Awkward Alert: Romo Opens Strong In Napa; A Made Cut Will Interrupt His CBS Work Sunday

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In a contract year with CBS and rebelliously teeing it up during all-important NFL regular season, former Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo opened the Safeway Open with a 70, his best PGA Tour round by far.

The possibility of a made cut has him potentially playing the weekend and missing his Vikings-Bears NFL assignment with Jim Nantz.

According to the New York Post, Boomer Esiason is slated to replace Romo.

While this is an awkward situation for CBS given Romo’s popularity as a broadcaster and his obvious passion to play golf over watch film of the Bears, imagine how the 74 PGA Tour pros who were beat by Romo feel? Granted, the field includes a few retreads and folks you didn’t know have tour status, but Romo’s T28 position has him well ahead of several major winners.

From Adam Schupak’s Golfweek report in Napa:

That would prevent him from doing his day job commentating for CBS Sports on the Chicago Bears-Minnesota Vikings game on Sunday.

“It’s a good problem to have,” Romo said with a smile.

Romo is playing this week as the lone amateur in the 144-man field, and had players buzzing about his round.

“It’s bloody impressive,” said Adam Scott, who held a share of the lead after shooting 65. “I ain’t ever going to throw a pass in the NFL, that’s for sure, so I think it’s unbelievable that he can do that.”

Romo tees off at 1:25 Pacific, putting him in a good portion of Golf Channel’s broadcast window.

Endeavor: IMG Owners Scrap Planned IPO

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While IMG has a different presence in golf than in years past when they were known primarily for representing players, Mark McCormick’s brainchild remains a major player in tournament operations, licensing and consulting.

Purchased in 2014 by WME, the conglomerate scrapped its IPO at the last minute. The impact on golf is not clear, though a possible change in direction for the operation now known as Endeavor could lead to big changes.

From Ryan Faughnder and Stacy Perman in the LA Times on Endeavor leader Ari Emmanuel:

Emanuel built his reputation and that of Endeavor on a series of bold, risky moves and unexpected acquisitions, including Professional Bull Riders. The IPO slated for Friday was his biggest gamble to date, intended to catapult Endeavor into a global juggernaut, one that would shape the future of media and entertainment. Now that is all on hold and Emanuel is going to have to define a new future for the company.

SBJ: Pitchtime In Ponte Vedra For Network Executives

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Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand reports in great detail that some network heavyweights are descending on Ponte Vedra Beach to make initial PGA Tour, Champions, Tour, Korn Ferry Tour and LPGA Tour media rights pitches.

Ourand lays out the schedule to include sessions with Warnermedia chairman Jeff Zucker and Turner Sports head Lenny Daniels, CBS’s Sean McManus and David Berson, ESPN’s Jimmy Pitaro and Burke Magnus (EVP programming), Eric Shanks and president Mark Silverman from Fox Sports, Amazon’s Marie Donoghue and Jim DeLorenzo, with NBC Sports Group President Pete Bevacqua and Golf Channel President Mike McCarley helming Comcast’s effort.

With the NFL’s timing in limbo, Ourand notes the PGA Tour’s desire to wrap things up by year’s end comes with risk.

The tour is coming to market after a year that saw weekend television viewership (excluding the majors) drop considerably. NBC’s weekend coverage was down 18% this season; CBS’s was down 10%.

The looming NFL rights negotiation also could have an effect on these negotiations. All the networks are prepared to pay a lot more to keep the NFL when its rights come up in 2021 and 2022. The risk is that the prospect of those rights could keep networks from committing as much money as the PGA Tour is hoping for.

(The Athletic’s Daniel Kaplan filed an update on the NFL’s proposed plans which now focus on a 17-game schedule and other elements that might take their schedule into late February if the season begins in the traditional post-Labor Day period, including an extra playoff game and an added bye week.)

Ourand says the number of bidders is working in the PGA Tour’s favor in spite of a ratings drop.

AT&T has told tour officials that it has looked into flipping one of its existing channels (Headline News or truTV) into a golf channel that would pick up the rights that currently are on Golf Channel. It’s likely that AT&T would offer the PGA Tour a stake in that channel.

ESPN is expected to make an aggressive pitch centered on streaming rights for its ESPN+ platform. CBS has carried PGA Tour rights since 1970 and wants to maintain that relationship. Finally, NBC has built a healthy business around PGA Tour rights, like Golf Channel and GolfNow, and is expected to be aggressive in trying to keep them.

Notably absent from the meetings: Discovery and its GOLFTV Powered by the PGA Tour, aka golf Netflix.

Justin Timberlake: "I hit the ball with an old ass club and it was chill."

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Add Justin Timberlake to the list of hickory converts or technophobic anti-capitalists, depending on your world view.

Neat moment in the Dunhill Links practice round posted by the entertainer:


Jack Nicklaus To Renovate His Muirfield Village Design (Again)

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Tim Rosaforte reports on Jack Nicklaus announcing to the Muirfield Village members a planned greens redo, not the first for his co-design with Desmond Muirhead.

Most noteworthy may be the efforts to lengthen the 11th and 15th holes, two splendid back nine par-5s he’s been unwilling to stretch out. Does Nicklaus believe regulatory help is not coming and this is why he did so, or is he believing that even with some sort of change in equipment rules, the tees are still needed?

Flashback: Love For And Resistance To The European Tour's Seve Logo That Never Was

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With the excitement already cratering from the European Tour’s brand refresh, I went back into the archives after Seve’s passing and was reminded how aggressively players and fans attempted to initiate a change. Stories about player support for the idea were written in places as varied as PGA.com and the Wall Street Journal.

Then Chief Executive George O’Grady had to issue a statement and Seve’s children had concerns about the use of his likeness. That killed the issue.

Padraig Harrington advocated for it and even Monty…MONTY loved the idea!

"I think you will find it does change and let's hope it is sooner rather than later," said Montgomerie. "I would vote for that immediately. When you talk about the European Tour you talk about Seve, and I think it's only right he should appear on our logo."

So there you have it. A bummer.

Costco's Latest Foray Into The Golf Business Fizzles Fast

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MyGolfSpy made Costco’s original “K-Sig” ball a hit, insanity then ensued, lawsuits even happened and the new ball briefly put a dent in Titleist’s business until it became apparent Costco was selling a one-off run of Taylor Mades.

Now MyGolfSpy has exposed the latest version of Costco’s inexpensive ball as, uh, not up to snuff. Or being struck by modern equipment.

Costco is now refunding customers based on the MyGolfSpy testing. The Tweets and link to their latest pod discussing their findings.

Dunhill Links Trots Out Stellar Field But Will Slow Play Keep The Scots Away?

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Rarely have I seen anyone project a tournament struggling to attract fans due to slow play, but as Martin Dempster writes for The Scotsman, this week’s Dunhill Links at St. Andrews-Kingsbarns-Carnoustie features a strong field, some A-list celebrities and players happy to be there (like Rory McIlroy teaming with his dad).

Still, as Dempster notes, the tournament can lack in Scottish support due to dodgy weather and 6-hour rounds.

Put it this way, more non-golfers are likely to take in this event, especially when they can take advantage of a free admission offer on the first three days, than have attended any other golf tournament held so far this year in Scotland and the game can surely only gain from that.

The Irish would be all over an event like the Dunhill Links like a rash and Scottish golf fans should certainly be giving this week’s event the support it deserves.

Playing the Irish card! Bold. But maybe helpful.

Still, it’s fascinating to see the length of the day possibly factoring into decisions about whether to attend even when admission is free. That’s a big deal if the Scots are ahead of the curve when it comes to attendance and pace of play.

European Tour "Brand Refresh" Includes Yet Another Unnecessary Slogan

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The PGA Tour Lives Under Par and no one knows what that means, still. The LPGA is going to Drive On and probably just keep pumping out Nike ads, circa 2002, and now the European Tour brass undoubtedly survived many meetings to unveil “Driving Golf Further” as part of a brand “refresh”.

That replenishment includes a wildly uninspired logo but another crack at updating the website that has already undergone a relaunch so unsuccessful, it was scrapped and we were returned to the old, gasp, mobile unfriendly site. The new “beta” site (what a concept!) is live and looks infinitely improved over the last relaunch effort.

As for the “Driving Golf Further” slogan, Chief Executive Keith Pelley once again matched his glasses with the backdrop to perfection. And here is the full explanation of the new scheme.

The European Tour has launched a creative new brand strategy, with the aim of broadening the Tour’s appeal to new and existing fans and commercial partners.

Golf’s global tour has unveiled its new identity, which includes a modern, fresh logo alongside a new website and App, all underpinned by the Tour’s guiding principles of Innovation, Inclusivity and Globality.

Saudi Arabia, here we come!

BTW, why Globality is capitalized, I have no idea.

The brand refresh focuses on ‘Driving Golf Further’, the strapline which features underneath the new logo, as the Tour seeks to build on its strong, established reputation for award-winning content, innovative tournament formats and immersive technology.

I see.

The European Tour’s new identity was unveiled at the Tour’s recently refurbished, state-of-the-art headquarters during the BMW PGA Championship, the fourth event in the Tour’s Rolex Series – an alliance of its eight premium events. It will be rolled out on October 1, coinciding with the launch of the Tour’s revamped website and App.

Designed to stand out from the rest of the busy golfing category whilst retaining its golf context, the bold, simple aesthetic is modern and flexible, suitable to be used across all platforms. It comprises a suite of assets, with a new logo, avatar and a range of graphic devices.

Or it’s just very boring, to put it another way.

Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of the European Tour, said: “It is an exciting time for us to unveil our new brand strategy. While we continue to celebrate our traditions and our core audience, the Tour has a strong desire to innovate and broaden the appeal of our sport.”

Max Hamilton, Head of Commercial Partnerships said, “Golf remains the sport of business, with 90% of CEOs playing our sport, however we believe golf has to modernise and appeal to everyone to thrive. We hope our bold new creative and brand strategy will attract new partners who align with our new brand ideals.”

Yes, the new logo and Globality of it all will make the difference.

But here’s the good news: they used further instead of farther. So at least the European Tour stayed out of teh distance debate with their new slogan.

European Tour's Crackdown On Slow Play Gets Off To A Slow Start

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At least in Matthew Fitzpatrick’s eyes, after having his and ever other player’s bag bugged for electronic time posting, only to still take too long.

The four-point plan debuted this week at the BMW PGA and despite some nice additions to the list of slow play remedies, we know the players aren’t always to blame. Even with the overrated field size reduction to 132, there is the pesky matter of modern distances on any course under 8,000 yards. That means waits, more waits and almost no chance of getting around in the time par of 4:30 or so.

His Tweets:

asfd

"Somewhere in the last three years, we’ve crossed the transom from being a sports industry to being a media industry"

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As part of their “Sports Visionaries” series, the New York Times’ Ken Belson talked to sports psychologist Rich Luker about the world of sports and his polling company that works with “professional sports leagues and teams.”

He’s not wild about what he’s seeing in sports as leagues, teams and individuals soak up the numbers while distancing themselves from the core tenets of their “product”.

First off, this…

I do all I can to encourage sports to continue to be sports in the same way classic rock is classic rock. It was something that was part of the definition of the times, and it stood the test of time regardless of how things have changed. Sports in America, particularly the traditional sports, should be the same. Be the classic sports and provide the social context that is being lost on the internet.

Yeah, but Jack Nicklaus didn’t live under par dude! Sorry, go on to the really good stuff that may ring a bell, or not…

The people who run the sports are business people. They love their sports. But they are looking at what’s going on and see people developing new technologies that surpassed things in their own sports, so the logical temptation is instead of trying to beat them to join them.

If they dedicated 5 percent of their time, energy, effort and resources to the heart of their games, as well as doing the technology, they’d be just fine. My fear is that somewhere in the last three years, we’ve crossed the transom from being a sports industry to being a media industry. They are focusing more on the technology and the media than the sport itself.

But chicks dig the long ball, so we’re told without any actual spike in audience numbers to prove it.

What obstacles do you face in your field?

It’s something every social scientist faces. Some people are in research in sports who are only collecting behaviors and they do that using machines — Nielsen boxes and clicks on web pages and so on. There’s no interaction with human beings, they’re only collecting outcomes without knowing why. The biggest obstacle we face is that the research I do has always been about why you do what you do, it’s never been just what you do. It’s about understanding the motivations and your fulfillment and what detracts from your fulfillment.

If only Dr. Luker could get his hands on golf executives…

Putting The (Miniscule) New Skins Game Purse Into Perspective

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Just a few weeks ago, the FedExCup’s $15 million first prize reached a level of excess that appeared to not resonate with fans as expected.

The original Skins Game, a really important event for many years as a the dreaded “grow the game” staple, but also simply as good entertainment. Don’t forget, in the 1984 Skins, Jack Nicklaus made a putt for $240,000 and threw his putter to the sky.

“Even old unemotional Jack got excited,” a smiling Nicklaus said. “I threw my putter high in the air because . . . well, it was exciting.”

While purse strength is rarely of interest to fans, dollar figures are vital in Skins because the amounts can add up. That builds tension and the entire point of Skins is to have carry overs and big putts for big dollars. The format also ends up having players take different rooting interests in the name of friendly competition.

In other words, Skins is dependent on a purse that gets the attention of players. This is no easy task in today’s game and likely why the annual Thanksgiving weekend event stopped attracting top stars.

So it was a little strange to read that the first real stab at Skins from “GolfTV Powered By The PGA Tour” will feature a lower purse than the 1983 Skins Game. Given that the “golf Netflix” international streaming channel has committed to a multi-billion investment in distributing the PGA Tour internationally, the Tiger-Rory-Jason-Hideki launch event is their first high profile property in eight countries. Playing for $350,000 over 18 holes is modest, at best. With the last hole worth $100,000, that leaves only $10,000 per hole for the first six.

A $360,000 purse—the first Skins bankroll-is just under $1 million in 2019 dollars.

Not surprisingly, the paltry purse went unmentioned in GOLFTV Powered By The PGA Tour’s press release and was only reported on by AP’s Doug Ferguson.

FYI, last place at this year’s Tour Championship was $395,000.

Furthermore, the head man at Discovery, purveyor of GOLFTV Powered By The PGA Tour, enjoyed a compensation package valued at $129.4 million in 2017. That means David Zaslav made more per-day in 2018 than the four players will compete for in this new Skins.

Zaslav’s 2017 compensation totaled $42.4 million in cash and stock options, meaning his pay every three days is the same amount as GOLFTV Powered By The PGA Tour’s initial Skins Game purse.

Tiger is there as part of his GOLFTV Powered By The PGA Tour deal. The other players are undoubtedly earning some nice appearance money, but GOLFTV Powered by the PGA Tour will not be televising movement of that money from their coffers to the players. Nor do we tune in to watch a wire transfer.

When it’s a Skins Game, we want to see them facing putts that prompt putter tosses and excitement.

Rory: If Tennis Can Hand Out Penalties For Slow Play, So Can Golf

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The Rory McIlroy news from Wentworth has, so far, been mixed: he’s retaining his European Tour card after some negotiation with Chief Executive Keith Pelley (good), he opened the BMW PGA with a 76 (bad).

But as Rex Hoggard reports for GolfChannel.com, his comments on slow play add to the list of strong remarks by top players advocating penalty strokes for slow pokes. While that may not seem earth-shattering, the recent shift of players advocating penalty strokes is a change from years of players protecting slow pokes and muttering nonsense about field size.

The U.S. Open’s recent penalty of a lost point after a third violation by Rafa Nadal, got McIlroy’s attention:

Like many Tour players, McIlroy sees a reluctance to penalize players in high-profile situations and used last month’s U.S. Open in tennis and Rafael Nadal’s timing violation during a match as an example of what golf needs to embrace.

“Rafa got a time clock violation on a really big serve like at the end of the final of the U.S. Open, so if they can do it then, there's no reason why we can't do it in our tournaments, either,” McIlroy said. “It's just a matter of enforcing it and being consistent with it.”

Flashback: Remember When "Flogton" Was A Thing To Save The Game?

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Actually, I forgot about this doozy of a grow-the-game program, too.

Al was hatched in high-profile fashion eight years ago when former CEO Scott McNealy and friends appeared at the PGA Show, followed by a media tour to promote this game savior—including a lively episode of Talkin’ Golf with Rod Morri and yours truly debating McNealy.

I’d blissfully forgotten about this grow-the-game initiative until seeing it mentioned in this Golfweek item on McNealy hosting a President Trump fundraiser.

The group behind Flogton (Notgolf backwards) wanted to sell you non-conforming equipment to make the game more accessible. They believed excessive regulation by the USGA was stifling growth.

Some of their ideas sound incredibly absurd just eight years later and in a world more open-minded to distance regulation:

Probably the best aid right now is a low-friction face, created by either lubricating the face of the club and ball or by applying a stick-on face to the driver. By simply reducing the face/ball friction, you can reduce slices and hooks by over 50 percent.

Ah, a lubricant. Why didn’t I think of that?

Flogton has test wedges that increase spin 100 percent, just by improving the grooves and adding friction-inducing surfaces. With new, soft-but-durable-skin balls, we believe we can give “the rest of us” the ability to stop a well-hit ball on the green just like the pros.

The entire push faded fast. Which should be an important reminder for the governing bodies this fall when issuing their distance report: golfers want to play a version of the game in line with the traditional golf as we know it. The majority value rules to protect a reward for skill.

Flogton failed because the founders were attempting to profit off the game and blow a hole in the rules for a buck. Golfers, or aspiring ones, were not attracted to a dumbed-down, Al Czervik-friendly version of the sport.

It’s heartening to know something so short-sighted was a failure. It’s even more heartening that just eight years later, the array of “solutions” praised at the time no longer seem welcome now that so many more realize the game’s issues have more to do with time and cost than with ease of play.

So where is McNealy’s in 2019?

When you want to read about flogton from the AltGolf.org site it has vanished. Even the domain is now available, however, given the rise of the Alt Right, here’s guessing no one is in a hurry to claim this URL:

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GOLFTV's Tiger-Rory-Jason-Hideki Skins Game Is On, Golf Channel To Air In U.S.

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Originally mentioned as part of Tiger’s exclusive GOLFTV deal was this skins competition, which has finally been announced for October 21, 2019. Finishing under the lights sounds fun, though the absence of a dollar figure in the press release for the skins stands out (“high stakes”).

There was a good reason. Doug Ferguson’s AP story has the dollars and it would seem the appearance fees didn’t leave much left for the “skins”:

Players need to win a hole outright, or it carries over to the next hole. Total prize money is $350,000 -- $10,000 per skin for the opening six holes, $20,000 for the next six holes, $20,000 through the 17th hole and $100,000 for the 18th. There also will be charitable component.

In the original 1983 Skins Game, the dollar figures were:

$10,000 is at stake on each of the first six holes, $20,000 on each of the next six and $30,000 on each of the last six.

Granted, it would take astrologically silly dollar figures to get the attention of these four, so perhaps the $350,000 should just be for charities. The four of them getting to Japan with their “team” will spend more on travel to Japan than they are playing for.

Anyway, For Immediate Release:

TIGER WOODS TO GO HEAD TO HEAD WITH RORY MCILROY, JASON DAY AND HIDEKI MATSUYAMA IN GOLFTV’s “THE CHALLENGE: JAPAN SKINS”

  • New skins competition presented by GOLFTV powered by PGA TOUR

  • The unique event will be available exclusively live and on demand for free* by registering with GOLFTV around the globe (U.S. fans can watch the live simulcast on Golf Channel)

  • Woods: “After discussing The Challenge with Discovery and GOLFTV, I wanted to be a part of it.”

NEW YORK, LONDON, TOKYO - 19 September: GOLFTV powered by PGA TOUR has today announced an upcoming high-profile, live competition featuring global golf icon Tiger Woods. The Challenge: Japan Skins will see Woods go head to head with reigning FedExCup champion and PGA TOUR Player of the Year Rory McIlroy and multiple-time PGA TOUR winners Jason Day and Hideki Matsuyama in a globally-televised skins game.

The high-stakes exhibition event kicks off the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP week, sponsored by ZOZO, Inc. – the first-ever official PGA TOUR event to be played in Japan. Both events will be played at the Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Chiba, Japan, during the week of October 21, 2019. The Challenge: Japan Skins marks the first in a series of annual Challenge events that are set to become a thrilling addition to the global golf calendar, and tees off at 13:00 p.m.** local time on October 21.

Endorsed by the PGA TOUR and produced in partnership with Excel Sports Management, The Challenge: Japan Skins unites four of the top players in the world from separate continents, who will also participate in the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, in an exciting competition format that’s sure to thrill audiences around the globe.

Alongside special in-match challenges and surprises, and finishing under floodlights, each hole will be assigned an increasing monetary value as the competition plays out. Players need to win a hole outright to take a “skin” (tied holes result in a “push” of the skin to the next hole), so golf fans can expect to see aggressive play from start to finish.

Alex Kaplan, President and General Manager of Discovery Golf, commented: “The Challenge: Japan Skins is a unique experience that no golf fan will want to miss and will be an exciting way to begin ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP week. GOLFTV powered by PGA TOUR is growing to become the one-stop-shop for all the best in golf, and The Challenge is another significant step in that direction.

“To be able to bring many of golf’s biggest names to GOLFTV screens for our customers is hugely exciting for everyone involved. On October 21, fans will be able to see a totally new competition join the golf calendar, supporting some fantastic charities and showcasing the very best golf has to offer in the most fun, exhilarating and unpredictable way.”

Promising a new global moment for golf, fans around the world can watch the inaugural event live and on demand for free* exclusively on Discovery’s GOLFTV, the new digital home of golf for the global fan community, by registering for the service. The Challenge: Japan Skins will be produced in Japanese and English, and covered by a stellar lineup of leading presenters, commentators and on-course reporters.

In the U.S., The Challenge: Japan Skins can be viewed live on Golf Channel starting at 11 p.m. EDT/8 p.m. PDT on October 20.