Kostis: Shortsighted Criticism (Of His Bosses)

Golfonline's Peter Kostis defends his bosses at CBS and the PGA of America for the Sunday PGA tee-time boondoggle.

Everyone is going to roll the dice when you win nine times out of 10, and the PGA of America is no exception. That's why the stream of criticism directed at them and my employer, CBS Sports, is so shortsighted.

Hey, full disclosure. It's a beautiful thing, isn't it?

The writers who feel that money is not be a part of the equation should be reminded of stories they have written that were dropped from publications because there weren't enough advertising pages to compensate for the editorial pages.

Whew, what an analogy! The golf writers of the world will really $ee the light after that zinger!

But it's naïve to suggest that the PGA and CBS should forego their business plan because of an uncertain weather forecast. When you start aiming at a moving target like that, you end up on the wrong side of 90 percent.

Uncertain weather forecast? It was on everyone's mind Saturday night, and as Tom Mackin, Kostis's colleague at Golfonline reported (and I'll link it yet again), as early as Friday the PGA's on site forecasters were very worried about the possiblity of severe weather Sunday.

The PGA wants to be taken seriously as an organization and it has worked hard to ensure that its event  maintains or even improves its standing as a major. They put all of that on the line for a Nielson bump, a rerun of 60 Minutes and someone's "business plan."

If the PGA Championship's credibility is diminished, then the PGA and CBS lose a lot more than a few rating points. They eventually lose their major. Because a May Players Championship is going to look better and better if the PGA of America emphasizes greed over the good of the game.