SBD: AT&T May Be Willing To Flip Headline News Or TruTV Into A Golf Network As Part Of PGA Tour Bid

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That and other nuggets appear in John Ourand’s first significant Sports Business Daily story on the upcoming PGA Tour television rights chase.

The headline grabber: WarnerMedia, a subsidiary of AT&T looking to expand its sports offerings on their HBO Max app and on its various channels, is willing to create a new golf channel.

Given that AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson is on the PGA Tour Policy Board with oversight of the next TV contract, common sense says his company would seem to have an inside track if it bids. Then again, his company has received one of the worst dates on the PGA Tour just weeks after the Masters and the week prior to the PGA Championship. Tony Romo was the major draw this year.

In recent months, AT&T has been dealing with debt-reduction as its primary focus though that appears to not be a major issue.

It was WarnerMedia that most recently was responsible for 2018’s The Match as a test case for sports gambling, synergy and golf. Reviews were mixed, with a massive pay-per-view payment disaster, live drones that didn’t work and a sense that the intersection of golf gambling and television has a ways to go.

Ourand writes of other negotiation notes:

During its initial conversations with media companies, the PGA Tour has made it clear that it wants to control its own linear TV channel. NBC execs have discussed letting the Tour take an ownership stake in the NBC-owned Golf Channel, which has carried the Tour’s cable TV rights exclusively for the past 13 years. WarnerMedia owns channels like HLN (Headline News), which has distribution in 86.3 million U.S. homes, or truTV, which is in 84.1 million homes. Those two would be the most likely channels to be flipped if the company follows through on its initial plan.

And this on the timing, which sounds as if it’s on a fast track to be decided sooner than later.

Even though two years remain on its current U.S. deals, the PGA Tour will invite media companies to deliver formal pitches in the coming weeks. The Tour already has held informal talks with the incumbent networks, as well as others like Amazon, ESPN, Fox and WarnerMedia. The Tour hopes to have a new media-rights deal in place by the end of the year.

1.8 Overnight For WGC FedEx St. Jude, 0.6 For Senior Open

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Austin Karp reports on ratings from the weekend where the good news for golf was that it led the way with a 1.8 final round rating for the WGC FedEx St. Jude. The bad news? There was nothing of note in the way of network sports programming and sponsor FedEx did not get the eyeballs their predecessor enjoyed for the premium WGC experience.

A week later last year and then the WGC Bridgestone, the 2018 event drew a 2.5 final round rating.

The Senior Open won by Bernhard Langer drew a .5 and .6 respectively on NBC.

Stunner! Sergio Continues To Conduct Himself In Unbecoming Ways

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You may recall from February how European Tour Chief Keith Pelley swept Sergio Garcia’s Saudia Arabia on-course vandalism and tantrums under the rug and felt no suspension was warranted, the bow on a terrible week for the ET.

Since then Mt. Garcia has blown a few more times, though no word on whether any of the five families have taken disciplinary action. Sadly, it may take bodily injury to occur before he’s told to take a break from the game via a suspension. Mercifully though, anyone injured by his tantrums will have ample evidence of negligence by the various tours who have not acted.

The first came at The Open:

And now this from the WGC FedEx St. Jude where most players were humbled by meeting patients at the St. Jude hospital

Thanksgiving, Christmas Beware! PGA Tour Up To 49 Events In 2019-20

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Last I checked there are 52 weeks a year so only a few more events are needed to finally go year-round with PGA Tour events, apparently working under the belief that more is more.

The new schedule does not list silly season stops at the Hero and Shark Shootout, but I believe with those added there go two more weeks away from the player/staff point of view. At some point Christmas week may be on the table!

The major headline from Monday’s release involves a rare off-week during the Olympic men’s golf, a big improvement over Rio 2016 when the John Deere Classic was contested at the same time. We discussed this positive on Morning Drive just moments after the schedule’s release.

Other elements of note:

—The Arnold Palmer Invitational retains the date prior to The Players.

—The Genesis Open leaves 93 years of “open” status to become The Genesis Invitational.

—The new Rocket Mortgage in Detroit moves to late May, creating four events between the PGA Championship and U.S. Open.

For Immediate Release:

PGA TOUR announces expanded schedule of 49 events for 2019-20 Season

Opening segment features two new events along with a return of
A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier and Houston Open to the schedule

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA – The PGA TOUR today announced an expanded 2019-20 Season schedule of 49 FedExCup tournaments, featuring a dramatically changed opening segment and several late-season adjustments to accommodate the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.

The schedule reflects a net increase of three tournaments over the current season. Eleven of the 46 Regular Season events will be conducted in the opening portion of the schedule between September-November. This segment includes two new tournaments in The ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP in Japan and the Bermuda Championship, plus the return of A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier and the Houston Open following one-year absences due to their transition from 2018 mid-season dates.

Later in the season, the TOUR will have an open week during the men’s Olympic competition (week of July 27-August 2) before resuming with the Wyndham Championship and three FedExCup Playoffs events. Several changes also have been made leading up to the Olympics, most notably: the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit moving one month earlier to late May; and the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational and Barracuda Championship shifting from late July to the first week of the month, exchanging dates with the 3M Open in Blaine, Minnesota.

“After a very successful first year with our new schedule, we are thrilled to expand the number of events to 49 while maintaining a great flow from start-to-finish, allowing our fans to better engage and follow the TOUR throughout the season,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “For the second year, we’re excited about kicking off the Season of Championships with THE PLAYERS in March, bookended by the FedExCup Playoffs in August, and the return of the Olympics in that window. As for the early-season portion of the schedule, our players grasp the importance of a strong start in the Race for the FedExCup and this has translated into growth and momentum for the events played in the fall.”

With the PGA TOUR season now ending in August at the TOUR Championship, the 2019-20 season will open the week of September 9-15 with A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier. The Sanderson Farms Championship follows with its first-ever standalone date (September 16-22), before the TOUR moves on to the Safeway Open, Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and Houston Open.

The TOUR then embarks on a three-tournament Asian swing, beginning October 14-20 with THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES at Jeju Island, Korea. The ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP debuts at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Chiba Prefecture October 21-27, followed by the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, China, the week of October 28-November 3, which also marks the debut of the Bermuda Championship at Port Royal Golf Club in Southampton.

Following a week off, the TOUR continues the 2019 segment at the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Playa del Carmen, Mexico (November 11-17) before concluding with The RSM Classic. While that marks the end of FedExCup competition until the first week of January 2020, the 13thPresidents Cup returns to The Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia the week of December 9-15. It was there that the International Team claimed its lone victory over the U.S. Team in 1998.

Once the TOUR resumes in January in Hawaii, the scheduling sequence remains unchanged from the current season until the Rocket Mortgage Classic’s move from the last week of June to May 25-31. The next four weeks remain the same before the move of the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational and Barracuda Championship to June-29-July 5 and the 3M Open to July 20-26, the week before the Olympic competition.

Following the Olympic Games, the Regular Season wraps up at the Wyndham Championship (August 3-9), where not only the FedExCup Playoffs field will be finalized, but the added drama of the season-long Wyndham Rewards Top 10 will be determined. Introduced this season, the $10 million competition caps the Regular Season by rewarding the 10 leaders in FedExCup points, with $2 million going to the winner.  

Due to the off week for the Olympics, the FedExCup Playoffs will begin one week later and conclude the final week of August: THE NORTHERN TRUST August 10-16; BMW Championship August 17-23; and the TOUR Championship August 24-30.

The FedExCup Playoffs wrap up the Season of Championships, which begins with THE PLAYERS Championship (March 9-15) and continues through the Masters Tournament (April 6-12); PGA Championship (May 11-17); U.S. Open (June 15-21); and The Open Championship (July 13-19).

Several new or familiar venues are included during this stretch, beginning with the PGA Championship visiting TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, the U.S. Open returning to Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, and The Open Championship going to Royal St. George’s Golf Club in Sandwich, England.

Additionally, THE NORTHERN TRUST will be held for the first time in the Boston market at TPC Boston in Norton, Massachusetts, while the BMW Championship will visit Olympia Fields Country Club in suburban Chicago.

Too Soon To Wonder If The New Major Season Is Too Condensed?

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That’s the question posed by Eamon Lynch for Golfweek as we are 250 days from the next major. But one thing we can all agree on: the fall schedule is anchored by a team event in December this year.

The Fall schedule ought to be more than an opportunity for journeymen to get a head start on FedEx Cup points before the stars return from vacation at Kapalua in January, but it lacks an anchor event. The Tour created this barren expanse on the calendar to protect the FedEx Cup playoffs — which is fair enough, since that’s where the bankroll is — and could remedy it by moving the Players Championship to the Fall. It won’t happen, of course. Even being the biggest event of the early wraparound season would still be seen as diminishing the Players, and ratings might suffer against the pigskin. So the highlight of our Fall will be a broadcast from Royal Melbourne in the middle of the night after all, this one the Presidents Cup.

A few have questioned this publicly and quite a few more privately for a variety of reasons. Players are not seeing the wisdom in the tighter major window and have played less around the majors. With some high profile defections at the WGC FedEx St. Jude and an even bigger no-show rate for the Wyndham Championship (you know, to help your playoff position), cracks have appeared in the new schedule concept. Namely: it’s weakening the very “product” it was meant to strengthen.

I think we need a little more time to mull the question as the only meaningful reversal will come after a new TV deal starts and the various majors have considered how the schedule plays out. The 2019-20 schedule is due out any day now and 20-21 won’t change much either.

But my initial take as a supporter of the new schedule’s tighter structure? The majors are stronger for it despite what players may legitimately think is too short of a window. The surrounding professional events on all tours have been weakened instead of strengthened as players conserve energy, and the PGA Tour Playoffs arrive too close on the heals of the majors. Given that the entire thing was built around avoiding football season and making the PGA Tour playoffs a bigger deal, the early reactions may force a re-thinking or even a scrapping of the wraparound schedule concept entirely.

Brooks Doesn't Need No (Lengthy) Warm-Up: Wins WGC St. Jude, Wraps Player Of The Year

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Rolling in just David Cobb details Koepka’s low-key arrival less than an hour before teeing off and with only a little time spent on the range. Turns out, it was only a few minutes less than his normal Sunday warm-up.

Please Brooks, don’t be mad we didn’t know this!

As Brian Wacker correctly notes here for GolfDigest.com, the POY race is now over before the Tour Championship, if it was a race, given Koepka’s play in the majors (T2-1-2-T4).



Wyndham Rewards Chase Ends A Week Early Because No One (With A Chance To Win) Is Playing The Wyndham

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We’ve heard all year about the excitement of the Wyndham Rewards chase—a $10 million bonus pool to make players add the Wyndham Championship to their schedule—but it’s all over. That’s partially the fault of winner Brooks Koepka, and also because it was not a well-conceived bonus pool.

As Rex Hoggard reports here for GolfChannel.com, only Paul Casey from the top 10 receiving the bonus money is playing this week’s Wyndham, with the rest passing up the event. The pool was added presumably to incentivize players to tee it up at the Wyndham and reward season long play. It managed the latter but doesn’t do this week’s event much good, or make that $10 million investment exactly sing.

Here’s what was promised when announced last fall:

The bonus program will provide additional drama to the Regular Season finale and also place a greater premium on full-season performance, thus elevating the significance of each tournament on the schedule.

"The Wyndham Championship plays a pivotal role in the regular season as it's the last chance players have to secure a spot in the FedExCup Playoffs," said Eliot Hamlisch, vice president and leader of the Wyndham Rewards program. "In joining with the PGA TOUR to introduce the Wyndham Rewards Top 10, we're not only elevating the significance of our own tournament, but also placing a premium on great golf all season long. What's more, as the world's most generous rewards program, we couldn't think of a more fitting way to recognize the PGA TOUR's best of the best than by saying, 'You've earned this.' "

You’ve earned it, and you don’t have to play the Wyndham to cash the check!

Tom Watson Bids Farewell To One Of The Very Best Links Careers

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James Corrigan said it would be “like Luciano Pavarotti signing off at La Scala” and Michael Bamberger called his style “primal” in a wonderful send off, but no matter how you look at it, Tom Watson signed off on an epic links career. He is in the same league as the very best links golfers of all time—Old and Young Tom, the Parks, Jones, Thomson, etc)—and enjoyed the added benefit of competing in the Senior Open Championship.

 Bamberger wrote:

This is all a round-about way of saying that this farewell from Watson is significant, because here you have a golfer who played a sort of primal golf in ways nobody else ever did, including everybody.

Watson did not issue a press release announcing his goodbye or anything like that. He just answered a question from Lewis with characteristic candor.

In explaining his decision to call it a day on the two of the most prized senior events, Watson said, “The why is pretty simple, I can’t compete against these guys anymore. I don’t hit the ball far enough, and when you can’t compete, there’s no sense. I’m a realist. I understand how to play the game. And I just don’t have enough tools in the tool box to compete against these guys out here.”

Some nice social posts of the farewell 73 at Royal Lytham and St Annes:

 
 

State Of The Game Episode 97: Wrapping Up The Open At Portrush

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We’re back with a wrap-up chat on The Open at Royal Portrush, plus all of the other golf news that’s fit to gab about. Drinking game warning: “skill” counts going forward. Cheers!

The iTunes show link.

And of course State of The Game is posted wherever fine pods can be enjoyed.

Honma's Mark King Leaves Honma For Taco Bell

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Erica Newburger of CNBC reports on Mark King taking the job as Taco Bell CEO, but oddly does not mention his current gig as leader of Honma’s North American operation. Instead, the focus was on his time at Adidas and Taylor Made.

Assuming you consider this a promotion, as many would, it’s rare for a golf executive to move up in the corporate world.

I’m not sure what else it says given the world of boards, headhunters and “C-level” hires, but there is one less prominent voice in the manufacturing community to join the distance debate likely to occur this fall. King had a range of views on bifurcation over the years and as I noted when he was named an advisor to Honma, a poor track record in the later years of his Taylor Made run.

He will be replaced by John Kawaja, reports Jonathan Wall:


PGA Tour Enlists DraftKings For Daily Fantasy Gaming Help

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After years of pretty uninspired efforts to jumpstart fantasy league play, the PGA Tour has wisely joined forces with the real pros at this business, DraftKings. Looks like a very smart move if they can pry loose more than a dozen balls or some old headcovers for prizes.

For Immediate Release and now is time to take the “engagement” over/under? It’s 3:

DraftKings named “Official Daily Fantasy Game” of the PGA TOUR

“PGA TOUR DraftKings Fantasy Golf” becomes TOUR’s first daily fantasy sports partner 

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA, AND BOSTON – The PGA TOUR and DraftKings Inc. announced a new multi-year content and marketing relationship today that designates DraftKings as the first-ever “Official Daily Fantasy Game of the PGA TOUR.” 

“We are excited to partner with DraftKings, an industry leader in innovation and fan engagement, in this groundbreaking step for the PGA TOUR,” said Luis Goicouria, PGA TOUR Senior Vice President Media. “The partnership with DraftKings provides the TOUR with a unique opportunity to innovate in a new industry and to further engage our fans.”

DraftKings will activate the partnership by branding its daily fantasy golf contests as “PGA TOUR DraftKings Fantasy Golf.”

Nice, an activation and a branding in the same sentence.

By playing these contests, fans will have the opportunity to win cash prizes as well as an array of PGA TOUR prizes in the future. The offerings include Classic contests where fans choose six players each week on the PGA TOUR for their fantasy team all while staying under the designated salary cap.

Does this mean PGA Tour pros and their agents will be complaining to Tour headquarters when they perceive a slight when the designated salary suggests they are, uh, a great value?

Showdown contests are also available, which requires players to compile a team of six while staying under the designated salary cap for a single round of a tournament. Players have the option to compete with other PGA TOUR fans or in private, fully customizable contests with friends and colleagues.

As part of the new relationship, PGA TOUR DraftKings Fantasy Golf players will have the ability to receive real-time video highlights for players in their respective lineups. Other elements of this partnership will create expanded Draft Fantasy Sports specific content offerings, as well as allow for brand integration into both the PGA TOUR and DraftKings platforms. Lastly, the PGA TOUR and DraftKings will collaborate on a variety of real-time product enhancements via the PGA TOUR’s proprietary ShotLink powered by CDW data feed. 

“Golf continues to grow in popularity among DFS players globally at DraftKings and is our fourth-largest sport in terms of engagement, out of 15 total offerings.” said Ezra Kucharz, chief business officer of DraftKings. “Our partnership with the PGA TOUR signals a mutual commitment to excellence in customer experience along with a new era in golf fandom and engagement.”

The 21st Century's K Club? 2026 Ryder Cup To Adare Manor

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Apparently we’re far enough removed from the K Club Ryder Cup to have forgotten the lessons of that forgettable experience to award JP McManus and Adare Manor the 2026 event.

Harry McGee reports for the Irish Times on Thursday’s announcement plans.

I understand that cold, hard cash is all that matters in European Tour Ryder Cup venue selection. Especially these days. But this still doesn’t mean we have to be excited by yet another inland, American-style course hosting in Europe. Just one links or mildly historic/interesting venue in this lifetime would be nice. Just one!

Players Offering Thoughts On Testing For Juiced Drivers

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As I noted for Golfweek, Xander Schauffele going public with his failed driver test at The Open, and then stirring up a debate about hot drivers, has kept the incident in the news and led to some interesting comments from top players.

Jason Munz reports on player thoughts as they tee it up in Memphis this week, and while some inexplicably display life in the bubble by praising Schauffele for taking on the R&A—even after being caught playing an illegal club that was used in competition since January—there are some who don’t take this quite so lightly.

Justin Thomas says it’s on the makers to not let this happen:

“I think that’s on the manufacturers to make sure that (the clubs) are tested and that they are conforming,” he said. “Because that’s not fair to the rest of the field if guys are using some and some aren’t. We don’t have those tests just sitting in our living room (where) we can do them when we get home.”

While that is ideal, ultimately random testing is a better way to prevent a rogue player or clubmaker from skirting the rules.

Meanwhile Bryson DeChambeau tells Golf.com’s Jonathan Wall that the winner or top 5 should be tested every week and if they fail, can keep the win but take a hit elsewhere:

“If you did play a driver that was illegal, you take some FedEx Cup points away,” said DeChambeau, who has five Tour wins. “So you make your money and win, that’s great, but you lose half the points you made. It’s not like you should have the trophy taken away. That’s one way to deal with it. You putted well, you chipped well. But I think there needs to be some repercussions from using something that’s not under the conformance rules. If they want to challenge the ruling, they can go do some tests to see if it was truly over.”

Looks Like Shane Lowry Did The Right Thing Passing On Memphis In Favor Of A Homecoming Celebration

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Look at that crowd in Clara! Grandma and the Jug met on stage, too…