Detroit Golf Club Poised To Land PGA Tour Event In 2019?

That's what the Detroit News' Tony Paul reports, though no agreement is finalized. The rumor mill has been suggesting a Quicken Loans event in the Detroit area is inevitable, so for me the pleasant surprise is the selection of Detroit Golf Club.

With two Donald Ross courses and a delightfully old clubhouse, it's a grand and bold selection. There is plenty of space, though it'll be tough to see what happens to the short, delightful South Course around tournament time. For architecture geeks it'll be a great chance to go look at some very special Ross green complexes.

Anyway, from Paul's report, on what sounds like an inspired choice if it all comes together.

The tournament likely would debut in 2019, and be held at Detroit Golf Club, making it the first PGA Tour tournament to be played within the city limits.

A high-ranking employee at Detroit Golf Club declined comment when reached by The Detroit News on Monday.

A title-sponsor candidate would be Dan Gilbert's Quicken Loans, which sponsored The National in the Washington, D.C., area from 2014-17, but pulled out after last season’s event. Quicken Loans had told the PGA Tour that its priority is a tournament in Detroit.

The event would likely replace The National, which seems destined for its final playing in the greater Washington D.C. area this June 28th to July 1st. 

Venues Matter, Volume 3,909: Wilshire v. TPC San Antonio

Sweet-Swinging Jin Young Ko tees off at Wilshire's 7th, playing 92 yards for the final round to a front and far left hole location. 

It's been a long time since a course has elicited as many texts, Tweet responses and consistent commentary. They all went something like this: "Wilshire looks great! Fun viewing! Great crowds!"

Perhaps it was the prime-time placement of the LPGA Tour action from stately and cool Wilshire Country Club. Maybe it was that ingeniously placed crane shot, conspiring with the late light to make Wilshire and surrounding old Hollywood look so darn cool. And just possibly all of that, with enthusiastic commentary from Gannon/Stupples/Cockerill/Foltz/Abbott juxtaposed with the already-tired-looking and soulless TPC San Antonio served as yet another remind of golf in a classy old course in the city center is way better than rural TPC golf.

Wilshire won the week 8&7 over TPC San Antonio. 

All of this should sting at PGA Tour headquarters but won't, even though the Valero Texas Open used to be played at a beloved city-center course with Tillinghast ties and big crowds.  The PGA Tour chases the money and worries about the fallout of going to antiseptic, suburban, bloated venues later. Or the events just die and no one examines the ties between venues with soul and those where even a novice detects the joylessness.

As the PGA Tour pursues a mind-bogglingly short-sighted position in favor distance advances that will all but rule out quaint, city-center courses on a more human-scale like Wilshire, they will have no one to blame when the numbers speak volumes.

Sure, the PGA Tour will still out-rate the LPGA Tour this week because a network broadcast still always wins. But only three of the world top 30 could find their way to San Antonio, while LA's new LPGA stop drew 21 of the world 25. For perspective, the upcoming Zurich Classic and its two-man team format has landed 10 of the world's top 14 thanks almost entirely to the fun format change.

The Valero will change dates next year to a pre-Masters slot. But major changes in the TPC San Antonio design and maintenance will be needed to build upon what Houston did in the pre-Masters position. Though as I noted in last week's Alternate Shot, the Valero should be careful what it wishes for in demanding the pre-Masters date. Houston's venue offered no masterpiece, but it also didn't make players want to hurl their drivers.

As Eamon Lynch notes for Golfweek, the May calendar spot is not helping the Valero, nor is the stagnant nature of PGA Tour golf. But really, it's all about the venue for players, fans, television and ultimately, the sponsors footing the bills.

That same poll declared the AT&T Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio the fourth-worst stop on the schedule, suggesting that being named for a corporation isn’t the most objectionable thing about it. The Greg Norman design (presumably he confessed to it under interrogation) hosted last week’s Valero Texas Open. It is one of the Tour’s oldest and most respected events and raises huge sums for charity. Yet players look forward to TPC San Antonio much as a condemned man does the gallows.

Schwab To The Rescue! Colonial Appears Primed To Land Long-Term Sponsor

Brad Townsend with great news for fans of the historic Colonial PGA Tour stop: Charles Schwab appears set to take over as the event sponsor in 2019. 

There are still dots and crosses that could derail things, but as Townsend lays out, Schwab will have a nearby presence in a year and it appears to be a great fit. (The 2018 edition of the Colonial is sponsored by a combination of American Airlines, AT&T, XTO Energy and Burlington Northern.)

Most significantly to Colonial, Schwab and the potential for a longterm, mutually beneficial relationship, Schwab is building a $100 million campus in Westlake, north of Fort Worth, that could house up to 2,600 employees. The campus is scheduled to open in 2019.

Much like North Texas' other PGA Tour event, the AT&T Byron Nelson, Schwab would represent to Colonial a sponsor with a long, deeply rooted association with the PGA Tour.

The 2016 Form 990's Are Out: It Pays To Be A PGA Tour Executive!

Take note Ponte Vedra Beach's finest real estate and second-yacht agents, those all-cash offers could always could be just a wee-bit stronger!

From Guidestar, the PGA Tour's 2016 Form 990 that details nearly $35 million in executive pay to manage $2.5 billion in assets.  (Thanks Rex Hoggard for highlighting the release here.)

It was a nice year to be Tim Finchem...

The WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational Is Born, Now We Just Wait To Watch It Fade Away

FedEx renewed for the Cup and executive bonuses flowed and mentions have increased to the point golf writers get inundated with complains. So why the company thinks it'll be fun to host a WGC event in Memphis--in August 2019--when the major season is over and at the TPC Southwind, is beyond me.

Yes, the field will be fine for a year or two as the brass remind players why they better show up to an event between The Open Championship and the playoffs starting. But after a few years, look for this event to become an August headache that will be searching for a new calendard spot.

From Will Gray's GolfChannel.com story on the likely timing, which still seems destined for August. What sane individual wants to be playing golf in Memphis in August? 

While the 2019 tournament dates for the new Memphis event have not yet been announced, Monahan explained that the dates have been chosen but the Tour is still waiting on the details surrounding a few other events before announcing a full slate for 2019.

"We have its place, and it will be in and around the same position that the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational has been in," Monahan said.

Akron Blues: Losing WGC For Champions Tour Like Going From Major Leagues To Double A

Bob Dyer of the Akron Beacon-Journal reacts to news of the PGA Tour leaving Firestone for Memphis, and providing a Senior Players as the consolation, writing that it's "equivalent of going from Major League Baseball to AA."

Dyer notes the rumors of FedEx demanding WGC status for the Memphis stop and player affinity for Firestone as reasons to be dismayed, but ultimately can't get past the loss of big names coming to Akron.

Area golf fans no longer will be able to rub shoulders with household names like Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy. No more Dustin Johnson. No Rickie Fowler. No Justin Spieth.

In this week’s rankings, the top three players on the Senior Tour are Bernhard Langer, Steve Stricker and Scott McCarron — prominent former PGA Tour players, to be sure, but hardly living legends.

Dyer says it all came down to the cost of World Golf Championship sponsorship and has pretty good sources on that.

Gordon Knapp, CEO of Bridgestone Americas, said Thursday that his company would have been permitted to keep the WGC event in Akron had it anted up enough money. But clearly Bridgestone’s sponsorship budget is lower than FedEx’s.

“We looked at where the PGA was going with their … pricing, and frankly, we had to take a step back and take a look at our own portfolio of sports sponsorship packages,” he said.

He declined to disclose any numbers. 

It's not typical to see a CEO call out the price increase like that, so was Bridgestone made an offer they had to refuse, or is the WGC pricing really on the upswing for all sponsors? 

PGA Tour Prepared To Go All-In On Legalized Sports Betting

With the Supreme Court set to rule any day now on sports betting, Rex Hoggard reports that the PGA Tour has laid the groundwork with players to address integrity issues. 

According to the tour's Andy Levinson, efforts have focused on player education so that the tour can benefit from interest in golf betting.

Levinson explained that the Tour has been working with the NBA and Major League Baseball to assure that the types of betting that might be allowed protect the customer as well as the integrity of the competition.

“It’s important that the types of bets and the types of markets that are created around our competitions are ones that don’t increase the risk of corruption,” Levinson said. “By having some say in the types of bets that are offered we feel we can mitigate the risk that can be posed.”

Specifically, Levinson said the Tour would want to avoid bets that focus on a negative outcome, such as a player missing a fairway or a green or making a specific score.

I have almost no concern about the players. But fans encouraged to Live Under Par and who might have a wager on the competition? Baba booey!

Turns Out Living Under Par Isn't For Everyone

Lee Westwood Tweeted of the PGA Tour's new slogan:

What’s this #liveunderpar rubbish from the @PGATOUR ? Clearly they don’t know that being under par in the UK means you feel like crap!!! Someone’s been paid to come up with that!!

— Lee Westwood (@WestwoodLee) April 11, 2018

Writer Lorne Rubenstein noted this:

1. Re @pgatour's #liveunderpar, from my chapter Speaking of Golf: The Language of the Game in my 1990 book Links: "But what about the divergent meanings of 'under par?' The meaning of the term in golf seems the only obvious example of the phrase being used positively."

— Lorne Rubenstein (@lornerubenstein) April 11, 2018

2. "The phrase "under par" is an example of what linguists refer to as language crossing groups. The golfer on the course means something different from somebody off the course, where the situational demands change."

— Lorne Rubenstein (@lornerubenstein) April 11, 2018

My favorite #liveunderpar contribution came from a PGA Tour golfer who looked up under par and sent this:

On that note, here's to living...over par!

PGA Tour's New Slogan: "Live Under Par" Because No Laying Up Was Already Taken

You don’t need a club in your hand to live under par. Or so the new slogan goes, playing to the narcissism of today's fan needing to be part of the action because the sport isn't seen as strong enough to stand on its merits.  

Strap in folks, For Immediate Release:

PGA TOUR introduces new advertising campaign, capturing vitality of today’s TOUR

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA – For the first time in more than 20 years, the PGA TOUR is launching a new advertising campaign designed to capture and celebrate the energy and spirit of today’s TOUR.  Titled “Live Under Par,” the campaign plays on golf’s unique scoring language to portray the relentless pursuit of excellence by TOUR players, both competitively and in how they embrace the values of the game like sportsmanship and respect, as well as the PGA TOUR’s ingrained mission of giving back.

Jammed a lot in there. 

The thematic of “Live Under Par” immerses spectators into the contagious excitement of the sport, showcasing its vast 360-degree impact both inside and outside the ropes.  As part of the current integrated marketing strategy of the TOUR, the campaign aims to reach beyond the core golf fan and attract new and diverse fan segments to the sport.

Come on out Jets fans and tell these guys what losers they are! 

Further, it will serve as a call to action for dedicated golf fans to share their passion for the game and invite newcomers to “join the PGA TOUR.”

AKA the Waste Management Phoenix Open model.

“The ‘Live Under Par’ campaign goes beyond capturing the incredible ability of PGA TOUR players to score below par each week by showcasing and celebrating that same attitude of excellence that exists between players, players with fans, and players interacting with communities and charities,” said Joe Arcuri, Chief Marketing Officer of the PGA TOUR.  “The new campaign captures not just a way to play, but a way to be.”

My first reaction to making PGA Tour golf as a lifestyle brand: the tour is acknowledging product isn't good enough to attract people on the simple merits of golf.

Let's say goodbye to the old slogan, which was a rush-job to replace Charity Is At The Heart Of The PGA Tour when they weren't so charitable to Casey Martin.

Developed in collaboration with new roster agency Troika of Los Angeles, “Live Under Par” becomes the TOUR’s first new theme and tagline since “These Guys Are Good,” the longest-running advertising campaign among major sports, debuted in 1997. 

Thoughts and prayers please, services are pending.

“'Live Under Par' is an invitation for both players and fans to participate, no matter which side of the ropes you’re on,” said Gilbert Haslam, Executive Creative Director, Troika. “The campaign provides fans with new ways to engage in all the PGA TOUR has to offer and celebrates the shared mindset and spirit behind the constant pursuit of greatness. ‘Live Under Par’ is unique to the game, but with meaning that resonates far beyond it.” 

Live Vicariously Through These Guys, post photos if you can get reception--a big if when Tiger plays--and tell Rickie how you want to be him when you grow up, even though you're 35. What could go wrong?

The PGA TOUR has been proactively shaping marketing plans through a fans-first lens to reach beyond the core fan.

Fans-first is good when it comes to the actual golf and wanting to make the game more entertaining. But that's not where we are headed here...

The TOUR has analyzed real-time fan consumption across all media platforms to further understand and enhance the areas where target segments are most engaged.

One of the first initiatives the TOUR made under the fans-first approach was relaxing cell phone and social media guidelines at tournaments – providing both fans and players with the opportunity to create and share personally captured content.

Good news: reception has been dreadful at most events and it's up to each week's tournament to deal with, so the engagement will be limited.

“Live Under Par” is a testament to the success of those changes and prominently features fan-captured content throughout the exhilarating commercial spot debuting in conjunction with the campaign.  

Exhilarating, if we may say so ourselves.

“We consider this campaign more of an evolution, growing from how our players’ competitive excellence was presented so effectively through ‘These Guys Are Good’ to doing that and so much more,” Arcuri said. “We are pulling the camera lens out, so to speak, to highlight the fun and excitement on TOUR and highlight the special interaction we see every week between our players and fans. We believe this, in turn, will help spur broader interest among a more diverse group of fans.’”

There you go fans, interact with these guys as they play. Whoop it up! Tell the WAGs how you loved their Bahamas vacation bikini photos and yell "get in the water" just to show you're a close friend. Woke!

“Live Under Par” will debut with a combination of television, digital, social, print, radio and advertising, along with tournament activation and support of PGA TOUR players. To experience the campaign, visit www.liveunderpar.com. 

Here is the "trailer" for the campaign. It's all about you fans...

August 2019: PGA Tour Taking A World Golf Championship To Memphis

I'd hate to be the exec charged with convincing stars to appear in Memphis every August for a tournament after the majors have been played. And where the average high temperature that month is 91.

The Commercial Appeal's Mark Giannotto says the announcement is coming Thursday and involves the 2019 schedule revamp's May PGA move. The move of the FedEx St. Jude Classic to WGC status means the end of Firestone's PGA Tour run, for now. 

Everyone excited for the World Golf Championships FedEx Invitational, a part of the season long FedExCup.

New Look Tour Schedule Coming Into Focus And The Small Markets Are Trouncing America's Big Cities

If you told me a few years ago that the FedExCup and wraparound schedule designed to save fall events in smaller markets would lead to minimizing the PGA Tour's presence in Chicago, New York, Boston and Houston, I'd have told you no chance. 

As Doug Ferguson of the AP reports, the 2018-19 revamp of the PGA Tour schedule is shaping up in curious ways.  (As noted by The Forecaddie last week, Florida will have its swing back and that's a very good thing.)

After explaining how May will feature the Byron Nelson and Colonial stops surrounding the PGA Championship--cue the claims of Trinity Forest not being a good preparation for PGA venues--Ferguson says there is a possibility of Houston landing before the U.S. Open when Memphis shifts to the beautiful month of August for its expected WGC upgrade in place of Firestone (hit the link if you don't believe me). 

But the real puzzler is what the playoff shortening means for two huge markets.

There’s one other potential wrinkle to the end. The FedEx Cup playoffs will be three tournaments instead of four, and while this is the final year of the playoff event at the TPC Boston (previously Deutsche Bank, currently Dell Technologies Championship), it might not be the end of Boston.

One possibility the tour is exploring is for The Northern Trust to alternate between the New York area (such as Liberty National) and Boston.

So if this goes forward, remember that the introduction of the playoffs changed Chicago's former Western Open in July to a rotating BMW in multiple cities later in the summer. 

The incredibly successful Boston stop, a relatively modern creation, may go away and the old annual New York stop at Westchester has been converted to a rotation that could spread north.

To recap: Houston, Boston, New York* and Chicago all have seen or are about to watch their regular tour events compromised in the name of making Sea Island, Las Vegas, Napa, Jackson, Kuala Lumpur, Jeju Island and Playa Del Carmen stops part of the FedExCup, while possibly adding Minneapolis and Detroit stops. 

Fascinating big market strategy!

*New York is, admittedly about to be overrun with annual major golf events starting with last year's Presidents Cup and running to at least 2024's Ryder Cup. But other than the Presidents Cup, the rest are run by other organizations.

Latest Fan Behavior Debacle: James Hahn Tweets, Then Deletes "My fault for not expecting the worst from fans."

As you know, there are complete losers in this world and increasingly they are coming to golf tournaments to get attention, get drunk and to disrupt the play of great golfers. 

The 2018 PGA Tour season has seen an uptick in a wide range of hooliganism, from sounds as players are preparing to hit a shot to personal attacks on player family members. 

Rory McIlroy suggested alcohol sales should be curbed.

The PGA Tour responded by touting policy of cutting off sales one hour before the end of competition, but neglected to highlight that alcohol sales start in the morning hours at outdoor venues.

The Commissioner, Jay Monahan, believes this is what happens when you add new fans and said golf is the same as other sports.

McIlroy disagreed. 

At the WGC Dell Match Play Sergio Garcia had a fan immediate ejected and James Hahn tweeted about efforts to disrupt his match, only to delete the Tweet and backtrack.

Mercifully Kevin Cunningham at Golf.com shares Hahn's original message and it's just the kind of thing that can't keep continuing to happen, new fans or not.

Hahn took to Twitter to claim that on the second-to-last hole of his match against Dufner, a "guy yell[ed] purposely on my back swing." The tweet was later deleted, but the full text read, "Fought hard today after a bad start. 2 down, 4 to go, guy yells purposely on my back swing. Whether we like it or not, this is where the game is going. My fault for not expecting the worst from fans. Just sucks to lose a match that way."

He followed the first tweet with a correction that stated, "I respect and love all golf fans but I can expect bad behavior from them. And I'm not blaming the fan for losing the match. Just disappointed I lost the deciding hole in that fashion."

Fines department strikes again!

As Eamon Lynch writes in this week's Golfweek, the PGA Tour's stance on this matter is crumbling in the face of basic logic.

This isn’t a referendum on growing the game or about tweedy killjoys debating alcohol sales policies. It ought to be a simple solution for the Tour: Welcome all fans, let them enjoy a drink, but broom the jerks immediately. All it requires is extra security deployed around the high-profile players who attract the beer-goggle boors.

No genuine golf fans will be driven away by such an approach.

Here's a nice reminder of how people act in spite of an alcohol sales cut off at 4 pm and fear of ejection:

8 days until #themasters and patrons’ roars filling the air #cominginapril

A post shared by The Masters (@themasters) on Mar 25, 2018 at 7:06am PDT

Proposal: WGC Dell Match Play Proceeds To Help Save Muny

Year three of the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play is in the books and while there is still quibbling over the format, this is very much a PGA Tour success story combining course, sponsor and operations to make a tricky venue work. 

As I explain in this Golfweek item with news on the future, the Austin vibe that has been embraced by this event should extend in the tournament's charitable giving.

Having attended the Save Muny party Friday night, it's apparent that the sense of community in Austin would embrace a one or two-year donation of charitable proceeds to saving Lions Municipal. This is not to suggest the tournament's current beneficiaries aren't find charities, but given how many golf courses are under siege in the United States and how consistently the Five Families have passed at opportunities to help them survive as genuine "grow the game" facilities, wouldn't it be fun to see Muny saved by tourney proceeds?

Charity is at the heart of the PGA Tour!

Here's a good background story on the proposal and pleas from Ben Crenshaw.

Some images from Friday night's fundraiser hosted by the good folks at Criquet Shirts.

Inspiring turnout for @criquetshirts @savemuny lawn party. Great comments from Ben Crenshaw and Ed Clements. Well done to all and a fantastic cause. #lionsmunicipal #savemuny #criquetshirts #bencrenshaw @tapcity1

A post shared by Geoff Shackelford (@geoffshac) on Mar 23, 2018 at 7:02pm PDT

Day or night, same message. #savemuny

A post shared by Criquet Shirts (@criquetshirts) on Mar 24, 2018 at 12:28pm PDT

Florida Gets Its Swing Back: Key Portion Of 2019 Schedule Takes Shape

The Forecaddie with some great early news on the PGA Tour's schedule revamp, expected to be finalized at the Players Championship: Florida again will have four events in a row like the good old days.

In recent years, mixing Mexico City in, saying goodbye to Doral and watching The Players arrive in May has meant discombobulation. Not anymore! 

2021! PGA Tour, SiriusXM Sign Four-Year Extension

While we're in media announcements mode, SiriusXM and the PGA Tour have agreed on an extension until 2021 when current television contracts expire.

Not that long ago, the SiriusXM/PGA Tour relationship was very much up in the air until the last moment, so this is a welcome extension for those who appreciate the live tournament coverage--extra-handy of late--or those who enjoy the various talk shows.

For Immediate Release:

PGA TOUR, SiriusXM sign four-year extension

SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio channel will continue to deliver extensive live tournament coverage and daily golf talk to fans nationwide through 2021

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida and NEW YORK, New York – The PGA TOUR and SiriusXM announced today that they have reached a four-year extension to their broadcasting agreement, which will continue extensive tournament coverage on SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio for subscribers nationwide through 2021.

SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio listeners enjoy live coverage of every round of most PGA TOUR events throughout the season – including THE PLAYERS Championship, the four events of the FedExCup Playoffs and the biennial Presidents Cup – with hole-by-hole commentary and expert analysis, on the only audio channel dedicated to professional golf.  

Subscribers can listen to the SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio channel on SiriusXM radios (Sirius channel 208, XM channel 92), and those with streaming access can listen online, on-the-go with the SiriusXM mobile app and at home on a wide variety of connected devices, including smart TVs, Amazon Alexa devices, Apple TV, PlayStation, Roku, Sonos speakers and more. For more information, visit www.SiriusXM.com/SiriusXMPGATOURRadio.

“We are very pleased to continue our relationship with SiriusXM, whose growing subscriber base is an important and effective way for the TOUR to reach fans across the country,” said Rick Anderson, the PGA TOUR’s Chief Media Officer.  “The PGA TOUR represents the pinnacle of competitive golf and we are thrilled to work with SiriusXM to continue delivering the best golf in the world to fans everywhere, whether they are in their cars, at home or on the go.”

“PGA TOUR coverage is a very important part of our sports programming lineup, and we are very pleased to extend our long-term relationship with the TOUR to continue to give our listeners an extensive schedule of in-depth tournament broadcasts,” said Scott Greenstein, SiriusXM’s President and Chief Content Officer.  “No other audio or streaming broadcaster can match SiriusXM’s level of golf programming, and whether it is via our radios or our app, we continue to deliver it to fans anywhere across the country.”

Since 2005, SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio has featured a variety of broadcasters working on comprehensive play-by-play coverage, including former TOUR winners Mark Carnevale, Mark McCumber, Dennis Paulson, John Rollins, Paul Stankowski and Phil Tataurangi.  Earl Forcey anchors the coverage most weeks, with Fred Albers, Doug Bell, Jane Crafter, Will Haskett, Mark Immelman, Kevin Sylvester, Bill Rosinski, Tom Werme and Mark Zecchino among those returning to provide exclusive play-by-play coverage and player interviews from inside the ropes.