When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
Monahan: “Why is this group spending so much money--billions of dollars--recruiting players and chasing a concept with no possibility of a return?”
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Doug Ferguson files an AP report on PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan’s booth visit—finally!—blasting the Saudi Arabia government backed golf league. Facing questions from Jim Nantz, a severely overdue dicussion about the money source took place on national televsion.
Speaking of the folks who brought us 9/11, journalist carvings, beheadings galore and high oil prices because it’s fun for the Crown Prince—Monahan offered this:
“It’s not an issue for me, because I don’t work for the Saudi Arabian government,” Monahan said, a veiled dig at the notion of being a free agent. “But it probably is an issue for players who chose to go and take that money. I think you have to ask yourself a question: Why.
“Why is this group spending so much money — billions of dollars — recruiting players and chasing a concept with no possibility of a return?” he said. “At the same time, there’s been a lot of questions, a lot of comments, about the growth of the game. And I ask, ‘How is this good for the game?’”
Monahan also focused on the relative integrity of PGA Tour competition compared to the first LIV stop.
“You’ve got true, pure competition, the best players in the world here at the RBC Canadian Open, with millions of fans watching. And in this game, it’s true and pure competition that creates the profiles and presences of the world’s greatest players. And that’s why they need us. That’s what we do,” Monahan said.
LIVlier Than Most! Recapping A Wacky Day In Golf
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Mickelson, Norman, Johnson, Nicklaus and Tiger make news.
The news of Tiger’s U.S. Open WD got a special midday edition of The Quadrilateral.
Monahan: "The system is working"
/The New York Times’ Bill Pennington looked at the youth movement on the PGA Tour and other than suggesting ratings are soaring (they’re definitely not), it’s an interesting read.
But this quote from Commissioner Jay Monahan about the emergence of all under-30-year-olds’s in the world top ten struck me as, well, odd.
“It’s a reflection of the system at work,” said Jay Monahan, the PGA Tour commissioner. “The athleticism, the youth, the preparedness, the system is working. You can talk about the top five, but you can extend it past the top five and into the top 30.”
We could also be in a transition period similar to the mid 90s where some top players finally hit a wall, grew older and a new guard stepped in. The system? I guess. But I get we have to go to the whip and play up the athleticism card for the ad agencies.
PGL's Updated Proposal: Co-Sanctioning, $460 Million Advance, For-Profit Model, No Crown Prince
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Bob Harig at SI.com has details of the World Golf Group/Premier Golf League’s latest pitch to get a meeting with PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and the PGA Tour Policy Board.
Set aside the silliness of the current 200 PGA Tour players getting $2 million each for being in the right place at the right time (Thanks Tiger!), and consider the specifics.
World Golf Group states it believes the PGL will generate $10 billion of equity value by 2030, which would equate to $20 million per PGA Tour voting member and $3 million per Korn Ferry member.
In addition, the proposal includes a cash advance on future equity value of $460 million. In simple terms, each of 200 voting members of the PGA Tour would receive $2 million upon the launch of the PGL, with 200 Korn Ferry members each getting $300,000.
Andy Gardiner, the CEO of the Premier Golf League, who was recently at the Players Championship, declined to comment.
Harig noted Rory McIlroy’s comments on the No Laying Up podcast last December that all but force him to bring the proposal to the table.
“Yes, OK, I get the business model that the PGA Tour is currently under, Andy said 'hamstrung,' in terms of ... this is just sort of what they can do and they’re doing their best with what they can, and I agree that they’re doing a wonderful job within the structure they’re in because that was what was created before Jay (Monahan) took charge. You know it is what it is. But if someone comes along and says I think I can create this amount of revenue and distribute it amongst every player, you have to listen to that, right? Because again, that’s my responsibility to all the players who voted me into this position.’’
But as Harig notes…
What remains to be seen is if McIlroy, the PGA Tour Policy Board and Monahan will take a meeting with the World Golf Group to discuss the PGL proposals.
Mike Tirico's Sitdown Interview With Jay Monahan
/This aired on Live From The Players initially and may get another showing if the forecasters are accurate. But it’s a compelling one-on-one between NBC’s Mike Tirico and PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan.
While it’s refreshing to see Monahan take a blunt, transparent stand, I’m still of the view he should have done this sooner. Nonetheless, it’s worth a watch
PGA Tour Grants Saudi Releases With Draconian Conditions: Players Must Play Return To Play Pebble Beach At Least Once, Possibly Even Twice!
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Punishment for those collecting seven and eight-figure appearance fees (Photo by Geoff Shackelford)
They weren’t bluffing down there at the Global Home regarding February’s Saudi International and preventing as many as thirty top players from playing the same week as the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Nobody messes with Jay Monahan! He is the Sheriff of all…wait, what?
The potential defectors get to abandon one of the biggest events on the PGA Tour calendar and their punishment will to play Pebble Beach-Spyglass-MPCC over the next two years? All while collecting huge appearance fees and possibly laying the groundwork for fundamentally disrupting the PGA Tour’s business?
Tony Soprano, he is not. Guess Jay’s in the holiday spirit?
Back in July Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch reported that players would be denied releases to play the event believed to be a precursor to a Saudi Golf League. But now Lynch is first to report the releases will be granted for the February 3rd-6th event but with “strings attached.” Some really, really thin strings.
Any player who has competed in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am event at least once in the past five years must commit to play at least once in the next two years (2023 and 2024). Players who have not competed at Pebble Beach in the last five years will need to do so twice in the three years until 2025.
The travesty of it all! How will they cope?
A source familiar with the names of the 30 players who applied for waivers told Golfweek that 19 of them will have to commit to one appearance at the AT&T, while the other 11 will be required to play twice.
Cracking that whip! I half-expected to read they’d be prevented from getting Spanish Bay rooms overlooking the service bay.
One source familiar with the situation told Golfweek that lower-profile players invited to compete in King Abdullah Economic City have been offered appearance fees of around $400,000, with mid-tier players receiving between $500,000 and $750,000. High-profile stars get seven-figure offers. Chartered private aircraft to and from Saudi Arabia is also provided.
Growing the game!
Meanwhile the PGA Tour Twitter account acknowledged this gruesome situation. Remarkably, the PGA Tour has yet to suggest it has any issue with how the country in question sometimes conducts its business. Psssssst: someone tell the Global Home the Fund is no longer invested in Disney and Marriott, so no need to worry about upsetting proud or semi-proud partners.
Tiger Talks About His Future, St Andrews, Featheries, Saudis And Refers Accident Questions To Sheriff's Report
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A day after an interview by his partners at Golf Digest/Discovery that saw Tiger Woods open up on several topics, he faced questions from assembled scribes in the Bahamas to kick off Hero World Challenge week. As is fairly typical of , Woods avoided any details of his car accident and referred everyone to the police report that was eventually posted by TMZ.
He was again clear about his ability to play at a high level being very much up in the air.
I'll put it to you this way: As far as playing at the Tour level, I don't know when that's going to happen. Now, I'll play a round here or there, a little hit and giggle, I can do something like that. I certainly like -- you know, the USGA suggested Play It Forward. I really like that idea now. I don't like the tees on the back. I like Play It Forward. Come on, let's move it up, let's move it up. To see some of my shots fall out of the sky a lot shorter than they used to is a little eye-opening, but at least I'm able to do it again. That's something that for a while there it didn't look like I was going to. Now I'm able to participate in the sport of golf, now to what level, I do not know that. I'll keep you abreast, all of you abreast as progress continues to go on, whether I'll be out here and at what level and when.
Actually it was Tee it Forward and I believe that one’s ten years old and about 14 slogans ago. Excuse me, brand campaigns. But we get the point.
Q. Tiger, I'm wondering what you remember of the accident. Obviously we all saw the result and it looked so horrifying and scary, and I have a follow up to that.
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, all those answers have been answered in the investigation, so you can read about all that there in the post report.
Short and not very accountable. Would have been nice to say he’s just glad no one else was hurt.
He is out playing golf more than we might have realized:
Q. Have you played golf holes, like a full hole or 18 holes?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I play full holes, yeah, but not from my tee markers.
As for the pain…
Q. I don't want to get too personal, but what are you experiencing there at the moment, sitting there?
TIGER WOODS: My back hurts and my leg hurts.
He was asked about The Open at St Andrews and gave perhaps my favorite answer regarding the Champions dinner:
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I would love to play at St. Andrews, there's no doubt about it. It's my favorite golf course in the world. To be a two-time Open champion there, just being a part of the champions dinner is really neat. From my first one in '05 I got to attend a champions dinner, it was pretty neat to be a part of. Peter Thomson was still alive, and I sat right next to him and to hear him tell stories of when he came over and he played and shots he played and how he did it, that was awesome. Those are things like at the Masters, those dinners are priceless and those stories and listen to them talk about how they played, when they played it and what they did, it's just an honor to be a part of a room like that. Yes, I would love to be able to play that Open Championship, there's no doubt about it.
Physically, hopefully I can. I've got to get there first. Tournament's not going to go anywhere, but I need to get there.
After mentioning the Par 3 at the Masters he was jokingly asked by AP’s Doug Ferguson about committing to the Par 3 when it returns.
Q. Did you just commit to the par 3?
TIGER WOODS: No. I committed to I can play courses of that length. Now, if the Tour wants to not have golf courses lengthened, they shorten up that much to make it more difficult, that's fine by me, I have no problem with that. If they want to go back to wooden shafts and feathery balls, okay, I'm cool.
Shorter courses and a retro event. What we’ve all wanted! Maybe Jay Monahan can work on that after Tiger gave him this answer to a question about the Greg Norman disruptor league and what players should do.
TIGER WOODS: It's going to be his decision, period. I've decided for myself that I'm supporting the PGA TOUR, that's where my legacy is. I've been fortunate enough to have
won 82 events on this tour and 15 major championships and been a part of the World Golf Championships, the start of them and the end of them. So I have an allegiance to the PGA TOUR.
And I understand that some of the comparisons is very similar to when Arnold and Jack broke off from the PGA of America to start the Tour. I don't see it that way. I think the Tour has done a fantastic job, Jay's done an unbelievable job during a very difficult time during the pandemic when there was ample opportunities for players to leave, but we were the first sporting tour to start.
So with that, yes, did we have some protocol issues at times? Yes, we had to learn on the fly, but Jay and the staff had done an incredible job of that. I think the Tour is in great hands, they're doing fantastic, and prize money's going up. It's just not guaranteed money like most sports are. It's just like tennis, you have to go out there and earn it.
This answer pre-accident would have been huge news. But now that he’s on the Hogan schedule, at best participation in PGA Tour events will be very limited.
Woods also left out the thank you payment he’s receiving from the PIP pool or that he loathes Norman. But do note that he references the “end” of the WGC’s. Better not mention that in May’s WGHOF speech while Tim Finchem is saluted for creating them.
Moving along…more on where he’s at and where’s going. A far more revealing answer about his future:
TIGER WOODS: You made a great point. Am I going to put my family through it again, am I going to put myself out there again. We had a talk within the family, all of us sat down and said if this leg cooperates and I get to a point where I can play the Tour, is it okay with you guys if I try and do it. The consensus was yes.
Now, internally, I haven't reached that point. I haven't proven it to myself that I can do it. I can show up here and I can host an event, I can play a par-3 course, I can hit a few shots, I can chip and putt, but we're talking about going out there and playing against the world's best on the most difficult golf courses under the most difficult conditions. I'm so far from that.
Now, I have a long way to go to get to that point. Now, I haven't decided whether or not I want to get to that point. I've got to get my leg to a point where that decision can be made. And we'll see what happens when I get to that point, but I've got a long way to go with this leg.
This from Golf’s Dylan Dethier was another effort to ask about the accident:
Q. When it comes to the day of the crash, clearly that's something that you're hoping to keep private. Is that something that you feel is sort of your business and not the rest of ours, for lack of a better phrase?
TIGER WOODS: Well, I kind of feel that way with most of my life. Doesn't really work out that way. I understand that it's -- I had friends that insulated me from a lot of the things that were said outside. I didn't have my phone, I didn't have access -- well, I did have access to a TV and I was just watching sports. But I refused to turn on the local channels and news and stuff like that, I didn't want to go down that road. I wasn't mentally ready for that road yet. A lot of things in my body hurt at that time and whether I was on medication or not, it still hurt. And just trying to imagine me coming off of that stuff, how much it was going to hurt, I didn't want to have my mind go there yet, it wasn't ready.
Yeah, people are going to poke and prod and want to know more about my business, I understand that. Just as long as they don't go into -- they can poke and prod at me all they want, just stay away from my family.
Considering the usual interruptions from journalists there to fill seats for the sponsor and the haphazard nature of such press conferences, it was fairly classic Woods session with a few good reveals if you look close enough. More telling may have been the clarity in his voice and eyes and cautious tone from someone who traditionally projects extreme confidence.
Financial Times On "The Saudi-backed plan to shake up the sport"
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Samuel Agini of the Financial Times explores the Saudi efforts to start a golf league and does a nice job reviewing how we got to the point. In the way of original reporting, he gets some comments from Callaway’s Chip Brewer, the R&A’s Martin Slumbers and a strange “statement” from the PGA Tour’s Jay Monahan. So two of the three like the FT and felt it was worth the time to call back.
But I think what I enjoyed most is a reminder that we will get to hear Greg Norman act like he thought of things that are just totally stolen from the Premier Golf League concept. Like this on franchising:
But the structure of golf means teams cannot be bought and sold. Unlike in football and basketball, golfers are individual contractors. They work for themselves, while the tours run competitions, aggregate media rights and monetise the coverage. Despite the apparent independence of players, they typically require permission from their member tour if they are to play on rival circuits. Norman argues that this model is a missed financial opportunity. “You look at that value that’s been generated through other sports, for other players and other franchises,” he says. “Golf has never recognised that or had the ability to capture that market.”
As for quotes, the R&A’s Slumbers tried to distinguish between investment and blowing up the current structure, though he doesn’t make a case for why the current structure is that special.
He distinguishes between LIV proposals for breakaway golf leagues and initiatives such as oil company Saudi Aramco’s sponsorship of the Ladies European Tour, the women’s golf group of which Slumbers is a board member. “I think there is a difference between wanting to invest and support within the current structure and wanting to be a disrupter,” he says.
The writer only got this from Jay Monahan…
“The PGA Tour is stronger than at any time in our history and the game of golf has unprecedented momentum,” Monahan said in an emailed statement. “We are positioned to grow faster in the next 10 years than at any other point in our existence.”
I don’t even think that’s a non-denial, denial. More like a non-answer, answer.
It’s a bold strategy to only pump money to purses and bonus pools without investing fans in an exciting new future that makes them sentimental for the current model. I realize that would require caring about the fans above all else.
Live Under Fear Of Expulsion: Monahan Rolls Out New Fan Code Of Conduct, Finally Addresses PIP In The Room
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Having managed to evade any hard Q&A sessions since The Players—we don’t count Strategic Alliance pressers here—PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan answered questions on an array of pre-Tour Championship topics. He made news with a new fan code-of-conduct-policy, a mix of news related to the Asia swing, and finally answered questions about the Tour’s secret Player Impact Program, aka, the in-house trust fund for favorite sons.
Given that Monahan ushered in the PGA Tour’s relentless Live Under Par campaign early into his tenure—come out, get drunk, be a young demographic we’re desperate to court, express your inner douchey bro, make yourself part of the event by being loud, and share it all on social—I expected a trace of remorse. Not even a hint of responsibility accepted for deteriorating fan behavior.
But you don’t make $9 million a year taking blame or even acknowledging anything is actually wrong.
With that, let’s go to the transcript, starting with this from his prepared remarks:
Looking ahead, the PGA TOUR is in a position for unprecedented growth over the next 10 years, starting with the 2021-22 season. Next season official prize money will increase by approximately $35,000,000 and the FedExCup Comcast Business TOUR top-10 bonus pool combined will grow by $15,000,000 to $85,000,000. This total of $633,000,000 in comprehensive earnings marks an 18 percent increase year over year.
But we couldn’t wait to use the pandemic to lay off some low-paid people. Wonder what else those people who just had to go shared as a trait?
Anyway, buried the lede there on the Comcast thingy getting a purse bump. Really great news for fans. Imagine if we could just get Comcast to take some of that money and put tracer on the 18th tee of a playoff event? The game would really grow!
We're also excited to kick off our new domestic media rights agreements with CBS, NBC Golf Channel, and ESPN in 2022. These media companies share our vision for the future and these landmark partnerships that run through 2030 will be a major win for our fans as we expand and innovate our content and its delivery.
That’s pretty light on detail.
The golf industry is working together like never before and despite the challenges of the pandemic, the continued growth we have seen in recreational participation and in growing and diversifying our sport, our global game has never been stronger. Thank you, and thank you all for your coverage throughout the year. On behalf of the PGA TOUR, I and we appreciate all you do and the sacrifices you make to cover us throughout this year, especially across this Super Season.
Yes, all eight of you invited to the call.
Wait, is there a tension in the air? Is someone looking more uncomfortable than normal?
Before I open it up, Laura, to questions, I just, I wanted to take a minute to address a topic that's been top of mind lately for our players, fans, and of course, for those of you in the media. I'm talking about fan behavior and the interaction with our athletes, when that behavior crosses the line and what we should all be doing to address it when it does.
Bet on the next Baba Booey with a preferred PGA Tour gaming partner? Wrong!
It's been a long season, yes, but it's been a fantastic season. 50 events, THE PLAYERS Championship, six majors, the Olympics, these four consecutive playoffs, two to start the FedExCup playoffs and here we are at the TOUR Championship. It's been historic and compelling at every single turn.
Your honor, direct the witness to answer his own question and to please specify between Playoffs and sudden-death playoffs.
All of that on the heels of a lot of pent up demand with people stuck at home separated from their favorite sports and athletes like never before due to COVID and the various and necessary health and safety protocols in place to ensure we can get back to playing. It's been frustrating at times for all of us and then we get the opportunity to finally engage with our favorite sports or teams or players.
And we’ve taken living under par too far?
Well, I think we can all agree that we have seen issues as of late across the sports landscape where that pent up demand plays out in an ugly way. Golf is not immune from unfortunate and disruptive behavior, although I would say that we do have the very best fans in the world. This is about just a few bad actors. And for the record, this isn't about any one particular player or one particular incident,
Of course not, no one thought of such a thing…
but in some situations it's apparent that we have gotten away from the very civility and respect that are hallmarks to our great game.
We began working on an updated fan code of conduct program in 2020, but put it aside last summer when we were playing without spectators and needed our focus to be on implementing the complicated yet necessary health and safety plan.
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhttttttttttttt.
Once we began returning to normal capacity, we made it the highest of priorities to reinforce an environment at PGA TOUR events that allows for everyone to enjoy in a safe environment, and that is spectators players, volunteers, literally everybody.
New slogan: Talk Under Your Breath But Please Bet.
We have to be intentional about our expectations for fan behavior and I believe our fan code of conduct does that.
Intentional! Well, at least we know legal got their hands on these remarks.
By coming to a PGA TOUR event, you're expected to contribute to a welcoming and safe environment by refraining from and reporting any unsafe, disruptive, or harassing behavior. Comments or gestures that undermine the inclusive and welcoming nature of the game will not be tolerated, nor will any harassment of players, caddies, volunteers, officials, staff, or other spectators.
Media, too, right?
Fans who breach our code of conduct are subject to expulsion from the tournament and loss of their credential or ticket.
Live Under Fear of Expulsion!
Now, I would ask our fans, again, the very best fans in the world,
Yeah we got that the first time…
to take a moment and think about what it means to be a golf fan and to enjoy a PGA TOUR tournament. We're going to be leaders in this space. We're going to show everyone how easy it is to enjoy yourself at an event while also respecting the athletes in the field of play and the fans around you, many of whom are families with young kids who have a chance to be lifetime fans of the game themselves.
No you tried to take a new lead on that front and failed, miserably. Judging by the Live Under Par firesale and bon fires, you’re reassigning the folks who approved that, right?
Quite honestly, we should expect nothing less from each other, whether we're at a golf tournament or elsewhere in life.
The PGA Tour leading the way on civility after years of tolerating mashed potatoes and whitewashing the rare player run-ins with incivility? Rich!
Now to the questions…
Q. If I can just follow up on your last as it applies to the very real world situation with Bryson, would "Brooksie," would that qualify as [harassing] behavior?
JAY MONAHAN: I'm sorry, you broke up there.
Q. Sorry. Would "Brooksie" classify as harassing behavior when it's said to Bryson on a golf course?
JAY MONAHAN: Yes, and the reason I say yes is, you know, the barometer that we are all using is the word "respect," and to me, when you hear "Brooksie" yelled or you hear any expression yelled, the question is, is that respectful or disrespectful? That has been going on for an extended period of time. To me, at this point, it's disrespectful, and that's kind of behavior that we're not going to tolerate going forward.
Just think, some day historians will be looking at this transcript and saying, wait, “Brooksie” was grounds for ejection? Was that like some sort of dirty word? And why wasn’t it Brooksy?
Q. To follow up on that, have you talked with Bryson and Brooks and have you asked them to sort of ratchet down the, you know, kind of the back and forth that's going on here for the last few months?
JAY MONAHAN: I've had conversations with both players. These observations go back to pre-COVID as it relates to general concern around code of conduct at our tournaments and they certainly exist prior to that analysis that the team had led,
Teams were leading this long before the pandemic. Teams!
and so -- and I've been out over the last, at a lot of our tournaments this year, particularly since our return to play, and this issue isn't specific to one or two players.
And it sure seems like those pre-COVID chats you had with Brooks really resonated.
I think it's an opportunity to reassess overall civility at our tournament and fan behavior and reset the expectation through our fan code of conduct.
That's something that we have identified. It's something that I've talked to not only those two players, but a lot of our players about. It's something I've talked to our partners in the industry about, and we have all agreed that together we have got to come together and demonstrate what is truly exceptional about our game. And if you go back to the history of the game, the values of honor, integrity, respect that have been central fabric to the game since the point in time, our expectation is that that's what we're going to experience at our tournaments.
You see, problem is, lots of people recognized this but you wanted to chase a younger demographic and you surrounded yourself with too many marketing flacks who don’t really even like golf, thought it needed to become a party lifestyle brand, and it spiraled.
And I made the point earlier about families and kids, and we have volunteers that are giving so much of their time, and the game has never had more people coming into enjoy the game and experience it than we have had really over these last several months, and we want more people to come in. We just want to make certain that everybody can have a safe, healthy, and enjoyable experience, whether you're inside the ropes or outside the ropes and that's what we're intending to do.
Well that’s great, something most of us knew a few years ago and as it should be at a golf tournament. Let’s hope you catch the culprits behind that whole other dark chapter that led to this mess they put you in.
Let’s move on to Brooksie…Bryson.
Q. What are your concerns about having a player in Bryson, who very well could win this thing and who is one of the biggest stars on TOUR, not, not communicating with the media now, and what are his responsibilities in addressing some of the issues that you've addressed as far as fan conduct or anything else that comes up over the course of a tournament?
JAY MONAHAN: Yeah, listen, I think that as it relates to Bryson, listen, Bryson is a star. He has fascinated golf and sport fans around the world since our return to golf. He's also a young man that's growing and evolving, not just on the golf course, but off the golf course.
Yeah he’s building a new home, designing his 2022 Bentley, losing the weight he quickly gained, reading up on MRNA…
And I would just say to you that I look at this as a point in time. I don't think this is the way things are going to be for a long period of time. I'm hopeful that we'll get back to a steady cadence of communication that he'll have with the media.
Steady cadence of communication. Take that Finchem!
But he's working through some things and he's going to have my and our support as he continues to do so.
Well, can’t blame the media for violating his privacy.
Let’s take a break from the heavy stuff and read some good old fashioned gobbledygook.
And, listen, I think that as it relates to general fan behavior and any individual's role in it, I take it, I take that on as an organizational responsibility. We have had challenges in the past. We'll have challenges as we continue to go forward. And so long as we build the right systems, we effectively communicate with every one of our tournaments, we are planning and preplanning effectively, the marketplace knows the expectation when we're on-site, I think that we're going to, you know, we're going to get back to, we're going to get back to a great environment. We have a great environment. We'll continue to improve our environment at our tournaments going forward.
The shot clock expired at marketplace, sir. Back to the serious stuff.
Q. Have you ever considered, as they do in tennis, any type of a fine for players not fulfilling media obligations if they are indeed media obligations?
JAY MONAHAN: I would just say to you, in any instance, we're always going to focus on the player, the relationship with the player, understanding the player, trying to work with them to get to the right place and try and understand what's going through their heads.
You’re a golf tour, not a psychiatric hospital. But at least these independent contractors get hands-on support from their workplace.
And so a fine, I'm not sure what that is going to do for us in the long run.
Raise a little more for charity?
Ultimately we want the player presenting his best self when he's in front of the media, when he's in front of fans, and that's ultimately the goal for any player that's in a situation like that.
Lofty goals.
Q. It's my understanding that the player impact program will run through the end of the year, that it won't be a seasonal thing. I'm curious, without giving a specific example of a player, but I'm sure you've seen the list, can you give me an example of maybe content or an engagement that counts as added value when it comes to the metrics that you're using?
JAY MONAHAN: Well, we're using five different criteria, to all of which are equally weighted. And you look at Nielsen, your Saturday and Sunday time on television, to Google Search to Meltwater, to MVP Index, and to, bear with me here, it's at the back of my head, I'll come up with it. But each of these areas lead up to a player's ranking. And the bottom --
Q. Q Rating.
JAY MONAHAN: Sorry?
Q. I believe Q Rating was the one you were thinking of.
JAY MONAHAN: Q Rating, yes.
Who needs a Q rating when you have a Meltwater and MVP Index?
We really need to get clarification if that Saturday/Sunday time includes Playing Through and Eye On The Course time. Could swing the race!
The bottom line is when you look at any of those metrics, it's all about, for us, it's all about getting our players to engage in our game, help grow our TOUR, and help grow their own respective brands. And if you look at what drives engagement, it's on-course performance, and that's, that is part of the basis for the way the Player Impact Program was developed. You've seen how everybody's performed this year, and I think as we look at it and you think about the way that fans and the major story lines on the way fans have engaged, players have engaged fans through those channels, I think it's fairly intuitive.
Great, can’t wait for you to share the standings!
The point I would make is that we're up, you know, this year we're up 41 percent when you look at cross-channel consumption. We're up across every metric.
Let’s just all pause for a moment and remember our friend Tim Finchem who, in his prime, with his hair at its most dialed-in shade of North Florida auburn, never dropped a cross-channel consumption on us. Special moment here in PGA Tour history. Go on…
And I think that's, first and foremost, because of the quality of play, but I also think we're benefiting from some really powerful engagement from our players day-to-day and doing the things I just described.
Agreed, Brooks has been amazing this year.
Q. You kind of touched on some of this earlier, still having to endure the pandemic issues. Any consideration to bringing testing back for the players and support people or whatever on-site when the new season begins?
You get more cases if you test, haven’t you heard?
JAY MONAHAN: I think that the easiest way for me to answer that is that we're at, we need to respond to the realities of the pandemic and ultimately for us, that's a matter of working with our medical experts,
It went on and on. The answer was a no testing. Not even for bilateral pneumonia.
Let’s move on to the WGC HSBC, officially cancelled for 2021 according to Monahan, but the ZOZO will return to Japan after a one-year stop at Sherwood.
And about those World Golf Championships?
I think, to answer your question, you know, I see the WGCs continuing to play an important role in our schedule, but I also think you know that when you add our European Tour strategic alliance, when you have an organization that's continuously challenging itself to improve its product, improve its schedule, continue to provide the single greatest platform for top players in the world, everything becomes in play when you're going through how you might get there.
So, unfortunately -- with certainty, I can tell you that those two events are carrying forward, and long-term, I just think that we're going to continue to make them an important part of our consideration.
“For our consideration” is the new RIP.
Q. Could you confirm what Rex said, that the PIP is going to be through the end of the year? I'm not sure you really answered that part when he brought that up. And also, is the quote/unquote winner of this or the people that are in the money, so to speak, is that ever going to be made public?
JAY MONAHAN: It is through the end of the year, and we don't have any intention on publicizing it.
Such brevity!
Q. Why is that?
JAY MONAHAN: To us, it's a program that we created, was created by our players, with our players, for our players, and that's, that's what we decided that we were going to do when we created it.
For our players, by our players, to make our stars not leave us for another tour.
Q. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being not at all and 10 being the apocalypse is upon us, how concerned are you that there could be a renegade tour starting in the next year or so?
I would have gone Defcon but then I can never remember if it’s 1 to 5 or 5 to 1. Anyway, he went the “I’m just focused on the business of my tour” which is, of course, total nonsense…
JAY MONAHAN: I'm a hundred percent focused on our business and excited to be here at the TOUR Championship to complete this unbelievable season, to go into 2021-2022 with not only an incredibly strong schedule with great committed tournaments, but to be fully sponsored coming out of, coming through a pandemic, for us to have record consumption over the course of this year, taking that momentum into next year, for the value of the platform that these players are continuing to play on, for that to continue to grow, for the close work and relationship we have with our players and the way that we're going to continue to not only evolve our TOUR, but also evolve our game.
No, you stay out of the game. Other folks have it covered. We have strong proof you are not to be trusted. #liveunderpar
So that's what I, you know, that's what I have been focused on, that's what I'll continue to be focused on and I think in life you always have to be cognizant of, No. 1, there should be zero complacency to anything you do and No. 2, someone is always going to try and do, someone is always going to try and take, compete and take something away from you. And I've operated that way every day of my life and I think that's why, with the great team I have surrounded by me, we're going to continue to grow this great TOUR.
Q. Would that be a not at all?
JAY MONAHAN: I told you what I'm focused on. So it's, yeah, that's what I'm focused on.
Don’t get chippy! We’ve got a new code of conduct.
Living Under Par Has Become Reality And Players Aren't Liking What They're Hearing
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After losing a six-hole playoff, Bryson DeChambeau was on his way up the hill and presumably to a cold shower. ESPN.com’s Kevin Van Valkenburg explained what happened next:
A patron waited until DeChambeau had walked by, but was not out of earshot, then sneered from over the rope line, "Great job, Brooksie!" DeChambeau spun around in a rage and began briefly walking in his direction.
"You know what? Get the f--- out!" DeChambeau yelled. He had rage in his eyes.
But then, Van Valkenburg writes, crisis averted.
Thankfully, DeChambeau paused, angrily motioning for a police officer to handle the heckler, then continued his march up the hill. The entire exchange took less than 10 seconds. The PGA Tour declined comment when asked about the incident by ESPN. But we've been building to something like this all summer. And I don't know what the endgame is.
Oh I do!
We knew this day was coming when the PGA Tour went from These Guys Are Good to Live Under Par.
From a golf tour filled with supremely talented and generally good guys to being all about YOU! The fan.
The PGA Tour, ever desperate to lower the average viewer demographic from 65, became a wannabe lifestyle brand where you come, hold up your phones, get drunk and are as much a part of the action as the players.
In case you forgot since your bookmarks to LiveUnderPar.com no longer work, the rollout:
The slogan has been iced due to the pandemic and hopefully never returns. But the philosophy remains the same: do whatever we have to do to get younger, cooler, and less Villages-y and more TikToky.
Throw in once-secret incentive for players to make money for mentions—PIP!—and we get a little rivalry brewing that gives fans a side to take. Now, of course the ad geniuses and Commissioner Jay Monahan cannot be blamed for failing to anticipate fans returning from the pandemic with pent-up energy. But they still should have considered the ramifications of encouraging general obnoxiousness and making fans think they are as much a part of the product as players.
GolfChannel.com’s Brentley Romine talked to players about the DeChambeau heckling before the above incident was reported on by Van Valkenburg. The comments of Harry Higgs from Romine’s story were picked up by several outlets:
“I think it’s wildly inappropriate what goes on,” Higgs told GolfChannel.com on Saturday. “The he and Brooks thing, I don’t really understand it … and neither one of them has acted as they should at times, but you know, no one’s perfect, either. I watched Memphis and it affected Harris, it affected Bryson, and I don’t understand why someone who buys a ticket to an event thinks that they get to have a hand in how it plays out, and there’s starting to be a few too many people who are doing that, and then a lot of those people are following Bryson.
“It’s not in the spirit of the game, it’s not how any of us grew up, it’s not how any of us were ever told to act while at a golf course or competing.”
Except, it was the PGA Tour that told a lot of people to make noise. Live under par. They built an entire image around a campaign inspiring people to act loud and proud. Good luck reeling them in.
Whew: The Commissioner Acts To Protect FedExCup Playoff Integrity!
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Would be swell if such serious language was used in addressing green reading books, distance, slow play or low-budget productions.
But, we have massive bonus money to be handed out and it’s the Big Apple (well close enough)! Maybe this gives the New York Times to notice the end of a long PGA Tour run?
From GolfChannel.com’s Rex Hoggard:
Quadrilateral: Major(s) News And Notes, August 5th, 2021
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It’s still staggering to think the PGA Tour could not find a sponsor for a New York playoff stop. And yet it’s not after so many majors, Presidents Cups and playoff events in a short time. But this matters because the majors got pulled in on many fronts and, well, just check it out.
Plus a couple of Ryder Cup notes. It’s free every Thursday! Sign up!
PGA Tour Seeks Dismissal Of Haney Lawsuit, Cites "Supervisory Interest" In SiriusXM Programming
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Back in February the judge in Hank Haney’s lawsuit sealed the docket as mediation and discovery were ongoing, suggesting the sides might be talking.
Now Rex Hoggard reports for GolfChannel.com that the PGA Tour is back in court asking to dismiss the suit that cost Haney his popular SiriusXM radio show.
Stopping short of confirming its Radio Sawgrass status, lawyers for the Tour argued it had the right to censor the channel as part of a licensing agreement. Did I say censor? I mean, took a “supervisory interest” in Sirius XM.
From Hoggard’s report:
Haney’s contention that the Tour interfered with his contract stems at least partly from a call from Tour commissioner Jay Monahan to Scott Greenstein, SiriusXM president and chief content officer, the day after the incident.
Monahan told Greenstein that Haney’s comments were “completely unacceptable, indefensible.” In his testimony Greenstein said Monahan “was clearly upset” but that he “did not threaten Greenstein.”
The Tour also argued in its motion for summary judgement that the circuit has a “supervisory interest” in SiriusXM as a result of the license agreement between the two organizations and that “programming was required to be agreed upon by the parties in advance of distribution.”
They don’t call it state media for nothin!
