Richest Event In World Is Not Rich Enough Apparently

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The inaugural non-WGC Tournament of Hope in South Africa has been "postponed" due to "economic climate."

For Immediate Friday News Dump Release:

February 1, 2013 - The International Federation of PGA Tours and the Sunshine Tour announced today that the Tournament of Hope, scheduled for the week of November 18, 2013, has been postponed.

The Tournament of Hope is an event to be contested in South Africa with a primary eligibility category of the top 50 players in the world, supplemented by the individual money lists and Orders of Merit of the various Tours that make up the International Federation of PGA Tours.  The Tournament of Hope is also to be the centerpiece of a proposed worldwide AIDS awareness effort, to be coordinated by the Sunshine Tour.

“We are confident that the initial enthusiasm for the Tournament of Hope remains in South Africa and among other potential international sponsors,” said Selwyn Nathan, executive director of the Sunshine Tour, speaking on behalf of the Sunshine Tour and the International Federation of PGA Tours.  “We are hopeful that, with an improvement in the economic climate, we will be able to conclude all arrangements for a successful staging of the Tournament of Hope at a future date.”

Further announcements concerning the Tournament of Hope will be made periodically.

The entire thing was a bit complicated from day one and up until last February when its status was finally decided.

It all started with a Presidents Cup scheduling brouhaha when the European Tour scheduled the 2011 South African Open the week of the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne.

Torrey Slow Play: What Can Contractless Rules Officials Do?

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Jason Sobel talked to Brad Fritsch this week about his group holding up Tiger Woods during the final two rounds of the Farmers Insurance Open. Fritsch had this to say:

At the Waste Management Phoenix Open on Tuesday, Fritsch maintained that not only was the threesome never put on the clock, they were never even warned by a PGA Tour rules official.

“Nobody ever even approached us,” he said. “I tell you what, all we ever heard on the Web.com Tour was, ‘We’re doing this to you guys now, because it’s worse out there in terms of them getting on you and staying on you.’ We didn’t see anybody all day.”

As you may recall, the rules staff has been working without a contract since the start of the year. And you may also recall Commissioner Tim Finchem gets the willies just thinking about a penalty for slow play, something that has not happened under his reign.

He infamously told John Feinstein:

"Slow play is a legitimate issue," he said, "but not to the point where I think we need to do something like that."

Considering that he's giving himself and his senior executives lavish bonuses and can't afford to take care of the people (outside of the players) most important to running a successful event, the contract situation is embarrassing.

But I also wonder if it's neutering the rules officials to the point that they don't want to upset the apple cart has created a situation where the Commissioner's attitude means they no longer feel empowered to get tough on slow play? I hope not, but it is a danger of letting such a silly contract situation linger, especially as Rules of Golf and slow play issues are such hot topics. Another danger of letting this linger is that the officials could be accused of doing nothing on purpose as a negotiation ploy.

Or as Finchem calls these things, "distractions."

Video: Phil Fires 60 With Power Lipout On Last Hole

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Fighting through the painful emotions of seeing old sparring partner Vijay Singh overcome some seriously bad press, Phil Mickelson fired an 11-under 60 in the opening round of 2013 Waste Management Open play.

As of now, the PGA Tour's YouTube page has posted Phil's birdie putt on the 8th hole, his 17th, which he left short. Why, I have no idea.

Thankfully, the putt we actually want to see was posted by a fan is now posted by the tour. Note the multiple cameras and great work by NBC's crew to capture the moment.

Ugh: Time Inc. Layoffs Hit SI, golf.com

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It pains me to see comrades at Sports Illustrated/golf.com losing their jobs as part of Time Inc's 6% global work force reduction. Some very talented people were let go today, and while this Keith Kelly story doesn't name names, it won't get them their jobs back to point out who is suffering today.

This IBTimes.com story cites the layoff numbers, advertising issues and quotes the new CEO, Laura Lang, in a memo to staff:

In a memo obtained by Bloomberg News Wednesday, Laura Lang, the company’s CEO, spoke of a new normal in which magazine companies have to learn how to do more with less. “With the significant and ongoing changes in our industry, we must continue to transform our company into one that is leaner, more nimble and more innately multi-platform,” Lang wrote.

Innately multi-platform. As opposed to multi-platform.

“To make this change, we need to operate as smartly and efficiently as possible to create room for critical investments and new initiatives. These reductions are part of this important transformation process.”

"Vijay Singh’s admission...affords the tour a wide-open window to let in transparency and public accountability."

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Vijay Singh will serve his time but the bigger issue will be how the PGA Tour and other governing bodies handle this. If history serves as a guide, this will be handled with as little transparency as possible and only give the sport more of a black eye.
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Vijay WD's To Spend More Time WIth His Lawyer

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AP's John Nicholson reports, though it's light on details. Not that anyone really is shocked following the admission that he violated the PGA Tour's doping policy.