Finchem's Pay

Ryan Ballangee goes where apparently no other writer will dare, questioning the new 6-year, $4.5 annual salary given to Tim Finchem by the Tour policy board, and cutting salary, uh, points for various acts he sees as Commissioner missteps.

Speaking of the FedEx Cup, no one — even the Commish — seems to know how in the world this thing is going to work less than 12 months from now. What exactly has he been doing to make this happen since the concept was announced last fall? You would think that since the Tour will dramatically change in response to the concept that the boss would expedite the rules for how it will work.

It is astonishing that the Fed Ex concept would be announced without what appears to be much idea how it would work.

...the Tour response has been to encourage course lengthening (except at the TPC at Sawgrass for some reason) at tournament sites and to use pin placements that are nothing short of brutal on Sundays.

This remains a great mystery: why does the Tour refuse to lengthen Sawgrass? As much as I feel course lengthening  is a disastrous trend, it should be done at Sawgrass if you want to maintain some strategic interest during tournament play and until a change comes (if it does). Ballangee points out that the Tour has quietly encouraged course extensions and yet, here they are not budging on the "crown jewel" in the TPC family.

And...

NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue gets paid $5 million per year to do his job. Look at his track record over his tenure and see what he has accomplished — salary cap, enormous TV deals, and football has become the national pastime. Now compare all of that to what Finchem has achieved, and remember that he doesn't have to deal with 32 billionaire owners. And you're telling me that Tim Finchem is only worth $500,000 less than Tagliabue?