Is the Champions Tour A Closed Shop?
by Ryan Ballengee on Oct 11, 2010 4:29 PM EDT
in Pro Golf
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PrintCanadian Jim Rutledge had a fantastic finish in the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship. Surging as high as the top five, Rutledge finished T8 - his best showing on the circuit ever, including 13 starts this season. Perhaps most important, though, he moved up ten places in the money list to 59th.
On his Facebook page, PGA Tour veteran David Ogrin made a great point about the battle a guy like Rutledge faces to break through on the Champions Tour and find regular starts. The combination of smaller fields - no higher than 81 - and the qualification categories make it tough for a middling PGA Tour pro to thrive on the Champions Tour.
The bulk of Champions Tour fields - 64 of either 78 or 81 players - are filled through two criteria:
- 30 spots from the prior year's money list (can go as low as 50th on the list through this criteria)
- 30 spots from the combined all-time PGA and Champions Tour money list (can go as low as the 70th eligible 50+ player)
- 4 spots for guys who don't fit in those categories, but are next available from the PGA Tour all-time wins list
The first category makes complete sense, but as Ogrin points out, the second does not.
"[The combined career money list] is dominated by players who have played the Champions Tour the last 15 years. If Jim has 8 consecutive million dollar years he still would not pass say Jay Sigel who NEVER played the Tour."
Sigel was an amateur golfer until he was eligible for the Champions Tour. But at 18th on the career Champions Tour money list with $9.4 million, he is easily safe within that second qualifying category. Some are not as lucky.
"JL Lewis has 2 wins and $7.9M and he is BARELY eligible," Ogrin added. "Tom Byrum with $6.6 and one win is NOT eligible, yet Bob Murphy can play whenever he wants."
Bob Murphy doesn't play anymore, but made his name on the Champions Tour in the early 90s. Add in names like Jim Colbert and you can paint a picture of a slew of guys who benefited from the increase in Tour purse money across the board as the PGA Tour umbrella became firmly entrenched.
To a degree, this speaks of self-preservation on the part of players past even their second primes who still want a spot when they need it. For guys who played in the second half of the Champ Tour's existence - the Irwin Era and onward - they have secured spots to extend their shelf life.
But guys who have tremendous career records on the PGA Tour have nothing to worry about when they turn 50. With the exponential increase in purse dollars in the last fifteen or twenty years, they will eventually replace the current crop of players on the all-time combined money list when their time comes. Will they preserve their cushy 50+ careers in the Tour's fourth generation, or opt for a more competitive and modern Champions Tour?
As the Golden Age of golf - and the Big Three with it - have moved on from competition, the Champions Tour may have to rethink how it forms fields.
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A CLOSED SHOP ?
It was designed that way from it’s inception…When
Don January and Miller Barber set the old Seniors tour in motion…it was closed period…yes, they had Monday qualifying, but for 4 spots….It was for guys off the PGA Tour, who really had fallen on hard times….The fact that Don and Miller won everything in sight for 2 years, didn’t matter….it really hasn’t changed that much today…except for prize money of course….STUB
This isn't news...
…and is there a point to an accusatory post ?
And what do you call the PGA Tour four spot each week ?
Of course the Champions Tour is more of a closed shop than the PGA Tour or Nationwide or European Tours – they play a no cut season, so there are an extremely limited number of cards available, unlike the rest of the Tours. As it’s been pointed out time and again, except for the Senior US and British Opens, this is mostly competitive exhibition golf for some pretty good cash.
I realize it goes against a lot of modern “democratic” thought, but there is no requirement that a league like this be open to the general public. And if you examine….well…anything to any extended degree, all leagues are closed shops if you take it out far enough. There are enough cards to insure full fields from week to week, and that is what the organizers want.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
1. Not an accusatory post. I’m asking a question.
2. I’m not saying it’s news. It’s a discussion point.
3. I’m not saying anything about “fairness” or “democracy”. I’m asking if it behooves the Champions Tour to operate in this way. I don’t think it does.
4. The Champ Tour is a business – for both the folks in Florida, and also the players. It makes better business sense to have a stronger balance of relevant players and gate-attracting legends. That’s not balanced right now.
Find me! Email: ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com, Twitter: http://twitter.com/waggleroom, or Facebook: http://facebook.com/waggleroom.
by Ryan Ballengee on Oct 11, 2010 7:58 PM EDT up reply actions
Great post
Though I am biased – Rut played junior golf at my home course and as such has always been a draw. In response to what others have written I would say that it is entirely relevant as any investigation into the process by which players qualify for any tour or single event allows for a greater understanding of 1) the struggle to make it 2) the business behind the tour/event.
As a Business the CT might care to ask itself how it is going to draw new viewers and fans… one way is obviously to grow the game outside of the national boundaries that (for the most part) contain it currently, as well as growing the game so that there are new stories and faces for fans to become engaged with. Rutledge is a prime candidate.
While the CT tour is currently riding high with FC and BL leading the way and TWat always a huge draw – the fact that FC back is always a swing away from rehab and BL is not the draw that Freddie is leaves a huge gap between the current interest and future interest. I know that everybody looks at the PGA graduating class and thinks that the CT is in great position with all the new 50 Y/O coming up but consider for a moment that anyone coming from the PGA to the CT is most likely a millionaire (a couple times over) already then what impetus do they really have to play a full schedule. IMO the CT needs more players like Rut.
A comparison from a number of years ago would have been Tom Wargo – middling PGA tour player that came out to the CT and won as well as bringing the underdog back into the game.
Golf is a game of underdogs and champions – without one then what do the champions become?
by Drew McCallum on Oct 12, 2010 12:59 PM EDT up reply actions
1. 1+1=2….do we need a post ?
2. What’s to discuss ?
3. History disagrees with you – in a league like this, you want the biggest names available to you – not a slew of driving range pros…even though one driving range pro from Georgia had a pretty good string of victories.
4. The relevant players ARE the gate attracting legends. Balance ? That would require expanding the Super Seniors, which pretty much phased itself out.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
I think it’s worth a discussion in the context of what Ogrin brought up. Frankly, if I didn’t see his Facebook musings, I wouldn’t have asked the question.
I think the reasoning behind the qualification categories today is (1) simplicity and (2) the belief that guys like Palmer, Nicklaus, et al, – THE legends – will still play. Since that’s not really true, let’s create a special category for those guys. It can be the Big Three rule or something :)
Find me! Email: ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com, Twitter: http://twitter.com/waggleroom, or Facebook: http://facebook.com/waggleroom.
by Ryan Ballengee on Oct 12, 2010 9:33 AM EDT up reply actions
That's gonna happen when a pig
gives sour beer in England…….hahaha….STUB
solution
The Champions Tour is missing one thing that would equalize access to a card, Q-School. Every other big-time tour has one, so why not? The tour could have a rule that exempts those with a certain number of PGA Tour wins or major championships.
"(I)f you think you've got an inside track to absolute truth, you become doctrinaire, humorless and intellectually constipated." Saul Alinsky
Champions Tour does have a Q-school. It’s the toughest one to get through because there are only a handful of cards handed out.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
I should know better than to stick my opinions where they don’t belong. I’ve never watched even a minute of a Champions Tour event.
"(I)f you think you've got an inside track to absolute truth, you become doctrinaire, humorless and intellectually constipated." Saul Alinsky
WHAT??????????????
What kind of “true” golfer would not have ever watched a Champions Tour event?? You’ve got to quit recording and watching Jerry Springer……..:)
The Saints ARE the SUPER BOWL CHAMPS....WHO DAT!
Really ? Never ? They’ve gotten a lot more serious in the last few years, but a lot of the guys still interact with the galleries and have some fun while they’re on the course.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
Time I spent watching golf on television this year:
Weekly PGA Tour, Champions Tour, Nationwide Tour events – 0
Masters – a couple of hours Saturday
USOpen – maybe an hour at the end of one day because I knew they’d focus on 17 & 18. I like the view.
Open Championship – about 30 minutes.
PGA Championship – I turned it on Sunday in time to see Dustin Johnson on 18, then turned it off before the playoff.
Men on tour play a game I’m not familiar with, can’t relate to, so why waste my time.
I do watch most LPGA events and Big Break when the cast has women.
"(I)f you think you've got an inside track to absolute truth, you become doctrinaire, humorless and intellectually constipated." Saul Alinsky
That explains why you built that really tall wall in the back yard, eh ? Buy a few panes of glass, too ? :-)
I know what you mean about the PGA Tour guys playing a game you’re not familiar with, but with the men, you can learn some possibilities – shots you might never think about trying or understand how to pull them off.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
I agree Court
Also, may I add we can learn from the Ladies game also..not many try to kill the ball like our male egos.
So what happens when only 15 of the 30 in category 2 sign up to play? Are those spots then open for qualifying, or do they open to players farther down on the combined money list? Or are the open to those that have conditional exemptions?
I write about golf at www.tees2greens.com, too.
I realize you’re going for a slight exaggeration – half of an entire catagory isn’t going to not play – but yes – they are flexible with their qualifier if they need a couple more players. They also have a list of guys they can call on at the last minute. One of them used to be the pro at a resort in North Georgia, and he finished top 5 that week.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
I guess I didn’t think I was exaggerating…I was figuring that many of the guys in category 2 probably also qualify as category 1, which would may leave openings in category 2…but now when I re-read it above, it says it will go all the way down to 70th on the combined money list…but like Ryan was suggesting above, there are probably several guys eligible in category 2 that won’t be playing regulary (or at all) right now.
I write about golf at www.tees2greens.com, too.
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