Kostis: "If (Finchem's) holding grudges from the past, then that's a sad state of affairs"

Nice catch by John Strege at The Loop of Chris Elsberry's chat with CBS announcer Peter Kostis about Ken Green's struggle to get in Champions Tour events after a tragic accident, event though he's Green's a valiant competitor who would occasionally add an inspiring story to the geezer tour fields.

Kostis says he's "flabbergasted" that the tour isn't "going to bat" for Green. Elsberry writes:

When asked if he felt that Green was being blackballed by the PGA Tour and specifically by commissioner Tim Finchem for past actions -- Green wasn't exactly a model follower of PGA regulations -- Kostis again shook his head in frustration.

"If (Finchem's) holding grudges from the past, then that's a sad state of affairs," Kostis said. "Ken had his issues ¦ for example, at the Masters, he received a letter of reprimand for having his son caddy for him at the par-3 tournament back in the '80s. Now, that's a staple at the Masters, everyone does it.

"Once, he and Mark Calcavecchia got chastised for skipping balls across the lake at 16 (at Augusta National). Now, everyone does it in the practice rounds. So, the times change and if he's being under-represented because of what he did in the past, then I think that's really small."

This struggle goes back four years when Kostis first wrote about it, and Larry Dorman followed up on the Champions Tour's denial of a major medical exemption for Green.