FedExCup Foursquare: How to Bribe Players to Do Their Jobs

A whole lot of newsworthy things have happened on the PGA Tour in recent weeks. The Wyndham Championship allowed fans to bring in cell phones during tournament play. Jim Furyk missed his pro-am tee time by five minutes and was DQ'd, prompting a Phil Mickelson repudiation of the Tour and a suspension of the rules. The FedExCup Playoffs continue. And, oh yes, play is as slow as ever.

Geoff Shackelford got me chuckling when he brought all of those ideas together in his new Golf World column on slow play. He thought about ways the Tour could incentivize players to get around the 18 faster in tandem with a quirky corporate sponsorship.

Well what about using Foursquare - a social media platform geared to getting people to check-in from where they are in the world - to track players' speed and tardiness? They could be asked to check in at tournament site - ranging from pro-ams to in-tournament checkpoints. It could be like a homing device on a bird, and fans could track the players on the Web! Pro-am participants would know if their player will show up or not. Fans will know if Jim Furyk just backed off a putt for the seventh time. Competitors can know if they can take a quick leak before finishing out the hole. 

Everyone wins using Foursquare, but there needs to be a motive. And on Foursquare, they're badges! So here are the three I suggest.