"Some leagues revel in humanizing their athletes. God forbid the weekend golfer should see something that does the same thing with Tour players."
/In an odd-man-on-the-street moment today, I was talking golf with someone who is not a serious fan and the subject of Henrik Stenson's shank from last week came up. The person wanted to see it but could not find it because the PGA Tour worked actively to scrub it from YouTube, even though they have a content sharing agreement that allows ads on fan-posted videos, and even though Stenson himself would later joke about the shot.
Most of all, they missed an opportunity to generate discussion and even humanize the reigning FedExCup champion. While it may seem like a minor issue to most, for those who see how sports continue to reap the benefits of social media, YouTube and viral videos, this does not bode well for future viral videos deemed conduct unbecoming of the PGA Tour image as Commissioner Finchem sees it. (That's an image nearly obsessed with silly stuff like men taking their hats off to shake hands and not enough to do with the actual joys and nightmares of playing high-level golf.)
Garry Smits posted a better rant than mine, because he notes how the vaunted NFL Films built much of the No Fun League's stature on...bloopers.
Does the word viral mean anything at the Tour? Don't they want hits and page views?
Yeah, it was the FedEx Cup champion, hitting a horrid shot. Guess what? He came back and was even-par through 10 holes when weather halted the round. And then kidded himself about it.
Apparently the guy who hit the shot is the only one connected with the PGA Tour who has a sense of humor about it.
And let it be noted that the most popular content from NFL Films since its early days have been blooper films and videos. Some leagues revel in humanizing their athletes.
God forbid the weekend golfer should see something that does the same thing with Tour players. Or is simply entertaining.