"PGA TOUR Latinoamérica to kick-off inaugural season in 2012"

For Immediate Release...

PGA TOUR Latinoamérica to kick-off inaugural season in 2012

Wow, only one cap on Latinoamérica...

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL (October 20, 2011)—The PGA TOUR announced today the creation of PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, a professional tour initially consisting of 11 events played in seven countries across Latin America.

“We are delighted to announce the launch of PGA TOUR Latinoamérica,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem. “This expansion into Latin America, when combined with what the Nationwide Tour has been able to accomplish in the region in recent year’s, is part of the natural progression for golf which continues to grow globally.  We see this as an opportunity to help in the further development of elite players across the region.  The timing is right, with South America hosting its first ever Olympic Games, which includes golf’s return to the competition for the first time in more than 100 years.  The Latin American market has already produced several PGA TOUR stars, and one of our goals for this tour is to help develop the Latin American stars of the future.”

The 11-event schedule, the result of a collaborative effort among the PGA TOUR, Tour de Las Americas, National Golf Federations, promoters and host clubs in the region, will be contested from September through December 2012.  In 2013, the plan is to have up to 14 events on the schedule.  The events will take players through various parts of the region including Mexico, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Peru. A complete schedule will be released in the near future.

And now for the quote pile-on.

Alright, let's get to the takeaway here...

PGA TOUR Latinoamérica events will be 72-hole stroke play tournaments consisting of fields of up to 144 players. The fields will consist primarily of the top professionals in the region with the top money earners receiving access to the PGA TOUR’s Nationwide Tour the following year. The specifics of Nationwide Tour access will be disclosed next year prior to the start of the 2012 PGA TOUR Latinoamérica schedule.

Receiving access? Translation: details to be bickered over at upcoming player and policy board meetings.

From there, the release features a big quote pile-on that won't improve your day.

My knee-jerk takeaway?

The European Challenge Tour should stay away from Latin America, and, as Sean Martin noted when writing about this earlier this year, this should help get more South Americans world ranking points and therefore eligible for the 2016 Olympics.  But as Martin notes in a new story on the announcement, discussions about those points have a ways to go.

PGA Tour Announces 2011 Schedule For 2012

The 2012 list includes a Monday finish at Kapalua, flipping of the Dallas swing events, a July 4th weekend date for the Greenbrier and a delayed finish to the Fall Finish to work around the new Asia event.

Oh and this organic quote from Commissioner Pizzazz:

"The 2012 schedule again demonstrates the strength of our sport with a very strong collection of tournaments, venues and sponsors that provide outstanding playing opportunities for our members and attractive viewing options for our fans," PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem said. "The FedExCup and the PGA TOUR Playoffs continue to generate interest and excitement through September, with the Fall Series focusing on the drama of players fighting for their playing privileges."

I know status quo is comforting for a lot of folks and sponsor retention in this economy is a minor miracle, but shouldn't there be more twists along the lines of the Monday finish for Kapalua? Something to prevent us from going all Harry Belafonte on this schedule?

Update on 2011-10-20 02:17 by Geoff

**Sean Martin explains why the Disney event was moved back, adding a lot of time for players on the cusp of retaining their card even more time to think about what could go wrong.

Couples Raises Norman: "I can sit here and say Robert Allenby hasn't won a tournament in 10 years.''

In an unbylined Herald Sun story, Presidents Cup captain Fred Couples is quoted responding to Greg Norman's multiple comments about the Tiger Woods captain's selection.

"I have no problem with Greg. He can say whatever he wants, but I'm not really into that. I play golf with my clubs,'' Couples said.

"Robert Allenby is his (captain's) pick, and Aaron Baddeley, and they're Australians and I think they're great picks.

"But I think I can sit here and say Robert Allenby hasn't won a tournament in 10 years.''

Cat fight!

Allenby's last US PGA Tour win was 10 years ago in the Pennsylvania Classic, although he has seven wins elsewhere since then, including Australian's Triple Crown - the Masters, PGA and Open - in 2005.

"The truth is, Tiger Woods is the greatest or the second-greatest player to ever play, and he's going to be down in Australia, and I hope he plays up to his capabilities,'' Couples said.

"But I think Tiger is used to getting picked on, and it's irrelevant to me.''

Well, not entirely irrelevant.