Monahan On Oversaturation Of PGA Tour Golf: "This is not the first time we've heard this"

There was much to chew on from Commissioner Jay Monahan’s press conference kicking off the 2020 Players, including not one, but three Wyndham Rewards mentions along with other topics of note. And the oversaturation topic did come up.

Several top players of late have said Monahan and the Policy Board are aware of “issues” with the PGA Tour product after the Premier Golf League’s vision became public. It’s not an easy one to answer publicly without upsetting tournaments. All 49 of them.

Q. I just wonder what you made of Rory's thoughtful argument last week that there were too many tournaments in professional golf. That, in his words, we'd reached saturation points and were in danger of exhausting the fans.

JAY MONAHAN: Well, we have a wonderful PGA TOUR FedExCup schedule with 49 events this year, and there really are very few weaknesses on our schedule. And when you look at our model and the fact that players are independent contractors, for us putting the best tournaments forward week-in and week-out, recognizing that in our sport players like to play in certain conditions, certain markets, like to sequence their schedule differently, a lot of factors that go into the schedule that we have, and we've got great commitments from the markets where we play, and that's what's gotten us to here.

But I think when you look at -- when players -- this is not the first time we've heard this. When you're in Player Advisory Council meetings, when we're in board meetings, we're constantly looking at how our schedule is performing. I talked a lot about where we are and where we're headed, and it's been reinforced by the marketplace, but I would say that because the schedule is so dynamic for our players, it's also as dynamic for us as leaders, and that's something that we'll continue to look at and say, what are the things that we can do to improve our schedule. But I would tell you, we feel really good about where we are today and the flexibility we have going forward.

Flexibility. Does that mean with 52 weeks in a year there is room for growth? Presumably not.

Rory Questions America's "Casual" Coronavirus Response; PGA Of America Says No Discussions "At This Time" About PGA Move

Derek Lawrenson on world No. 1 Rory McIlroy's concern that the United States is taking a less proactive response to the coronavirus causing cancellations of sporting events and concerts.

'It's obviously very worrying but the US seem to be very casual about it compared to the rest of the world,' said McIlroy.

The PGA Tour, meanwhile, has moved from task force to business unit in analyzing the virus, according to Commissioner Jay Monahan. I’m not sure what that means, but here’s what he said Tuesday at the Players regarding the WGC Dell Match Play in Austin two weeks.

I would tell you that it started out as a task force. It's now essentially a business unit, where we have two leaders, Tom Hospel, our medical director, and Alison Keller, our chief administrative officer, who have organized a large team to fully understand the coronavirus and its implications on all facets of our business. I think it goes without saying that the health, safety, well being of our players, our fans, our tournaments, everybody that's involved in our ecosystem is of utmost importance.

Meanwhile, yesterday’s report on discussions to secure a backup PGA Championship venue were inaccurate, a PGA of America statement says. At this time. From Brian Wacker’s GolfDigest.com report:

“Reports that the 2020 PGA Championship will be relocated from TPC Harding Park are inaccurate,” said a statement from the PGA of America released on Tuesday. “At this time, no such discussions have taken place. We continue to carefully monitor this rapidly evolving situation, in close coordination and communication with representatives from San Francisco. We will follow the guidance of state and city officials and public health authorities, keeping the safety and well-being of all involved as our highest priority.”

While they deemed yesterday’s report inaccurate, would anyone fault them for considering back up options?

Mushnick Looks At Golf's Gambling Push: "On-course, incivility...only can grow worse"

New York Post graphic illustration

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick considered the NFL and PGA Tour pushes into gambling, and highlighted PGA Tour Vice President Norb Gambuzza’s declaration that “Golf is open for the business of betting.”

Mushnick’s use of PGA instead of PGA Tour is hardly a first or a serious crime, and it’s his concern for gambling on shots played that is what matters. Especially with fans able to (someday soon) place bets on their phone.

Gambling on golf — more specifically on golfers — creates disturbing sooner-or-later scenarios. Even more gamblers, who already could bet via “fantasy sites,” can now stand just a few feet from those they bet on — or more significantly, bet against. On-course, incivility, already on the rise with the PGA’s reliance on alcohol sales, only can grow worse.

Just think of the patron, drunk or sober, who can win 10 grand if this guy misses a 6-footer on 18.

He also raises the specter of player’s being abused by those who lose a bet.

At last year’s Masters, Jason Day, among the betting favorites, withdrew during the first round after reinjuring his back. The direct vitriol he then received from “fans” on social media left him staggered. Think any of those hateful missives were from gamblers?

While those cases are likely to be rare, with alcohol sales not being cut off until late in the day…

Anyway, the question raised by Mushnick matches the initial reaction a lot of longtime observers have about golf gambling: there may be troubles.

Another reason, in my view, the PGA Tour’s initial focus should be on fantasy lineup play and perhaps live betting to start. Though even the live betting could create on-course problems unless security is upgraded and alcohol sales are cut off a lot earlier.

PGA Tour Digs In To Ward Off "Team Golf Concept" With Threats

I’m picturing a quaint scene down in Ponte Vedra Beach. Former Commissioner Tim Finchem, his reddish-brown-blond hair having turned grey in retirement, sitting in a wicker chair, sipping vino as his replacement Jay Monahan stops by one afternoon. The mentor knows what’s up: Monahan needs advice on how to handle the Premier Golf League.

“How’re your girls?” Finchem asks.

“They’re smarter than I am,” Monahan says. “They would have seen that adding more and more tournaments, even if it meant begging Guy Boros to play despite being retired for ten years, was a terrible idea.”

“What about this Premier Golf League business?”

“I’ll handle it.”

“I never wanted this for you,” Finchem says, weepy. Now remember, ''Whoever comes to you with this Premier Golf League meeting, he's the traitor, don't forget that.”

If only the current predicament were so cinematic.

Actually, Monahan is maintaining the hard line approach his predecessor took against subversives, according to reporters who have seen the PGA Tour Commissioner’s email to players and first reported on yesterday: the PGL is a hostile bid and releases will not be granted.

Rex Hoggard quotes from the email to players in this GolfChannel.com item.

Although funding information for the Premier Golf League has been vague, Monahan’s letter references “funding from Saudi interests” and adds, “We understand that Team Golf Concept is focused on securing player commitments first as they have no sponsorship or media offerings or rights.”

At last week’s player meeting, Monahan outlined “significant increases in prize money and comprehensive earnings over the next decade [on the PGA Tour]” as a result of new media rights deals and other revenue streams. He also appeared to draw a tough line for any players who may be interested in the Premier Golf League.

“If the Team Golf Concept or another iteration of this structure becomes a reality in 2022 or at any time before or after, our members will have to decide whether they want to continue to be a member of the PGA Tour or play on a new series,” Monahan wrote.

Well ok then, no releases will be coming and once you go, there is no coming back.

Noteworthy: Monahan citing the PGL’s lack of media “offerings or rights” to the players, just as news of ESPN+’s PGA Tour deal would soon and magically get out. And this on top of early news of the Players purse increase soon after news of the hostile Premier league was revealed here.

Golf Gods work in mysterious ways!

But most incredible of all is Brian Wacker’s GolfDigest.com story about the release issue and Premier Golf League, where he quotes a Player Advisory Council member not seeing it happening. But it’s deep in the piece where a line that will make all sponsors, TV executives and non-top 50 players stop in their tracks.

And yet changes could be on the horizon. According to one source, Monahan had a conversation last week with McIlroy and Rickie Fowler about the potential new league, during which he expressed his concerns about the sustainability of the status quo for the PGA Tour in the long term.

As the tour has stockpiled events, built a wraparound schedule—despite warnings that it was oversaturating the product—and created playoffs doling out big cash and mediocre ratings, the Commissioner may be acknowledging the status quo is not sustainable on the cusp of signing new media deals to fund…the status quo.

Report: Monahan Tells Players Premier Golf League "Recently secured funding from Saudi interests"

My initial report on the World Golf Group’s proposal noted that Middle East money was part of the funding, but a release by the group in response sought to distance the effort from that. Instead, the Raine Group was suggested as the financing arm of the proposed Premier Golf League.

However, No Laying Up’s Tron Carter shared portions of a redacted version of an email sent to players by PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan vowing to enforce current regulations while noting the investment from Saudi Arabia. The email also suggests substantial guarantees for the 12 team owners that would make up the initial iteration of this competing tour.

Presumably, Monahan is highlighting the likelihood that the loathsome Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is involved, and that players would essentially be taking a form of dirty money. Certainly a huge consideration in all of these machinations.

And yet, as the European Tour returns to Saudi Arabia this week, it should be noted that several top PGA Tour members are playing thanks to releases from the PGA Tour.

Speaking of the Saudi event, Morning Read’s Dave Seanor considers the effort to “grow the game” this week and the issues arising from golf’s dance with the Kingdom.

The Reed Rules Saga, Files: Calls For An Intervention, Fans Need To Back Off And Monahan Weighs In

It’s no “mashed potatoes.”

Twenty-four hours later, Sunday’s “cheater” yell remains a shocker in a sport largely heckle-free. And totally predictable given Patrick Reed’s lack of a legitimate explanation for his cheating episode at the 2019 Hero World Challenge.

The outburst was surprising for the event, home to chill Maui crowds.

Brentley Romine on what was said and when during the 2020 Sentry.

Randall Mell writes for Golf Channel on the need of Team Reed to host an intervention due to overall point-misser tendencies.

Because this isn’t even really about Reed’s welfare. It’s about where the game is being further pushed if he doesn’t admit his need for forgiveness and seek some sort of absolution. It’s about how even reasonable golf fans are willing to accept heckling when it’s aimed at a player who is so remorseless in his indiscretion.

The sport is in trouble when heckling can be justified as defense of the game’s honor.

Michael Bamberger had a different view of “the heckle heard ‘round the world”, saying it’s the job of fans to save the sport by remaining genteel:

If golf is on the road to anything goes, on the part of players or spectators, the professional game will be on life support before Tiger gets his 18th major.

Ultimately this all ignores what I see as equally important: has the lack of any significant punishment for Reed increased the likelihood of more fan incidents? We considered this going into the Presidents Cup, and now we know how those crowds treated Reed (not well).

A second high profile episode in his first PGA Tour start of 2020 now exists during a sudden death playoff. And his case is closed. Commissioner Jay Monahan speaking in Maui, as reported by Dave Shedloski at GolfWorld.com:

“Golf is a game of honor and integrity, and you've heard from Patrick,” Monahan said. “I've had an opportunity to talk to Patrick at length, and I believe Patrick when he says that [he] did not intentionally improve [his] lie. And so you go back to that moment, and the conversation that he had with [rules official] Slugger [White], and the fact that a violation was applied and he agreed to it, and they signed his card and he moved on. To me that was the end of the matter.”

Given that Reed appears to have gotten away with something in the eye of most fans and PGA Tour leadership, it’s easy to envision many more fan episodes.

Oh, and he video, if you missed the 2020 Sentry:

WATCH: A fan yells "cheater" while Patrick Reed putts for nearly $2m #SentryTOCpic.twitter.com/wkLxvuWPAt

— Odds.com.au (@OddsComAu) January 6, 2020

Golf Central’s discussion of Reed’s issues with fans:

Monahan On Next TV Deal: More Work To Do Than Has Been Suggested

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan spoke to the light sprinkling of golf reporters on hand for the 2020 Sentry Tournament of Champions, reports GolfDigest.com’s Dave Shedloski. He covered an array of topics, but for those eager to see how the PGA Tour positions media rights for 2022 and beyond, it seems no decision will be coming imminently.

“We have more work to do. Probably more work than has been suggested,” Monahan said. “But I've been bullish on our prospects before we entered the process, and I'm as, if not more, bullish as we get through it.”

And this on TV vs…platforms:

He said that much more attention is being given to the delivery platforms as opposed to a straight television deal. “I’m probably more focused on that than I am anything else,” he said. “Making certain that … we continue to provide our content to our fans in the way that they want to consume that content.”

Commish On PGA Tour's Pace Of Play Efforts: "When we’re ready to talk about what we’re going to do, I’ll be excited to talk to all of you about it.”

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan met with Tour Championship media Tuesday and talked about his round Saturday with Donald Trump, Fred Ridley and Pete Bevaqua (Steve DiMeglio reports here) along with the slow play debate.

DiMeglio endorsed Monahan’s view that the PGA Tour should take things more cautiously, despite the European Tour’s aggressive moves this week. Here was Monahan’s remark:

“I wouldn’t say we’re going to be influenced in any way,” by the European Tour’s freshly minted directive, Monahan said. “I think everybody looking at this, talking about it is a good thing, and they’ve obviously decided that that’s the right thing for the European Tour. And when we’re ready to talk about what we’re going to do, I’ll be excited to talk to all of you about it.”

Rex Hoggard at GolfChannel.com saw Monahan’s comments differently, sensing the Commish did his best Heisman pose in a contradiction of the tour’s normally boundary-pushing efforts on other fronts, calling the current strategy “reactionary at best and indifferent at worst.”

Hoggard writes of the tour’s plan to keep studying data:

Still, it’s difficult to imagine how endless data points can speed up a game that’s been grinding along at a snail’s pace for decades. Or how the Tour, which leads the game on so many fronts, can become more than just a follower when it comes to pace of play.

Also confounding: every major sport is looking for ways to speed things up, trim game or season time and the PGA Tour has gone the opposite direction, resisting such efforts and endorsing exploding distances that only add time to rounds.

PGA Tour Commish Issues Memo To Reign In The Lunatic Fringe

I was starting to wonder if PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan enjoyed seeing his players bash the governing bodies over the new rules given his public stance against the R&A and USGA over distance. A position which has added to the disharmony as it suggested to players that the governing bodies are looking to take your hard-earned distance and hard-earned endorsement dollars away.

Maybe he saw Charl Schwartzel unnecessarily berating a PGA Tour official at the Honda or read some of the absurd player comments directed at the new rules.

Maybe he read Eamon Lynch’s Golfweek column on what a bad look it is for the pros to be whining about rules that do not effect 99.9% of the population or rules that were enacted with good intentions to help the pro game. Sure, some things really stink like the drop rule, but as Lynch writes…

The problem is that Tour players seem less interested in providing insight than in shifting blame.

Maybe it was Justin Thomas’s Twitter exchange with the USGA.

Maybe Michael Bamberger’s admonishment of all involved did the trick.

Just ask yourself, before you open your mouth or Twitter account: Are you about to make the game better? Are you putting the game first, or yourself? Fowler failed on Thursday. The USGA failed on Saturday. It was all so inane it makes you want to scream.

Maybe the accountants finally delivered an updated estimate on Foster and Partner’s new PGA Tour HQ building and realized there’s nothing left to administer the rules, much less enforce them?

Maybe Monahan was touched by R&A Ambassador Padraig Harrington’s defense of his friends in the rules world or the comments of Thomas Bjorn, a Ryder Cup winning captain who knows everything after guiding Europe to victory.

Maybe he saw this fight among grown men in flip-flops at a South African course over cheating and realized it looks a little like his players squabbling with the governing bodies?

Or maybe he read the absolute gibberish being churned out by some of his players on Twitter.

Matthew Fitzpatrick, for instance:

I find it ridiculous that the USGA and R&A are getting so much abuse about these new rules. The rule is there to help. The problem is the rules officials themselves giving out the penalty. It is their job to be fair and realise players are not being lined up not the organisations

— Matt Fitzpatrick (@MattFitz94) March 3, 2019

I believe Matthew is saying PGA Tour referees are supposed to ignore the rules as written. What could go wrong!

And this exchange involving Patton Kizzire, followed up by some particularly odd logic from Andrew Landry, could have done the trick:

Knee height is fine. Flag stick in is fine. Tapping down spike marks is great. Caddie accidentally being behind you at some point during your setup resulting in a penalty is asinine. Every penalty assessed since the rules changes, the player gained no advantage.

— Patton Kizzire (@pkizzire) March 3, 2019

Yes, Patton not getting in the U.S. Open is exactly the reason to throw out the new rules! Brilliant!

Whatever it was, Monahan issued a memo to PGA Tour players reported on by GolfChannel.com’s Rex Hoggard essentially telling the lunatics in the asylum to pipe down.

This should quiet things, assuming the players actually read the memo:

“[The Tour] put forward a lengthy list of recommendations to improve the rules in many ways, including the removal of numerous penalties, and virtually all our suggestions were incorporated,” the memo from Monahan read. “We also had the opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed rules prior to implementation, which resulted in modifications for the final version.”

The full document Tweeted by Hoggard:

Memo from Tour commissioner to players on Monday re: this year’s rule changes. “This is a collaborative process, one the PGA Tour has been a part of from the beginning, along with all organizations in the world,” the memo reads. pic.twitter.com/pTa17UuQCC

— Rex Hoggard (@RexHoggardGC) March 5, 2019

PGA Tour Commish: "Hard to argue you should be changing anything right now because the sport is growing and thriving."

It’s hard to get past the above quote from PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan made in a 2019 Sentry TOC media session and reported here by Golfweek’s Dan Kilbridge.

The Commissioner’s views on distance are no secret: he wants to hype younger and longer players because he believes that’s why people watch the game despite all of the grandstands being at greens and not tee boxes.

You can take your pick of reasons for a short-sighted stance that even his youth-obsessed predecessor never went so far overboard to make. But more alarming is the view that the sport is growing and thriving, so why change a thing?

“We’re gonna be a party to all these discussions,” Monahan said. “We’re going to understand everybody’s perspectives as the USGA and R&A move forward with their Distance Insights project, but it’s hard to argue you should be changing anything right now because the sport is growing and thriving.”

If it’s growing and thriving, why do we have all of these expensive grow the game initiatives to jumpstart participation?

Why is the golf course industry fearful of a recession and a new tax code eliminating entertainment deductions if the game is thriving?

There is also the PGA Tour as a product. He should be hoping for a variety of players and a variety of playing styles to make the game thrive, not a one-dimensional power game. No sport that’s gone all in on technology and power has come out better. As a fan of sports, Monahan should know this. And he should know better.

Commish Claims Improved Fall Fields About Players Trying To Not Fall Behind In FedExCup

Now, I’ve scanned Google News for players mentions of accruing FedExCup points as their motivation to play this fall and haven’t found one yet. Still, Commissioner Jay Monahan says the appearances by some big names this fall is all about FedExCup points positioning. From Rex Hoggard’s GolfChannel.com story:

“You are seeing right now at the first part of the season more top players playing and trying to get themselves in position as we flip the switch and get into the new year,” Monahan told GolfChannel.com. “It’s important not to be too far behind and to be in a solid position for the FedExCup.”

It’s important, but not nearly as important as getting into majors or winning them.

“Given where we are now with the significance of the FedExCup and now the Wyndham Rewards Top 10 and a shorter season with fewer at-bats in the playoffs, the significance of these fall events has grown. The support they get from the markets they play in and the sponsors has grown and they are as critical a part of the season as any,” Monahan said.

Hard sell alert!

Golf is still about the majors and for viewers, sponsors and players, January-July. So while the Wyndham Rewards could be the real reason Jordan Spieth is playing in Mexico this week, they likely are not given that he heard from his buddies what a great event the Mayakoba Classic is (as the story notes).

There is one disconcerting takeaway from Hoggard’s story: increased fall starts may be a response to the crowded 2019 schedule and the expected need to drop starts to deal with a compacted schedule.

Monahan concedes that the flow of the new schedule will likely create an extended learning curve for players who must now find places to take breaks in order to play their best when it matters the most at the majors. One of the likely ways players will do that is to add to their fall schedules.

So stars may subtract a stop or two during the bread and butter portion of the season when the most eyeballs are on the sport. Something to remember when the old Bob Hope Classic can’t get a sponsor or events like Bay Hill struggle to draw a star-studded field.

To put it another way, selling FedExCup sounds more important to the PGA Tour than the individual tournaments doing the heavy lifting and charitable contributions. Some events will benefit from the schedule change and shifting dynamics, but by touting the potential trimming of field quality in the prime winter/spring season to prop up the fall, the tour risks chipping away at the “product” presented when the most eyeballs are watching: the West Coast and Florida Swings.

Monahan On The Players: "This product works in May, this product works in March."

He hasn't rolled out a Finchem-esque coterminous or compaction reference, but Jay Monahan has definitely picked up a case of B-speak during a week of Players Championship meetings.

From a chat with GolfChannel.com's Rex Hoggard, updating us on the schedule, the Tiger-Phil pairing and the state of the Players. 

“To bring the best field in golf here, early in the season and to be able to use this platform and have tent-pole events, big events, every month March through July and get the playoffs to a position where we’re really excited about where we’re going, that’s good for the overall schedule.

“When you look at how we make this product [The Players] better, this product works in May, this product works in March. You need to pick the areas where you need to improve.”

"PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan proves to be what tour needed"

Steve DiMeglio of USA Today profiles Commissioner Jay Monahan a year into the job and notes the strong run of late securing sponsors, including nine tournaments with 10-year deals.  He is pleased and humbled by the opportunity.

“Honestly, I don’t think about me and my job but I think about what we are doing,” Monahan said. “I feel like the product is our players — how they perform, how they relate to each other, how they relate to the fans. And our financial contributions are significant. We are part of the fabric of so many communities, which brings a whole level of responsibility and energy. We are in a good place with all of that.”

I'm not sure about this that Davis Love bought into, but it makes for a good story from Commissioner 60 Is The Mandatory Retirement Age For Everyone But Me:

“Tim paid Jay a very high compliment one time when he said to me, ‘You know, I don’t really want to retire, but Jay is so ready. I need to get out of his way,’” said Davis Love III, one of four players on the Tour’s policy board. “That’s the highest of compliments.

And I think we'll all remember this next time a PGA Tour player leaves a ball down as a backstop in defiance of honor and integrity.

“There are so many things I love about golf,” he said. “Its meritocracy — nothing is given, everything is earned. The values of the game — honor, integrity, respect, sportsmanship.”

PGA Tour Going Against The (Sports) Grain On Pace Of Play

The European Tour introduces a shot clock tournament this year in response to a growing sense the pro game takes too long. And while we have not seen the slow play "personal war" predicted by Chief Executive Keith Pelley when he took the job in 2015, the European Tour continues to suggest that it sees where the world is headed: toward shorter, tighter windows for sporting events.

Major League Baseball is working desperately to shorten games. Bold proposals will be floated at the upcoming owners meetings, even to the point of experimenting with radical plans for extra innings. This comes after the first wave of pace initiatives did not go far enough.

The NBA has already limited timeouts at the end of games and cut TV timeouts. The end of a game moves better.

The NFL attempted to address fan concerns about their long games but only made a half-hearted attempt at picking up the pace. At least they tried.

Even professional tennis is experimenting with a much faster product for the "NextGen".

The PGA Tour avoids enforcing its pace of play rules and, as we saw at Sunday's 6-hour Farmers Insurance Open that was tainted by J.B. Holmes, this is a tour rallying around a player who openly defied (paying) fans, his playing partners and common sense. He knew he could not be penalized so why rush?

We could blame the PGA Tour's slow-play apathy to now-retired Commissioner Tim Finchem's disdain for penalty strokes and his obsession with vanity optics (such as players taking off their caps to shake hands). Those concerns of the Commissioner's office about a player's brand taking hit made enforcement impossible for the tour's referees, who also face pressures in moving fields around from faster greens and distance-driven log-jams on half-par holes.

There was hope new Commissioner Jay Monahan would follow the progressive lead of colleagues like Adam Silver (NBA) or Rob Manfred (MLB) and realize that younger fans are far more interested in action sports that take less of their time. But forget the kids. Who can watch a sport that takes over five hours and featuring players who have no regard for anyone else but themselves? Imagine paying $55 to watch a guy not play ready golf and playing only when he absolutely feels ready.

By signaling this week he sympathized with the supposed plight of Holmes, Monahan confirmed he will not use the power of the Commissionership to speed up play. All Monahan had to do was suggest that with high winds and pressure, it was a tough spot but the fans were right to believe this was a less-than-ideal look for the sport, particularly at a time millions of non-golf fans had tuned in for the Grammy's.

Instead, Monahan made it hard to believe his tour is interested in gaining new fans or in addressing the concerns of longtime fans that some of today's players are just too slow to watch. The Holmes incident captured on camera what paying fans all-too-often see during a PGA Tour event: a player taking much longer than their allotted 40 seconds.

Meanwhile, the European Tour is forging ahead with pace-related initiatives on multiple fronts designed to draw in new fans and intrigue those bored with the sport. While some of the measures are extreme and a middle ground with the PGA Tour position is the ideal, at least the European Tour is building off of the prevailing view after golf's 2016 return to the Olympic Games: the professional sport is woefully ill-equipped to compete in the global sports marketplace at its current pace, scale and preferred format. The pro game will fade into irrelevance if it does not adapt in a world that loves sport more than ever, just in smaller doses.

Justin Thomas, Commissioner Jay Monahan Have J.B. Holmes' Slow-Playing Back

It's hardly a shocker that someone who speeds up a shot in hopes of taking advantage of a backstopping ball on the green has no problem with J.B. Holmes pitching a tent, even when at the expense of his playing partner and the PGA Tour product.

But that's Justin Thomas' view of last Sunday's debacle.

Brentley Romine, writing for Golfweek from the Waste Management Open, includes this from the current PGA Champion and Player Of The Year:

“I have J.B.’s back all day on that situation,” Thomas said Wednesday at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. “It bothered me and I hate it for him. I went up to him (Tuesday) and told him … it was a great tournament for him, but I have a hard time saying I wouldn’t do anything differently than he did.

Again, nothing bad times and a penalty stroke now and then wouldn't fix. Or a "spirit of the rules" class.

Sadly, Commissioner Jay Monahan missed an opportunity to address speed of play, essentially confirming he will continue the do-nothing approach of his predecessor Tim Finchem.

From The Forecaddie's report from TPC Scottsdale where Monahan played the Wednesday pro-am and made excuses for Holmes taking over 4 minutes to play a shot:

“As it relates to J.B. … He was in the heat of the moment. It’s really hard to win out here. You’re trying to think through how you can get on the green in two with that amount of wind. I think he thought it would subside quickly, and it subsided and picked back up, and I think he said what he needed to say.”

There you go boys, take all the time you need until you get the wind you like.