"Unashamedly, we have to be commercial when we allocate the event"

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I posted this as the last item on the GolfDigest.com clippings post along with a few more new items, and while the matches are proving quite compelling so far, I'd hate to see this item get forgotten. Paul Kelso writes:

George O'Grady, chief executive of the European Tour, is proud of the commercial profile that the event now enjoys and says there is no limit to where it might be staged; he would even consider staging it in Dubai, soon to be the setting for the European Tour finale.

"Unashamedly, we have to be commercial when we allocate the event," he said this week. "The Ryder Cup underwrites the finances of the Tour and funds all the game development and charitable work we do. Every penny we make goes back into the game, but we have to make as much as we can from the home match."

O'Grady believes the tournament has thrived because it delivers measurable benefits to the regions that act as host, and does not rule out a match in the Middle East.

Unashamedly, won't someone step up and explain to the European Tour that it's one thing to subject us to some truly awful golf courses, but another thing entirely to go outside of Europe?

"The tour's veterans may sense it's time to go back to the Way of Palmer, but the young guys know only a one-way street."

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I'm not sure how I missed this, but Jaime Diaz files an intriguing diagnosis of the pro game's woes and picks up on the theme echoed in other recent columns: the players have lost touch and don't have much flair.

Golf without Woods underscores how decadent the PGA Tour has become—and by extension, how fragile. In a tanking economy in which leisure time is evaporating, what was thought to be a momentary bobble is looking more like a bursting bubble. With corporate America and TV networks worriedly wondering if they overvalued the product, that dreaded euphemism "market adjustment" is in the air.
And...
All the taking without sufficiently giving back didn't seem to matter for a long time, but now it does. As CEOs reassess where to spend their money, purses actually could be headed down for the first time in decades (following TV ratings). The tour's veterans may sense it's time to go back to the Way of Palmer, but the young guys know only a one-way street.
Camilo Villegas is a good example. Much has come the 26-year-old's way because of his looks, his body, his clothes and his game. But the native of Colombia has never been expansive with the media, so it was a welcome change when after his third-round 63 at Boston, he thoughtfully reflected on subjects ranging from his struggle as an A-student at Florida to speak English, to his fitness regime. But then, casually but with a hint of impatience, he said, "If you guys let me go, I'll go get another workout in." It's a sentence the PGA Tour doesn't need. It does need Phil Mickelson signing autographs, Padraig Harrington opening the book on his recipe for winning majors, Geoff Ogilvy offering astute analysis, Paul Goydos being droll and Rocco Mediate being Rocco.

"We have had a continual dialogue with the Tour for around six months."

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Garry Smits gets the impression that a new PGA Tour event on Sea Island is almost a done deal.

Eric Schneider, Sea Island director of golf, told the Times-Union on Tuesday that the resort is in discussions with the Tour to add the event as a replacement for the Valero Texas Open, which will move to the spring next year.

This year's Texas Open is scheduled for Oct. 9-12.

Schneider said an announcement could be made "as early as two weeks from now."

"It's under consideration," Schneider said. "We have had a continual dialogue with the Tour for around six months."

New D.C. Area Course Closes

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Kendra Marr in the Washington Post reports on the closure of The Presidential.

Billed as a boardroom with a golf course, The Presidential aimed to be an exclusive retreat for corporate businessmen to network and entertain clients. Membership was capped at 150 companies, each paying $60,000 a year for employees and clients to use the golf course and clubhouse on Waxpool Road, east of Loudoun County Parkway. It also attracted a number of big names, such as Bill Dean, president and chief executive officer of M.C. Dean, and former Washington Redskins player Darrell Green, as investors.
A second phase, with an additional nine holes and other amenities, was planned to be added by 2010 at a cost of $30 million.
Shocking that it would fail with those numbers.

According to the club website it's a Dave Heatwole design.

"Sources close to Sea Island said the PGA Tour believes the concentration of touring pros that reside on the island will help strengthen the field."

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Thanks to all of the readers who sent Jon Show's story on the PGA Tour courting Sea Island for a possible Fall Finish event. A couple of noteworthy items from the story:

Industry sources said the tour is trying to sell a $2 million annual title sponsorship, which would include rights fees, ad inventory and four rounds of live coverage on Golf Channel.
Two Fall Series tournaments are title sponsored by their host resort courses, but sources said such an option is unlikely in this case because of Sea Island’s financial position. The company, which owns two resorts and a high-end housing community on the island, recently announced massive layoffs as a result of the weakening economy and downturn in the real estate market.

And I thought this was kind of sad statement about the way you have to take tournaments to the players to get them to play. I know, I know, the Fall Series interferes with Caitlin's cotillion, etc...

The Fall Series, which starts this week at the Viking Classic in Mississippi, was created last year as a package of seven events played after the conclusion of the FedEx Cup season. The inaugural series failed to attract most top-ranked players, but sources close to Sea Island said the PGA Tour believes the concentration of touring pros that reside on the island will help strengthen the field.