Finchem: U.S. Golf Has Seen Continuous Growth Since Palmer

I'm always fascinated by PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem's theories on growing the game as the mastermind of The First Tee designed to teach life lessons and now a grow-the-game initiative.

Not sure I buy the view he expressed in China Sunday while launching the developmental tour PGA Tour China, which should be a hit with the Australians.

Fourth, we know from looking at the history of golf, that the growth of the game is driven first and foremost by the development of elite players who perform at a unique level. Having the opportunity to grow elite players; thus, accelerate the development of elite players in China, will also translate into the acceleration of the growth of the game in China, which is in all of our interests.

In addition to all of those reasons, I think in summary, it's clear that today's announcement is a milestone to benefit China golf, PGA TOUR, global golf, certainly growth in China, and as a consequence, it is an important day for all of us in the game.

We've got some pretty elite players in the Tiger Woods era, starting with Tiger Woods, and the game hasn't really grown has it? In fact, most barometers suggest it's contracting.

Yet Finchem expanded on his view a few moments later in the press conference:

Q. And for Commissioner Finchem, what do you see as the No. 1 benefit to the PGA TOUR, and what will be your investment?

COMMISSIONER FINCHEM: Well, I think the overall fundamental situation is that the faster the growth, the faster we have growth of the game, impacts every aspect of the sport; certainly the professional side.

And because participation in the game drives, it drives viewership, it drives support for events, etc., etc., and they go hand in hand. Historically, the elite player comes first; strong growth comes second, and certainly that's been the case in the United States since Arnold Palmer came along in 1960 and it's been 40, 50 years of continuous growth.

Continuous? It must be so nice to live on Planet Tim where the flowers are always in bloom and everyone doesn't smoke, shaves hourly and takes their hats off before shaking hands.

So anything we can do to assist the expedition and acceleration of growth is very much in the interest of the professional game, but also golf as a whole.

I'm thinking speeding up play, shrinking the footprint of courses and figuring out ways to create fun, affordable facilities might be more, uh, impactful than developing pro golfers. I know, how absurd.