

Most of the time it seems the agenda and the inevitable hypotheticals concerning it become belabored and exhaustive. However, this meeting and the meetings the rest of the year will be as important as any since the inception of the PGA Tour playoffs. The playoffs were an easy sell - and easy to explain in the beginning. The players like it when you throw money at them. When they perceive, rightly or wrongly, that there job is going to be less secure next year than it is this year even those players who have never spoken in a player meeting will stand up and be heard.

The path to the PGA Tour is changing, that seems inevitable. This week will find out just how dramatic those changes will be.

Either way, there will be a lot of resistance.

"The tour purposely wanted to go long on Saturday so that NBC could direct viewers to Golf Channel for the conclusion of the third round."

The NBC-Golf Channel merger has been a home run for viewers: energized telecasts, higher standards for production values, live Presidents Cup viewing, Johnny was able to drag himself to lowly Kapalua, and shoot, they've even had better guests on Morning Drive (well, except when I appeared). The list goes on and on, and we're only in the early stages.

That said, this revelation from Doug Ferguson's slow play column is bugging me for probably no good reason.

Here’s the bigger issue with TV. Mark Russell, one of the chief rules officials, showed off his atomic watch at Sherwood last month. The seconds were ticking toward 6 p.m. EST, just as the last group on the last green was tapping in. The timing was perfect.

The next day? Not so much.

Despite being in twosomes, play took much longer because of a strong wind. That leads to more time in club selection and on the green. Yet tee times were left alone, thus the third round went well past four hours and the 6 p.m. finish time on NBC Sports.

That wasn’t an accident.

The tour purposely wanted to go long on Saturday so that NBC could direct viewers to Golf Channel for the conclusion of the third round. It was another example of NBC Sports trying to help boost the visibility of Golf Channel now that both are owned by Comcast. Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily. Especially not when TV foots so much of the bill.

I suppose that is true, and I also know networks are generally sensitive to ever being seen as having influenced competition in a negative way, but this seems like a potentially dangerous direction to head. Yes, it was the Chevron World Challenge, and yes, tee times were not moved. And it's not a major. But considering how stubbornly the PGA Tour refused to do anything that might be seen as influencing competition with things like storyline pairings, they've had good reason.

I'm torn in even noting this because ultimately, the benefits of Golf Channel on NBC and NBC on Golf Channel will outweigh the negatives for viewers. Still, this just feels like a precedent setter that could someday backfire, though I'm not sure how. Thoughts?

PGA Tour, USA Today Vow To Love And Support One Another Until Their Five-Year Official Marketing Relationship Ends

For Immediate Release...

PGA TOUR and USA TODAY Sports Media Group-Create Official Marketing Relationship

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The PGA TOUR and the USA TODAY Sports Media Group announced today that they have entered into a five-year official marketing relationship through 2016.

As part of the agreement, USA TODAY receives the exclusive U.S. rights to use the association and TOUR logos for sales and marketing purposes for the print and digital extensions of USA TODAY sports.

The PGA TOUR will have the opportunity to purchase advertising at preferred rates and to develop several TOUR-themed special sections over the course of each year of the agreement.

“The PGA TOUR is one of the premier sports brands in the world, and we’re honored that they’ve selected us as their partner, especially for the long term,” said Tom Beusse, President of the USA TODAY Sports Media Group.

“We welcome the opportunity to work with the USA TODAY Sports Media Group and look forward to developing our relationship and leveraging this platform to bring added value to our entire family of corporate sponsors,” said Tom Wade, Chief Marketing Officer for the PGA TOUR.

“The PGA TOUR is extremely forward thinking when it comes to creating value and impact for its sponsors,” said Merrill Squires, SVP, Leagues and Properties for the USA TODAY Sports Media Group. “They really understand the unique capabilities and assets we can bring them to help maximize great content and marketing opportunities for the PGA TOUR and its sponsors. We can’t wait to begin our collaboration with them.”

Q-School Replacement Idea Getting Worse By The Day

Ryan Ballengee talks to Nationwide Tour president Bill Calfee, who says players showing up at a Torrey Pines player meeting will get to hear the latest concept for the PGA Tour/Nationwide Tour's three-event fall finish, which is designed to help lure a Nationwide title sponsor and replace PGA Tour Q-School as an annual avenue to the tour.

Check out this:

Beginning in 2013, a total of 50 PGA Tour cards will be awarded through a three-tournament series on the Nationwide Tour schedule. Q-School will only offer status on the Nationwide Tour.

The top 75 players from the Nationwide Tour money list and the first 75 players who fail to qualify for the PGA Tour playoffs will be a part of the series. In addition, Calfee said a number of top amateurs or collegiate players could be invited to take part in the series.

“It’s kind of like our form of the FedEx Cup, in some ways,” he said.

So now they are talking sponsor's invites for college players into the series?

What's next, spots for a few of the Commissioner's favorite players outside the top 125? Former Players Champions who no longer have status?