Peter Alliss: Broadcasters Speak About "The Great Man"

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Peter Alliss’s life as a player, writer, architect and overall presence in the game is never to be dismissed, but for a generation on both sides of the Atlantic he will most affectionately remembered for his singular broadcasting presence. And maybe with a little luck, the outpouring of appreciation for “The Great Man” might remind network executives and tours of the many ways to call a golf shot. Not that anyone before or after will ever do it quite like Peter Alliss.

With so many of the legendary ABC voices now gone, Judy Rankin is one of the last members of their core team and she fought back tears to speak so beautifully of Alliss in this Golf Central segment with Todd Lewis.

My favorite line: he had “a way of expressing himself that was sometimes beautiful that was sometimes a guteral noise that none of us could get away with.”

Mike Tirico offered this on Twitter:

I hope this full tribute from another ESPN colleague Terry Gannon, could be posted. But in the meantime thanks to Jeremy Schilling for posting this:

Jim Nantz learned the news as he was entering storied Lambeau Field for today’s Packers game on CBS. For a few years the two were paired at times on BBC Open Championship broadcasts, prompting this fantastic remembrance in 2011 by Martin Kelner of Nantz interviewing Alliss on air during his 50th Open behind the mic and getting to call the conclusion of Darren Clarke’s win, calling that a “career achievement.”

“We’ve lost an icon,” Nantz told me in a phone interview this morning. “He was so brilliant in so many ways. His treatment of the game, the way he saw it from so many angles as a player, as a commentator and as an architect. He could keep it light and breezy, he could be critical when it was needed because he had such a depth of knowledge about the history of the game and every situation.”

Nantz has been listening to The Open Championship podcast while quarantining for two days in hotels prior to every NFL game he calls, including a recent stretch of three games in eight days.

“I heard Peter’s voice all day yesterday,” Nantz said of listening to the 1981 edition won by Bill Rogers with clips of Alliss’s original commentary featured prominently. “That perfect prose…it was poetry.”

Nantz says that as loved as Alliss was in the United States when hosting the Open Championship solo for stretch each day on ABC (but paired with someone during the ESPN years), The Great Man never “got the full appreciation over here that he merited.”

In particular Nantz was struck by Alliss’s ability to go from one broadcast to another—two distinct approaches with ABC and BBC—in a matter of minutes. “One minute there is an audience your speaking and then another you’re presenting yourself to another continent with a totally different format. I admired him deeply.”

From Nick Faldo and Frank Nobilo:

I loved this from Open Champion and future broadcaster Padraig Harrington appearing on BBC 5 with Stephen Crossman:

A sampling of his great calls starting with 1999’s uber-prescient, “What to do, what to do.”

Tiger’s chip-in at the Masters:

And the call that introduced him to a younger audience and became a “thing” whenever Miguel Angel Jimenez hit the range.

Roundup: R.I.P. Peter Alliss 1931-2020

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Peter Alliss got away with things no one other broadcaster could. He’d grunt, gargle, mock, violate the “norms” of broadcasting and when Alliss turned serious, you knew the tournament was about to be decided. For this American viewer, he joined a cast of legends that marked the Golden Age of golf television and every year at The Open, Alliss’ solo stints were always a highlight of the championship. And it was his general gravitas and light touch that made an otherwise slow sport worth watching.

“The Great Man” was far more than a broadcaster, however, with a Royal Air Force stint, over thirty professional wins, two European Tour Vardon trophies, books (illustrated, fiction and non) and his proudest accomplishment, a long Ryder Cup run including playing on the same team as his father Percy.

He would undoubtedly have loved seeing the start of Reuters’ obituary:

Former Ryder Cup player Peter Alliss, who won 31 tournaments in his career before a successful stint as a commentator in which he was referred to as the "voice of golf," has died at the age of 89, the European Tour said on Sunday.

From Ewan Murray’s excellent Guardian obituary:

Alliss, a former professional player who first undertook broadcasting duties in 1961, became the lead man for the corporation’s golf coverage 17 years later. He was widely depicted as the voice of golf.

In a statement released on Sunday, Alliss’s family explained the father of six’s death was “unexpected but peaceful”. Alliss had delivered television commentary for the BBC during the Masters just last month, from his home in Surrey. He had been expected to retire after next year’s Ryder Cup, thereby completing what would have been a remarkable six decades in the commentary booth.

Alliss was synonymous with the BBC where he worked as recently as November’s Masters, as noted in this unbylined remembrance.

“Peter was the voice of golf. He was an absolute master of his craft with a unique ability to capture a moment with a magical turn of phrase that no one else could match,” said Barbara Slater, director of BBC Sport.

As a player, Alliss won 31 tournaments and he and his father Percy were the first father-son duo to compete in the Ryder Cup, when it was a contest between Great Britain and the United States.

In 2012, he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in the Lifetime Achievement category.

After retiring from playing golf – in a professional sense, at least – Alliss moved into the commentary booth, where his descriptive and dead-pan style became the soundtrack to the BBC’s coverage of major golf events.

“His inimitable tone, humour and command of the microphone will be sorely missed. His often legendary commentaries will be long remembered,” said the BBC.

From BBC’s Iain Carter touching remembrance:

Weighing 14 pounds 11 ounces, he was believed to have been Europe's heaviest baby at the time. He left school aged 14 and devoted himself to the game of golf, playing for the England boys team in 1946.

A year later his went to his first Open after travelling with his father to Royal Liverpool.

"I was obviously excited," he told me earlier this year. "The journey up on the train, going to Bournemouth from Ferndown.

"We went on the bus with golf clubs and suitcases and everyone looked at us as if were mad. 'What the hell have you got in that bag?' Then the train up to London and up to Chester and then we had a bus along to Hoylake."

The youngster was somewhat overwhelmed and failed to qualify, but went on to post five top 10s in 24 appearances between 1951 and 1974.

From the Associated Press’ tribute:

With his deep and soothing voice, warm humor and passion for golf, Alliss may have been more renowned as a commentator than a player. Golf Digest once called Alliss ''the greatest golf commentator ever.''

Alliss made his broadcasting debut in 1961 as part of the BBC team covering The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale and became the British channel's main commentator in 1978. He also called big tournaments in the United States, Canada and Australia.

Among his many witty one-liners was this classic from 2002 when Tiger Woods shot 81 in The Open: ''It's like turning up to hear Pavarotti sing and finding out he has laryngitis.''

From Phil Davison’s Washington Post obit:

Mr. Alliss’s popularity as a commentator for nearly 60 years was largely due to his reassuring, dulcet voice, his knowledge of the game and its history, and his wry, deadpan humor, which sometimes generated controversy.

To some viewers, he sounded like a genial grandpa smoking a pipe and wearing slippers by the fireside. “When it comes to painting a picture with words,” a correspondent for the Daily Telegraph once wrote, “he’s nothing short of Rembrandt.”

Mary Hannigan with this nice roundup of that one liner and many more.

From John Huggan’s GolfDigest.com look at the life and times of Alliss:

What often gets overlooked as he became more and more famous for his work with a microphone in hand was how good a player Peter Alliss was. Renowned for the smoothness and elegance of his full swing—and, later, terrible putting (the number plate on his car read ‘PUT3’) marked by a dreadful bout of the yips that, he claimed, began on the 11th green at Augusta National during a Masters—he twice played Arnold Palmer in Ryder Cup singles and finished unbeaten.

“I have a very good Ryder Cup record, mostly because of my fear of losing,” said Alliss, who went 10-15-5 on teams that went just 1-6-1. “I always had the attitude that ‘you weren’t going to beat me.’ I believe you play the man, not the course. I played Arnold three times when he was at his peak and the only one I lost was a foursome. I beat him once and halved with him in singles. I also beat Billy Casper, Gay Brewer and Ken Venturi at various times, and halved with Tony Lema.”

From Michael Bamberger’s tribute at Golf.com:

Alliss knew his way around all parts of your better dinner menus and wine lists. He was a large man who lived large. The license plate on his Rolls Royce read PUT 3. Late in the day, he was afflicted with the yips, and he had more than his share of three-putt greens. What saved him was his sense of humor, and his talking ease. Hit it, Alice, a common and mildly sexist phrase for putts that do not reach the hole, began, Peter Alliss would sometimes suggest, with him talking to himself: “Hit it, Alliss.”

Alliss turned pro at 15 and went to work for his father at Ferndown Golf Club. Adam Schupak has a spectacular story from his early days here at Golfweek.com.

Rick Broadbent with The Times obituary (behind paywall).

Golf Channel’s feature on the life and times of Alliss:

His World Golf Hall of Fame speech just seven years ago, a special night indeed…

Ponte Vedra Shuffle: "Structural moves to strengthen our core business...and to prepare for further collaboration with the European Tour"

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They love to lay off the little people and add more VP’s down in Ponte Vedra, so beyond the normal comings and goings the below memo includes references to the recently news-dumped alliance with the European Tour.

The headline below for serious golf fans must begin with a huge congratulations to Slugger White and Mark Russell, both officially retiring after 40 years of service to the PGA Tour and hearing more slow play gripes than two men ever should.

Salud on a great run and many more happy days on the links!

Here is the missive “sent on behalf of Commissioner Monahan” to players that also found its way into my inbox:

I am pleased to announce a few structural moves designed to strengthen our core business -- Player Relations and Competitions -- and to prepare for further collaboration with the European Tour as we advance the optimal global golf structure to the benefit of players and fans around the world.

Optimal global golf structure. Nothing like jargon to raise red flags.

Tyler Dennis is promoted to EVP & President, PGA TOUR, a member of the Commissioner’s Committee, reporting to Andy Pazder, and will, in addition to his current responsibilities, focus on relationships with our global player membership base as well as relationships with title sponsors given his broad Competitions, Player and Tournament experience and perspective.

I believe the Commissioner’s Committee guarantees jet seat access on PGA Tour Airship 1, but I’ll get back to you on that. As opposed to the Executive Leadership Team…

Dan Glod is moving to an elevated role as SVP – Player Relations, a member of the Executive Leadership Team, reporting directly to Ross Berlin and working closely with me, Andy and Tyler. Dan’s roles of increasing responsibility at the TOUR, including leading the Korn Ferry Tour, working with THE PLAYERS Championship, and multiple roles in Corporate Partnerships including most recently leading our business development efforts, will allow us to further reinforce the importance of Player Relations to our core business and all of the outstanding work that Ross Berlin and his team have done. As part of this, Dan will be focusing on the partnership we have with our players and how we can help them grow their business while at the same time augmenting the PGA TOUR’s business around the world.

I’m detecting a theme here. Player Relations is very important. You’d think they were sponsoring or paying to cover the tournaments with this level of catering to a small group, 50% of whom will not be Tour members in five years thanks to technology-induced parity. But I digress…

As part of this focus and evolution of Player Relations, Phil Marburger and Mack Horton are also taking on additional new areas of focus for us and are being promoted to Vice President. Phil and Mack will continue to report to Ross, working closely with Tyler and Dan.

In the Competitions area, Andy Levinson is promoted in his role to the Executive Leadership Team. We are all grateful for Andy’s exemplary leadership in the area of our Health & Safety Plan, which underpins our safe and ongoing Return to Golf during these challenging times. Andy will continue to take on additional responsibilities under Tyler. Likewise, Kirsten Burgess is promoted to Vice President, and we are grateful for her outstanding leadership in the Competitions Administration area and her team’s role in ensuring our return to competition after the cancellation of 11 PGA TOUR events and a completely re-worked schedule culminating in a full FedExCup season finish.

Full meaning full purse payout, and don’t you forget that!

As many of you will have seen in Tyler’s note yesterday, we have a number of changes in the Rules and Competitions Area. After 40 years on the job, Mark Russell and Slugger White will soon be retiring and we will have an opportunity in the coming months to celebrate their remarkable careers. Longtime Rules Officials Dillard Pruitt and John Lillvis will also be retiring.

Gary Young will continue to lead this department, and Steve Rintoul, John Mutch, Stephen Cox and Ken Tackett are all promoted to the role of Senior Tournament Director on the PGA TOUR.

Congrats to all.

Brian Oliver is working with Talent & Culture on plans to replace Dan’s responsibilities in Business Development.

Talent & Culture. [Eye roll emoji goes here.]

Additionally, given Austin Flagg’s strong prior experience with key sponsors and partners, and the critical experience he has gained in every area of our business working closely with me during this pivotal year, I have asked him to transition back to the Sponsorship/Partnership area to take on a role with increased responsibilities under Brian. With John Wolf’s experience in Player Relations and Tournament Business Affairs, he will transition to the Office of the Commissioner, working closely with me, Ron and Allison to coordinate high level priorities and scheduling.

Please join me in congratulating everyone on their new roles.

And as we work to advance the optimal global golf structure to the benefit of players and fans around the world.

A Must Listen: Peter Alliss On Desert Island Discs With Michael Parkinson

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While we all take in the passing of the magnificent Peter Aliss and I compile my thoughts along with those of his many friends in golf, this 1987 interview with Michael Parkinson should satisfy your curiosity while providing a tremendous Sunday evening listen.

He touches on a wide range of topics related to his life and times, with a good portion of the interview discussing his life in golf including talk of his father Percy, his Ryder Cup play, money, broadcasting and where his battle with the yips started.

In between are his desert island music selections which, naturally, were majestic. For a masterful soloist, he loved his duets!

Here is the link. Enjoy.

"Construction nears completion on both courses at PGA Frisco"

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Golf Architecture’s Richard Humphreys updates us on construction of 2027 PGA Championship host, the PGA Frisco. The Gil Hanse-designed East course and Beau Welling-designed West course are being constructed at the same time near Dallas with a June 2022 opening scheduled after the PGA of America wisely insisted on a year of grow-in.

While the property didn’t look particularly captivating in photos and flyovers, the early images and comments about the course presentation are pretty exciting:

“The property here reminded me a bit of Southern Hills – the topography, along with the creek so prominently featured,” said Hanse. “Of course, Southern Hills is now surrounded by Tulsa. But when Perry Maxwell built it, Southern Hills probably looked a lot like our site in Frisco does today.

“This used to be a ranch, so we focused on that, along with what is some really interesting topography, good rolling ground. But everything has been done in proportion to the broad expanses we’re dealing with here. In that context the bunkers are the calling card, the most visible feature out there – and they are dramatic.”

And this too:

“The shaping team here is phenomenal,” said Blake Smith, project manager for Heritage Links. “We ended up creating a blowout feature from an old oxbow off number eight that is about the coolest feature you’ve ever seen. And that was actually the idea of Kerry Haig, the PGA’s chief championships officer.

“The design philosophy is to create the feeling of being out there in a ranch setting that has been there for 100 years – with all the tall natives waving, the cart paths that turn into ranch roads, the trees that have been planted to create the look of fence roads, even using barbed wire and hog wire in spots to guide the galleries. Working with Gil and his team is the chance to work outside the box. They tell us what they want, and we say, let us try to do that for you.”

In Case You Were Wondering: It Was Charlie's Idea

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I was initially surprised that the (understandably) protective Tiger Woods would expose his 11-year-old to the national TV spotlight at this month’s PNC Championship (aka the Father-Son-Daughter-Stepchild, etc…).

But it’s a tribute to the well-regarded and impressively-attended 20-team event of major winners that Woods even considered his son’s request. And it was Charlie’s idea, writes Doug Ferguson, reporting Justin Thomas’s comments this week:

“Tiger and I talked about it a bunch. He brought it up a while ago that Charlie wanted to play and Charlie really wanted to play with us,” Thomas said Tuesday. “For some reason, Charlie just always wants to beat me, it doesn’t matter what it is. Although he’s never beaten me in golf or a putting contest, he still talks trash just like his dad. It will be fun.

“We’ll have that like inner tournament within a tournament, trying to shut his little mouth up, but it will be fun.”

Still to be determined is whether Team Thomas and Team Woods are in the same group. One last father-son team is still to be announced for the 20-team field Dec. 19-20 in Orlando, Florida.

Sheep Ranch Takes Digest's Best New, Golf Posts State-By-State Rankings

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2020 saw the opening of fifteen courses eligible for Golf Digest’s “Best New” award in what appears more like the new normal than an aberration, as Derek Duncan writes of the three courses singled out this year:

It’s humorous now to think that the 40 or so new courses that opened in 2010 didn’t form a critical mass large enough to merit the magazine’s full attention and thus an award. The course-construction recession was considered a temporary squall, but course openings have remained maddeningly scarce over the past 10 years, and this year’s class consists of just 15 graduates. But feeling that new course openings are now more newsworthy than ever, we’ve decided to proceed with the prize—though because of travel difficulties and the extenuating circumstances of the moment we gave each facility that opened in late 2019 or 2020 the option to postpone its candidacy until 2021. (A number of courses took us up on the offer; wait for them next year.)

The Sheep Ranch by Coore and Crenshaw won, with some comically-artificial Tom Fazio real estate play called Troubadour finishing second. Nothing says natural like a creek atop a mountain guarding six tee boxes:

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New Tour Alliance Aims For Co-Sanctioned Events Around The Open, Post-FedExCup

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Now that I’ve gotten your attention…yes, actually, it takes no imagination at all to picture the above-mentioned in the headline. But that was the one “reveal” Keith Pelley gave Sportsmail in a Monday interview following last Friday’s news dump of a PGA Tour-European Tour alliance.

This should have happened ages ago in the form of WGC’s or when geographically logical:

Starting in 2022, look for co-sanctioned events in Britain for players on both tours built around the Open at St Andrews and in the autumn following the end of the FedEx Cup.

‘Those are areas offering great opportunities where we’ve agreed to look closely to see what we can do,’ said Pelley.

‘I can’t tell you how refreshing it is to sit in the room as partners rather than competitors. It totally changes the dynamic.’

‘Those are areas offering great opportunities where we’ve agreed to look closely to see what we can do,’ said Pelley.

Well, a room being a Zoom call for a while still.

There was also this image from Pelley:

‘We come together with the shared desire to make a global schedule and when you have that as your opening objective, everything can flow,’ said Pelley.

‘I can’t get into specifics and pontificate about tiers because we haven’t had what I would call our white-board meetings, where everyone empties their minds and gets creative. I just think the possibilities are endless.’

Endless until they go to those creativity killers on the player boards where most good ideas go to be tabled for slow play discussions.

Annual USGA Executive Committee Shuffle: Three To Replace Two And Not Much Else Of Note

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With the USGA Executive Committee essentially a cast of living, breathing bobbleheads I doubt most care who they nominate these days. Nonetheless, the latest three to join the group of 15 have impressive careers still going and will surely add to a committee filling two outgoing seats—a subtle reminder to those with a sense of humor that the nominating process is never over until the big black tie dinner.

For Immediate Release:

2021 USGA Executive Committee Nominations Announced

Fifteen-member group serves as the Association’s volunteer board

LIBERTY CORNER, N.J. (Dec. 1, 2020) – The United States Golf Association (USGA) today announced three new nominees to its 15-member Executive Committee: Chuck Brymer, chairman of DDB Worldwide; Cathy Engelbert, commissioner of the WNBA and former Deloitte CEO; and Anthony Petitti, president of sports and entertainment for Activision Blizzard.

In addition, Kendra Graham, Nick Price and Sharon Ritchey have each been nominated to serve a second term, Graham and Ritchey for three years, Price for two years.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t have Price making it this far, particularly surrounded by too many folks who had to be reminded he’s not that Nick. Good on you Nick!

If elected at the USGA’s Annual Meeting on Feb. 26, 2021, the three new members will add expertise and leadership that directly align with the USGA’s Strategic Plan and its mission to champion and advance the game of golf. The current set of objectives includes elevating the positive impact of the USGA’s 14 global championships and deepening its investment in golf programs and services to ensure a thriving, welcoming and sustainable game. 

Boilerplate central.

The board of the nonprofit golf organization is led by J. Stuart Francis, who will serve the second year of his three-year term as president in 2021.

“It is a testament to the strength of the USGA that we are able to attract global leaders across various industries to serve on our Executive Committee,” said Mike Davis, CEO of the USGA. “The independent skill sets and experience they possess complement those of the entire board, and their collective passion to support a healthy future for golf benefits our organization and everyone in the game.”

Leaders in industries have generally shown an unwillingness to do what’s right for the game. Hope I’m wrong!

Francis, who is entering his seventh year on the Executive Committee, added, “Each candidate possesses strengths that directly align with the USGA’s long-range Strategic Plan, and the expertise to deliver on the organization’s mission. We are excited about the impact that we know Chuck, Cathy and Anthony can deliver if elected.”

Current USGA Executive Committee members include Graham, Price, Ritchey, Anthony Anderson, Michael Bailey, Thomas Barkin, Stephen Beebe, Paul Brown, Courtney Myhrum, Fred Perpall and Deborah Platt Majoras.

Martha Lang and William Siart will retire from the Executive Committee after a combined 10 years of service to the Executive Committee. 

Per the bylaws of the association, Brymer, Engelbert and Petitti will each serve a three-year term beginning in 2021, with the potential to be elected for a second and final three-year term in 2024. The USGA made the strategic decision to increase Executive Committee member term limits from one year to three in 2020 as part of a regular review to enhance the effectiveness of its governance structure.

And now for the bios…

As chairman of DDB Worldwide, one of the top advertising and marketing agencies in the world, Brymer provides oversight to more than 200 offices in over 80 countries and spearheaded the company’s transition into the digital advertising age. His growth strategy led to the acquisition of key businesses in Brazil, India and the United Kingdom and his leadership as president and CEO from 2006-2018 resulted in the company’s recognition as one of the top agencies in the world by AdAge, Adweek and Campaign. As one of the world’s leading brand experts, Brymer authored the book “The Nature of Marketing” in 2008 as a guide to engaging online consumer populations and helped create Businessweek’s annual ranking of the “World’s Best Global Brands.” Prior to DDB, Brymer served as global chairman and CEO of the Interbrand Group, the world’s largest branding and design consultancy. He has also served on the board of directors of Regal Entertainment and as board director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. A passionate outdoorsman, sports enthusiast and recreational golfer, Brymer started playing the game in his teens with his brothers in his home state of Kentucky. He has a USGA Handicap Index® of 8.0. 

One of DDB’s big clients was Mars, former home of current USGA Chief Brand Officer Craig Annis. So there’s one vote for more expensive, lame ad campaigns!

Engelbert was named the WNBA’s first-ever commissioner in 2019 after a storied 33-year career at Deloitte, in which she became the first female CEO in the history of a Big Four professional services firm. As Deloitte CEO from 2015-2019, Engelbert led more than 100,000 professionals of the accounting and consulting organization in the United States. Prior to that, she served large, complex global clients, including in the financial services, consumer products, and pharmaceutical industries. She also served on the Deloitte board of directors for over 7 years, as the first woman chair of the Center for Audit Quality Governing Board and, as a strong supporter of diversity and inclusion, as the first woman chair of the Catalyst Board, a global nonprofit organization that promotes inclusive workplaces for women. She was a founding member of the CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion, is a vice chair of the Partnership for New York City, and previously served as a member of the Business Roundtable, where she sat on the Education & Workforce and Immigration committees. She is currently a member of the board of McDonald’s Corporation and was named one of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women for four consecutive years. Engelbert, a former Division I college basketball and lacrosse player, has since found a passion for golf, and is a proud mother to two children.

Nice resumé, what on earth is she doing here? Can’t wait to see how Englebert feels about the Barstool integrations.

And finally, we’ll try not to hold it against this man for working under the point-missing, rule-fuzzy, trophy-mocking, ceremony-slurring “Commissioner” who doesn’t seem to like the sport he runs, Rob Manfred, because Anthony Petitti’s background in media is mighty impressive:

Petitti brings more than 30 years of executive experience within the sports and entertainment industries. As president of Sports and Entertainment at Activision Blizzard, Inc., he oversees all esports, consumer products, and film and television for the leading interactive entertainment company. Prior to his current role, Petitti spent 11 years at Major League Baseball (MLB) where he ultimately served as deputy commissioner for Business and Media from 2017-2019. The role included oversight for all digital and MLB Network content, broadcast relationships including all linear and digital media sales and rights negotiations, special events, postseason scheduling, international, youth programs and marketing activities. Additionally, he led MLB’s efforts to bring new diverse youth into the game through innovative programs across the country and expanded the league’s international development initiatives. Petitti joined MLB in 2008 to create, launch, and oversee programming for MLB Network and was promoted to chief operating officer in 2014. Prior to MLB, Petitti served in senior executive roles at ABC, NBC and CBS, overseeing the rights acquisition deals for a variety of sports and leagues, including the NFL, NCAA Basketball Tournament, PGA Tour and SEC Football. A 13-time Emmy Award winner, he was executive vice president and executive producer at CBS Sports, where he was responsible for the network’s sports programming and production. A native of Queens, N.Y, he started playing golf in his early 20s with his father on area public courses and maintains a 7.1 USGA Handicap Index. 

If only we’d get to hear his Winged Foot chats with Pete Bevacqua trying to understand why NBC can’t afford modern broadcast basics for Tommy Roy, why the ratings were so bad and why Peacock looks so soft. That’s, if he asks questions, which is generally discouraged behavior in this setting!

Ratings: .21 For The Match 3; Averages A Million Viewers

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I have no idea if the organizers find the .21 (18-49) for last week’s The Match 3 a success or not given the bizarre sports ratings of 2020. As Mitch Salem’s roundup of last Friday’s cable numbers highlights, The Match was just edged out by WETV’s Love After Lockup with the coveted demo and landed 8th on the list of November 27, 2020’s most watched cable telecasts.

After the streaming debacle that was The Match 1, the absolute ratings stunner that was The Match 2—a higher rating than the final round of the rescheduled U.S. Open—the average of a million viewers is probably about right for a celebrity golf match.

For the historians who fled the spectacle—and there were many—Phil Mickelson and Charles Barkley defeated Peyton Manning and Steph Curry 4&3.

**The final numbers: a .60, but how about those dog show numbers:

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Response To Pelley's Claims Of European Tour Financial Health: "No strategic alliance joy for the 68"

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Back in April Keith Pelley was lamenting the difficult financial times. Job losses were predicted, etc.

In abruptly announcing a new PGA Tour alliance, Pelley scoffed at a Twitter assertion that the European Tour was in poor financial shape.

It’s a particularly strange stance given how there would be complete understanding amidst a pandemic that things were not perfect.

The result of Pelley’s obvious truth distortion now leaves him open to some pretty and deserved criticism. Not for joining forces with the PGA Tour. No as Alistait Tait writes in a superb post, the lying seems crude given the spector of the Tour letting go of off a huge portion of the staff. It’s 68, Tait writes.

Since the tour is in “robust financial health” any chance of those 68 getting their jobs back? Or maybe the Tour IS in “robust financial health” because it shed those jobs.

This pandemic has hurt every business. Many people in all industries have lost their jobs as a result. Golf is no different. However, many companies have stuck by their employees, retaining them for the good days that surely lie ahead. That’s certainly true for those companies that are in “robust financial health.”

And what about the tour’s current employees at its headquarters at the Wentworth Club (pictured)? What does this strategic alliance mean for those good men and women currently working their youknowhats off to keep the European Tour circus running right now? They must be worried about the future.

He goes on to write about “redundancies” and the pain felt by those let go. It’s well worth a few minutes. Oh and the closing line is a killer.

Early 2021 PGA Tour Events To Be (Largely) Played Without Galleries

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While one more fall event is to be played this week in Mexico the West Coast Swing is not far away. And outside of a smattering fans in Maui and (gulp) a downscaled but still-amtitious Waste Management Open, fans will not be in attendance in early 2021. (The viability of the events remains in question as California has traveler quarantine rules in some counties and other lockdowns coming).

The Sony Open will not have fans.

And the first of three California tournaments announced Monday their plan to play the Farmers Insurance Open without fans. From Tod Leonard’s GolfDigest.com story:

The blow of no fans will be lessened, Gorsich said, because the County of San Diego did give its approval last week for pro-ams to take place on Monday and Wednesday of Farmers week. “To not have pro-ams would have been another big hit,” he said. “Getting pro-ams was a big win for us.”

The Tournament of Champions, Sony Open and American Express also will have pro-ams, and it figures that Riviera and Pebble will, too, if their local governments approve.

At the Farmers, pro-am participants pay about $8,000 to play on Wednesday and $4,000 on Monday. Of course, the experience will be very different this year, with only the golfers, the professional and his caddie allowed on the grounds, though Gorisch maintains that it can be a more enjoyable and “intimate” experience. There are no in-person draws parties, and at Torrey Pines the amateurs will warm up in indoor simulators at a nearby hotel.

What could go wrong with a bunch of nervous, huffing and loud pro-am participants gathering in an indoor simulator?

Also, in what should be a pressing matter for the Tour and upcoming non-CBS events: Golf Channel is not COVID testing its crews and is stonewalling. It’s surprising, even at this point, that the Tour’s testing apparatus is not incorporating these hard-working folks into their fold.

McGinley On Alliance Of European and PGA Tours: Stars Playing Together "Premier League style"

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As a member of the European Tour’s Board of Directors, I didn’t expect Paul McGinley to tip his hand much in this Sky Sports piece endorsing the PGA Tour alliance announced Friday.

As I reported Friday, the board McGinley sits on had been briefed on the offer and opened the European Tour books to Raine Group. And on a careful reading and even a shred of imagination there is plenty to read into McGinley’s endorsement.

After calling the deal the “right partnership” for the European Tour and the sport, he gets to some of the primary motives of the “alliance”:

The idea is that we become a little bit more international in terms of the schedule of the world's top players, so they're able to visit other places and play in other events on the European Tour.

Three of the four major championships are played in America every year and a lot of the World Golf Championships have migrated back to the USA. I think the players can eventually expect, hopefully from a European point of view, a more international flavour to the world's best events.

Hope you got that in writing! Because given the opportunity, the American organizations given the chance to go international with top events have a mixed track record.

More from McGinley:

This is a way of working together to get everyone back to playing under one umbrella, which will help bring a little bit of a better narrative to what golf is all about.

It's a simplification of the sport to try to create a real top tier of professional golf, Premier League style if you like, with gateways for the players underneath that to then get into that style of event.

Sounds familiar. Oh right, that’s the Premier Golf League concept.

Anyway, here’s the big reveal: “a real top tier” of professional golf, the main philosophy behind the PGL, is the goal if the often-xenophobic PGA Tour membership can be ignored for some form of international symmetry to happen. McGinley says that’s the goal here.

It has been pre-empted a lot by the coronavirus pandemic and the PGA Tour deciding that this is a route they want to go down. The PGA Tour have previously been a little bit hesitant and a little bit American-centric in what they've done and how they've viewed things.

It is going to take a little bit of time to develop, as this is a very raw relationship at the moment that's just starting out, but I think there's more of an understanding now that the PGA Tour need more of an international element to what they do. The European Tour is the obvious place for that.

It has been the obvious place for a long, long time. And thanks to a “compelling” offer from the Raine Group, the two Tours finally figured out how much they need each other. A least for now.

Video: The Annual Alfred Dunhill Championship Wildlife Roundup

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The Alfred Dunhill Championship traditionally delivers the best nature shots of the golf year. And as always, the European Tour broadcast provided plenty of images from Leopard Creek’s location next to Kruger National Park.

This handy roundup was posted by the European Tour social team:

Pelley Insists European Tour "Categorically" Not In Financial Hole; Says PGA Tour Alliance Came Together In 72 Hours

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Chief Executive Colorfully Coordinated sported a less-than-comforting black-on-black motif for Friday’s hastily-arranged Zoom to spin the European Tour’s “landmark strategic alliance” with the PGA Tour.

Based on the reports by those partaking in the call, Keith Pelley remained light on details about the surprising Thanksgiving Friday announcement. Skepticism was in order given that it’s traditionally a day reserved for only Grade A, First Team, All-World news dumps.

The Daily Mail’s Derek Lawrenson noted the 72 hour mention by Pelley and suggested the announcement was meant to torpedo an upcoming announcement.

The alliance has been years in the making but came together in the space of 72 hours as both tours look to kill off the upstart Saudi-backed Premier Golf League. 

The PGL have promised untold millions to the top players and were rumoured to be ready to make a big announcement next month regarding a circuit for the elite they hoped would be up and running by 2023.

Alistair Tait attempted to parse Pelley’s comments and found the missing details disconcerting.

You’d have thought after four and a half years of talking to PGA Tour counterpart Jay Monahan they’d have laid out some basic plans of where this strategic alliance was going to take the game. No. Just airy-fairy stuff cobbled together over 72 hours. Why the rush?

“You might ask, why now?” Pelley acknowledged. “Jay and I have been talking about working closer together for the last four and a half years. I've always said golf is very fractioned with four major championships and two professional organisations. This was just a moment in time when everything aligned.”

Who said stars can’t align during Thanksgiving week in a pandemic?

Tait goes on to analyze several components to the deal and it’s well worth your time.

Sky Sports’ Ali Stafford features the most Pelley quotes, including this jargon-laced doozy. It was the COVID that did it:

"I think the whole process made us realise, you know, we are in this game together, and we have so many synergies. We are both committed to growth and globalisation of golf, and I think the Covid showed us that actually we shouldn't be competing against each other.

"We should be pulling together and aggregating our skills and our best practises, our commercial streams to ultimately benefit both tours and the game of golf, which has seen an incredible boost, and I think what we can do together, it really gets me excited."

Probably the biggest reveal came with the following quote, placed high in Brian Keogh’s Irish Golf Desk assessment of the call.

But Pelley vehemently denied it was tantamount to a first step towards a merger, explaining that the deal came about after it turned down “a very compelling offer” by the private equity group fronting the breakaway Premier Golf League, Raine Capital, “to take the European Tour to another level but in a different direction.”

“Compelling” and using “another level” only adds intrigue to this bizarre late-year news dump.