SBJ's Predictions For 2017: Look For FedExCup Changes, No New PGA Tour Broadcast Deal

There are a couple of intriguing insider notes from SBJ's well-connected John Ourand related to PGA Tour business in this 2017 predictions column.

9. No new broadcast deal for PGA Tour

It’s no secret that the PGA Tour will have conversations with CBS and NBC about opening up their broadcast deals. But the tour knows that there’s no big deal to be had here. The big media money comes in 2021 when the PGA Tour’s cable rights with Golf Channel are up. Until then, look for the PGA Tour to cut interesting streaming deals with companies like Facebook and Twitter as it studies the landscape before its cable negotiations kick in.

The column also includes a note on Amazon's desire to get into sports this year, though Ourand cited the emerging streaming network as targeting other sports such as tennis.

10. FedEx Cup changes coming

There’s been a lot of talk inside the tour about shortening the FedEx Cup so that it would not run up against college and pro football games in September. The tour will decide this year that it will conclude the FedEx Cup on Labor Day weekend starting in 2019. The knock-on effect from the compressed August schedule will see the PGA Championship moved from August to May and the Players Championship moved from May to March. That will start the golf season with a lot of momentum with one big event a month (from the Players to the Masters to the PGA Championship).

I'm still struggling to see how this works for the PGA of America in two big ways: agronomically and financially. A May date all but rules out several markets they visit or want to revisit (Rochester, Minneapolis, middle-of-nowhere Wisconsin), while the August date is actually a decent one given the fairly uncrowded landscape.

From a historical perspective, giving up the August date for the low-rated, lowly-anticipated FedExCup also seems short-sighted.

On the plus side, returning The Players to March beefs up a Florida swing already feeling a little depleted by the elimination of the Doral stop, while a May PGA Championship would open up a few markets of interest.

PGA Championship Contemplating A Permanent Move To May?

There has been increased chatter about the Players Championship moving back to March, but the various headlines working off of Rex Hoggard's story suggesting a 2020 PGA Championship move to May missed the buried lede: golf's fourth major may be considering moving from August to May. Permanently.

Check out the key quotes from PGA of America CEO Pete Bevacqua, quoted by Golf Channel's Rex Hoggard about what we already knew (the 2020 event may be played in May to avoid the Tokyo Olympic Games), and what we hadn't expected:

“We are huge proponents of the Olympics. We are all about the Olympics, but we also have to protect the PGA Championship and we can’t just bounce the PGA Championship around every four years,” Bevacqua said.

Can't bounce around.

And...

“To truly make it work, to make it succeed and to make sure golf is in the Olympics for the next century, the whole schedule needs to be adjusted,” he said.

Bevacqua may be testing the waters to see how television and fans feels about the change, but I'd guess he and new PGA Tour Commish Jay Monahan have sketched out a new schedule post-2019 that moves the Players to March, the PGA to May and the "playoffs" to a conclusion before or on Labor Day.

This would be an enormous boost to the PGA Tour's moribund playoff product where ratings stink, the format does not resonate and players seem uninspired following the PGA Championship. But put the playoffs back a few weeks after The Open, inject just a little life in the format (play-off), and suddenly a few of those issues go away.

So it would make sense for the PGA Tour to move the Players back to March, allowing the PGA Championship to move permanently to May. Except that...

The PGA of America's PGA Championship currently owns an August date when there are few other major sporting events, giving it the opportunity to regularly register the second highest rated golf telecast of the year behind the Masters.

Furthermore, as difficult as August can be agronomically, May might be even more of a headache for northern venues that experience a long winter. Places like Rochester, Long Island, Whistling Straits and Minneapolis are all very tricky to get peak conditions in May, impossible in a freak year.

So thinking of this as a trade, I'm feeling like the PGA Tour gets the better end of the bargain, solving two huge issues. There has to be one piece for the PGA of America missing. Maybe a player to be named later or some cash sent along as a courtesy?

With a television contract due to expire after the 2019 PGA, it's clear the PGA of America CEO is testing the waters for a permanent move.

Q&A With Ted Bishop, Author Of Unfriended

Ted Bishop's Unfriended opens like a media crisis thriller, but ultimately is worth reading because of the gentle way the former PGA of America president shows how golf's five families work and takes you behind the scenes of Tom Watson's Ryder Cup captaincy. While serving as a golf tell-all that only genuinely exposes a few PGA of America officers as short-sighted given the absurdity of his offense, the book never makes you want to run for the shower. In fact, it's often hard to put down thanks to Bishop's brisk, breezy style that only occasionally slows down.

The book documents Bishop's extraordinarily productive two years as PGA President, which saw the organization's profile raised and the membership defended by Bishop. Things have flat-lined since with the PGA and it's little wonder that the downward trend coincides with Bishop's removal with 28-days to go.

Ted answers a few questions via email below. You can buy Unfriended here at Amazon that includes a Kindle edition, or should you support non-Amazon retailers and want a signed copy from Ted, visit this page.

Also, Ted recently joined us on ShackHouse pre-Ryder Cup. Here is The Ringer's page for the show.

GS: What was your goal in writing this book?

TB: My departure as the President of the PGA of America is unprecedented and historic. Political correctness has taken on a life of its own with the 2016 Presidential election and it makes my impeachment look even more bizarre. Unfriended was simply an opportunity for me to tell my side of the story with no filters from anyone, including the media. It was also a chance for me to share some of the great stories and memories that I have been privileged to be part of in golf.    

GS: Did the PGA Of America attempt to stop the book from being published?

TB: The PGA made it difficult to write and publish my book. Ultimately, I had to seek the services of Levine, Koch, Sullivan & Schulz, one of the top First Amendment firms in the U.S. My lawyers determined that I had not violated any of my confidentiality or fiduciary duties to the PGA. That allowed me to press on with the book. I was fortunate that Classics of Golf publishing stuck with me through the PGA threats. In the end, I allowed the PGA to preview the book before it was published. In my opinion, that validates the integrity of the content in Unfriended.  

GS: What’s the feedback been like since you published?

TB: People tell me the book is extremely interesting, entertaining and easy to read. They enjoy being "inside the ropes" on things such as the Ryder Cup plus getting to know the biggest names in golf like Tom Watson, Arnold Palmer, Tim Finchem, Donald Trump, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods. Golfweek said that the book "raises the curtain on the insular world of those who rule the game and offers rare insights." 

But, I would also say that the politics in golf have worked against Unfriended to some degree. There is no question that certain media outlets won't touch the book because they don't want to get sideways with the PGA of America. That's too bad because the book does not reflect poorly on the PGA. People need to give Unfriended a chance. I suppose the title might have given some readers the wrong impression about the book's message, but Unfriended is a pretty fitting way to describe what happened to me.   

GS: The book opens as a firsthand account of how not to handle a modern media crisis, which you openly share. Was this a bit of therapeutic writing or your effort to help someone down the road in a similar situation?

TB: It was definitely therapeutic to a degree, but the first couple of chapters were also very painful for me because I had to relive the events when I wrote about my departure. You are absolutely correct about helping other people out. Unfriended is far more than a golf book. It's a case study on corporate media relations, political correctness and social media usage. I would like to use the book as a spring board to speak at the corporate level about the responsibilities of leadership in the 21st Century. There are many valuable lessons that I can share and they are very interesting given the people that I associated with in golf.     

GS: The account of the 2014 Ryder Cup is particularly interesting and puts the U.S. performance in good perspective. You also detail the beginnings of the Task Force concept, but now in hindsight you think it was unnecessary?

TB: The Ryder Cup Task Force was absolutely necessary. We had to change our approach and it obviously paid off with a U.S. victory this year. PGA Tour players are A-3 members of the PGA of America and they deserved a greater voice when it came to the Ryder Cup. That being said, I will always defend the PGA of America on its choice of past Ryder Cup Captains. However, Larry Nelson and Hale Irwin are certainly glaring omissions from several decades ago.  

GS: Have you gotten a thank you from the Task Force you helped start, post-2016 Ryder Cup?  

TB: Phil Mickelson left me a voice mail after Hazeltine and said, "I like the fact that you went out on a limb and brought the Task Force together even though you are not getting a lot of credit for that. It's a whole different feel than I have ever experienced before in my 20 years prior. l will never forget that first call I had from you about it. It's just one Ryder Cup, but we have something to build on now thanks to you." I appreciated that from Phil.  

GS: You dealt with Donald Trump quite a bit during your tenure as President and speak highly of the interactions you had with him. What should the USGA and PGA of America do, if anything, with regard to events hosted at his courses? I was disappointed when the PGA chose not to play the Grand Slam at Trump LA.

TB: At the time, I thought that was a mistake.

It has been surprising to me that more of the media are not asking the PGA questions about the 2017 Senior PGA at Trump D.C. and the PGA Championship at Trump Bedminster in 2022 given his past comments that are certainly degrading to women. As the guy who was exiled from the PGA for calling Poulter a 'lil girl, I have been surprised that the PGA has softened its stance on political correctness with Mr. Trump.

But, like Mr. Trump, we have all done things or said things that we certainly would not want the public to know about. Trump has great courses and is a great host- so I say play on!

Bishop Book! PGA Of America Threatens "Judicial Intervention"

Golf.com's Marika Washchyshyn interviews former PGA of America president Ted Bishop about his upcoming book and as you can imagine, his former organization isn't too thrilled.

From the Q&A on the same day former Bishop friend Pete Bevacqua had his CEO contract renewed through 2021, the ex-PGA president revealed more about the book and this:

I’ve had virtually no contact with the PGA of America since October 2014. I did have a brief conversation with Derek Sprague [Bishop’s successor] in November 2014 and [PGA CEO] Pete Bevacqua in February 2015. Those are the only conversations I had with people "inside" the PGA and they were not related to my book. I have had some conversations with the PGA's outside legal counsel requesting a review of my book before it was published. At one point they threatened "judicial intervention" if I didn't cooperate. I have no plans to let the PGA's outside legal counsel see the book.

Where Do Golf's Leading Bodies Stand On Trump?

Forget the question of where you stand on Donald Trump politically--even though most seem to despise the man as he racks up votes and states in the Republican presidential primary.

I'm more interested in knowing if anyone understands where the PGA Tour, USGA, PGA of America and R&A stand with the man.

After all, they joined forces to condemn him last July in a strongly-worded, unprecedented Four-Of-Five Family statement. The PGA Tour continues to signal in roundabout ways that they won't mind the Doral partnership ending this week, though much of that tension may stem from philosophic course setup differences.

Upon consuming some pre-Doral writings and a well-produced TV piece (like the one from Golf Channel hosted by Gary Williams), I'm more confused than ever as to where they all stand on the man. We've heard how he's bad, he's wrong, he's divisive, he's Mussolini, he's...we still kind of like him!

I sense Golf.com's Cameron Morfit has picked up this weird inconsistency, prompting a commentary calling on the tour to cut ties with Trump:

It was only two years ago that the PGA of America swiftly fired President Ted Bishop for calling Ian Poulter a "lil girl" on social media. Compared to Trump's bombast, Bishop's slip-up seems small, but context is everything. Golf was and is in the midst of a reckoning as it deals with declining participation; the sport needs little girls to feel welcome at their local course, not wondering why one of the sport's leaders would use "lil girl" as an insult.

And in Karen Crouse's NY Times analysis of the Trump-golf relationship, there was this from the former Carter Administration member who makes political donations (not that there's anything wrong with that!).

In January, at a tour stop outside Palm Springs., the PGA commissioner, Tim Finchem, was asked about the extent of former President Bill Clinton’s involvement with the event. The Clinton Foundation was one of the sponsors, but Clinton, a tireless promoter of the tournament in recent years, was spending time on the campaign trail with his wife, Hillary Clinton, a front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination.
“We like to think that presidential politics doesn’t affect the situation here,” Finchem said.

Perhaps with an eye toward defusing any controversy here, Finchem added that the tour and its tournaments were “apolitical” and said, “We’re going to stay that way.”

In golf's leadership world, they're still taking tournaments to his courses and passing opportunities to break free. It's as if they are afraid to say goodbye. And since Mr. Trump could be the Republican nominee and America's next president, you can't blame them for wanting a line to the White House. It's a lot sexier than a line to Mara-a-Lago.

So just admit it Mssrs. Finchem, Bevacqua, Davis and Slumbers: you don't like his comments but also fear getting on Mr. Trump's bad side. Or admit you like his courses and the markets they're in because you're all about the bottom line.

But don't condemn the man and his positions, and then continue to do business with him as he doesn't soften his more controversial stances. That inconsistency brings more shame to the game than taking a traditional stance on such a divisive figure.

Clippings: 2016 PGA Show This And That

In no particular order and by no means definitive, but a few things that caught my eye...

Orlando will have a new TopGolf across from Orange County Convention Center.

TopGolf is trying to appeal to more women through fun lesson taking environments.

GolfDigest.com's best of slideshow is up to 30 of the best and coolest from The Editors and here is their full coverage page.

Golfweek's Live Blog from the show is full of Tweets and here is their page of all coverage.

East Carolina's team golf van is a bit excessive for the Carolina league.

On the ladies clothing front, Catherine Wingate is Caitlyn Jenner’s favorite golf line. FYI.

Jay Karen of the National Golf Course Owners Association tells Gary Williams that the young golf pros are nice, but millennials need a golf course experience that is more craft beer and less Coors.

The parade of golf carts should be viewed by anyone who lives at The Villages.

Inventors were in the spotlight, says Joel Beall.

Footboys new free-style show is pretty cool and innovative looking, the G-Fore’s still look great (do they handle getting wet?) and Puma explains their new Rickie high-tops, which can also double as your footwear for an 80s costume party.

Johnny Miller was on hand to push the ZeroFriction glove and say he sees a little Johnny in Rory.

Hank Haney moves from Taylor Made to Callaway.

Callaway’s microsite for Show coverage and an interactive tour of their booth.

Under Armour has a water resistant pullover that looks pretty handy.

Forward Press: LPGA Kick-Off, PGA Show Coverage

In this week's edition I speak to LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan about the refreshingly status quo state of the LPGA Tour after years of new events, new lineups and too much sponsor turnover.

Things are so improved for the tour that its number one star is not playing the opener and no one seems to mind because Whan has arranged plenty of playing opportunities.

Also covered: the PGA Show, Farmers Insurance Open and the mysterious Singapore Open where Jordan Spieth is turning up to cash a big check and build on the fatigue that threatens to mess up his year if he isn't careful (we discussed this surprising and not-surprising revelation on Morning Drive).

I'll be curious where PGA Show coverage goes this year after years of secrecy before finally joining the modern world the last few years. In 2015, Callaway was very active online and will be again. Sirius radio will have Matt Adams on hand (with Hank Haney also doing his show from the Show floor). What remains to be seen: how much show coverage is provided by Titleist, Taylor Made and PING. I'll add links if they appear.

The full column here.