Elling On Champions Changes

Steve Elling makes a decent case for the elimination of Champions Q-school exemptions and the introduction of expanded Monday qualifiers:

Sure, it sounds like a return to the frenetic and controversial "rabbit" qualifiers staged on the PGA Tour before it went to the current all-exempt format. But for the publicity-starved Champions, it should generate regional interest well before the 54-hole tournaments begin on Friday.

"There's no doubt it should generate some early buzz, because you'll have some recognizable names in those Monday and Tuesday qualifiers," George said.

Plus some names that are synonymous with anonymous, so to speak, which is the most interesting part of the changes from a purity standpoint. Senior tour history is rich with unheralded success stories guys such as the journeymen who struck gold at 50, Dana Quigley and Bruce Fleisher. Not to mention Mark Johnson, the aforementioned beer-truck man who didn't turn pro until his mid-40s.

For years, the Champions played it safe, striking a delicate balance. To wit, would its older fan demographic rather watch aging warhorses such as Chi Chi Rodriguez and reminisce about the good old days, or watch lesser-known players who actually have a chance of contending? An increasing problem is that graybeards such as Palmer and Jack Nicklaus don't play much anymore, and younger 50-somethings such as Tom Watson and Greg Norman play abbreviated schedules.

With the Champions Tour's television ratings falling behind those of the LPGA, something needed to change. Since many of the marquee drawing cards aren't playing regularly, why not open the doors for some new blood? Will title sponsors balk?

"In theory, there are some real positives to it," George said. "But it's a big change."

Champions Buzz...Or Lack Thereof

Bill Fields reports Rick George's response to a negative Ron Kroichik story about the lackluster nature of Champions Tour events.

"It's very frustrating," George said of the tendency to focus on what the Champions Tour is lacking rather than its strengths, "because I think we've got one helluva product. When you attend our tour on a regular basis, we've got some tournaments that are really stepping it up. But is there a buzz in every community? No. We need to get it there. We've told the tournaments that this tour is only as good as the weakest tournament."

There's "buzz" at the events in well populated areas and when played at public courses. There is no buzz when the Champions play at suburban country clubs.

"Stay tuned - this thing is a long way from over."

John Huggan is in fine curmudgeonly form while looking at the havoc the FedEx Cup schedule is creating on the European Tour.

As America's PGA Tour embarks on a lucratively-reshaped season that will "climax" with something called the Fed-Ex Cup - oh, the history, the mystique - and very likely pull many of Europe's leading players across the Atlantic even more than has already been the case, the European Tour's money-list is destined to be won by someone who picks up the vast majority of his cash in so-called co-sanctioned events - where prize- money is eligible on more than one circuit - rather than by a man ranked outside the world's top-50, and thus "relegated" to playing most of his golf outside of the United States.

So it is that the just-released European Tour International Schedule is all about filling dates. Next season, as the blaring press release was quick to trumpet, the European Tour will consist of at least 50 events - a "momentous milestone" - as it winds its often mediocre way across the globe.

Also, Golfweek's Rex Hoggard fires a few shots at the FedEx Cup as he looks at issues with the Champions Tour schedule. And he notes this about another major change in the Valiant Competitors Tour:

Starting with next month's Q-School, players will no longer play for a Champions Tour card. Instead, the hopeful will vie for a chance to qualify for events. The top-30 finishers from Q-School will earn a seat at the Monday qualifying table each week and play for nine spots in that week's tournament.

With the move, golf's most closed club just went private.

"There are some positives and some negatives," George said of the new qualifying system. "How will it impact the international players on the tour? I want to make sure the tournaments aren't impacted by the qualifying. We're going into it very cautiously."

But back to Huggan and Hoggard's pithy FedEx Cup remarks.

Isn't it interesting that time has not helped the Tour's concept age like fine wine, but instead has some of golf's finest inkslingers realizing just how flawed the schedule and points concepts are?

Champions Record!

From Golfonline:

Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (Sports Network) - On the Champions Tour next year, players will be competing for an average prize purse of $1.86 million -- a record-high in the senior circuit's 27th year.

Announced on Monday, the 2007 schedule features 29 official Charles Schwab Cup events worth a combined $54 million. Twenty-four of those tournaments have commitments extending at least through the 2008 season.

"The Champions Tour has made great strides working with our tournaments and title sponsors to strengthen our sponsorship foundation, the courses we play and the look, feel and dates of our tournaments," said tour president Rick George.

"As a result, we hope to add spectators in 2007 to take the look and feel of our events to a new level."

Oops, sorry, don't know how that last quote slipped in. Here's his actual carefully sculpted line...

"As a result, we feel the 2007 schedule is one of the strongest in the history of this tour and that we are well positioned for the next few years."

Trevino: "The USGA has dropped the ball on the golf ball"

Ron Kroichik features these quotes from Lee Trevino, who is playing in this week's First Tee event at Pebble Beach:

-- On the chance of future tour players relying on a homemade swing, as he did: "There won't be any more homemade golf swings, because power is everything. My swing was powerless; that's one of the reasons I hit the ball so straight."

-- On technology's impact on golf: "The golf ball has ruined the game. It doesn't bend as much as it used to. The USGA has dropped the ball on the golf ball -- they won't admit it, but they know."

Champions In Charity, Champions As People

I just got around to reading Charles McGrath's NY Times "PLAY" magazine story on the Senior Champions Tour.

Loved this:

In 2003, the tour hired a new commissioner, Rick George, who is extremely fluent in the language of contemporary corporate sportsspeak. It was George, for example, who supervised the “rebranding” of the tour’s name, and when I suggested that must have been because “senior” bore an unfortunate whiff of geezerdom, he corrected me. “The new brand gives us more platforms to promote what we do,” he said. “Our players are champions as golfers, champions in charity, champions as people.” George has worked mightily to increase the number of corporate sponsorships, the lifeblood of a golf tour, and now says, “We feel like we’re the best business-to-business marketing opportunity in all of sport.”

59 at 59

Thanks to readers Kevin and JohnV for the heads up on this story covering Roy Vucinich's amazing 59 at the age of 59

Norman Itching To Play Champions Tour, To Make Return At The International

Actually, he just likes the milkshakes and I'm sure he'll be teeing it up in his first non-senior major at the Jeld-Wen in a few weeks. Oh wait, that's a major! Hard to keep track.

Speaking of the Champions Tour, check out John Hawkins' take on the ratings deprived Tour that once used to be popular when it didn't care about catering to 18-34 year olds and was called the Senior Tour.

Bivens v. George

Vartan Kupelian paired up the LPGA and Champions Tours in a comparison story, primarily to see if Carolyn Bivens could outdule Rick George in the inane quote department. You be the judge.

"We don't compare ourselves to them at all because what we do is unique, the way we've positioned our tour, hitting a different group of people who are going to watch this," George said.

But that doesn't necessarily mean a single demographic.

"We're always trying to hit different demographics to grow our fan base," George said. "It's important for us to continue to look at different demographics it's not all geared to one segment of the population."

Demographics. Yawn. The Brand Lady offers slick analogies.

"We appeal to a totally different audience, different sponsors," Bivens said. "It's as different as the NBA and professional bowling."

Oh but this is may be her best.

Bivens compares the bumps off the course "to changing tires on a car going 100 miles an hour."

That's why she gets the big bucks.

We've heard this nonsense before, but it's still breathtaking.

Bivens' goal is to "monetize the success and interest" in the LPGA and making money often means rubbing people the wrong way.

"Somebody has to stand up and say, 'This is what we're doing and where we're going,' " she said.

"I didn't take the job for the money. I didn't take the job to be voted Miss Congeniality. I don't like the controlling person I read about -- it's not who I am."

And just to show he's in his own unique world too, George says...

"Our attendance continues to get better, not as much as we'd like but better," he said. "The sponsor base is stronger than it has been. We're in terrific shape and with an eye toward the end of the year when seven prominent PGA Tour players are coming out."

Coming out? Oh right, you mean...gotcha.

Kupelian spoils George's optimism pretty quickly.

That's not always the perception. Television images show small crowds more often than not, and exposure of the Champions Tour is well down the pecking order in newscasts and newspapers unless the over-50 set is in town. It's easy to reach the conclusion that the Champions Tour is floundering until someone stops to consider that the seniors are divvying up $52.7 million in prize money annually -- a veritable windfall of lottery proportions -- and sponsors continue to pony up.

"An endorsement of what we're doing is that we've had eight (contract) renewals in 10 months," George said. "And we anticipate more. The perception should be that the Champions Tour has really solidified its position and our opportunity now is to grow."

They're growing! And they're interacting...

"If you look at the Champions Tour today, the way our players go out of the way to interact and engage, is better than any sport, not just golf.

"We think we're one of the best business-to-business marketing opportunities in all our sports. We haven't lost focus of one of the integral pieces of our business -- interaction with sponsors' guests and clients and the fans who come out."

Hmmm...George wins with that last minute run that is sure to give Champions Tour players chest pains. 

Roberts 62 Is Lowest In Senior Open History, Tiered Rough Blamed, Emergency Champ. Committee Meeting Set

The horror of a player going low! Shameful. The sky is falling!  Nice going Loren. Now the setup next year at...oh wherever it is, will be a massacre!

Catching Up With Mac

Jim Achenbach catches up with Mac O'Grady, who qualified for this week's U.S. Senior Open at Prairie Dunes:

His long-awaited instruction book, however, has taken a back seat to the completion of his fictional and fanciful account of life on the PGA Tour, called Seve The Commissioner in honor of his friend Ballesteros.

"There is much truth in this story," O'Grady said of the book, which has yet to be published.

"People wait for great art, and they will have to wait for this book," he said. "There is no ego involved here. I am in no hurry."

The book crusades against technological advances in golf such as metalwoods and the 60-degree wedge.

Ironically, O'Grady's bag at the Senior Open contained a Ping G5 titanium driver and a Ping 60-degree wedge. His irons were Ben Hogan blades.

"What can you do?" he asked. "These guys still outhit me. The steroids in golf are not in the golfers; the steroids are in the balls and clubs."

High Praise For Prairie Dunes

Harold Bechard in the Hutchinson News says the players love Prairie Dunes talking to Bob Charles, Tom Watson and Ben Crenshaw.

"It's just a work of art, nothing short of a work of art," said Crenshaw, the tour's resident historian. "It's so unique. There's nothing like it in this country, really. With this course, any person from the British Isles would come and say, 'Oh My God, I'm home' with all these undulations and sandhills."

I'm not so sure about this though...

Crenshaw, like Tom Watson, loves the setup of the course with its narrow fairways, high rough and slick, unforgiving greens. Now the only thing missing is the wind, which kicked up to about 20 miles per hour at midday but was about half that strong in the early evening when the players and fans were called off the course because of the threat of severe weather.

Carts On The Champions Tour

Jay Haas doesn't like carts returning to the Valiant Competitors  Senior  Champions Tour:

"I'd like it to go back to no carts," said Jay Haas, at 52 a relative youth on the Champions Tour. "It just seems right. It seems like if spectators can go out and walk, we can, too. It's part of the competition."

I'd make a joke about needing spectators to actually make it an issue, but that would be way too easy.

RIP Legends of Golf

Someday, when the Champions Tour has been put out to pasture and folks wonder how something once so successful was run into the ground, they can watch the 2006 Legends of Golf and say, "ah, now I see why it died."

Originally played at Austin's Onion Creek, the Legends has moved around in recent years (remember the disastrous one-year move to PGA West-Stadium?). And now it has landed at the Club at Savannah Harbor, situated no where near a decent-sized population base.

Apparently last year's Sunday massacre wasn't enough, because in 2006 the PGA Tour allowed the course to harvest rough that is 6 inches in spots according to Ian Baker-Finch. Worse, the fairways were significantly narrowed, leaving many of the fairway bunkers surrounded by rough (such a wonderful look!). Throw in those 8,000 square foot greens with not an ounce of character, and the entire package translates dreadfully on television.

It also leaves the players looking miserable, the fans bored and an overall sense that the uh, "product" is doomed.

And just think, there are people down in Ponte Vedra making a lot of money to envision this silliness!

They're Back!

Cart-free didn't do much for the Champions Tour, so they're coming back according to Bill Fields in Golf World.

Of course, the PGA Tour's Rick George remains sure he made the right move.

In a statement released today, George said: "The tour continues to believe the presentation of our tournaments and the on-site fan experience is enhanced when competitions don't features carts and players walk. However, due to ongoing requests made by a number of players, we have concluded that carts will be made available on a more frequent basis to those wishing to use them."

As recently as last month the seniors' player advisory council was in favor of upholding the ban. But when the policy board met Monday in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., the group's four independent directors and the four player directors on the PGA Tour were swayed by the unanimous stance to return carts by Champions Tour player directors Jim Colbert, Ben Crenshaw, Tom Purtzer and Leonard Thompson, Purtzer told Golf World.

"If the players are 4-0 for something, they traditionally haven't been overridden," said Purtzer, a cart advocate who is plagued by a painful back condition. "It came down to the directors voting because they knew a majority of the players wanted carts back. A couple of the independent directors said they weren't in total agreement but appreciated the fight we had put up. It kind of came to down to the belief that 'you guys know what's best for your tour.'"

Now, about the name of the Tour...