Poor Europe, Files: Rory Says "PGA Tour has given me a platform...to turn me into this golfer and athlete than I am"

Following an opening 66 in the 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational, Rory McIlroy joined the Golf Channel set to discuss his day.

Rich Lerner opened with a question about the Premier Golf League. (Rory said he was “out” on in Mexico City, yet validated a good portion of the proposed league’s ideas yesterday.)

Thursday at Bay Hill, McIlroy was emphatic about what the PGA Tour has done for him over winning majors or his early years on the European Tour.

The full clip is below, the text:

I’d like to think I’m quite a loyal person, and I think the PGA Tour has given me a platform to showcase my skills, to build my brand, to turn me into this golfer and athlete than I am. I think Jay Monahan and his team do a wonderful job with the tour.

Someone else got his Limited Edition Live Under Par puzzle from the Commissioner!

And look, the reason I said what I said was because, we were in Mexico and some people decided not to go. But that was their choice. That was the freedom that they had. They have autonomy over their schedule and they can pick and choose when and where they want to play. Where if we go to this new way, that’s not going to be the case. You’re going to play 18 events. They’re going to tell you where and when you should be there. As a golfer and an independent contractor, I didn’t like the sound of that.

McIlroy then made clear the league’s Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund money did not sit well, even though the Premier Golf League backers say they have 60 investors.

Didn’t really like where the money was coming from, either. I wanted to be the first one to speak out against it and I’m glad that I have.

And he has, though few others have been as forcefully opposed as McIlroy.

Either way, feel for the European Tour today. McIlroy’s view of what the PGA Tour has meant for his career had to sting.

PGA Tour University: Policy Board Approves Plan To Reward Top College Seniors With Korn Ferry Tour Access

Of all the ideas hatched at Camp Ponte Vedra over the last decade, I’m not sure there is one that appeals more than the PGA Tour University concept, reportedly approved by the Policy Board this week.

It’s forward-thinking both in extending the Korn Ferry Tour’s reach, while addressing signs that college players increasingly turn pro before they are ready. The idea of incentivizing top seniors to finish their eligibility via access to the PGA Tour’s top feeder tour should ensure players get a degree (or at least take all Concepts of Coaching classes offered). And should produce a more mature, polished player at 22 or 23. In theory, anyway.

From Ryan Herrington’s Golf World story explaining the concept:

The plan allows for the top five players on a new created collegiate player ranking, which will include only golfers playing in their fourth year of college eligibility, to gain immediate membership on the Korn Ferry Tour after the NCAA Championship in late May, allowing them to compete in the final eight or nine KFT events as full members. If these college players earn enough points in those tournaments to crack the top 25 on the KFT’s year-long points list, they will earn a PGA Tour card for the following season. They can also play their way into the top 75 on the points list and gain entry in the KFT final series. If a player doesn’t crack either threshold, they will still get direct entry into the final stage of KFT Q school later in the year.

Golfers ranking Nos. 6-15, meanwhile, will get to move directly to either the PGA Tour Latinoamérica or Mackenzie Tours, according to sources, and will also be given automatic entry into the second stage of KFT Q school. There will be no direct access to PGA Tour membership.

The program will not impact generational talents either.

McIlroy Suggests Pro Golf Needs Streamlining, Might Be Oversaturated

The question came at the end of Rory McIlroy’s press conference in advance of the 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented By Mastercard. If the Premier Golf League does not happen, what changes might it inspire for the PGA Tour?

What McIlroy presented sounded a lot like…the Premier Golf League!

Ewan Murray reports for The Guardian.

“I don’t want to come across as sort of elitist but I think some smaller fields [would help], maybe a few more events with no cuts,” said the world No 1 when considering how the game can be modified. “There’s so many tournaments and there might be an over-saturation in a way. You look at the NFL and they play 18 games a year, 20 games a year max, and people want it all the time.

“I know football’s different than golf and all that, but I think being a golf fan these days can get quite exhausting following so many different tournaments, different tours, all that stuff. So maybe streamlining it a bit might be a good place to start a conversation.”

McIlroy, as you may recall, announced his opposition to the league’s plans barring a mass exodus of players citing history and the lack of independence.

Also in Murray’s story from Bay Hill was this from Adam Scott, who is still “very positive” about the concept though doesn’t think “it’s going to happen necessarily.”

And this:

“Everyone sees it from somewhat of their own agenda. Being an international player, the thought of a world tour sounds really great. Maybe less so for someone based in Florida who doesn’t have to necessarily travel as much. I don’t think my sentiment has changed at all. I still think it’s fantastic.”

PGA Tour's Golfbet Partnership With The Action Network Hints At Aggressive "In-Play Betting"

Remember the old days when Tim Finchem didn’t even like the PGA Tour getting in those high stakes, dozen-balls-to-the-winner world of fantasy golf?

If he only knew what would make Shotlink even more valuable in the coming years.

Because the post-Finchem PGA Tour is touting partnerships even when only 25 states legally allow sports gambling (Though by the end of 2021 essentially every state populated by more people than cows is expected to make sports betting legal.)

While I would never condone such duplicitous behavior (though do keep an eye on Nadal in the Derby), the PGA Tour insists its approaching things carefully by partnering with the Action Network and saying they are wading into the pool, not diving head first.

John Lombardo and Bill King of Sports Business Daily covered the Action Network partnership, how it allows PGATour.com to separate itself from a deadly sin and spoke to Norb Gambuzza, the PGA Tour’s SVP of Media, Gaming and Crapshooting, Or Something To That Effect.

And it sounds like gambling was a draw for networks re-upping media rights.

“The betting space is a topic of significant interest with all of our media partners,” Gambuzza said. “Having this deal sync up with our media deal was important.”

Gambuzza suggested the Action Network deal (full press release below) suggests an awareness that too much gambling talk will backfire.

“We’re going to give [Action Network] video, give them data, collaborate on functionality and push fans there,” Gambuzza said. “We’re going to talk about Action Network content on our digital platforms and social platforms. But we’ve got to do that in a matter that is not obtrusive or too direct or in our fans’ faces. We’re going to wade into the pool instead of jumping in, and experiment a bit.”

As for the GolfBet “platform” announced Monday, it will not be a place to bet.

Note in the press release that data on shots is a focus, suggesting that the PGA Tour’s belief fans will want to bet on shots.

For Immediate Release:

The Action Network and the PGA TOUR today announced the launch of GolfBet, a first-of-its-kind, golf-focused betting content platform. GolfBet will be powered by The Action Network and hosted at www.actionnetwork.com/golf, and also will be available within The Action Network app. Through the strategic partnership, the PGA TOUR will provide GolfBet content distribution via TOUR digital platforms, footage rights to support GolfBet video content, and official TOUR data to ensure that GolfBet and The Action Network offer golf fans and golf bettors the most accurate data and compelling content available.

“We believe that golf fans and sports bettors alike are in search of a deeper level of information that has not existed until the launch of GolfBet,” said Norb Gambuzza, PGA TOUR’s SVP Media & Gaming. “The Action Network is the perfect partner to create this type of content platform to educate and entertain fans about responsible betting on golf while bolstering the overall gaming ecosystem. We are bullish that GolfBet content and the growth of sports betting will drive fan engagement and expand our overall audience.”

“The PGA TOUR is one of the most forward-thinking leagues and rightsholders around the massive growing legal sports betting business,” said Patrick Keane, CEO of The Action Network. “Our consumers are passionate golf fans, and we are excited about the opportunity to enhance our coverage via the launch of the GolfBet platform.”

The PGA TOUR has been very active recently in the betting space, including a 2018 announcement of an integrity program, partnering with Genius Sports to protect its competitions from potential outside influences related to gambling. Later that year, the TOUR announced a global partnership with IMG ARENA to license its official, live scoring data to betting operators all over the world, which will revolutionize in-play betting on golf and will be available to the market later this year. In August, the TOUR partnered with DraftKings to relaunch “PGA TOUR DraftKings Fantasy Golf,” with exclusive intellectual property to differentiate DraftKings in the daily fantasy space. Now, with the launch of GolfBet, the PGA TOUR is developing a robust betting content ecosystem that supports both sports betting and daily fantasy.

“In a typical PGA TOUR season, there are approximately 1.2 million golf shots taken across our schedule,” Gambuzza said. “This represents a massive opportunity for in-play betting, new types of markets for operators who have access to official PGA TOUR data, and tremendous opportunities for content generation. We think that The Action Network has the unique expertise to develop a diverse array of tools, analysis, and other content which will help fans and bettors understand, access, and enjoy these new betting opportunities as the market evolves.” 

In 2019, The Action Network produced more than 800 individual pieces of golf-related content and offered robust bet tracking and analysis tools focused on golf. “Action Network users tracked over 50 million picks on our platform last year, and golf was our fastest-growing segment at nearly 300 percent year over year,” Keane said.  

In addition to The Action Network producing the majority of the weekly content for GolfBet with well-known experts like Jason Sobel, Josh Perry and Peter Jennings, GolfBet will also strike partnerships with other media companies to power the platform.

“We envision GolfBet as a one-stop platform where fans can get all of the most relevant and up-to-date betting information,” Keane added.

Max Wright, Senior Vice President of IMG ARENA, said, “Golf was one of the few major sports that had not yet offered consistent in-play betting markets. We see a massive opportunity for growth through ‘in-play’ betting once our official PGA TOUR betting data hits the market later this year. This partnership between PGA TOUR and The Action Network is hugely complementary. We believe that an information hub like GolfBet which delivers high quality content to help to inform and educate users about golf and golf betting will be a net positive for the growing golf betting market.”

GolfBet content is planned to be largely subscription free for the foreseeable future. The PGA TOUR and Action Network plan to work with TOUR’s domestic media partners, as well as Discovery on ex-U.S. collaboration opportunities, as GolfBet continues to grow on a global basis.

Besides the obvious concerns about fan interruptions intended to influence a wager, I’m still not clear on whether there is time to look at data AND bet on a live shot.

As someone who watched 2019’s The Match with an eye on live betting, it was clear that even with just two players, between sharing a pertinent stat and execution of the shot, making a bet would require a fast connection and easy method to make a selection. Maybe that will come within the PGATour app or on The Action Network at some point.

Either way, these days of golf gambling are a far cry from the old days.

Revised NFL Schedule Will Impact Hawaii Events And Possibly The West Coast Swing

Major changes to the NFL regular season and playoff structure were presumably anticipated in the pending PGA Tour media rights deal. Which, presumably, is an $8 billion over ten years deal that will presumably be announced at The Players.

Full NFL membership voting is around the corner and ratification would mean a 17-game schedule, a possible Labor Day weekend start (and perhaps why the Tour Championship vacated that weekend). The Super Bowl could eventually move closer to President’s Day (if not the Sunday prior), impacting a key stretch of West Coast games and undoubtedly influencing whether NFL players will be able to tee it up in the Crosby. Now this is getting serious!

(Though that is not why some players, including Russell Wilson, are opposed.)

While a 17 game schedule won’t happen until 2021 at the earliest, the NFL seems prepared to expand the playoffs for the 2020-21 season. Jeremy Schilling has been following this and explained today how early season tournaments, already drawing small audiences when going up against NFL games, will suffer continuing to insist on weekend finishes. In the immediate future, the Sentry Tournament of Champions appears to be most in line for increased competition with the expanded playoffs.

IF NFL goes to expanded playoffs this yr, with a 3 & 3 Sat-Sun of Wild Card Wknd format, the @pgatour will need to go back to the drawing board to figure out how to give @Sentry_TOC a proper finish. The @SonyOpenHawaii & @theamexgolf are already being hurt by 6-10pm ET Sun slot.

— Jeremy Schilling (@jschil) February 26, 2020

After the schedule goes to 17 games with a second bye week looking unlikely, the NFL season start week will determine if the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am’s traditional date becomes Super Bowl weekend.

Schilling discussed this, with ESPN.com’s Bob Harig chiming in, making the fair point that fields won’t get worse due to this news.

Again, presumably all of this has been anticipated and the next media deal starting in 2022 will have forecasted these changes with planned date shifts, some Monday finishes or other ideas we have not thought about. Presumably.

In case you were wondering, the Premier Golf League has proposed four events in odd hours for American viewers, with two of those falling during the NFL playoff run and one U.S. event to start the season in mid-January.

Players Acknowledging Need For Change Validate The Premier Golf League's Ideas

Since the Premier Golf League ideas were first revealed here and the vision was expanded upon either in blog posts here, and now in founder Andy Gardiner’s interviews (here and here),

Randall Mell from the Honda on Brooks Koepka’s remarks, another classic example of Koepka’s shrewd way of playing his hand.

“I am just going to play where the best players play,” Koepka said Wednesday after his Honda Classic pro-am round. “I want to play against the best. I think everyone wants to play against the best. Whatever comes of it, comes of it.”

He’s available, will just go where the best players are, and he doesn’t need the money. Future agent, Brooks Koepka.

He also gratitude expressed toward the PGA Tour and its longevity as a venture.

“A lot of good things have come from it,” he said. “The Tour has been incredible to us, the way things have developed over the years. We have to see where things go. It’s all very new and it’s all very fast.”

But what if the PGL makes him an astronomical offer to be one of its new team owners?

“I know you’re going to write this the wrong way, but it doesn’t matter if somebody gave me $200 million tomorrow,” Koepka said. “It’s not going to change my life. What am I going to get out of it? I already have so much that I could retire right now, but I don’t want to. I just want to play golf. It’s not going to change anything. Maybe the only thing I do is buy a plane. That would be it. I don’t see anything that would change my life.”

True, a plane would be nice.

GolfDigest.com’s Brian Wacker covered Koepka’s remarks as well as those of Gary Woodland, current U.S. Open champion. He says he PGL has been good for the PGA.

“I think competition is good,” said Gary Woodland, who is represented by the same agent as Woods, Mark Steinberg. “I think the tour will be better for it. I think it will force the tour to make some changes.

Force. Not inspire. Or encourage. Or cause. Force.

“It’ll be interesting. There’s still a long way to go and a lot to do in a short period of time, but I think the [PGA] Tour has realized it has to make some changes.”

It would be interesting to know when that realization occurred.

For those who think the current model of constant growth and playing opportunities for retirees has damaged the “product,” there is good news. For accountants.

“I think the top players are getting together and trying to get things done. There’s a lot of things that could be done better out here to take care of the top players but also the bottom guys. I think there’s a lot more money for everybody. Hopefully that pushes the envelope.”

Players, players, players. Money, money, money. Not much about the fans or sponsors, something the PGL has highlighted in their mixed-results social media rollout and last week’s interviews.

A similar view was shared by Billy Horschel, who, as usual, said more than he should.

GolfChannel.com’s Rex Hoggard paints a largely rosy picture of the PGL’s impact and included this from Horschel.

“I have no desire [to play on the PGL]. What [Tour commissioner Jay Monahan] has done is great. He understands that the Tour in its current form isn’t viable in the future,” Horschel said.

I’m sorry, what was that again? Not viable in its current form. Again, when did this realization happen?

“Changes are going to have to be made. What changes? I don’t know. The business model is great, it’s what we do with the players and the product. We may have to make some tweaks to the product to continue to be able to garner the money that we want.”

So to recap Horschel’s quote: the Commissioner understands the current model is not viable, yet the business model is “great”, and the PGL-inspired changes will help keep the money flowing.

Something tells me fans and sponsors who have not agreed that the PGA Tour is “growing and thriving” and never more exciting want to hear ideas that will make the sport more fun. Enriching players for helping the cause is a nice byproduct of those efforts, but if pocket lining is the sole focus of this change, then the PGA Tour’s finest will have missed the point in a major way.

WSJ: " The Controversial Past of the Tycoon Behind the Astros" (And The Houston Open)

The Wall Street Journal’s Andrew Beaton and Jared Diamond look at the more sordid moments in Jim Crane’s business career and circumstances surrounding Major League Baseball’s vetting of his 2011 Astro’s purchase for $685 million.

The story implies Commissioner Bud Selig ordered more extensive vetting than normal given the cultural issues at Crane’s business, including allegations of discrimination against minorities and women, as well as a case of war profiteering.

As with the continuing Astros cheating saga, Crane was never proven with direct links to any of the questionable acts and eventually, baseball pushed the sale through.

The people say Crane had a couple important factors on his side that helped usher the deal through. For one, he was willing to move the Astros to the American League, a move others were unwilling to make. MLB was so keen on making this happen that Crane wound up receiving a roughly 10% discount on his purchase price.

“The negotiation of the Astros move to the American League was the driving factor in the length of the vetting process,” said Giles Kibbe, the Astros’ senior vice president and general counsel. “Switching from the National to American League required renegotiation of terms, which took months.”

Moreover, there was that price: Even with the discount, it was among the highest ever for a baseball franchise, and a rich sale has the effect of boosting club values for all owners across the league.

Crane was instrumental in saving the PGA Tour’s Houston Open, and also in pushing out its longtime operators at the Houston Golf Association.

The announcement also means the Houston Golf Association is no longer the host organization of the Houston Open after 72 years. The HGA already has been cutting its staff, though executive director Steve Timms said it will remain active in its successful junior golf programs -- which includes The First Tee -- amateur tournaments and a municipal golf project to restore city golf courses in Houston.

The 2020 playing is scheduled for November 9-15th at the freshly renovated Memorial Park.

Tiger, Rory, JT Passing Up Honda Suggests The Model Isn't Working

Friday’s news offered a fascinating juxtaposition of stories unless you live in the 32082.

There is this AP story by Doug Ferguson on Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas all passing up next week’s Honda Classic, even though they could play and sleep at home sweet home.

And despite a pretty compelling second round down at the WGC Mexico City, where Bryson DeChambeau fired 63 and a good leaderboard should make the weekend interesting, look at Golfweek’s homepage:

This was all set against the Premier Golf League’s Andy Gardiner making the rounds: talking to me exclusively here, to Golf Digest’s Max Adler, and most compelling of all, on Rick Shiel’s podcast where you can finally put a voice to the concept.

While I think you’ll get more specific details from the interview I posted, anyone listening to Gardiner talking to Shiels can hear an earnest view about how professional golf’s current schedule and excess of “product” is not working. Gardiner is able to lay out a vision that is strong, refined and ably rebuts some of the more compelling criticisms of the concept.

After the nearly 90 minute chat I was still left with questions about the proposed league’s details, but my ultimate conclusion was unexpected: the Premier Golf League lays out a smart future for professional golf after Tiger.

There has been much focus on whether Woods will commit and a curious glee at the prospect of Rory McIlroy invoking Arnold Palmer to reject the PGL—a curious example given Palmer’s flirtations with disruption in the early 1960s and 1980s.

Yes, both players could make the league take off and Woods could certainly torpedo the PGL’s chances of starting in 2022 by declining. But the vision laid out by Gardiner, and surprising no-shows at events like the Honda, also explains why Woods said last week that he expects regular runs at the PGA Tour model going forward.

He said that because whether it was Gardiner, his agent or just Woods’ overall vision telling him what is becoming increasingly clear: the professional golf model is broken. And when Woods retires, it may recede into a very small corner of the sports universe.

The PGL’s revision of the “tour” model would prevent something like we saw Friday: next week’s non-commitments overshadowing this week’s tournament. Their guarantee of top fields, a January-August schedule and a very intriguing team component bring new life to the pro game, presenting a refreshed vision for the sport long after Tiger has hung up his Nike’s. For that alone, the Premier Golf League is worthy of everyone’s attention.

PAC Head Hoffman Opposes "Whatever The USGA's Trying To Prove On Distance"

The headline on this Will Gray GolfChannel.com piece suggests PGA Tour journeyman Charley Hoffman was extremely critical of the proposed Premier Golf League when talking to Matt Adams on his Fairways of Life show. But Hoffman’s quotes seemed to be a mix of cynicism, understanding and veteran wisdom.

From Gray’s report:

"I think it's intriguing that another group of people are willing to dump a bunch of money and try to guarantee us money, get some of the best players in the world to come over and play. I just don't think there's any sustainability or really any traction, personally," Hoffman said. "I haven't dug deep enough into any of that to see if it is. I don't know if I would like to be owned by some Saudi money over there, but if something was a life-changing amount of money they offered me, you'd have to look at it as an independent contractor. Because there's no guarantees that I'll have a PGA Tour card in three or four years."

Hardly a rip job there.

This was an intriguing notion that I genuinely wonder many fans think about.

"As an athlete, any guaranteed money is very intriguing," Hoffman said. "But I've grown up playing this game that there is nothing given to you, and you earn every penny of it. And I think that a lot of golf fans really enjoy watching that."

More surprising is Hoffman’s take on the USGA and R&A, makers of golf’s rules that are mostly played by on the PGA Tour. Given that Hoffman sits on the PGA Tour Policy Board and chairs the Player Advisory Council, I thought he might be more open to the governing body efforts.

After the usual stuff about athletes, technology, everyone loving hit it “further”, no big deal if you just have to add a few tees, etc… Hoffman suggests he’s already one vote opposed to doing anything.

“I am not really for whatever the USGA’s trying to prove or do.”

So much for an open mind to the Distance Insights Study! Certain golf hats do have a way of altering perspectives.

Living Over Par Files: Menery's Comeback Squashed Before He Could Make Golf A Little More Fun (Again)

Social media funnyman and announcer-we-all-wish-we-had Bob Menery vowed to bring his act back to golf after multiple PGA Tour takedown notices. He did so with a fun post of Genesis Invitational highlights and it got taken down again after Menery’s various social accounts were served an unfriendly notice.

In a world where the PGA Tour is eager to add young viewers, the focus on Menery’s efforts is surprising. He has 2.3 million followers, including Justin Thomas, Graeme McDowell, Phil Mickelson, Matthew Wolff, Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Luke Donald, among others. Not to mention some of the biggest names in sports who don’t mind Menery’s roasting of both athletes and announcers.

The post, as of this post, has received nearly 3,000 comments. Good engagement!

Golf Needs To Get Ahead Of Its "Banging Scheme" Before It's Too Late

Those following the Houston Astros debacle in baseball that was not properly handled by Commissioner Rob Manfred would likely agree that had more been done early on to stop the shenanigans, there would less of a crisis than the one now facing Major League Baseball.

I’m also confident in saying that had Patrick Reed been disqualified and suspended for conduct unbecoming a pro golfer following his Hero World Challenge lie improvement, there would not be an appetite for more Reed bashing that we see today.

Which, in case you didn’t know, continued Tuesday morning when Brooks Koepka mocked Reed’s efforts and excuses and used the dreaded cheater word. Thene things took an even more incredible turn Tuesday night when No Laying Up’s podcast with Peter Kostis led to explicit accusations of multiple cheating incidents.

From Will Gray’s GolfChannel.com summary of the Kostis portion of the podcast:

"I've seen Patrick Reed improve his lie, up close and personal, four times now," Kostis said.

One such instance came during the final round of The Barclays in 2016 at Bethpage Black, an event that Reed went on to win. After hitting his drive on the 13th hole into thick rough just off the fairway, Reed put an iron down multiple times behind the ball before ultimately hitting a 3-wood, a turn of events that drew Kostis' attention in live time on the broadcast.

"That's the only time I ever shut [Gary] McCord up. He didn't know what to say when I said, 'Well, the lie that I saw originally wouldn't have allowed for this shot,'" Kostis said. "Because he put four or five clubs behind the ball, kind of faking whether he's going to hit this shot or hit that shot. By the time he was done, he hit a freaking 3-wood out of there, which when I saw it, it was a sand wedge layup originally."

Kostis can’t be accused of sitting on his observations:

But another comment from Kostis may speak to something I saw extensively last week at the Genesis Invitational and also at the Farmers in January: a habit of most modern golfers to put their club down behind the ball in not-so-gentle fashion, test the lie, and often with obvious pressure levied.

Kostis on Reed:

"I'm not even sure that he knows that he's doing it sometimes. Maybe he does, I don't know," Kostis said. "I'm not going to assign intent. All I'm going to tell you is what I saw."

After watching players regularly put a club down behind the ball, change clubs, do it again and test how their club sits (even on tight turf), I can only conclude that no one has told a generation of golfers: “that’s a bad look to be, uh, banging at the ground. Some people might even think you are improving your lie.”

While it took a long time to get backstopping under control, perhaps someone in golf will begin talking to players immediately when they are seen banging away at the grass and pressing into the ground behind their ball. It might just prevent an integrity crisis the sport does not need.

Reed Passes On Opportunity To Rebut Koepka And Kostis' Accusations Of Cheating

Following a strong start in the WGC Mexico City, Patrick Reed was asked by reporters about Tuesday’s accusations of on-course dishonesty from Brooks Koepka and Peter Kostis.

From Brian Wacker’s GolfDigest.com item:

“I mean, I said what I have to say about what happened in the Bahamas,” Reed said. “At the end of the day, all I'm trying to do is go out and play good golf and trying to win a golf championship and hopefully run Rory down.”

The comments from Reed came after an opening two-under 69 at Club de Golf Chapultepec, where he trails leader Rory McIlroy by four.

When a follow-up question was asked — if Reed was at all bothered that the topic of what happened in the Bahamas keeps coming up and following him — an official from the PGA Tour ended the interview, saying that Reed was only there to talk about golf.

Oh, knocking down stuff behind your ball is very much a golf topic!

Will Rory's Stance Torpedo The Premier Golf League?

Rory McIlroy’s strong stance against the proposed Premier Golf League looks like a blow to what has been a steady upward trajectory for the upstart rival tour.

However, given that it took nearly a month for a player to definitively declare against it since the league became public knowledge, and coupled Tiger Woods’ assertion last week that proposals like this will keep happening, I’m not sure the folks behind the PGL are hitting delete on their decks just yet.

Here are all of Rory’s comments, as reported by ESPN.com’s Bob Harig, starting with his assertion that he would lose independence going to the structure proposed.

"The more I've thought about it, the more I don't like it,'' McIlroy said at Chapultepec Golf Club, site of this week's WGC-Mexico Championship.

"The one thing as a professional golfer in my position that I value is the fact that I have autonomy and freedom over everything I do," he said. "I pick and choose -- this is a perfect example.

"Some guys this week made the choice not to come to Mexico. If you go and play this other golf league, you're not going to have that choice. I read a thing the other day where it said if you take the money they can tell you what to do. And I think that's my thing, I've never been one for being told what to do, and I like to have that autonomy and freedom over my career, and I feel like I would give that up by going to play this other league.”

Ironic that McIlroy cites a World Golf Championships week, with notable player defections, as an example of the freedom he cherishes. Particularly given that these weeks were designed to prevent an upstart world tour by bringing top players together more often and assuring sponsors of stars convening.

Anyway…

"For me, I'm out. My position is I'm against it until there may come a day that I can't be against it. If everyone else goes, I might not have a choice, but at this point, I don't like what they're proposing.''

And McIlroy didn't see that happening.

"I think it is very split at the moment,'' he said.

Given the strength of the professional game in so many ways, it’s fairly stunning that there is even a split in the first place. And that split seems bound to force significant changes, regardless of the PGL’s fate.

In looking at McIlroy’s comments more closely, it’s no coincidence his stance comes after a wonderful week at a historic tournament and venue, with the revitalized Florida swing looming. So it’s nice to see a sentimental player still exists.

However, that McIlroy also opened the door to joining a mass exodus, hardly makes his stance fatal.

Now, if Tiger reiterated what McIlroy said about the Premier Golf League? That’s a different story.

Full context from @McIlroyRory on the Premier Golf League. pic.twitter.com/onbK5id6c3

— Rex Hoggard (@RexHoggardGC) February 19, 2020

Kuchar: "“If you could design a better version of the PGA Tour, it wouldn’t look like the current version."

While that comment is not exactly what the doctor ordered when you are about to (allegedly) announce an $8 billion, 10-year deal at the Players, Matt Kuchar raises an interesting question.

As quoted in this story by GolfDigest.com’s Brian Wacker looking at player views of the proposed Premier Golf League:

“It’s intriguing,” Kuchar said of the PGL. “If you could design a better version of the PGA Tour, it wouldn’t look like the current version. What we have is awesome, [but] I think there’s a lot of hope that the tour moves in a direction that is slightly different moving forward, and guys like Rory have an influence on that direction.”

McIlroy certainly will be listened to after announcing he’s “out” on the league unless there is a mass exodus of top players.

But it does raise an interesting question: if you started from scratch, how would you design a golf tour that takes the sport to different places, shows off the skills of these talented players, and keeps them happy?

Kostis: "The PGA Tour doesn't give a rat’s ass about the quality of the telecast. They don’t care about the quality of the viewer experience."

Longtime CBS golf announcer Peter Kostis has joined Chris Solomon on this week’s No Laying Up podcast (embed below). He makes several frank statements about the PGA Tour’s role in his firing, the quality of broadcasts and the future when they gain more control over production. (I finally had to pause though I hear the rest on Patrick Reed is also going to be blog worthy tomorrow).

As always I urge you to listen, but for the sake of documentation, quotes as I jotted them down during this stunning listen.

—On his non-renewal last fall from CBS. “I don’t think there was a plan in place. They had not signed other announcers. prior to not renewing Gary’s and my option years. So I don’t think there was a plan in place.”

—On who drove his non-renewal: “I honestly think, and this is my opinion, and it’s been corroborated by some anonymous inside sources, that media likes to use these days, that it was the tour that told CBS to get younger, I think the Tour had an issue with me not being a cheerleader, I think they had an issue with Gary sometimes…

He goes on to tell a story about a classic McCord quip regarding the silliness of golf that was not comprehended by the folks in Tour HQ.

Then issues this: “They wanted the announce crew to get younger, so the younger players could better relate to the players and vice versa. I don’t agree with that in any way, shape or form.”

—On his call with CBS Sports head Sean McManus: “I asked Sean McManus, why he was doing it, was it something I did or didn’t do. He said ‘Things had gotten a bit stale and we wanted to go in a new direction.’ He denies it now but that was the exact quote and that’s what he told Gary as well.”

—Majors are off-limits. Kostis tells of interview a player on his first win, and noting that it came with two years of job security and a Masters invitation. “I got a call the next day from New York, they had gotten a call from the Commissioner, that he had won 500 FedExCup points and didn’t want me talking about majors.” He then mentions he did it again in another interview. “I did it again, because they told me not to do it, if you notice toward the middle of last year, I stopped doing interviews with the winners. They shifted it over to Amanda.
It was me being told I wasn’t listening correctly.”

—On where things are headed. “The Tour wants more control over what’s being said. I think they want more cheerleaders on the telecasts. More people that are going to “promote the Tour’s product,” you know which, we’re bridging into the stuff that people are really upset about: the quality of the telecast: I’ll say this, from the bottom of my heart, I believe this, no one in management of a network, or leadership of the PGA Tour, give’s a rat’s ass about the quality of the telecast. They don’t care about the quality of the viewer experience. They don’t care about anything other than promotion.”

—”When the Tour keeps up and upping the rights fees, CBS has to get the money back somehow, hence, a gajilion commercials. The Tour goes to the Korn Ferry Tour, we’re going to give you pops, FedEx ex number of times…

“So they use the telecast to pay off, if you will, people who bring money into the tour. It clutters up the telecast to no end.”

And…

”They are interested in the marketing of the product, not the quality of the product.”

—On the next model. “The word on the street, there is not going to be a CBS compound, NBC compound, but an Olympics world feed” and then later says, “Imagine what’s going to have to happen on the telecast…I’m not one feeling good about the tour taking over more control.”

—On Rights fee influences. “As long as the cost of the rights keep going up and up and up, you’re going to see less and less golf.” And he said, “everything’s driven by cash.”

—$25 Million!? “Rumors that the FedExCup winner is going to get $25 million.”

—Gambling. “Everything is going to revolve around gambling” in the PGA Tour’s future models for revenue growth.

—One monitor vs. two. Kostis explains how it works for CBS vs. NBC announcers and suggests it’s “disingenuous” of NBC announcers who call shots on tape as if they are seeing them live.

It’s finally happened.

Peter Kostis is here to discuss his departure from CBS, golf on TV, what needs to change, other Patrick Reed incidents he’s seen (!), and so much more.

He does not hold back. Go now.

Apple: https://t.co/q9YDSK4PsO
Spotify: https://t.co/sICOmq7eel pic.twitter.com/OJLOCjbsjG

— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) February 19, 2020