WSJ On Tour Wives: "They are, as a rule, uncommonly pretty, but mostly under the radar."

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John Paul Newport hangs out with tour wives and provides a nice picture of the behind-the-scenes life.

He also tells us about a few wives who are multi-talented and play a role in their husbands' job.

Like many of the wives I talked to, Diane Donald can't believe she's married to a sports star, much less that she doesn't have a career of her own. She grew up in Chicago, the daughter of a working mother. "I was in day care from 3 months old, that's how much of a career woman my mom was," she said. She got a journalism degree at Northwestern (where she met Luke). After graduating she started in a job that paid $25,000. "That was for an entire year," she said. "That's less than Luke was making in a bad week." Especially once the kids came, it made no sense for her to continue.

Unlike athletes in team sports, pro golfers are independent contractors, so wives are key parts of the family business. A handful are involved directly with the golf side of things. Patrick Reed's wife, Nicki, was on the bag last month when he won his first Tour event, at the Wyndham.

Billy Horschel's wife, Brittany, serves as a kind a traveling coach. She played golf at the University of Florida (as did Billy) but had to abandon her own pro dreams after a series of wrist surgeries. She sits in on Billy's lessons with instructor Todd Anderson and helps during tournaments to keep Billy on plan. She has a sports-management degree from Florida.

"All the wives help manage their husbands in one way or another," she told me.

Medinah No. 1 A Possible BMW Championship Host Some Day?

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Teddy Greenstein says Conway Farms was a big hit and is likely to host again in 2015 after Cherry Hills hosts the BMW next year--assuming Colorado hasn't washed away by then.

But a couple of intriguing venue names have come up for the long term, including the newly renovated Medinah No. 1 that sports a camel bunker in Tom Doak's first ever homage to the later work of Desmond Muirhead.

Beyond 2015, the tour and Western Golf Association will consider other Chicago venues, though few present a rigorous enough challenge, can handle 40,000 spectators and have an open membership policy.

A new option that Kaczkowski called "intriguing" will open for play next summer, when the renovation of Medinah No. 1 is completed at a cost of $6.4 million.

Architect Tom Doak, who designed such celebrated courses as Lost Dunes, Pacific Dunes and Ballyneal, is vying to give Medinah's members a worthy partner to the famed No. 3 course, which hosted the 2012 Ryder Cup.

The par-71 layout will be roughly 6,900 yards with deep-faced bunkers and a par-3 finish. If it lands an event of the BMW Championship's caliber, length could be added and the nines could be flipped to create a 600-yard finishing hole.

"Any time you are talking about a championship opportunity, our membership has demonstrated excitement," said Medinah official Mike Crance. "We will see how it plays out."

Calendar-Year PGA Tour Schedule Hits; Masters Is Week 23!

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Bob Harig breaks down the 2013-24 PGA Tour schedule which starts next month. I wasn't on Twitter much but judging what I read and the emails that came in, the absurdity of a year-round schedule finally hit home when the Masters turned up as event No. 23 and the prospect of a new season starting after the last one ends finally hit home.

But hey, no cent must be left on the table. Commissioner Blankfein's pay package needs to reach eight figures!

Oh and this will be fun next year when stars skip the playoffs...

• Unlike this year, the FedEx Cup playoffs will be contested over four consecutive weeks, with no break. That is in deference to the Ryder Cup, which will be played in Scotland. The PGA of America requested from the PGA Tour a week break prior to the biennial competition, meaning the Tour Championship in Atlanta will be contested Sept. 11-14, 2014. The Ryder Cup is two weeks later.

Today In PGA Tour Sponsorship News...Tampa, Maui Editions

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Nice Friday afternoon news from the PGA Tour if you like the Tampa and Kapalua stops.

First, Tampa:

Valspar Commits to Four-Year Title Sponsorship of
PGA TOUR Event in Tampa Bay and is Named 
“Official Paint Supplier” of the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour

Valspar Championship to be Played in March at Innisbrook Resort;
 BB&T Named Local Presenting Sponsor

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla., and MINNEAPOLIS (September 6, 2013) – The Valspar Corporation (NYSE: VAL), a global leader in the paint and coatings industry, and the PGA TOUR today announced a four-year agreement for Valspar to become the title sponsor of the Tampa Bay area’s professional golf tournament on the PGA TOUR.

Named the Valspar Championship, the tournament will be contested March 13-16, 2014 on the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook, a Salamander Golf & Spa Resort in Palm Harbor, Fla. The Valspar Championship will be the third of four straight tournament weeks in Florida.

In addition to the sponsorship, Valspar will join the PGA TOUR’s Official Marketing Partner program and receive the exclusive designation as “Official Paint Supplier of the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour.”

And Maui...

Hyundai Renews Title Sponsorship of Tournament of Champions

Two-year deal carries through the 2014-2015 PGA TOUR season

COSTA MESA, CA, and PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL (September 6, 2013) – The PGA TOUR and Hyundai Motor America announced today a two-year extension of Hyundai’s title sponsorship of the exclusive field Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Hawaii, through the 2014-2015 season.

The upcoming Hyundai Tournament of Champions will be held January 3-6 at the Plantation Course in Kapalua, Maui, and will mark the PGA TOUR’s resumption in January following a 1½-month break of the 2013-2014 tournament schedule.

“We are very pleased to have Hyundai continue as title sponsor of the Tournament of Champions, which has played a distinctive role on the PGA TOUR for more than 60 years by inviting only tournament winners from the previous year,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem. “Hyundai has been very active in promoting the tournament and using it to broaden awareness of its brand and products. We look forward to continuing to work with Hyundai over these next two years to meet its objectives as title sponsor.”    

“The Hyundai Tournament of Champions is an ideal platform to share Hyundai’s premium lineup with golf fans around the world,” said Steve Shannon, vice president, Marketing, Hyundai Motor America. “The tournament has continued to grow the past three years with ratings up more than 75 percent in 2013. Not surprisingly, the ratings increase and our involvement with the PGA TOUR has coincided with market share growth of our premium vehicles, Genesis and the flagship Equus. This tournament is a great fit for our brand.”

In addition to Hyundai’s sponsorship, Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) continues its relationship with the tournament, under terms of a 10-year agreement that began in 2010. Serving as the tournament’s title sponsor that first year, SBS had the opportunity to bring Hyundai in as title sponsor in 2011, at which time the tournament’s original “Tournament of Champions” name was reintroduced to highlight the exclusive nature of its field. Originally introduced as the Tournament of Champions in 1953, the limited-field event maintained the “T of C” identity in its title until 1994.

A broadcasting partner of the PGA TOUR for nearly 20 years, SBS also will continue to televise PGA TOUR tournaments in Korea through 2019.

Commish Welcomes FOX Sports & Their "Work In Progress" Coverage; Just Loves The European Tour

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Doug Ferguson reports that PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem welcomes the USGA bringing Fox Sports into the golf world because (A) they will now be forced to show and pay for golf highlights on their nightly new shows that no one watches, and (B) they will make CBS and NBC look super while stumbling through the inevitable hiccups that come with trying to launch a full golf telecast operation.

Finchem did not say if the tour was concerned about Fox's ability to handle golf because it had never televised the sport. Miller was particularly critical, saying that "you can't just fall out of a tree and do the U.S. Open."

"It's going to be a work in progress," Finchem said. "They've got to build a capability there, working with the USGA, and I'm sure they will. They're professionals. They do an excellent job in producing the other sports that they have. I'm sure they'll get the talent together to do a good job for the USGA, but it will be interesting to see what happens when that lines out. When they get certain people in certain positions, we'll find out."

Now, as a connoisseur of Finchemspeak, anything but a resoundingly positive statement means that when he learned of the announcement, he turned to Ty and mumbled, "what are they smoking back there in Far Hills?"

Finchem's comments Wednesday about the European Tour were much more interesting. It's becoming clear the PGA Tour would like to be in business or partnership with the struggling circuit and why not?

Jason Sobel reports on the cryptic language from the Commish, which included lots of praise, speculation, platform references, and this:

“You just don't do something and turnaround and do something else. So I think the timeframe is fine. And there's nothing urgent about any of this. I think professional golf has made a lot of strides in the last five years, not just here, but around the globe, and continues to do so. And if there's a way we can do it better together then that's good.

“But if it's 10 years or 15 years, I think we're still headed in the right direction. So I don't feel like this is a situation where we have to fix anything. Things are moving very well.”

Right!

Playoff "Vernacular" & Logo Change...Again!

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Disappointingly, the Reset Cup has not become the preferred description of the algorithm infused, two-points reset system best known as the FedExCup Playoffs, until next year when the vernacular changes again.

For Immediate Something:

NEW LOGO FOR THE FEDEXCUP PLAYOFFS
 
The seventh year of the FedExCup Playoffs kicks off this week at The Barclays, featuring the top 125 players in the 2013 FedExCup standings.
 
For your use, we have attached the new logo, "FedExCup Playoffs," that replaces the previous version, "PGA TOUR Playoffs." We would greatly appreciate any  references going forward to be the "FedExCup Playoffs" and use of the new logo as well.
 
Additional changes to PGA TOUR vernacular are as follows:
 
·        The Playoffs officially become the FedExCup Playoffs (with new logo).
·        There should be no more reference to the Regular Season.

What about lower case regular season?

·        The 2013 PGA TOUR Season concludes October 6 at The Presidents Cup.  The 2013-14 PGA TOUR Season begins October 7 at the Frys.com Open.
·        Reference to a specific tournament will still be by the calendar year in which it is played.
·        There no longer will be a “Fall Series” on the PGA TOUR; those should be referred to as “season-opening events.”
·        The final four events on the Web.com Tour are the Web.com Tour Finals, ending with the Web.com Tour Championship at TPC Sawgrass (Dye's Valley course).

Finchem Shoots Down Euro Tour Takeover Story

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Doug Ferguson talks to PGA Tour Commish Tim Finchem about two British newspaper reports of a bid to take over the European Tour and the richest redhead in golf says, not true. Well, not entirely.

Finchem said three years ago that men's professional golf might one day have a world tour, though he did not say how that would take shape or when. He says the International Federation of PGA Tours has worked together to create the World Golf Championships and to help get golf back into the Olympics.

He says the tours continue to explore "collaborative efforts."

Euro Tour COO: PGA Tour Bidding To Buy Us "Incorrect"

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BBC's Iain Carter quotes European Tour COO Keith Waters responding to newspaper reports that the PGA Tour was launching some sort of bid/hostile takeover of the European Tour.

Even Insomniacs Won't Rejoice: Four More Years Of Firestone

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But hey, it may seem pretty depressing that the WORLD Golf Championship Bridgestone Invitational will be locked into Ohio's least interesting famous course for the next four years, but just think, in that time, failing the intervention of a agressive tree trimmer, we may actually get to see the first PGA Tour course where players can't hit greens from the center of the fairways!

For Immediate Release...and do note the goose-bump inducing news that Bridgestone is now the official tire of the PGA Tour and Champions Tour.

Bridgestone Extends Title Sponsorship of World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club

Recommits to Role as Official Tire of the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour
 
AKRON, Ohio – PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem, representing the International Federation of PGA Tours; Masaaki Tsuya, Bridgestone Global CEO and Chairman of the Board; and Gary Garfield, CEO and President, Bridgestone Americas, announced today that the International Federation of PGA Tours and Bridgestone have reached an agreement to extend Bridgestone’s title sponsorship of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club through 2018. Finchem, Tsuya and Garfield made the announcement during a press conference prior to the leaders teeing off for the final round of the 2013 Bridgestone Invitational.
 
Bridgestone, a world leader in tire innovation and technology, first began sponsoring the Bridgestone Invitational in 2006, and the current title sponsorship agreement runs through 2014.  The Bridgestone Invitational is played at the famed Firestone Country Club’s South Course in Akron, Ohio.
 
Bridgestone also extended its Official Marketing Partner relationship with the PGA TOUR through 2018 and will remain as the “Official Tire of the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour.”  The agreement gives Bridgestone opportunities to introduce a distinguished consumer demographic to high-performance Bridgestone tire technology equal to that which they have come to know from its products on the golf course.

Rusty Miller on Tiger's eighth win in the WGC Bridgestone, which actually included some fun revelations about his children peppering dad with the tougher questions than the media.

As he walked to the scorer's trailer to finalize his score, he scooped up 4-year-old son Charlie, who hugged him tightly as his father strode past the large gallery wildly cheering his landslide victory.

"This is the first win he's ever been at," Woods said. "That's what makes it special for both of us."

Daughter Sam was on hand when Woods, won the U.S. Open in 2008, before his personal life imploded. Now Charlie will have some memories of dad in the winner's circle.

"They always say, `Daddy, when are you going to win the tournament?' It was a few years there, or a couple years, I hadn't won anything," Woods said, smiling. "`Are you leading or not? That's a stock question. `Not leading.' `Well, are you going to start leading?' `Well, I'm trying.'"

As for the PGA, Bob Harig addresses Woods' chances heading into the final major.

"I'm looking forward to it," he said. "As far as wanting it more than any other, no. It's the same. Those [are] the events that we try and peak for and try and win. There's four of them a year.

"It's important for me to get some rest come Monday and Tuesday and do some light work. Come Thursday, I've got a great pairing with Keegan and Davis [Love]. Basically just try and get a feel for the golf course and how it's playing. Do I want it any more? Each and every major, I always want them. I've been successful 14 times, and, hopefully, next week will be 15."

The highlights:

Busy Day In Golf Final Round Open Comment Thread

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Mickelson tries to catch Stenson in the Scottish Open.

Geezer Michael Allen tries to hold off Perry and Funk the U.S. Senior Open.

Daniel Summerhays leads the John Deere Classic.

Hee Young Park leads the LPGA Manulife Financial Classic with Inbee trailing by 7.

I'll be stopping in at Muirfield for a look around and then making sure that North Berwick is as good as I remember it. Ta-ta!

USGA "Pleased" PGA Tour And PGA Of America Saw The Light

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A statement released today after the PGA Tour and PGA of America came on board with the anchoring ban. No acknowledgement of the suggested extension for the amateur game. 

“The United States Golf Association is pleased with the decision by the PGA Tour and The PGA of America to follow Rule 14-1b, when it goes into effect in January 2016, for their respective competitions. As set forth in our report, “Explanation of Decision to Adopt Rule 14-1b,” the game benefits from having a single set of rules worldwide, applicable to all levels of play, and the acceptance of Rule 14-1b by the PGA Tour and The PGA of America supports the game in this regard.”

 Translation: as it should have been all along until you guys decided to get all independent minded...