New PGA Tour Schedule: The Good, Bad And Hard To Quantify

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There were plenty of fascinating surprises and a few bold moves made the PGA Tour in revamping it schedule.

In this quick-take for Golfweek, I cover some of the questions, positives and negatives of the new 2018-19 PGA Tour schedule, the first with a May PGA Championship. Mostly, I'm struck by the idea of vacating Labor Day weekend.

To expand on what I wrote for Golfweek, I'll certainly defer to the TV Execs, Tour VP's and numbers crunchers who probably can make the case that football fans have already fled by Labor Day. And as I noted for Golfweek, Atlanta is a circus that weekend. But as a sports fan, Monday of Labor Day has been fairly uneventful, and the PGA Tour's FedExCup concluding on that day seemed like a fantastic way of saying, "that's all folks!"

Which is why in today's Alternate Shot with Matt Adams (who has a nice list of issues with the schedule), I suggest that my hope is a change in time that has golf reclaiming that weekend and finishing on that Monday.

Rex Hoggard talks to Jay Monahan about what drove the changes but sees traffic congestion issues in the new schedule before playoff time.

If that all sounds clean and easy, consider that the run up to the post-season will now feature a major (The Open), a World Golf Championship (Memphis) and the Wyndham Championship. Including the three playoff stops, that’s five must-play events in a six-week window.

He notes a similar congestion problem in the Masters lead up, with the Honda Classic and Arnold Palmer Invitational very much in danger of losing top players with two WGC's events. Is this a bad time to mention (again) how I think WGC events are really doing no one any good?

Joel Beall has seven takeaways, but he sees Valspar taking the biggest hit in Florida and he may be right. But don't underestimate the player enjoyment of Innisbrook and the growing disdain for PGA National and Bay Hill hurting those two. He also makes a strong case for continued struggles mid-summer for new stops trying to lure players as they either break between the U.S. Open and The Open, or play European events.

Andy Pazdur joined Morning Drive to discuss the PGA Tour's approach:

We've Established That Pay Per View May Not Work For Tiger V. Phil...

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However, you know the M's love their subscriptions!

Say, how the auto manufacturers are taking car leases, losing the down payment into the monthly cost, and calling them...subscriptions. Ding! Millennial joy!

With nearly 70% of you saying no to paying for the proposed Tiger v. Phil match revealed by Alan Shipnuck and without any other known details (such as follow-up competitions as part of the package or a format that promotes presses), the organizers will face an uphill battle getting golf fans to pony up. Then again, 22% said you'd pay between $1 and $50.

So perhaps as part of a subscription, or incentive to subscribe to an app this match could make sense?

There are certainly plenty of entities out there right now who would love to include Tiger v. Phil as their entry into sports. And perhaps throw in future undercards of Shell's type matches. 

We discussed the poll (thanks again for voting) on Morning Drive:

Instagram: Jimmy Buffett Turns Up At Chicago GC, Rickie Hits North Berwick, Varner Mows Lawns Too, Tommy Morrissey Almost Makes An Ace

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The singer was spotted at Chicago Golf Club for day one of U.S. Senior Women's Open practice.

Rickie Fowler teed up at North Berwick, finished just barely in bounds at 18 and is using a push cart as he prepares to defend his 2015 Scottish Open at nearby Gullane.

After contending at the Greenbrier Classic, Harold Varner kept his word and cut mom and dad's lawn.

The inspiration that is Tommy Morrissey continues to attack the game with vigor and nearly made an ace at Pinehurst's Cradle.

Gearing Up For Carnoustie: Tommy Armour Wins In 1931, And There Is Film To Prove It!

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They didn't call him the Silver Scot for nothing, as Tommy Armour looks as eloquent as we've always been told in winning Carnoustie's first Open Championship.

Or, gulp, as the gentleman presenting the Claret Jug dares to call it, the British Open. In Scotland!

The final leaderboard, where Armour outlasted Argentina's Jose Jurado, and a write up can be viewed here.

The highlights with audio, including Armour's use of the word "domiciled":

Tommy Armour pierces the field at Carnoustie. Keep in touch with us! Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/The-Open-Championship/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/TheOpen Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theopen/

The Pathe version without sound includes some different footage, including a monster flagstick screen captured above.

Full title reads: "Carnoustie. Open Golf Championship. Tommy Armour - Edinburgh born - takes championship to America for eight consecutive time." Carnoustie, Scotland. Prince Edward, Prince of Wales (Later King Edward VIII, Duke of Windsor) arrives on the tee to start the British Open Golf Championship.

ShackHouse 69: Tiger vs. Phil, the Scottish Open, and Matt Ryan

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This week we break down Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson potentially facing off for $10 million (02:42) and preview the Scottish Open (22:27) before Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan joins us to talk about his experience growing up with golf (41:32).

As always we're brought to you by Callaway and this week our friends at Helix with a fantastic coupon code, so listen close!

 

 

"There is no deterrent if a player knows his (or her) Tour lacks either the process or stomach to expose them."

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Great line from Eamon Lynch in his Golfweek column zeroing in on PGA Tour cheating, of which there is very little. Nonetheless, with an incident like last week's Sung Kang drop location refuted by his playing partner Joel Dahmen, not addressing such situations publicly gives the impression of rules enforcement complacency. 

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan took a positive step in making public drug test violations. He ought to put in place a similarly transparent process to address credible accusations of cheating. The number of deceitful players is small, but there is no deterrent if a player knows his (or her) Tour lacks either the process or stomach to expose them.

It’s inevitable the Tour’s standing will be impacted if a player is found to have cheated. What is avoidable, however, is tarnishing the hard-earned reputation of the 99 percent with a perception that rogues are shielded from the reckoning they deserve. 

Look no further than slow player as example A when nothing is done. 

Phil Most Definitely Did Not Call A Penalty On Himself

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Just weeks after his U.S. Open breach of etiquette and subsequent claim to have used the rules to his advantage, Phil Mickelson breached the same rules he purported to know so well during Sunday's the Greenbrier Classic.

The violation, which I'm pretty sure 99.9% of PGA Tour pros know is a no-no:

The conversation with official Robby Ware:

It's fascinating to see the PGA Tour on all of its social media accounts billing this as a player calling a penalty on himself. It's an unusually desperate and ignorant position to take from the land of #LiveUnderPar (well except in this case). 

To review: Mickelson asked a question sensing he might have violated the rules and likely anticipated someone spotting the violation on the PGA Tour Live telecast. He got the explanation from Robby Ware and was subsequently penalized after Ware double checked, out of kindness.

So please, whether this "called a penalty on himself" nonsense is born out of ignorance or just a marketing effort to show that living under par means calling penalties on oneself, do not lump this incident with the many folks who have called penalties that no one else could see or possibly have known about. Especially since many of those incidents, which we rightly hold up  for being incredible displays of integrity, happened because the player could not live with themselves thinking they had violated the rules.

Phil's case was a simple act of ignorance. He would have been assessed a penalty after a those monitoring the telecast would have passed the word along of his silly-stupid move.  

Unless, of course, no one was watching PGA Tour Live. A very real possibility. 

Weekend Trophy Wrap-Up: Na Wins Greenbrier, Sei Young Kim Posts New Record 31-Under, Knox Takes The Irish, Ledesma The LECOM And USA The Palmer Cup

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Kevin Na won the Military Salute At The Greenbrier Classic and with it, the classiest, biggest plasticware or hookah I've ever seen.

🏆😃

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Sei Young Kim shatters the LPGA's scoring record by four with a nine shot win at the Thornberry Classic. Instead of showing you the trophy selfie, check out this great shot with her scorer and standard bearer:

Russell Knox took the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open in a sudden death playoff and is magically Scottish again in a Ryder Cup year.

Champ 😀🏆 #DDFIrishOpen #RolexSeries

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Nelson Ledesma won the LECOM Health Challenge and with it the most attractive bulletin board in golf.

The USA men and women won the Palmer Cup at Evian, France where, for a change, it was not raining.

2018 Arnold Palmer Cup Champions #TeamUSA #APCup #Rolex

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Instagram: Lee (Generously) Rids Himself Of A Putter, Royal Box Visit For Golfers At Wimbledon, Kelley Turns To Darts

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I'm not sure why my pros don't do this when a putter has misbehaved for the final time. Nice work Danny Lee...

Matt Kuchar, Tommy Fleetwood and Sergio Garcia at the Royal Box, Wimbledon 2018.

Joshua Kelley with the ultimate don't-try-this-at-home trick shot.

Poll: What Would You Pay To View A Woods-Mickelson Match For $10 Million?

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Alan Shipnuck reveals for Golf.com that Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have been plotting a $10 million, winner-takes-all (right!) match with major sponsors and television. It sounds like the concept is a burgeoning franchise in the vein of All-Star Golf and Challenge Golf matches from the past (Google it precious generation).

An initial match in Las Vegas — Shadow Creek is the likely venue — is just the beginning of their shared vision.  Mickelson says he and Woods hope to play a couple exhibitions a year, around the world. Sometimes they could partner up — depending on how the Ryder Cup goes, it's easy to envision Tiger and Phil taking on two top Europeans (a match with Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter as the opposition could be particularly juicy). Woods and Mickelson are both shrewd businessmen, and they are trying to set up this new venture so they essentially own the matches and thus will get a chunk of the TV revenue, merchandising, and sponsorship dough.

That sounds like a pay-per-view model to me.

The value has decreased a bit with the whole kumbaya, bonding-over-hating-Tom-Watson, cart-driving mania. But, maybe the lovebirds can create some dramatic tension with the winner-takes-all approach even if we don't really believe it.

Tiger could bring his tailer to the first tell to help Phil get a better-fitting Mizzen & Main shirt.

Phil could replace brother Tim with Stevie Williams.

Anyway, we have time to work on theatrics.

So...assuming this is a pay-per-view model, what would you pay?

How much would you pay to watch a Phil v. Tiger winner-takes-all $10 million match?
 
pollcode.com free polls

Weekend Instagram (Links) Wrap: Carnoustie Baking, So Is Gullane, Ballyliffin Impressing And The Postage Stamp A Long Time Ago

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Open Championship host Carnoustie is looking plenty crispy less than two weeks from The Open's 2018 start.

❤❤❤ • • • 📸: @craigboath9

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Not to be outdone, Gullane is plenty firm and fast, too.

This scene at Ballyliffin, while not the normal links vibe with its pond, captures some of the beautiful scenes sent around the world. Eric Van Rooyen leads the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open by four, with Danny Willett and Lee Westwood lurking within range of long overdue top finishes. Host Rory McIlroy sits 13 back. 

Irish scenes 🇮🇪🖼 #DDFIrishOpen #RolexSeries

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And a vintage shot of the Postage Stamp put out by Royal Troon...

Rules Of Golf Double Standard? USGA Says Bryson's Compass Use Violates Rule 14-3

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In reading the USGA statement on Bryson DeChambeau's use of a compass, it's easy to see how they determined it to not be a "usual piece of equipment," just as the Rules forbid. (Rex Hoggard had the statement here first, and here is Golfweek's Kevin Casey with a roundup of the back and forth over Bryson and his compass, including the full statement and rule reading. 

The compass and protractor work Bryson was doing certainly could be seen as fitting this description:

Except as provided in the Rules, during a stipulated round the player must not use any artificial device or unusual equipment, or use any equipment in an abnormal manner:

a. That might assist him in making a stroke or in his play; or

b. For the purpose of gauging or measuring distance or conditions that might affect his play; 

One reason the compass and protractor yardage checking might not be a usual device? Most golfers, caddies and others would not know what to do with them! 

Also fitting the Rules description for unusual devices assisting play would be yardage books with gradients shot by rangefinders that disallowed in competition, and of course, green reading books which are now a usual piece of equipment because they were not immediately deemed unusual soon enough.

The same green reading books where he was using his protractor to double check a hole location!

Do these inconsistencies undermine the credibility of golf's Rules? How can they not? 

Australian Open Returning To The Sandbelt! Kingston Heath In 2020 And Victoria In 2022

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Two of the most architecturally dynamic courses imaginable will again host the Australian Open, which has been locked into an 8-year contract to be played in Sydney. But according to this Golf Australia report, the majestic Sandbelt will host in two release years at courses most recently known for hosting the Australian Masters.

But it's the Australian Open that ultimately is the marquee event and the news is outstanding:

GA chief executive Stephen Pitt was grateful to all clubs for their enthusiasm in the bidding process, but was delighted to announce that Kingston Heath Golf Club would play host in 2020 and then Victoria Golf Club in 2022.

“We were extremely impressed with the level of interest in hosting our men's national championship from so many clubs in the Sandbelt,” Pitt said.

Tiger Effect: Quicken Loans Ratings Up Big, All But One PGA Tour Event He's Played Showing Big Gains

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Paulsen at Sports Media Watch has a nice breakdown and chart following a strong 2.3 final round rating for the Quicken Loans National. That's up 92% over last year and 28% from 2016. The third round was up 143% and lead-in coverage on Golf Channel was up 147% Sunday, 129% Saturday. 

“The Tiger Effect” has consistently boosted PGA Tour ratings all season. Woods has played 20 rounds on broadcast television this season and all-but-one has posted an increase in ratings and viewership. The lone exception was the final round of the Memorial, which aired mostly on tape-delay.