PGA Tour: Golf's Mile High Club: Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

1).69 survivors from last weekend's Deutsche Bank Championship descend on the Denver, Colorado, area this week for the BMW Championship, Round 3 of the FedEx Play Offs. They'll compete at Cherry Hills Country Club, a Par-70 William (Shinnecock) Flynn design, almost 100 years old, which hasn't seen the Tour's finest since Hubert Green won the 1985 PGA Championship. Last week's tournament ran Friday thru Monday, but we revert to a normal Thursday thru Sunday schedule in Denver.

2).There was an anti-climactic air about the Deutsche Bank finale, whether it was the golf or the coverage I'm not quite sure but NBC fumbled their way through the broadcasting responsibilities. Their failure to grasp the nuances of the FedEx points system suggested a crew-wide lack of anything approaching 'O' Level calibre arithmetic, which meant they were continually chasing the wrong story in the FedEx points plot.

3).And, on transfer deadline day, NBC's commentators resembled Arsenal fans. Like Gooners who were desperate for a striker, the NBC storyline was all about Rory McIlroy. But like the Arsenal faithful who craved an Aguero or Falcao but got Danny Bl00dy Welbeck instead, so NBC missed out on Rory and seemed unprepared when they got Chris Kirk. (As did Tom Watson but that's another story.)    

4).Kirk comes across as unassuming as any professional athlete is ever likely to be, but he's a terrific golf talent and has enjoyed a very consistent season just below the top level. With average improvement and motivation he has a chance to be a force on the PGA Tour. Apparently he's perfectly happy missing out on Gleneagles as he has tickets to an amateur football game instead, so maybe Watson was right.

5).We said au revoir to Poulter and goodbye for the season to Luke Donald, disappointing seasons for both of them. Paul Casey and Gonzo also left the stage, but encouraging seasons for them and hopefully a springboard for greater success with full status in 2014/2015.

6).So, moving on to Cherry Hills are Europeans:
McIlroy
Kaymer
Garcia (back from the US Open Tennis)
. . . . and these three should advance
Rose (also back from his hols) moves on with a Top 45-ish finish
Knox
McDowell (back from baby duties)
Stenson
Jacobson
Pettersson

7).Garcia and Rose are some way back in FedEx points but nothing that a win won't put right. I'm somewhat surprised that Rory's playing this week; he looked pretty whipped on Monday and learned two years ago that wins in Majors and early round Play Off events aren't worth much in FedEx currency if you don't bring your 'A' game to Atlanta and the Tour Championship.

8).Apart from the two winners, the story of the past two weeks has been Geoff Ogilvy. It is ironic that a couple of years ago saw him miss a tiddler of a putt when in contention late in an Aussie tournament. He suggested at the time that that three-footer could cost him a year-end owgr Top 50 position and all the resultant rewards. Sure enough, he missed the Top 50 by a decimal point, missed Augusta and started a downhill spiral.
He found a parachute a month ago in Reno, and has been movin' on up ever since. A great talent, clever guy and it's great to see him bounce back - a decent finish, about 50th will do nicely, and he'll be on to Atlanta and a ticket to next year's Majors and some WGC's.
'Course, Appleby's in pretty much the same boat. The great year for Aussies doesn't stop, eight of them playing in Denver.

9).Hardly anyone in the field this week has experience of Cherry Hills, though Mickelson (won) and Furyk played the US Amateur there 24 years ago. Spieth & Matsuyama played Cherry Hills, without success, in the 2012 US Amateur whilst Tringale and Hoffmann played the Palmer Cup there, but can't find any record of others (perhaps Stadler might have done?) playing in competition.  
Phil could be a good bet again this week - no real clue as to who might play well, tho leaning towards West Coast guys and against the South-East crew who did so well last week. And isn't it just about time Schwartzel had a good week?
Denver's at 5,000 feet above sea level (both big Tours playing at altitude this week) so altitude, fatigue, form, you name it will come in to play.

10).2,000 miles away, in North Carolina, Q-School is taking place in the form of Tournament #2 of the WTF Series. Bud Cauley won last week and deservedly retrieves his Tour card for the 14/15 season. And Mansfield's Greg Owen will also be back for another crack at the big show after last week's 3rd place finish, while David Lingmerth (T4) is almost sure to join him.
There are a dozen Aussies playing, five or six South Africans (Immelman, Grace, Sterne etc) and almost 20 other Tour winners.
The FedEx Cup finale at East Lake is sometimes exciting, often not so much. But the Q-School element of the WTF Series is compelling, golfers competing with their careers on the line, not just their millions.

kwinigolfer wrote:

Hope Billy Ho brings it home in style.

To the Port-o-Potty??

As Billy Ho said in his interview is it a choke when your chasing? Regardless 17 was horrific golf. Dont understand why he didnt go for green as he hit the green from same distance yesterday. Billy Ho did well but cant believe Sergio didnt win that. Missed so many chances this week although suppose Rory can say same with his 2 4 putts.

Sergio -- what else is there to say???

Does it with such flair and style. Lays up only to STILL get wet. No one at that level.

You could set your clock by his breakdowns.

The tour that attracts and retains the best players on the planet certainly knows it's all about the numbers. That's why it's working!

Shotrock wrote:

The tour that attracts and retains the best players on the planet certainly knows it's all about the numbers. That's why it's working!

Bingo!  You don't see many (if any) abandoning the PGATour to play the EuroTour or Asian Tour.  When they leave, they are forced to because they didn't play good enough.

The PGATour has a business model that George "Chubby" O'Grady can only dream about.  and Tim Finchem can take a good deal of the credit for it.

If that was a major I would have fully expected the Sergio stumble, but I didn't see that 8 coming. Guess he was too focused on chasing the win. Still he's looking good for the RC. Good to see Kaymer find some form this week, although today was a little uninspiring.

GPB wrote:

Shotrock wrote:

The tour that attracts and retains the best players on the planet certainly knows it's all about the numbers. That's why it's working!

Bingo!  You don't see many (if any) abandoning the PGATour to play the EuroTour or Asian Tour.  When they leave, they are forced to because they didn't play good enough.

The PGATour has a business model that George "Chubby" O'Grady can only dream about.  and Tim Finchem can take a good deal of the credit for it.

Ok I don't have any stats to back this up, but surely the US tour is bigger because golf is bigger in the US than in Europe. Outside the UK and Ireland golf is an insignificant minor sport across Europe. Events like competitive tomato throwing will get more coverage in Spain than a Sergio Garcia win.

Fair enough ray, can't argue with any of that.

But the USA can't get complacent about any of this. For example:

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-08-19/dicks-quits-golf

If US TV can't figure out how to make golf viewing compelling to golf fans, rather than Tiger fans (plenty on here, you know who you are!), their audiences are only going to go downhill.
It remains to be seen if the latest phenom is a pasty-faced media shooting star or someone the media can hang its hat on for a generation. They could depend on Woods to deliver, almost robotically, but Rory is a human being and won't bring home the golfing bacon anywhere near so dependably.
Plus, he's foreign, although America always gives a free pass to "Ireland" so long as it doesn't have to live there.

Time for US Networks to pay more attention to its core fans and tailor coverage accordingly, with a bit more respect.

raycastleunited wrote:
Ok I don't have any stats to back this up, but surely the US tour is bigger because golf is bigger in the US than in Europe. Outside the UK and Ireland golf is an insignificant minor sport across Europe. Events like competitive tomato throwing will get more coverage in Spain than a Sergio Garcia win.

Lets cycle back 10 years to year end 2004.  In relative terms, the ratio of size between US and Euro golf would approximately be the same.

But the year end OWGR rankings has the following players in the top 30 that were not members of the PGATour at the time

Harrington
Jimenez
Clarke
Bjorn
Casey 
Cabrera


As of right now, there are only 3 non PGATour members in the top 30.  Doobie, Donaldson and Bjorn.  And if I recall correctly, Doobie and Donaldson are taking PGATour membership in 2014-15.

You're right Kwin, the US PGA should not get complacent, but some post-tiger letdown in interest and ratings is inevitable. Question is, will the other tours get stronger because of this?

Before Tiger there was Greg (and Faldo), before that Watson, Nicklaus ... there will always be someone else to step up as long as the US tour continues to attract and retain the best players. Time will tell -- but I suspect some "exceptional" Euro and Asian events could cherry pick away at the US tour during this lull.

You're reading waaay too much into the Rory/Ireland thing. (You can't be that paranoid, can you?) A dominating player, marketed well (see Nike and Tiger and now Rory) will always engage a large population here. Aussie, Saffer ... it won't matter. Marquee players will get the attention.  

And of course we love Ireland ... what's not to like (being a bit of an Irish mutt myself)?

Good point GBP.

Professional players will follow the money, endorsement opportunities and ease of practicing their (in most cases) time-limited craft. The upcoming Ryder Cup will show that Europe produces more top talent than the US; and that that same top talent strives to compete (and in the case of Rory "dominate") here.

Keep 'em coming I say!

Here is an good article at the NY Times published a couple years ago when the current TV deal was signed.

Sean McManus CBS Sports wrote:“There’s upside there, but going forward the business model is not dependent on Tiger-like ratings in the future. If that were to happen, it would be great for the tour, and be great for CBS.”

It tells me that ratings are not the primary factor, but demographics is.  

Look what the Golf Channel did today.  They did spotlight coverage of the last three holes of the BMW while their business partner had the primary coverage.  They were cannibalizing their own ratings and increasing the production costs.

Next week, NBC is televising WOMENS golf (from France) against the NFL pregame shows and kickoffs.

The FLOMAX and VIAGRA crowd are still a highly coveted demographic.




http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/02/sports/golf/pga-tour-reaches-lengthy-deal-with-cbs-and-nbc.html?_r=1&

GPB - Target market has always been the central issue. Ratings and target market are not mutually exclusive, however. In fact, high ratings IN your target market are coveted. The US has a lot of old guys who watch golf and spend money to "stay young".

Shotrock,
Don't think anyone should underestimate the audience (and money) Woods brought golf.
Arnie may have attracted TV to golf but Nicklaus, Norman, Watson, you name 'em, may have sustained some interest but certainly never galvanized an American audience that Woods did.
Even though he's been a relative non-entity since 2008, he'll still attract a headline that no-one else is capable of.

PS: GPB: Difficult to believe that NBC Evian coverage is not heavily subsidised!

PPS: World Top Five all non-Americans - sad to say that that won't help the integrity of golf coverage in the US!
What price Rickie Fowler for POTY??!!

Still obsessing over Fowler's PotM in August?

Lighten up Francis!  Its Meaningless.  Its a bunch of 15 yr old kids padding the voting box.  Get over it.

Rory is going to be the PotY, he has clinched the PGAofA PotY and there is no way that a players vote won't give Rory the plurality.

I can't imagine why anyone would subsidize a Womens golf broadcast on Network TV. NBC is broadcasting the Evian at the same time GC is broadcasting lead in coverage of the Tour Championship.

And Bubba and Rose are in a virtual tie for #5 in the OWGR.

A shame that O'Grady hasn't attracted non-European PGA Tour members to Holland this week, but good to see Paul Casey, Jonas Blixt and Gonzo supporting the European Tour at the KLM Open.

Re Sergio, you have to give him some respect for trying to win the thing rather than 'protecting his position (and money)'. I heard a few times in the commentary last night of players not taking on a shot as they were 'protecting their position'. Sensible, yeah maybe. But i admire Sergio for just trying to win. Odd that he didn't go for the green in two on 17 but he was clearly trying to hole the chip for birdie having overshot the green and got it wrong. Good on him though.

That said, i had a sneaky £2.50 (big money!) on Horschel from the outset which made £162 so no complaining here!

MustPuttBetter wrote:Re Sergio, you have to give him some respect for trying to win the thing rather than 'protecting his position (and money)'. I heard a few times in the commentary last night of players not taking on a shot as they were 'protecting their position'. Sensible, yeah maybe. But i admire Sergio for just trying to win. Odd that he didn't go for the green in two on 17 but he was clearly trying to hole the chip for birdie having overshot the green and got it wrong. Good on him though.

   

Shotrock wrote:
And of course we love Ireland ... what's not to like?

knee cappings, potatoes, petty religious squabbles, etc... I'll leave super to fill you in with all the details

GPB wrote:

raycastleunited wrote:
Ok I don't have any stats to back this up, but surely the US tour is bigger because golf is bigger in the US than in Europe. Outside the UK and Ireland golf is an insignificant minor sport across Europe. Events like competitive tomato throwing will get more coverage in Spain than a Sergio Garcia win.

Lets cycle back 10 years to year end 2004.  In relative terms, the ratio of size between US and Euro golf would approximately be the same.

But the year end OWGR rankings has the following players in the top 30 that were not members of the PGATour at the time

Harrington
Jimenez
Clarke
Bjorn
Casey 
Cabrera


As of right now, there are only 3 non PGATour members in the top 30.  Doobie, Donaldson and Bjorn.  And if I recall correctly, Doobie and Donaldson are taking PGATour membership in 2014-15.

GBP,
My point is that the PGA Tour is the bigger tour because it is the biggest golf market. Top European golfers will always gravitate to the PGA Tour the way that George Weah's football skills took him from playing in front of a couple of goats in a dusty field in Liberia to 80,000 fans at the San Siro in Milan. I'm not saying the Euro Tour is a 3rd world tour, but have a look at the sparse crowds watching a typical event (outside Britain and Ireland) and you will quickly see that golf is just not very popular.

When it comes to golf, the US has 25 million adults as "engaged tv viewers". The UK has 6 million. (according to Mindshare global sports index) It's really got very little to do with the skills of Finchem, O'Grady, etc, but rather an awareness of the game.

kwinigolfer wrote:...Plus, he's foreign, although America always gives a free pass to "Ireland" so long as it doesn't have to live there....

That's going to sting a little! Harsh, but probably fair.

Wasn't meant to be a jab at Ireland; just said in the same spirit as Italian food being so popular here but for so many Americans the first thing they complain about when they "do" Italy is the food, even pizza! Most would rather go to Pizza Hut.

raycastleunited,  I am saying the International Players are flocking more to the US PGAT in more than ever because of the innovations of the PGATour.  The Fedex Cup is a huge carrot for Int'l players to join the PGATour.

There were 6 players in the top 30 that were not members of the PGATour 10 years.  Now there are three, and chances are that two of those three will be joining.

IMO, the Ryder Cup Qualification is the only thing that is keeping players like Sergio, Luke, Justin as members of the European Tour.  

The Ryder Cup is the only carrot that keeps many of the Euros on the European Tour.

GPB

It's money, pure and simple. No fault in that but it's hardly rocket science.

Navy - Exactly ... money is precisely what separates the professionals from the amateurs. Professional tours, like virtually any business, should have long-term profitable growth as their goal. Lots of challenges ahead for the US PGA, but if they can keep attracting the best players and sponsors I like their chances.

Praise Sergio for his snowman and "go for it" attitude? He certainly took eagle out of question with his layup, unless of course that was his precise chip-in yardage.

Ironic thing about Sergio on 17 is that he almost DID pitch in on Friday, his 4th shot after hitting his second in to the drink.
Hit an exquisite second on Saturday only to 3-putt from twenty feet.
Two quite different pars.

Not sure he needed "eagle" to put the willies up Billy, a bird would have done nicely, but a great big mess whichever way you look at it.

Good news for Rory as the Tour announces the BMW Championship will return to Crooked Stick, in the Indianapolis area, in 2016.
Wholeheartedly agree with Rex Hoggard that it is incomprehensible that one upshot of that means Chicago won't see the PGA Tour that year, or this - it's seemingly an every other year phenomenon to diss the Windy City. Finchem gets so many things right, it is incredible that he gets this so wrong.

He's pretty much deserted the Mid-West and North-East in the past decade; not surprising Shotrock hails "huge crowds on the big tour" when those crowds only get to see their favourite golfers once in a blue moon, Denver, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, St.Louis in the same boat of course.

Deserted the Northeast?  How do you figure?

there is a PGAT tournament in Boston, Hartford, and NYC every year.

And the USOPen or PGA rarely goes more than three years without a tournament in the Northeast.

Since 2004, the USGA or PGA has gone to Winged Foot, Shinnecock, Baltusrol, Oak Hill, Oakmont, Merion, Bethpage.  7 times in 11 years.

Yes, the Midwest is ignored.  The Great State of Missouri has hosted 2 Tour events since I moved here 24 years ago.  A PGA and a Playoff event. both at the same course.  A third was cancelled because of 9/11.

But it a question of $$$.  A sponsor has to bring it!!

The fact is the window is not very open in the Northeast and Midwest.  Courses are only in prime condition for 5 months May-Sept and it is big region to cover for 20 weeks.  Throw in Canada and the Open Championship it is just to tough to cover the entire region.

BTW...how many EuroT events are in England every year? 2 at the most?  and that is only if the O.C. plays at a course with a ROYAL designation.  (Lytham, Hoylake, St Georges, Birkdale). 

Portugal has two tournaments!

The two rotating majors in the US are heavily weighted towards the Northeast, so lots of coverage there, in addition to the event GPB mentions.

My club (Northeast) was asked to host a PGA tournament every year (7 year commitment I recall) but turned it down without question. Big crowds on the Big Tour make hosting them a big pain in the a-- to the members!

He (I assume you're talking Finchem here) has absolutely not "deserted" any area -- it's a matter of those willing to pay to play. Yet, again why they call it a p r o f e s s i o n a l endeavor. Minneapolis wants a stop? Show us some of that 3M money.

Really not complicated.

KLM's Hole-N-One prize is out of this world!

Not sure the USGA, Masters or PGA have that much relevance to the PGA Tour venues . . . . . . just look at the preponderance of events so close to Augusta for instance. With another coming up next year!

The Southeast can host tournaments nearly every week.

Goodluck hosting PGATour event in NYC on Valentines day.

Yes, but in the June - September window, the Tour visits Memphis, Washington, Greenbrier, Greensboro, Atlanta.
Can't believe Quicken Loans won't try to move their event/date to Detroit.

Sr,
Sounds as if Philadelphia isn't welcoming to the Tour. Surely, that's Philly's loss?

PS: Quite agree it's absurd not playing more than one E.T. event in England. Ridiculous by O'Grady.

Kwin - Can't speak for Philadelphia (not even sure who would) ... but if one came closely I would attend.

Memphis in June sounds a bit unneccessary.