To No Surprise, Mickelson Skips Out on PGA Grand Slam
by Ryan Ballengee on Sep 21, 2010 9:43 AM EDT
in Pro Golf
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PrintFrom the moment Phil Mickelson sank that emotional last putt to take his third Masters, his place in the PGA of America's million dollar, four player Grand Slam of Golf was secure. Securely vacant. Mickelson has expressed his disinterest in the silly season tournament previously, despite having shot 59 in the two day event in 2004 to win the title.
Once again, Mickelson has said he will not play in the Bermuda event - likely jeopardizing its future. Ernie Els will take his place.
At one point in time, a very focused silly season event like this was a big draw. Having the four major winners in one place is a great idea. It just happens so often now that it is becoming quickly obsolete to have such an event.
The same is true of the Skins Game - fun concept, but hardly anyone cares anymore. After the initial shock and awe of losing an event with a great ten year run, followed by a decade or so of second rate second acts, the death of the Skins Game seems like it was a good thing.
Maybe its time to shutter the Grand Slam of Golf, too.
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I hear ya Ryan.
This year we did not get one client request to attend. Over the past several years, we have had very few at all for this now, non-event.
"pain is only weakness leaving the body"
I am probably alone in holding this opinion...
But if the Grand Slam event is still alive, albeit on life-support, Mickelson should play. Players should not have the ability to determine the life and death of a tournament. Why have a PGA front office then?
Adam Fonseca
the inmates are running the asylum
"(I)f you think you've got an inside track to absolute truth, you become doctrinaire, humorless and intellectually constipated." Saul Alinsky
Because they are "independent contractors"
The last thing the PGA Tour wants is for its players to become “employees” that would be capable of collective bargaining.
by Charles Boyer on Sep 21, 2010 10:12 AM EDT up reply actions
Good point.
However even more “common” independent contractors know when to cater to the people putting money in his/her pockets. In this case, the fans.
Also, the fact that Lefty can complain about a PGA Tour rule (Pro-Ams) prompting a change in policy one week and flat-out refuse to play in another event the next week rubs me the wrong way.
Adam Fonseca
by Adam Fonseca on Sep 21, 2010 10:30 AM EDT up reply actions
What mechanism would you propose to force Mickelson to play...
seeing this is a PGA of America money grab exhibition and Mickelson is a PGA Tour member?
Equally as important, why is a disinterested Mickelson a better draw than an interested (albeit for $$$) Els?
Since It Isn't a Regular Tour Event, You Can't
Let’s not forget that this is a silly season event made for the interstices of the golf season…that whole 6-8 weeks between one year and the next. That in mind, does this event really matter, save for the tens of thousands who will no doubt watch?
Anyhow, I do think that there is a legit concern about the events on the regular Tour that Woods/Mickelson and the rest attend versus the ones that won’t make them lift a finger. The latter tournaments are struggling to survive and many of them aren’t. They wouldn’t have much problem if the Top 5 players showed up once in a while, but instead the patrons of those events are left with players who they barely know because of the over-focus on the the big guys on TV and the rest of media.
Really, it’s a damned shame when GC has a non-Tiger event and when they head back to studio they spend 3/4 of their time talking about Tiger. I understand his place in the golf world, but the Tour and golf media are doing themselves no favors whatsoever by allowing that sort of stuff to go on.
by Charles Boyer on Sep 21, 2010 12:49 PM EDT up reply actions
I don't think you can blame failing tourneys on media coverage of Tiger/Phil/etc.
The media isn’t making up public interest in Tiger and Phil. They are following the crowd.
There should be a PGA Tour rule enticing players of a certain stature to play events that are struggling, but the onus is on the tour and not players who are working within the rules.
I disagree with you on that.
The media were hyping Tiger Woods long before he ever turned pro, and not long after Earl Woods talked Mike Douglas into having him on as a guest when he was 3 years old. The public knew nothing about Tonto until he was put on display for all to see.
No matter if it is the chicken or the egg that came first you have two tours: one with top flight talent and one without it. As it is set up, the tour cannot force anyone to play any tournament – which you saw in years where Woods didn’t need the first round of the FedEx Playoffs to win.
They can adopt an “Every Four” years requiring members to participate in a given event at least once every four years, but every time it is discussed, the top players balk and talk about how over-worked they are. Well, maybe they are, but no one forces them to partake in corporate outings and the like except maybe their accountants.
by Charles Boyer on Sep 21, 2010 1:04 PM EDT up reply actions
I don't disagree that there are two tours
I do disagree that the PGA Tour has no way to get top players to play specific tournaments. The idea that Tiger or Phil are going to run to the European Tour becasue they are being forced to play either Harbor Town or New Orleans just doesn’t hold water. The folks in Ponte Vedra Beach just have to have the stones to make the rule. I bet the rank and file will vote for it and the elite players will have to cry on a bag of money to quote a Haney Project contestant.
As for Tiger, I think the 14 majors and 86 PGA Tour wins have more to do with his following than Mike Douglas.
You’re not remembering very well, TwoNuse. Tiger was a media sensation before he ever turned pro. The Golf Channel talked about him all the time back even before he got to Stanford. I can remember Peter Kessler and Tom Watson talking about “this young kid” for half an hour when he was 17.
It’s not the Euro Tour the PGA Tour is afraid of, it’s a breakaway global Tour that could easily consume the ET and the PGAT, especially if the likes of IMG got behind it. You can think that impossible, but the fact is that IMG already conducts and hosts tournaments. Taking it another step upwards would not be that unlikely a leap.
Finally, keep in mind that the PGA Tour’s policies are largely controlled by its players. The Player Advisory Council (PAC) and the PGA Tour Policy Board to represent players on issues involving the commissioner and the Tour staff. The PAC, a 16-player committee, serves as a filter to the policy board, which is comprised of four players and four volunteer independent directors, all of whom are among the nation’s most prominent businessmen and one member from the PGA of America.
Player directors almost exclusively decide competition-related matters. The independent directors defer to the players in these cases, except when they are called on to levy fines and select venues for tour events. But when it comes to non-competitive issues — such as devising and underwriting the FedEx Cup playoffs or financing construction of the new clubhouse at the TPC Sawgrass — the independent directors assume a more active role.
Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, among others, helped devise this system of government when the Tournament Players Division split from the PGA of America in late 1968.
In other words, if the rank-and-file players REALLY wanted to have a “One In Four” rule, they would. They could push it through and they could get the non-playing directors to sign off. What will NOT happen is Tim Finchem and/or his staff making that rule without tacit approval from the PAC and the PGA Tour Policy Board.
by Charles Boyer on Sep 21, 2010 3:15 PM EDT up reply actions
I don't dispute Tiger was a media darling before he went pro
but if he started off like Ty Tyron, no one would care.
As for the Global Tour, why would IMG go to war with the PGA Tour (you saw how well Greg Norman was received with his World Tour proposal) when the majority of the best golfers in the world play in the US PGA Tour. Not to mention the current sponsors of the elite players wouldn’t be too keen on their walking billboards plying their trade away from US eyes?
As for the bylaws, rank of file PGA Tour members, the ones who need the Harbor Towns would vote for this. Finchem hasn’t put it on the board for fear of the elites. But with the current economic conditions, I would bet some sort of pseudo-mandatory tournament policy will be in place before 2011.
OMP, the world tour is the main fear for Fincham.
Players from overseas always had to go to America in the past, first to test themselves against the best, who happened to be Americans, and to make more money. But once there are more overseas players in the top 100, they begin to play in their own countries more, there will come a day when it is reversed..Americans might have to go abroad to test themselves against the best. The Euro Tour is almost a “world tour” minus America…I can see a day when both main tours combine to make a global tour. 7 events count on both now. It’s begun already, IMO.
Somehow I doubt Finchem is losing any sleep over the thought of a “world tour” – he’ll be long retired before anything like that ever gets put together – he knows that the PGA Tour is still where the best players want to come.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
That they do.
But golf is changing faster than you think. But I can see how easy it is to think otherwise when all the best players play in your own backyard. Mickleson is a very good example of the old gaurd. He grew up at a time when the PGA tour was all that mattered. But no one tour is enough to bring all the top players together as much as a world tour would. Better competition demands it. Half the events on any tour now are 2nd rate with most of the top players missing. The interest in those fall and sponsors will walk. It’s the way of things generally in any sport.
So if no one tour is enough to draw all the top players – what makes you think that all the top players are going to join this “world” tour where they will have to travel a hundred thousand miles a year to play when they can stay mostly on one continent to play for the same money ? The top players who play on the European Tour do so by choice – and there are some truly great players there, but more top players pick up and move to the US for the money and the chance to play more great players. Until the PGA Tour falls apart, or someone decides that it’s worthwhile to double the money these guys are playing for now – there won’t be a “world” tour.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
I think sponsorship around the world will catch up
Like everything else does. Non Americans, as we have debated before, already travel a hundred thousand miles or whatever. It wouldn’t matter to them if it was China or the USA, if that’s where the top players are. Doubling the money won’t matter to multi millionairs that are the top 64 players. It’s the competition they want. 30 years ago and before, one had to win to get rich. If money was their main aim , the top players would play more than their 20-25 events a year. If Americans were they only great players in the world, golf would be like it was 60 years ago. It’s moved on.
Rory McIlroy and Andres Romero
two young non-North American golfers who sprinted to the US PGA Tour as soon as they became eligible. It isn’t just the old guard.
Sure they will
That’s where the best competition is right now. All I’m saying is as golf is becoming more worldwide, played by every nation, with stars from those nations, it’s probable there will be a world tour to reflect that. The whole world can’t play most of it’s golf in the US 24/7 like it’s the NBA.
I equate it to football
It is played all over the world, but the elite teams are all in Europe. Even though you can argue the best players now come from South America.
Right On OMP
Thats what I have been saying and spouting off about for years now and I’m not alone in noticing that type of transparency over at TGC.
"pain is only weakness leaving the body"
PGA of America & PGA Tour are not the same
You’re right. People use them interchangeably, but the PGA of America, and the PGA Tour are completely separate organizations. PGA of America (disclaimer-I’m a member) is the club pro organization that is very good at money grabs (Ryder Cup, PGA Championship, Grand Slam, and as an owner of several golf courses and resorts), and the PGA Tour is also very good at money grabs (TPC Courses, Players Championship). The PGA of America extends membership to current exempt Tour players, but that’s about where the relationship ends.
Despite making millions from all their events, any guesses as to what the PGA of America charges us little teaching pros annually for dues?
Brant Kasbohm, PGA
www.Fixyourgame.com
by Brant Kasbohm on Sep 21, 2010 1:54 PM EDT up reply actions
Top Heavy
The only people that don’t play in the GS are Mickelson & Woods, no? These guys have so many opportunities to make guaranteed cash, that the PGA GS is easy to skip. You don’t see guys like YE Yang & Lucas Glover skipping it. I doubt Louis Oosthuizen & Martin Kaymer will skip it either. I’m not sure what the solution is, but this cause is the Tour being Top Heavy toward 2 guys.
It's the ESPN-ization of Golf
I asked an old-timer if things were as skewed towards Jack and Arnie back in the 1960’s, and he emphatically said no, that they weren’t. He said that folks loved watching them but on TV you would see the leaders not just the Big Three.
Made me think that the Tour is concentrating on the casual fan because we will grouse about the over focus on the top few players but will still watch anyway. Casual Fan won’t bother if Phil and Tiger aren’t on every 30-60 seconds.
by Charles Boyer on Sep 21, 2010 11:16 AM EDT up reply actions
Right on
In the old days, the event purses were driven by ticket sales and local sponsorship. Now it almost 100% TV. It’s lead to a huge increase in dollars for players, but also a huge increase of casual fans. I don’t expect it to change anytime soon. The PGA Tour’s fan demographic is too good for advertisers to stay away from.
Thoughts?
Brant Kasbohm, PGA
www.Fixyourgame.com
by Brant Kasbohm on Sep 21, 2010 11:44 AM EDT up reply actions
They could bring back "Shell's Wonderful World of Golf."
Maybe just shorten it to The Shell Game.
Isn't It On xxx Golf Channel now?
I’m not sure if it is still in production, but I’ve seen new Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf.
by Charles Boyer on Sep 21, 2010 12:44 PM EDT up reply actions
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