The unbiquitous Tim Finchem was in the press room today at The Players and in the pages of the Wall Street Journal where John Paul Newport asked questions for the "Boss Talk" feature.
First the Journal, which included exclusively in print "5 Tips From Tim Finchem For Managing Well." We'll save those for another post tomorrow.
I found this interesting:
WSJ: There has been some criticism by players of the Tour's new drug policy -- not the need for it but the fact that players will have to be watched giving samples.
Mr. Finchem: The doping stuff is an interesting phenomenon in that virtually all the younger players, from say 32 or 33 down, say this is a no-brainer. Many of them have been tested in college, observed testing. Some of the older players who have been around for 2½ decades bristle a little bit. And I think that's totally understandable. I don't like it in sports generally, and I don't like it for golf in particular because in golf we play by the rules and know the rules and call rules on ourselves and drug testing smacks of, "OK, we don't trust you." But the reality is, drug policy has to be a credible exercise. Our image is probably our No. 1 asset.
Okay, that was fun while it lasted. Break out your businesspeak bingo boards.
WSJ: Image is important to tournament sponsors. How are they holding up in light of this possible recession?
Mr. Finchem: Over the last 20 years in my experience, every time there is a recession, companies that want to be involved in this platform redouble their efforts to scrutinize every nickel they are spending. This is stressful for us. But when they come out of it, you've got a partner that is more educated about the possibilities. Companies are so much more sophisticated in their analytics of measuring value. It's very different than it was years ago.
There are some companies that are primarily focused on the branding/advertising side of the equation. There are other companies that are primarily interested in taking advantage of the platform from an incentivization [perspective], for their employees or business to business. But if they are narrowly focused in their approach, they tend not to have a long relationship with us. Companies that take advantage of all the elements are getting the most value and stick with us. By that I mean a public-relations interface, a charitable interface, an operating interface from the standpoint of getting business to business, and of course a branding/advertising interface.
So good to see platform and incentivization making a comeback. I missed them.
In the press room, Finchem offered a nice tribute to retiring TPC super Fred Klauk, then borrowed a page from Billy Payne's Handbook on Schmoozing Media That Will Fall For Anything. Finchem singled out those who have covered way too many Tournament Players Championships The Players Championships The PLAYERS.
Let me also, since we are talking about milestones; that we have a number of people in the media who have been with us for a good number of years. Some of these people I'm going to mention may not like to be mentioned in this context, but nevertheless, it's our 35th year here at THE PLAYERS, and Melanie Hauser has been with us for 25 years; Tim Rosaforte has been covering here for 26 years; and both John Hopkins and Furman Bisher have been here 28 years; and Tom Stein has been here 27 years.
Take that Herb Wind!
With that,
...where I've greased some of you up but don't have neat little awards to give you...
I'll take a few questions and try to answer whatever you'd like to ask me.
Q. I know at last week's players meeting, slow play was one of the main items on the agenda. Do you accept the premise that it's a problem, and if so, do you have any specific ideas in mind as to what you might do about it?
COMMISSIONER FINCHEM: It's a complicated subject that I'd be happy to spend some more time with you off-line perhaps later in the week.
Off line. I'm sorry, is this an instant message session?
He yoddles on for a bit about all of the factors influencing pace, then says...
But because some of these factors have accentuated in recent years, it's come to a point where we are going to have to really analyze all of it and ask ourselves: Is there a better way to do it, whether it relates to a slow player, whether it relates to the setup of the golf course, whether it relates to field sizes and the rest, and we are committed to doing that.
We feel strongly on this issue now. I think it's a whole other debate as to the extent to which what people watch on the air impacts how long it takes the average player. I watch virtually all of our golf on the air, and it doesn't make me a slow player, as I want to get done as fast as I can get done. But there is that sense that we need to set a good example, too.
So we have identified not a complete list, but certainly the beginning of a framework of how to effectively analyze this subject more effectively. I think it's time to do that, and I think it's a combination of identifying things that could be done in communicating effectively, primarily with players, talking about the professional; but also yourselves and the fans about what the realities are, what the causes are and what steps could be done.
Q. Might you consider the steps the LPGA has done, such as timing players without even warning them, and penalizing them?
COMMISSIONER FINCHEM: Sure, absolutely, that would be one of many things on the list. Some of these things require more staff. Some of them require more expenditure.
But rather than go forward and say let's go try this and let's go try this, we want to try a more comprehensive approach to it.
Well, that's a start?
There were a pair of interesting takes on the World Nos. 1-2-3 pairing of Ochoa, Sorenstam and Pettersen at Kingsmill. Golfweek's Beth Ann Baldry posted this breakdown of a day where Annika posted a ho-hum 64 to Lorena's 65. 
