When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
Although the PGA Tour's announcement of a new Latin America developmental tour felt a bit rushed based on the announced timing and light details on how exactly players could work their way onto the Nationwide Tour, lost in this is just how seriously the PGA Tour is taking the Olympics.
Sean Martin reveals that U.S. Amateur champion Kelly Kraft will not pull a Colt Knost, and instead play the Masters before turning pro. Of course, that means passing up the U.S. Open and Open Championships.
“I’m going to turn pro basically Sunday night after the Masters,” Kraft said. “I’m not going to play in the Open or the Open Championship because I can try to qualify for those.”
In contast, an unbylined Daily Mail report says Javier Ballesteros is going to turn pro after…law school.
'I have an invitation to play next May in the Majorca Open and I will play, for sure,' one-handicapper Javier said.
'Then when I've finished my law degree I would like to give it a shot and turn pro.
'While I am studying I cannot train a lot. I hit 200 balls every day but I can play only once a week and playing is when you really learn the game.'
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.
We should probably leave the last word on the Tiger selection by Captain Couples to Geoff Ogilvy, who summed it up best during a pre-Presidents Cup teleconference call today:
Thanks to reader Chris for Ben Bland's story on the transport minister cracking down on government officials enjoying their golf a little too much during a down economy.
Glen Nager will be the next USGA president, four newbies come on to the Committee and four, including current President Jim Hyler, are retired. The outgoing: Brigid Shanley Lamb (4 years), Christopher A. Liedel (three years) and golf architect Steve Smyers (six years).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?
**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.
Doug Ferguson reports that in the matchup of Asian golf tournaments, the IMG has eliminated the PGA Tour 8&7. That's because next week the PGA Tour has the Asia Pacific Classic in Malaysia, with a $6 million purse and Brandt Snedeker
I have to admit, the Carl Spackler option presented by Yahoo's Jeanne Rose would be tempting...if I was 13 again.Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
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