Euro Tour Chief Anticipates PGA Championship Move, Agrees BMW PGA Would Work Well In September

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European Tour Chief Keith Pelley visited Rich Lerner and Frank Nobilo during round two of the 2017 BMW PGA and mostly talked his new "product" geared at the kids.

“But golf needs something else, it needs something to attract a younger generation.”

At the 11:00 mark he is asked about the possible impact of a Players/PGA Championship switch on his tour and, specifically, the BMW PGA.

If in fact if the PGA Championship moved to May, which I anticipate that it will, we will have to look where is the best fit for the BMW PGA Championship. But obviously we would do everything around the majors.

Nobilo then made the case for early autumn at Wentworth and Pelley agreed that the conditions would be ideal, but lightly walking back how well the technology of maintenance now makes the current date fine, too. But it was pretty apparent that the European Tour sees an an ideal early fall slot for this event.

The full interview:

Euro Tour Chief Expecting Players/PGA Move Decision By August, Which Suggests The Verdict Is In

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European Tour Chief Keith Pelley believes that a decision is coming this August on a blockbuster trade that has the Players moving to March, the PGA to May and three prospects going to an undisclosed tour.

Will Gray on the Chief's comments this week at the BMW PGA, which will be impacted should the PGA Championship move to May.

"It will depend on what they do in 2019," Pelley said. "The PGA of America says they're going to determine whether the PGA Championship is moved to May by the end of August this year. If that's the case, we are going to have to look at everything. We have plans right now, but there is no doubt that if those changes happen, the 2019 and 2020 schedule will be considerably different to 2018."

A cynical mind might say that given August being the PGA Championship's date, a decision has already been made subject to a few contract signings and conference calls.

Given the domino effect this decision will have on golf tournament schedules and other sporting events, there will certainly be added intrigue in Charlotte.

Vijay Loses TPC But Wins In Court Monday, Trial Coming Soon

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The beacon of misery and bitterness that is Vijay Singh faded from contention at The Players, but the 54-year-old won a key court decision Monday, reports Brian Wacker at Golf World.

On Monday, Judge Eileen Bransten issued a decision favorable to Singh on motions that had been pending since last fall, denying in part the tour’s motion for summary judgment.

“We can proceed to trial,” said Singh’s attorney Peter Ginsberg when contacted by Golf Digest.

The suit, which was filed a few days prior to the 2013 Players Championship, claims the tour was negligent in its handling of Singh’s anti-doping violation and breached its implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, which caused harm to the now 54-year-old Fijian’s reputation.

The tour had no comment.

Meanwhile, Singh's caddie at The Players announced he was moving on Sunday night. So it was a split decision week...

 

London Calling: Guardian Says PGA Tour Opens UK Office

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Nice scoop by The Guardian's Ewan Murray to highlight the PGA Tour's opening of a satellite office in London.

The news comes as some look at golf's bloated offerings and hope for more PGA Tour/European Tour cohesion. Could such a move be a positive or hostile action aimed at battling over sponsorship dollars?

The sense golf is edging towards one global tour is impossible to ignore, as is the fact the PGA Tour clearly regards London as an important commercial hub. Fresh business partners for golf have been hard to come by in recent times.

The European Tour offered no comment on news that the PGA Tour, whose headquarters are in Florida but which has offices in Beijing and Tokyo, has taken on premises in their backyard and is believed to be relaxed about the situation. The European Tour has full-time staff in the United States, for whom permanent premises may be forthcoming.

PGA President Levy: Decision On May PGA In Next Six Months

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Thanks to reader PG for PGA President Paul Levy’s comments on Morning Drive today on the topic of a PGA Championship move to May.

Answering Cara Robinson’s question, Levy says the PGA of America is not yet committed to moving and is going to do what’s best for its championship, not necessarily what’s best for the PGA Tour.  He suggested the move has been studied for 18 months already and that we’ll see a “culmination” to that decision in the next six months.

His comments come at the 5:50 mark after talk of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Olympia Fields with LPGA Commish Mike Whan.

Morning Drive-Paul Levy, PGA & Mike Whan from PGA of America on Vimeo.

Playoff Shipping Wars: "It certainly caused some consternation"

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When GolfChannel.com's Rex Hoggard broke the news earlier this week, I think we just figured the details would suggest merely an optics play. But the FedExCup rule declaring players who endorse competing shipping companies ineligible could have greater ramifications. Oh sure, maybe it just scares a few players away from being endorsed by UPS and on we go with a brown-free Playoffs(C).

But after reading Bob Harig's ESPN.com follow-up chat with agents about the ramifications over some sort a shipping-company endorsement provision, the details will be very important. When and if we get them.

The PGA Tour said it would not comment on that aspect of the contract prior to briefing the players fully on the matter.

"It's certainly less than ideal,'' said agent Mark Steinberg, whose Excel Sports agency represents several players. "It was clearly a part of the negotiation that the tour went through, and it was one of the last stumbling blocks. PGA Tour sponsorship deal may bar players endorsing FedEx rivals from competing in playoffs.

Harig's story includes Chubby Chandler making the Mercedes-BMW analogy, and you can bet many companies will take this precedent and attempt demands in future negotiations.

More interesting will be the ramifications should Amazon want to endorse players while also moving into competing businesses.

Also fascinating will be the perception of the FedExCup as a sports competition should the provision actually rule a competitor ineligible from participating. Could that further damage how the sports world sees the FedExCup?

Weather Update: If The PGA Moves To May, Files

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The first domino fell with a FedExCup renewal this week, and now the inevitable March move for the Players means the PGA Championship may move to...May, 2019 or 2020.

Assuming the PGA were played this week, here's a look at future venue cities, prospective markets or longtime host cities (Dallas, Charlotte, Minneapolis, Washington D.C., Whistling Straits, Miami). This is today's weather (Thursday) screen-grabbed at midday ET.

This does not take into account any possible agronomic condition issues that would arise from playing earlier in the year, just tournament weather through Monday (just in case!). I don't think we'd be having much fun this week at Bethpage, Bedminster or Oak Hill.

2019, Bethpage:

2020, Harding Park

2021, Kiawah Island

2022, Trump National Golf Club (Bedminster, New Jersey)

2023, Oak Hill (Rochester, NY)

Future possibilities:






FedExCup Renewal: Complications And Concerns

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For fans, there was only one piece of news that should have come out of FedEx's renewal that matters: an improved format and better flow to the PGA Tour schedule.

Given the complex nature of the changes being discussed, neither happened. But it's worth waiting to see how things play out in hopes of turning an odd algorithm-driven competition into one that is a true playoff at season's end. Because as Adam Schupak  notes at MorningRead.com, the FedExCup extension brought more questions than answers.

Given that Commissioner Jay Monahan insisted there were no plans to move The Players back to March, the possibility of a a schedule change still seems up in the air. Yet FedEx's rep, Patrick Fitzgerald, gave away his excitement at the potential schedule refinement in a Monday gathering of select press:

There is some exciting potential when you look at the schedule and other things, but I don't know what the best answer will be yet, and that's why we are so fortunate that we have a close collaborative working relationship with the TOUR, and they have a very clear view of some potential things that could change and how that would affect things.  So I'm confident that if the schedule changes, it will be in the best interest of golf and of the FedExCup.

Format tweaks were not discussed but seem possible. They even seem a priority based on some of the comments made by both men.

However a bigger question remains: is securing FedEx's sponsorship more important than any other relationship the Tour enjoys?

Doug Ferguson asked about this in Monahan's press conference:

Q. Can you just ever see a day where a tournament that performs well in its community and charity and everything else, there's not room for it on the schedule?

JAY MONAHAN: No, I think there will always be room. Using that fact pattern, there will always be room because you're talking about a tournament that's performed very well, that's performed well for us and we have got a strong relationship with, so I could see change in the schedule, but I can't see a removal of a partner from our schedule, because we have a duty and a commitment the to do everything we can to build those partnerships. I don't know, but that would be my response to it; we're certainly not thinking that way.

Yet contraction seems likely in some markets and a longtime charity could be hurt in the effort to tighten up the "product". 

And now player pocketbooks may take a hit at the behest of FedEx.

An exclusivity clause was part of the new 10-year agreement, reports GolfChannel.com's Rex Hoggard. This could be harmless, or could set off dreadful corporate boundary wars that also target players not endorsed by preferred partners. 

According to sources, the clause will keep players from participating in the season-long race if they have endorsement deals with one of FedEx’s competitors.

“All I'm going to say on that front is when you're in business with someone for 30 years, and you're about to commit to 10 more, you do some things to protect each other on a long-term basis,” commissioner Jay Monahan said. “That's what we've done in this agreement, and our players know that; our players understand it; our players think so highly of FedEx and what they've meant to them in terms of playing financial opportunities. So we do everything we can to protect our partners.”

Lee Westwood and Louis Oosthuizen both have endorsement deals with UPS but have been grandfathered in and will not be impacted.

Could UPS logos on shirts really have been that terrible for FedEx that the deal hinged on such a request? Call me crazy, but lame points resets and the overall view of a bloated, boring competition should have been priority number one over a corporate turf war.

Overall, these are entirely first-world matters and I sense the end goal of Monahan and FedEx is to create something that is fan friendlier, more entertaining and better in the sports landscape.

But getting there is not going to be easy or, at times, very pretty.

Ten Things We Know Following The FedExCup's Renewal

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FedEx is back through 2027! Algorithms rejoice!

Announced on CNBC's Squawk Box by Commissioner Jay Monahan--because where else does one announce such things--he proclaimed the biggest deal in golf history as the shipping company will continue to sponsor the FedExCup through 2027.

Steve DiMeglio reports for USA Today:

Financial terms of the deal, which was set to expire at the end of this year, were not revealed, but PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said “as we go forward, we expect the Cup and the payout to increase significantly.”

“For now we're just announcing the extension through 2027,” said Monahan, who took over his post Jan. 1. “As we went through this process, we've identified a number of ways for us to continue to enhance the magnitude and consequence of the FedExCup, and that's complicated.

#pgachampionshipmoving

"There's still some other moving parts that we need to get to before we'll be able to announce any additional changes.

“I’m really comfortable with where the Cup is and excited about the flexibility that this gives us on a long‑term basis.”

#pgachampionshipmoving

With various parts to be determined, we can still conclude a few things about today's news that figures to pad player pockets and ensure purse growth executive bonuses are on their way for years to come!

So here is what we know with FedEx renewing very, very late in the game (their current deal was expiring in September):

1. The PGA Championship is moving to May.

2. PGA Tour VP's can notify Marsh Landing that they'll be leaving at year's end to donate their bonus checks to a Pablo Creek membership.

3. The PGA Tour calendar will be contracting by a few events, including, most likely, one playoff event to get the entire thing finished by Labor Day. Sorry Boston, even if you put on a great event every year.

4. The Florida Swing will still be a giant mess thanks to Tim Finchem wanting to get away from Doral's owner and insisting Cadillac pay WGC prices and...

5. No-cut, limited field WGC events will remain while some regular stops seem almost certain to go.

6. PGA Tour employees still only get 5% off their FedEx/Kinko's orders despite mentioning to the clerk that they work for FedEx's biggest charitable recipient.

7. FedExCup points standing lists are with us for another decade.

8. Your FedEx delivery person, likely to not get a raise because of this massive expenditure, is more likelier than ever to toss your package at the doorstep.

9. If it took this long to get the deal done, hopefully FedEx asked for concessions such as a more interesting, sensible format that is a true PLAY-OFF.

10. The PGA Championship is moving to May.

PGA Tour Doing "Comprehensive" Slow Play Review

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Bob Harig kicks off Players week with an extensive ESPN.com profile of new Commissioner Jay Monahan.

Much of what Monahan says mirrors comments he made on ShackHouse (message discipline students take notice!), but one area we did not cover on the show stood out in Harig's piece. Monahan, to date, has brushed aside most pace of play talk. But this sounds like he's taking a harder look at the matter.

"As it relates to slow play, a lot has happened behind the scenes in the last 12 to 18 months. We've developed a Shotlink dashboard for our rules officials where you can at any point in time see where a player is relative to time-par, see where a player is relative to their own historical averages. And we disclose all that information to the players, and so the players are well aware. (Players are only given information about themselves, not other players.) They have access now.

"And we're in the midst of a comprehensive review on pace of play. It's not something that we just say it's our policy and that's how it's always going to be. We recognize that with technology, we can be far more intelligent about what's happening. Now what do you do with it? I would venture to say at this point we are taking a good hard look at it.''

Not Many Stepping Forward To Support Green Reading Books

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The rules community may have the backing of top players should they target the new green-reading books.

Rex Hoggard reports from the Wells Fargo Championship on comments from Adam Scott and Lucas Glover.

“I think probably we should ban the book,” Adam Scott said. “If they feel that reading the green needs to be more of an art and it's an advantage to a player who's a creative, great green reader, then I wouldn't have a problem with that.”

Glover also took the position that putting artistry is being undermined.

“It’s more the powers that be see it as a possibility of losing the art of the game. It’s just like judging the wind or reading a lie, there’s got to be art to it. Science has already taken over enough.”

I'm still not understanding the passion for protecting artistry as the proposed new rules usher in rangefinders suggest the rules community is targeting these books selectively.

As I wrote for Golfweek, this screams of a pace issue more than a skill issue.

If you haven't seen the materials in question, Tripp Isenhour did a nice job showing what they look like and the benefits some players seen in them. Note the portion where he explains the specialized data that incorporates that days' hole location.


In advance of the Players, Justin Leonard shared this story on the Golf Channel conference call in support of banning the books.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I played last week at the Texas Open, and Steve Hulka was caddying for me, and he had one of those books with, you know, the arrows and everything. I looked at it twice and I couldn't -- it was too much information for me.

I think the reason they are looking at it -- and I'll tell you that I had a putt on Friday on No. 9 to make the cut, about a 25-footer. And Steve told me what the book said, and it did exactly what it said.

Q. Did you make it?

JUSTIN LEONARD: I made the putt. Absolutely I made it. Of course I did. I made the cut and played on the weekend.

But that being said, I think to me, it's a slow-play issue. It takes too much time. It takes the feel away from the game. I know we're in a time where technology plays such a role in all sports, and it's certainly playing a role in golf with TrackMan and everything.

But I think that there's also a – there needs to be a feel and guys using instincts and using past experience, charting putts and things like that from years past. Practice rounds are important.

I'm not a fan of these greens books. I think they slow down play and they take away a player's natural ability and need to feel and see what's going on on the golf course.

PGA Tour's Slow Play Policy Needs Work (First)

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As the European Tour unveils a shot clock this weekend at GolfSixes, AP's Doug Ferguson considers the PGA Tour's first slow play penalty in nearly 22 years and says the policy is the problem.

Talking to players who did cite the right causes (fast greens, Brian Harman) or reasons no action has occurred sooner (tournaments somehow finishing on time, Pat Perez), it still comes down to policy.

Here's what is not in the book - when players are put on the clock, that's not their first interaction with a rules official. They first are asked to pick up the pace, a courtesy to allow for outside circumstances (such as a lost ball). Secondly, while timing is not an exact science, players are not given a bad time if they go a few seconds over the limit. A bad time generally is a really bad time.

Either way, it's a bad policy.

''If a slow player gets behind and they're asked to pick it up, the first question they ask is, 'Am I on the clock?' Because if they're not on the clock, they're not going to change,'' Haas said. ''If they are on the clock, they change. I don't like that. Because then all they do is run down the fairway.''

Zurich Classic Moves Out Of Spotlight To Player Raves, GolfSixes Steps In With Potential For Drama?

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GolfChannel.com's Ryan Lavner talked to Zurich Classic tournament director Steve Worthy about the unanimous praise received from players. It was the first official PGA Tour team event since 1981 and the only question is when does another tournament add a special format.

Lavner writes:

Of course, having too many outside-the-box tournaments appears gimmicky and could damage the Tour’s brand. After all, a player’s livelihood is at stake, and it shouldn’t necessarily be determined by whether he can hit a 6-iron through a hula hoop while blindfolded.

“Just once or twice a year, because it adds something different,” Fowler said. “You don’t want to have too many – then it doesn’t have a unique-kind-of-week feel to it.”

Striking that balance is the upcoming challenge for Monahan and Co. But if Worthy’s informal survey was any indication, the commissioner should have the full support of an enthusiastic member base.

“‘Fun’ is probably the word that I heard the most this week,” Worthy said.

Heaven forbid we wouldn't want too much of that fun stuff!

On the heels of Zurich week, the European Tour offers its vision for the team play tournament future. GolfSixes debuts this weekend (with its own website) and while appearing to be trying a few too many things at once, figures to be compelling.

The field isn't particularly strong, with the USA team represented by Paul Peterson and David Lipsky. Tuesday's draw set the four pools up this way.

Group A - England, Denmark, The Netherlands, India
Group B - Thailand, Spain, Belgium, Scotland
Group C - Australia, Wales, USA, Portugal
Group D - South Africa, France, Sweden, Italy

I nominated the Greensomes format today on Golf Central as the most intriguing element, while Feinstein picked the equally fun shot clock component. (One stroke penalties for shot clock violations!)

Greensomes could be fascinating on a course with some good risk-reward opportunities because it lets teams select their best tee shot and then play alternate shot from there.

The top two teams from Saturday's pool group play--six hole matches--progress to the knockout stages Sunday with the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, a 3rd/4th place play-off match and the final all played in one day.

Oh, and there will be walkout songs for GolfSixes. Feinstein and I picked our walkout songs in case you have several minutes to kill.

Here is a Sky Sports page devoted to the new event, with key questions answered.

Wells Fargo's Weak Field, Possible Pre-PGA Future

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The PGA Tour moves this week for a one-off Wells Fargo Championship at Eagle Point, a 2000 Tom Fazio design renovated by Tom Fazio in 2015. The club's president, Bobby Long, is an Augusta National member and potential future club chairman.

With Quail Hollow resting up for its August PGA Championship turn, just seven of the world top 30 means the traditional Wells Fargo turnout is absent, Adam Schupak writes for MorningRead.com.

More interesting in Schupak's story is this comment from tournament director Kim Hougham, anticipating an eventual PGA Championship move to Mother's Day weekend in May.

Hougham didn't point fingers, but the biggest hit to his field has been the move beginning in 2007 of The Players Championship from March to May, a week after the Charlotte stop. There's a lot of talk of the Players’ returning to its March date as soon as 2019. Would that be a good thing for Wells Fargo?

"It depends," Hougham said. "It's a zero net gain if the PGA (Championship) moves to May. We'd be a week before a major."

Sounds like Kim knows something we don't!

The Brian Gay-Ian Poulter Decision

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Several of you emailed to ask why there is not more outrage at the retroactive tour card status given to Ian Poulter and Brian Gay. As much as I'd love to revel in a conspiracy theory, it's pretty simple: Gay questioned why his major medical exemption, based on one set of standards had he been able to play a full healthy season, was played under this year's new FedExCup points allotments.

More startling: in the rush to make the FedExCup a more accepted way of life (or "true equalizer" as the player notice puts it), this is a pretty significant miss.

Golfweek's Jeff Babineau explains why Gay's questions helped change the Policy Board perspective on his and Poulter's play under the major medical exemption.

Poulter, 41, who missed four-plus months with a foot injury last season, had 10 events to earn $347,634, or 218 FedEx Cup points; he fell short of both marks in his 10th start last week at the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio.

Gay, 45, has been in a similar position. Having missed 2014-15 with a back injury, he had 14 available starts this season to earn $461,851 or secure 309 FedEx Cup points. Gay, who tied for sixth in each of his last two starts (RBC Heritage, Valero Texas Open) has surpassed the earnings threshold. But he failed to get to 309 points, which meant he was not eligible for the lucrative Players Championship May 11-14.

Gay did some numbers crunching, though, and found a discrepancy in the way points are doled out this season compared with a year ago, which was the season against which he was being measured.

So the right thing was done and the FedEx points system probably is the best long term way to handle things in a purse-discrepancy world. However, in the move to the new system (please renew, FedEx, please!), having Gay discover this is a concern.

Congrats to both on earning their status for the rest of the year!

The player notice posted on Instagram by Poulter: