Meltwater: Biggest Losers After PGA Tour’s Secret Bonus Pool Is Revealed

Politics had Watergate and Whitewater. Now golf has Meltwater. You know, for that marketing metric you’d never heard of until now and still can’t believe a brand tracker put melt in the title.

It’s hard to know how to start unpacking the bombshell dropped by Golfweek and Golf Channel contributor Eamon Lynch. He revealed a Player Impact Program funneling $40 million in bonus money to stars based on a bunch of doubtable, crackable and corruptable marketing metrics. Lynch’s reporting may end up permanently branding the Monahan era as nothing more than a marketing operation offended it has to be associated with golf.

Now, I realize the post title said “Losers”. But longtime readers know of my faith and devotion to the power of positive thinking. So some the Winners first.

Winners

—FedExCup/WhateverTheyCallTheWyndhamRewards Now. You both look so cool now as almost-legitimate points races requiring players to play golf and perform for cash. It’s all so sportsy and above-board compared to the “PIP”. Still, not interesting at all, but definitely merit-based.

—The Premier Golf League. You sought to make the rich richer AND make pro golf more interesting to watch. Nice contrast to relying on Meltwater Mentions and a company founded by el padre de Jordan Spieth. Plus, nothing you did failed as miserably as the Super League.

—Bots. Think of the prices they can charge players in pursuit of PIP Top 10 money? “So if you finish 8th it’s a $3 million bonus? Okay, at that price we can do 800k searches that’ll set off alarm bells at The Google. Spell your last name again? Is it R-E-E-D like the things in the swamp, or R-E-A-D like a book?”

—PGA Tour Coffers. A new $65 million Global Home. Kicking in millions in purse money each week during the pandemic as revenues decline? Then spending more than all of that combined on the new TPC Sawgrass entrance drive? I guess what’s another $40 million for ten special franchise-worthy guys who never cause any headaches? Take that rainy day fund, fellow non-profits!

—The One VP Muttering To Himself. “I told them the social media mavericks would mock the Meltwater Method!”

Losers

—Fans. This is what the PGA Tour brass came up with as a response to the PGL’s existential threat? This is what they’ve been spending time on to make players likable and get them to play more? Oh, and betting.

—Jay Monahan. This is what you came up with as a response to the PGL’s existential threat?

—FedExCup. You were included in the initial draft obtained by Golfweek, but a correction later in the day revealed you were dropped as the PIP success barometer came into focus. So all that money you pay and still not good enough for the Player Impact Program?

—Sponsors. The PGA Tour creates a bonus pool to reward stars but the reporting suggests sponsor-relations took a back seat to metrics. Players get points for Meltwater Mentions but not for showing up at the Pro-Am party and remembering the CEO’s name?

—Media Partners. A bonus pool without a single mention of outreach to big rights-paying TV partners or something rewarding a star for playing more often? This is how they use your rights money? To pay for Phil’s Jupiter home theater system and backyard coffee bar?

—Rory McIlroy. So that new Policy Board seat, does that earn you PIP Rewards? Because we know you’ll surely abstain from any votes on its future status or the bonuses of folks who devised a way to pay you for that shiny Q rating.

—Jordan Spieth. I’m sure Tour peers have no opinions about your vote on this matter and the invocation of your sire’s “MVPIndex”.

—Almost stars. Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay barely know about the program, suggesting the pool was directed at a very select group. Sounds like the PIP futures are bleak for these ones. That’s okay, we writers like you both for being good quotes and different dudes.

—Agents. I don’t know how the ten-percenters structure their deals these days, but I can’t imagine many had a clause for something as bizarre as the Player Impact Program. But if the client would like the office interns to spend all day Google searching “Billy Horschel Players Championship Food Drive”, the client will need to pay the appropriate commission.

—The 50 PGA Tour Employees Laid Off During The Pandemic. If you accounted for $5 million in salary I’d be surprised. That’s like third place money in this pool no one was supposed to know about. Those lame pandemic layoffs get even lamer.

—The PGL. They see you as a threat and can’t even rip-off one of your many smart ideas.

—Athleticism. Not one metric rewards players for bicep size, how fast they run the 40, their bench press max, or even ESPN Body Issue appearances. Sad.

State Of The Tour '21: Monahan Addresses Tiger, Vaccination, Mask Enforcement And Distance Issue

You know the old saying, if at first you don’t succeed, go on CNBC again!

For reasons unknown Commissioner Jay Monahan was booked on CNBC a year after the disastrous TV deal rollout as markets crashed. At least this time, the screen wasn’t soaked in red though the shine factor was better than most.

CNBC’s Joe Kernen is that guy who spends too much in the 19th hole grill, knows just enough to be dangerous and doesn’t really listen to answers. He’s the guy who asks how your Uncle Steve is doing, only to be informed Steve died in a fiery car crash, and then tells you an adorable story about how terrible of a cart driver Steve could be.

So if you want to squirm, the clip with Kernen repeatedly asking Monahan questions about Tiger Woods and not taking hints that little can be said at this point, here it is. The second clip isn’t working on the CNBC site, but it does contain one noteworthy remark from Monahan. He reveals a $160 million haul for charities in 2020, down from $200 million in a normal year.

More informative was his pre-Players press conference featuring some solid questions and answers.

On vaccinations, this approach was encouraging to hear and should have a positive impact if players participate:

Q. You mentioned in December that there would be no mandate for players to get vaccinated. I'm wondering with three now on the market, has there been any update or what's the plan with the vaccine being made available to players? Is there any sort of update on that front.

JAY MONAHAN: Well, we are certainly encouraged by the incredible progress that has been made with the vaccines, by virologists, and I think from our perspective right now, we're partnering with the National Ad Council, we're going to participate, alongside many other leagues, in an upcoming campaign around vaccination. We're going to do everything we can to educate all of our players on the facts behind vaccination.

And then, as it relates to being prepared, I think one of the unique things about our sport is that, while we're going to do everything when the time is right and when we're able to provide vaccination to have our players, caddies, their families, all of our constituents in a position to get it, our players also -- we got 94 players from 29 countries and territories, they live all throughout the world, so I think the most important thing right now is education, and then we're going to do everything we can to support vaccination for our players when it's appropriate to do so.

And while I have no idea what Golf Incorporated is nor do I want to, it’s good hearing him single-out layoffs as the most trying part of his last year:

Q. For you personally, I'm just wondering, outside of a year ago this week, what was your most trying moment during this last 11 plus months and what has been maybe your most triumphant or rewarding moment as you've carried on?

JAY MONAHAN: You know, I'll start with the positives. I think that the way that our sport came together and the way that sports in general came together. But you look at all the golf organizations that we partner with, I don't think there was ever a period of time where we worked more closely together, more honestly together, more directly together. Had a lot of hard conversations about what we thought we needed to do for our sport and we operated as, as I think you've heard several of us say, Golf Incorporated.

I think that served the game very, very well, and to see the game flourish as a result of that and see more people coming into our game, more people making golf their thing, and for the game to become more and more welcoming and inclusive in the process, I think big picture wise that's very positive.

I think there were a lot of challenging moments. It's hard to pick one, but as the leader of this organization when you have to let great people go and you have to furlough workers and you have to take some of the steps that we take, those are things that I'll never forget, and I still feel today. That's the kind of thing that'll always stay with you.

A mask enforcement question was needed given the obvious difference, at least on TV when fans were shown, between Scottsdale and Bay Hill:

Q. Last week at Bay Hill there were numerous people that were fans that weren't wearing masks, and though you have people out there asking these people to mask up, their responses are usually not polite when they say they're not going to. The question is, how do you enforce a program that seems to be almost unenforceable considering the amount of volunteers that are involved with the mask situation versus the people that are out there?

JAY MONAHAN: You do the absolute best that you can. We're now five events into the return to fans, and we're working closely with each one of our tournament organizations, our volunteer leadership team. We continue to stress the importance of it.

While there are some, I've been encouraged by the number of people that have been wearing masks. And while I have seen some that aren't, and we want everyone to be wearing masks and we're going to continue to reinforce that, I like the actual progression that we've been on, and I think you'll see more growth on that front this week.

I know Jared and Troy and the teams here have spent a lot of time and energy enforcing those guidelines and protocols and being in position to do that. You'll see signage everywhere. I drove home from Bay Hill on Sunday night. As I got within a 10-mile radius I got my app alert from THE PLAYERS Championship, reminding me of all the safety protocols.

Good job app team! Hopefully he didn’t look down at his phone too long.

This was a good question about spacing out featured groups. The answer? Not so much.

Q. Was there any consideration given, on tournaments going forward, with a limited number of fans, to on the featured pairings, when you put them back-to-back, like last week that's where everybody was on Thursday and Friday. Was there any consideration given to only doing one and spreading out the stars, so to speak, to allow for more outdoor golf distancing?

JAY MONAHAN: Well, I think that's something we'll continue to look at. I mean, we've got 154 superstars here this week, and I think our fans are here to see them all. But that is a reality, and that's something that I know we've talked about and we're mindful of as we do featured pairings and as we stage our events week in and week out.

That is a buried lede, btw. The field is now 154 at The Players because 144 was not enough when you have 154 superstars.

And for your gobbledygook answer of the day? On distance:

Q. Last month the USGA and the R&A released some results of the Distance Insight Project. It drew pretty strong reactions from some of the players. What was your reaction and kind of your stance right now on that whole distance debate?

JAY MONAHAN: Yeah, I think that's the second time that that Distance Insights Report was released. You know, the USGA and the R&A, they're our industry partners. I think when they came back and released it, released the fact that they were going to go to a period of notice and they were going to reinstitute that project, to me they're taking back up the work that they stalled after the pandemic last year, and this is a long-term subject that they're exploring, and we as industry partners are going to participate. We've been invited to participate and collaborate. That's exactly what we're going to do.

Ultimately I think where we'll end up will be a place where, from a PGA TOUR standpoint, I think if you're a player, if you're a fan, I think the excitement that you see here week in and week out, that's something that you'll continue to see as we go forward and as we debate that subject. I think it's -- everybody needs to be patient here. As they've said, it's a project that's going to take a number of years to get a recommendation and a result, and we're excited to participate in it.

I'm not surprised with the reaction. It's a subject that generates a lot of debate. I'm proud of our players for expressing their thoughts, and we'll continue to express ours in the context of those discussions. But as I said earlier, I think, as an industry, these are the things that we need to work together, need to work through short-term items and we need to work through long-term items in the best interests of the game, and that's the approach we're going to take in those discussions.

At this point, given his past remarks showing resistance to the USGA/R&A stance, this series of delay-tactic answers is a positive step forward.

Monahan: "right now the entirety of our efforts needs to be around the support"

With all of the declarations of relief and victory that Tiger Woods survived his crash, PGA Tour Jay Monahan struck a more appropriately concerned and emotional tone in his remarks.

From Steve DiMeglio’s report at The Concession.

“When Tiger wants to talk about golf, we’ll talk about golf, but I think right now the entirety of our efforts needs to be around the support,” Monahan continued. “When you’re going to overcome what he needs to overcome, I think the love of all of our players and everybody out here, it’s going to come forward in a big way and across the entire sporting world.

“I think he’ll feel that energy and I think that’s what we should all focus on. We’ll all be talking about (the PGA Tour without Woods) at some point down the road, but right now that’s not what we should be talking about.”

Ponte Vedra Shuffle: "Structural moves to strengthen our core business...and to prepare for further collaboration with the European Tour"

They love to lay off the little people and add more VP’s down in Ponte Vedra, so beyond the normal comings and goings the below memo includes references to the recently news-dumped alliance with the European Tour.

The headline below for serious golf fans must begin with a huge congratulations to Slugger White and Mark Russell, both officially retiring after 40 years of service to the PGA Tour and hearing more slow play gripes than two men ever should.

Salud on a great run and many more happy days on the links!

Here is the missive “sent on behalf of Commissioner Monahan” to players that also found its way into my inbox:

I am pleased to announce a few structural moves designed to strengthen our core business -- Player Relations and Competitions -- and to prepare for further collaboration with the European Tour as we advance the optimal global golf structure to the benefit of players and fans around the world.

Optimal global golf structure. Nothing like jargon to raise red flags.

Tyler Dennis is promoted to EVP & President, PGA TOUR, a member of the Commissioner’s Committee, reporting to Andy Pazder, and will, in addition to his current responsibilities, focus on relationships with our global player membership base as well as relationships with title sponsors given his broad Competitions, Player and Tournament experience and perspective.

I believe the Commissioner’s Committee guarantees jet seat access on PGA Tour Airship 1, but I’ll get back to you on that. As opposed to the Executive Leadership Team…

Dan Glod is moving to an elevated role as SVP – Player Relations, a member of the Executive Leadership Team, reporting directly to Ross Berlin and working closely with me, Andy and Tyler. Dan’s roles of increasing responsibility at the TOUR, including leading the Korn Ferry Tour, working with THE PLAYERS Championship, and multiple roles in Corporate Partnerships including most recently leading our business development efforts, will allow us to further reinforce the importance of Player Relations to our core business and all of the outstanding work that Ross Berlin and his team have done. As part of this, Dan will be focusing on the partnership we have with our players and how we can help them grow their business while at the same time augmenting the PGA TOUR’s business around the world.

I’m detecting a theme here. Player Relations is very important. You’d think they were sponsoring or paying to cover the tournaments with this level of catering to a small group, 50% of whom will not be Tour members in five years thanks to technology-induced parity. But I digress…

As part of this focus and evolution of Player Relations, Phil Marburger and Mack Horton are also taking on additional new areas of focus for us and are being promoted to Vice President. Phil and Mack will continue to report to Ross, working closely with Tyler and Dan.

In the Competitions area, Andy Levinson is promoted in his role to the Executive Leadership Team. We are all grateful for Andy’s exemplary leadership in the area of our Health & Safety Plan, which underpins our safe and ongoing Return to Golf during these challenging times. Andy will continue to take on additional responsibilities under Tyler. Likewise, Kirsten Burgess is promoted to Vice President, and we are grateful for her outstanding leadership in the Competitions Administration area and her team’s role in ensuring our return to competition after the cancellation of 11 PGA TOUR events and a completely re-worked schedule culminating in a full FedExCup season finish.

Full meaning full purse payout, and don’t you forget that!

As many of you will have seen in Tyler’s note yesterday, we have a number of changes in the Rules and Competitions Area. After 40 years on the job, Mark Russell and Slugger White will soon be retiring and we will have an opportunity in the coming months to celebrate their remarkable careers. Longtime Rules Officials Dillard Pruitt and John Lillvis will also be retiring.

Gary Young will continue to lead this department, and Steve Rintoul, John Mutch, Stephen Cox and Ken Tackett are all promoted to the role of Senior Tournament Director on the PGA TOUR.

Congrats to all.

Brian Oliver is working with Talent & Culture on plans to replace Dan’s responsibilities in Business Development.

Talent & Culture. [Eye roll emoji goes here.]

Additionally, given Austin Flagg’s strong prior experience with key sponsors and partners, and the critical experience he has gained in every area of our business working closely with me during this pivotal year, I have asked him to transition back to the Sponsorship/Partnership area to take on a role with increased responsibilities under Brian. With John Wolf’s experience in Player Relations and Tournament Business Affairs, he will transition to the Office of the Commissioner, working closely with me, Ron and Allison to coordinate high level priorities and scheduling.

Please join me in congratulating everyone on their new roles.

And as we work to advance the optimal global golf structure to the benefit of players and fans around the world.

"How the PGA Tour resumed its season, navigated a pandemic and played its way to the Tour Championship"

There’s a lot of sound recap info from Brian Wacker at GolfDigest.com explaining how the PGA Tour has made it to the 2020 Tour Championship in a pandemic. With a large, often unwieldy band of egomaniacs to coral, it’s hard to imagine a better outcome for pro golf’s return after June’s inevitable rocky restart.

Yet in reading the piece, it’s also quite easy to imagine how the PGA Tour needs to remain vigilant both with safety practices, scheduling and welcoming back fans. The early wake up call is a good reminder of how things evolved:

Having a plan helped. And while it wasn’t without its holes, continued adjustments made a difference. One such change included an update during the Travelers that a player would not be eligible for the tour’s $100,000 stipend if he tested positive after not following the outlined safety protocols. Monahan emphasized that the onus was on everyone involved and said, “We need you to do your part.”

It was a wake-up call, indeed. And, for the most part, the players, caddies and all involved got the message.

As Wacker notes, the lack of a positive test in some time might also be a result of players taking the at-home tests before boarding a plane.

While some unidentified players, according to multiple sources, have tested positive at home in recent weeks and as a result did no play again until returning a negative result, no one has tested positive on site at a tournament in nearly a month. The tour hasn’t canceled any more tournaments, and earlier this week, Monahan unveiled a robust 50-tournament schedule for its 2020-’21 season that will begin next week in California.

Could this explain the epidemic of back injury WD’s in recent weeks? We’ll never know but ultimately, if players isolated and did not infect others on planes, airports, hotels or on the PGA Tour, then the system worked. Perfect, it is not. But six months into the pandemic, imperfect is more than acceptable compared to the alternative.

Monahan "Certain our tournaments and our players played a role in inspiring participation during the last few months"

I know the bubble’s thick down there in PVB—is it Norman Foster designed?—but this quote still gave me a hearty chuckle.

From Commissioner Jay Monahan’s state of the Tour press conference at East Lake:

Given that golf lends itself naturally to social distancing, recreational play has seen a surge in recent months. As one of the few professional sports competing earlier this summer, I'm certain our tournaments and our players played a role in inspiring participation during the last few months, and we look forward to building on all this momentum as we head into the end of the year and into 2021.

Recreational play was strong during the COVID-19 quarantine(ish) before the Tour restarted in June and was robust from the outset thanks to golf’s outdoor setting, safety and most of all, a huge increase in free time for active participants or wannabe players. Only in Cult Ponte Vedra could they believe they inspired the robust increase in play.

Monahan Pledges Tour Events Will Raise $100 Million Over Next Ten Years To Help Social Injustice Causes

Reading Jay Monahan’s State of the PGA Tour press conference, it’s tempting to pull out a calculator to comprehend some of the dollar figures bandied about. Particularly given recent news of the PGA Tour letting go or retiring 50 lower-pay staffers not on the executive, Dr.-Conformity-in-Atlanta track to a Ponte Vedra Boulevard (ocean side) residency.

Virtually all of the money mentioned by the Commissioner will be on tournaments to raise, an interesting task with so much uncertainty about pro-ams and spectators. Monahan sounded a very cautious note on that front, which was a refreshing take given some other major sports pushing to get people in seats despite being way less conducive to a safe situation than golf spectating.

When we feel like it's safe to return fans out here, that's when fans will return. We owe that to them, to make sure that we feel like -- and we're supported locally in every market we play in, that that is supported by the local government authorities.

Now to the money.

Monahan said in the press session today at East Lake that the Tour has raised $35 million this summer for COVID-19 related charities.

Now tournaments are going to be instructed to add another component to their fundraising:

And so since we've started, you know, kind of redoubled those efforts and really thought through the recent incidents and how we can make a bigger impact, we worked very closely with our Tournament Advisory Council led by Steve Wilmot, and all of our tournaments are going to be identifying racial and social injustice causes in their local markets going forward.

Because, again, they know their markets better than anybody else. They're going to know the organizations that can make a big impact, and they're going to make that part of their charitable program and charitable platform, so that in every community you look at on the PGA TOUR, every tournament is committed to doing so, particularly once we return to tournament golf as normal.

And I think it's a big statement that with the number of tournaments we have they all quickly have responded and said that they are excited for this opportunity, excited for this challenge. And I think as you look out over the next 10 years, I think that we would project it to generate at least $100 million for those causes over the next 10 years, and that's something that we're going to hold ourselves accountable to.

The money is one thing, but being engaged in the community and being part of the solution through the tournament host organizations is something that you're going to see us make a lot of progress on.

This prompted a follow up question about finances and purses. It’s a long stall of an answer with a surprise ending twist.

Q. Following up on the question about the finances thing, I think people would have understood even this year if purses were decreased in light of other sports and athletes having taken a little bit of a hit. How were you able to maintain purses at this level? And we get to this closing event, which is played for so much money, how sensitive are you to playing for that kind of money in this kind of environment?

JAY MONAHAN: Yeah, I think -- listen, what I'm most sensitive to is are we being the great partner that we have always been in the markets where we play, and are we accomplishing in this really challenging environment all that our sponsors and our community partners want us to accomplish. I think our players have done a remarkable job of that since we returned.

You go back to when we were trying to stand the TOUR back up and reset the schedule, and going back to your earlier question, at that point in time we set out a schedule, but we also weren't sure how long we could sustain that schedule, and we're still not sure of that going forward.

But I think that when you're an organization that generates the amount of money that we have generated and will continue to generate for the communities where we play and we continue to just do our job as a great community partner, I'm proud of the fact that the purses that we play for continue to attract the best players in the world that are allowing us to continue to do that work.

I step back and say, you know, this week, $3½ million for the East Lake Foundation. I was on the phone with Mr. Cousins and Ron Price numerous times over the last several weeks and that was really important to him, and we've done that, and hopefully we'll exceed it.

You go back through our tournaments, I think the response that we've had -- of all the uncertainty, what we could do in the communities was one of our biggest concerns, and we've done a really good job of that.

To answer your question directly, you know, to be the No. 1 Tour in the world, to get players to play here and to play the schedule that we play and to be able to generate the dollars we have, it's a competitive marketplace, and we feel like it's really important for us to be able to present the best possible opportunities.

As the only other “major” circuit on the planet has resumed with severely reduced purses at the moment, I’m not clear what the competition is?

Since the pandemic forced increased testing and safety expenses—with the Tour succeeding against the odds—coupled with Tour job cuts and sponsors paying for diminished perks, why do the market forces require everyone to take a hit but the players?

Surely playing for $6.5 million instead of $7.5 million would not be noticed by fans, but appreciated by sponsors, partners and local charities?

If The PGA Tour Needed To Lay Off Staff, What Does Say About Finances, Charitable Future?

Last week MorningRead.com’s Alex Miceli praised the PGA Tour for taking the painful but prudent path by reducing staff. (The staff layoff news is here.)

Miceli reported some eye-opening numbers based on a video address Commissioner Jay Monahan gave to staff.

Commissioner Jay Monahan, in a video address to his staff, said the negative impact on revenue without spectators and hospitality income since play resumed in early June and projected through the end of the year will total more than $90 million.

At the same time, the Tour must shoulder the unbudgeted expense of implementing a health-and-safety program, which further erodes the bottom line.

And there was the price placed on the new Norman Foster-designed headquarters (the entrance drive will be Maybach compatible btw…big relief that the turning radius works for the preferred limo of dictators.) Monahan reportedly addressed the idea of stopping construction with the staff to save jobs since all were already working from home.

The 187,000-square-foot, $65 million building, which is scheduled to be finished by the end of the year, was designed as an adaptive office space, with an open-concept approach that will give 700 employees a better working environment.

According to sources, a halt in construction would cost the Tour more money than it would take to finish the project.

Ok I can see that. But the $65 million number sounds, well, modest since Foster is one of the biggest architectural names on the planet and players have grumbled to media about cost overruns.

This brings us the ultimate question from Miceli:

So, why jettison so many employees and not reduce the tournament prize money? As at many other big companies, moving money from one area to another can be difficult. At the tour, each tournament contract spells out how much the purse will be worth, with incremental raises often part of the contract.

Even if the purses were to be reduced, any savings likely would return to the sponsor, which pays a large percentage of the prize money. But what sponsor would want to reduce a purse and potentially damage the depth and quality of the field?

I’m guessing a sponsor like Wyndham, suffering huge losses in the pandemic, would love to not pay its full bonus pool and purse for last week’s event where the strength of field was a respectable, but hardly epic 325.

A MorningRead.com reader pushed back at the column and to the website’s credit, the letter was published. Charlie Jurgonis writes:

The 2019-20 PGA Tour season began with $375 million in prize money plus another $70 million in FedEx bonus money. Is Miceli saying that if the purses were cut 10 percent, to nearly $340 million, and the bonus pool were reduced to $60 million or so, that it would create a lesser field? That Rory McIlroy wouldn’t play in the Canadian Open because first-place money is $130,000 less than the $1.37 million that he won last year? A $45 million haircut from purses could cover 50 mid-level Tour staffers and health protocols until spectator things get back to normal.

That is a point many have made. But he adds this on the numbers, which suggests that revenue and other costs associated with the pandemic or overspending put the losses even higher.

That $90 million loss of revenue represents less than 7 percent of the total revenue for that year. If you offset that $90 million loss of revenue with the $56 million in operating surplus (using the same 2017 tax filing), the Tour needs to cover only $34 million, or about 2.5 percent of total revenue. A financial officer in a business venture with $1.47 billion in total revenue should be able to carve out 2.5 percent standing on his head, without layoffs.

If the Tour does incur a short-term operating loss by not laying off staff, it could cover those losses from it $2.4 billion-plus in cash and investments. The Tour would need to “hang on” until its new 9-year, $680 million per year TV deal starts in 2022 ... after the current $400 million-per-year contract expires.

A decent chunk of that new money will go to a huge increase in production costs as the PGA Tour takes over more elements to provide a more cohesive broadcast “product”.

Of course, in neither Miceli’s item or the follow up letter, is charity mentioned. Give that the PGA Tour is a non-profit 501(c)6 that would seem to be a factor in possibly either taking the pandemic PPP small loan, or in trimming purses to not reduce staff.

The 2018 Form 990’s show a $55 million decrease in revenues from the 2017 numbers cited above, meaning the $90 million figure for this season’s 11-cancelled-event schedule free of fans, is probably low.

The 2018 numbers also show a jump in Monahan’s salary from the $3.9 million number cited by Miceli to $6.73 million. Other compensation figures impossible to ignore.

—Paul Johnson, EVP of International Tours, raked in $2.8 million overseeing those cash cows, the PGA Tour China, PGA Tour LatinoAmerica, PGA Tour Canada and the MacKenzie Tour.

—CTO Andy Pazdur $2.12 million.

—Korn Ferry Tour President Dan Glod made $953k. (The leading money winner on the 2018 edition of that tour was Denny McCarthy, who made $255,792.)

—Ed Moorhouse, who retired at the end of 2017, raked in more than anyone for 2018, including the Commissioner, with a whopping $7.6 million retirement gift.

Feinstein: PGA Tour Picking Up Full Purses Right Now, Charities Getting Their Normal Donations

Quite the rosy picture of PGA Tour finances in a time of pandemic from John Feinstein at GolfDigest.com:

Other sponsors are accepting their fate of fanless events in the near term for several reasons: They know that the tour’s carefulness is understandable, the tour has picked up the entire tab for purses since play started again, and the tour is apparently in a position to cover full purses at least until the end of the calendar year, if need be. Normally the tour pays for half of each week’s purse.

“You have to understand, they went 10 weeks without paying out purses, so they’re a little more flush than usual,” one source said. “Plus, they have an emergency fund that they can use, and their new TV deal [starting in 2022] will give them a 70 percent boost overall. You add that all up, and they’re in pretty good shape, even if this lasts a while longer.”

Equally important to the local tournament organizations, the tour has also pitched in to make sure the charities that normally receive money from the events are still getting their normal donations, or close to those numbers.

Rory: "Silly" To Suggest PGA Tour Stoppage Due To Positive COVID-19 Tests

Back in March when the Players Championship attempted to play on as other sports shut down, most felt it was Rory McIlroy’s suggestion to “shut it down” if a PGA Tour player tested positive that put the gravity of the pandemic into perspective.

After his opening 63 at the Travelers he praised Commissioner Jay Monahan’s uplifting press conference and suggested calls to stop playing following a few positive tests was silly.

From Christopher Powers at GolfDigest.com:

“I think people … you hear one or two positive tests and people are panicking, and I saw a couple of calls to shut the tournament down, which is silly from my point of view,” McIlroy said. “You know, I thought [Monahan] did a really good job explaining. There’s been almost 3,000 tests administered. The percentage of positive tests is under … it’s a quarter of a percent.

“I think as a whole, it’s been going really well. There’s a couple of loose ends that we needed to tidy up, and I think we’ve done that. So yeah, I feel like the mood and the tone of the event was probably lifted by Jay yesterday.”

Back in March, Powers notes when we knew less about the virus, McIlroy expressed graver concern about COVID-19, which was about 2.5 million cases and 126,000 deaths ago.

The four-time major winner said “we need to shut it down” if a player or caddie tested positive. Of course, March was a much different situation than June. McIlroy’s latest comments would indicate that he believes the tour is handling what continues to be a fluid situation quite well.

PGA Tour's Return To Golf Now A Matter Of When, Not If The Pause Button Gets Hit

Bro-Bump: Jay Monahan and Rory McIlroy at Last Week’s 2020 RBC Heritage

Kudos to PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan for expediting his wheels up time to be out front on today’s hectic virus news at the Travelers Championship, apparently earlier than expected.

Also, kudos to the PGA Tour media team for axing all press conferences to focus on the matter at hand: more positive tests, more signs pro golfers are not immune to the virus, and more signs the tour officials hear the bubble bursting.

And that’s about it for the compliment department.

The day that started with the news of Whoop’s for everybody! (Contrary to reports, the wrist devices do not inject you with anti-bodies OR zap you after walking into the Tour’s physio area without having tested negative).

The CEO is “onboarding” one-thousand of them, pricey subscription price not mentioned.

Then we learned the bubble was expanding to instructors, upgrading one set of tests and physio trailers would all be on site because, apparently, players were stupid enough to be hitting gyms in a time of a coronavirus easily spread in…gyms.

Speculation started after the obvious signs of trouble. More players withdrew from the Travelers Championship, including both Koepkas—and now the field is a little less stacked.

Ewan Murray sums it all up well here for The Guardian before the proceedings wrapped with a Monahan news conference reminiscent of March’s Players Championship. (That’s when the PGA Tour was the last sport to shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic.)

Now? The PGA Tour now appears destined to be the first major sport to shut down, again.

The most painful part for golf and those who love it or make their living in the game? This impending debacle was all so preventable. So before we get to a couple of pieces from Golf.com that say it all, a few standout moments from Monahan’s press conference broadcast live on Periscope and Golf Channel.

Here is what Monahan was not asked in the limited invite, low-technology back-and-forth that had him questioned by a small pool of writers:

—Two PGA Tour players have tested positive—Nick Watney and Cameron Champ—for COVID-19 and both have ventured away from guideline-required areas while awaiting test results at active PGA Tour venues. What went totally wrong here Commissioner and what have you done to assure this ridiculous breach does not happen again?

—You just arrived from Florida here in Connecticut, how was the airport screening process on a day that the state of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut imposed restriction on travelers from America’s many hotspots?

—Why not enhance Tour guidelines to mandate face coverings for all but players on the course?

Visually, Monahan leaned on his water bottle repeatedly and tip-toed around the room’s elephant: how many tests is too many before this Return To Golf becomes the Brief Return To Golf?

His first go was about…the brand.

Q. Do you have a position even privately whereby it would not be viable to continue with this or other tournaments on the grounds of reputation, if not health and safety?

COMMISSIONER JAY MONAHAN: Listen, I think that there is -- that's something Ewan, that you're mindful of every minute of your working life. The brand and safety of our players are -- the safety of our players is our No. 1 concern, and our brand is our greatest asset.

The amount of time, Ewan, that we put into the plan that we developed; the plan we've executed; the dialogue we're having with our board, our Player Advisory Counsel; the feedback we're getting with our players; everything we are doing we are doing in concert with our membership; and based on our board call on Monday night; based on our Player Advisory Council call on Tuesday night; based on conversations that myself and our team members are having with our players, we feel a great responsibility to inspire people and to be in their living rooms on Saturday and Sunday -- Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

We feel like we're on a path that's going to allow us to continue to sustain our return to golf, but rest assured, there won't be many sleepless nights; there usually are.

Will, won’t.

When you're working in a world of uncertainty, these are the things you worry about. But also rest assured that the PGA TOUR will always do the right thing as it relates to our players, our fans, our constituents and make sure we create the safety environment possible.

Alright we’re just going to chalk that all up to bad proofreading in PVB. Next try:

Q. I know you've been reluctant to list a tipping point over the last couple of months, and even so far today, but is there a point when you get to enough positive cases within the bubble where you say, "Hey, look, we need to curtail this, we need to shut it down," and if so, is there a specific number, or how do you determine that?

COMMISSIONER JAY MONAHAN: I think that we -- Jason, on that front, where I go back to where we are right now, and the system that we have in place, and there are all kinds of scenarios that could play out.

We feel like we've tried to contemplate all of those scenarios in creating the program and the protocols that we have such that if you are going to have positive cases, there can -- they are contained or they are containable, and we are going to avoid that scenario.

But if you start to -- I mean, there certainly are scenarios where if you had a significant number of positive tests, or you could play scenarios where that would come into play and you'd have to be thinking along those lines.

But for us, we're confident with the plan we have and we are very hopeful that we are not going to be in that position.

And third time’s not the charm…

Q. Secondly in conversations with health officials or experts, what does this look like exponentially, you know, X number of days or weeks from now for the TOUR in testimony of what the statistical data tells you; in other words, where, you know, within the last six days, there have been a handful of positive tests, be it caddies, players or people within their quote, unquote, bubble. I'm curious how you look at it two, three, four weeks down the road from now?

COMMISSIONER JAY MONAHAN: We tend to look at it day-to-day before we get into several weeks down the road, because while we've completed our testing protocol so far this week, obviously we have other measures that our players, caddies and staff will take between now and the end of play on Sunday. That's something that we will continue to be focused on executing.

And then as it relates to going forward, I think it's important that you understand and that we convey that our team, myself, we are spending a lot of time talking about where we are.

I think we understand you all spend a lot of time worrying about how to save the FedExCup, but the overall sport?

What’s best for golf where the rest of the sport has done an incredible job navigating this perilous time?

You know, when you go through the contact tracing and when you think about individuals that tested positive, and you think about the environment, you know, what are some of the additional things we can do to mitigate risk, and you've heard me say that probably too many times.

But that has been our focus, because if we focus on that, we feel like we put ourselves in a position where we can have a controllable number of -- we can have a controlled environment or a controlled number of cases or positive cases going forward.

We can't wait for the number. We have to be proactive in doing everything we can to keep that positive number as small as possible, and that really is just about executing our health and safety program.

Minus, distancing, masks, enforcing our own regulations or maintaining a legitimate bubble. (Especially as the mask data becomes more powerful by the day).

Then there was this blown opportunity to tell players they could send better signals.

Q. We've seen the players fist-pumping high-fiving, standing next to each other on tee boxes; going out to dinner, we hear, as well. Do you feel let down by the players?

COMMISSIONER JAY MONAHAN: Not at all.

Now that’s some pampering.

Regarding previously mentioned stories, both come from Golf.com and sum up what appears to be a massive failure by players and caddies to appreciate their role in making this return work.

First is Luke Kerr-Dineen, on site since Tuesday at the Travelers and watching as the tournament officials, PGA Tour staff and volunteers all do their part, while players and especially caddies ignore the basics. The piece reinforces just how much the “Return to Golf”underestimated how caddies stubbornly resisting guidelines and recommendations could undermine the whole thing.

On Wednesday afternoon, coaches roamed the range with impunity. There were countless fist bumps and handshakes, and equipment changing hands. At one point, I witnessed a group of eight players and caddies huddled on a small tee box, waiting to tee off, one of the players killing time by going through another’s bag, grabbing his clubs and making practice swings before putting them back.

It’s easy to laser-in on individual anecdotes and cast wide generalizations, but the truth is, at least from my two days on site, that through some combination of not caring enough and feeling comfortable enough, the players simply aren’t, in the words of the PGA Tour’s most recent statement on the matter, “doing their part.”

Kerr-Dineen’s colleague Alan Shipnuck later in the day filed a piece titled “Why the PGA Tour should hit the brakes on its season again”, saying Wednesday’s WD-fest threw “into sharp relief the hubris of the Tour trying to barnstorm the country amid a raging pandemic.”

He writes:

The Tour has trumpeted its own bubble but, really, it’s more like a breezeway, through which hundreds and hundreds of people pass every week. There are the players and caddies, of course, but also the many folks with whom they interact: swing coaches, trainers, agents, Tour officials, chefs, equipment reps, wives, girlfriends, nannies and sundry others. The collective level of vigilance to preventative measures is varying, to say the least, and all of these people are traveling across a country in which the number of coronavirus cases is still spiking three months after the first mitigation efforts began.

Making it now a matter of not if a player will test positive, but when the Tour will put the brakes on in their premature return.

Jay Monahan Talks Financial Impact On Tournaments, Charity

Doug Ferguson talks to Jay Monahan about the PGA Tour’s return at this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge.

Now that golf is returning, Monahan couldn’t predict when spectators would return. He said the tour has worked with tournaments the last several years on building a reserve fund for a crisis such as this.

“If you’re not selling tickets, and there’s not hospitality, you don’t have the pro-am experience or the honorary observer program for the sponsor ... that’s a significant financial impact on those tournaments, and the impact on the way tournaments connect with their communities,” he said.

Tournaments and their title sponsors still have managed to raise money for their local charities. The Zurich Classic matched last year’s donation of $1.5 million to a children’s services foundation. The John Deere Classic expects $10 million in donations, even though it canceled its July event.

Who knew that the folks in khakis awkardly walking down the fairway helped make a significant financial impact!

Either way, given that the Tour’s non-profit tax status is dependent on tournaments operating as drivers of charitable giving and that purses have not (apparently) changed, we will learn soon what plans the Tour has to maintain giving or help to events.

Meanwhile, the tournament announced featured groups earlier than normal and they are mighty strong.

Not so good: bad signs on the COVID-19 front for the good people of Texas, with surging rates of hospitalizations.

Monahan Emphasizes Need For Widespread, Large Scale COVID-19 Testing If PGA Tour Is To Return

The Detroit News’ Tony Paul highlighted the remarks while attempting to determine if June’s Rocket Mortgage Classic could even be played. But a day after another oddly-timed schedule rollout tone deaf to over 4000 lives lost in a single day (in the U.S.) and parallels were suggested between a contagious virus pandemic and 9/11, Jay Monahan hit all the right notes discussing with Mike Tirico the possibility of a PGA Tour return.

Even better, not one mention of golf being played on 3-400 acres.

Talking to Tirico on his NBC Sports show, Lunch Time Live, Monahan made clear what is necessary for early June’s Colonial.

"We need to have widespread, large-scale testing across our country, where we are going to be able to test players, caddies and other constituents before we return," Monahan told Tirico. 

"But we need to do so (in a way) that's not going to take away from the critical need we're going to be facing."

Players were fairly muted in expressing strong views either way about the planned return, though Brooks Koepka wondered if the push was too soon while Justin Thomas praised Tour leadership for at least trying.

The full conversation was posted at YouTube:

As America Shuts Down To Stave Off A Pandemic, The PGA Tour (Eventually) Joins The Cause

We’ve all tried to refute the charge: golf is not as elitist as you think.

No, really, it’s full of good people and a beautiful sport. With, sure, moments we’d like to forget.

So as questions remain about America’s infrastructure to handle the COVD-19 outbreak, the world of sports— minus the PGA Tour until 9:54 pm ET,—took painful, and perhaps even excessive steps to stop the spread. We can only hope to someday declare today’s actions an earnest but shrewd overreaction. Absent information to the contrary, however, every major needed to take action to prevent the spread.

So amidst everything taking place and health matters that should be the primary focus, it still must not be forgotten that the PGA Tour, in “full speed ahead” mode all week at its wonderful but overinflated home event, became the last major American sports league to pull the plug.

This, after waiting until 12:15 am earlier in the same day, to issue a statement about the status of Players Championship opening round, and only then to offer first round refunds if so desired.

There were no pleas for vulnerable seniors to stay home.

No pleas to those under-the-weather to stay away.

No, “we-got-this”, to volunteers who consume consummate news outlets and might be uncomfortable exposing themselves to large crowds.

Business-as-usual.

Market-by-market.

From Task Force to Business Unit-approved.

Yet as first round play got underway, major events continued to be cancelled, financial markets kept sending the same grim messages, and America began boarding up the windows.

Yet in marching ahead with the Players and upcoming schedule, Commissioner Monahan again teed up the vast acreage card during a midday press conference. The very same assertion that property size would keep people safe and shot down in Monday’s surreal CNBC appearance, then uttered Tuesday to reporters, and somehow schlepped out again in an answer that soured within hours.

Q. Similar to that but in layman's terms, can you explain what the difference is between the PGA TOUR which is continuing with events and, for example, the NBA, and I think I'm right in saying the MLS and other sporting bodies which have just shut down completely. Why do you feel golf is different?

JAY MONAHAN: Well, I think if you look at our venues, obviously we're an outdoor sport, we're not in a stadium, and here this week at TPC Sawgrass our players are making their way over 400 acres. And so we feel like we have, because of the nature of that and the fact that you've got 144 players here and over the course of a round our players generally do socially distance themselves, we felt like by taking this step to address the problem with our fans, we're in a position where we can continue to operate the events as of right now. And you look at there are other circumstances that led to the decisions that those leagues made that are unique to those leagues that we're not currently faced with. And that's something that we thought about and talked about, but ultimately when you break it down and you think about what's going to happen here over the course of the next three days and then going forward, we're comfortable having our players continue to play at this time.

In the meantime, players coming off the course or scheduled to go out, questioned the wisdom of going forward as other sports leagues ended major events. CT Pan pulled out of the tournament in the most significant show of wisdom. From overseas, Lee Westwood was sounding alarms as his colleagues were busy contesting the first round.

Oh, and players were subjected to random drug testing, in quite possibly the ultimate display of tone deafness as noted in this piece by Ryan Lavner.

As the round neared completion (one group did not finish), the PGA Tour stood firm with a 6:45 pm. operations update reaffirming the midday plans: players and volunteers only, with media outside the ropes. Next week’s Valspar event was on schedule. This, even though the LPGA Tour had postponed its next three events and the NCAA basketball tournament cancelled.

But the PGA Tour was set to play round two and beyond. Until someone read the room. Finally.

Truly unbelievable. What changed from the 6:45 operations update until now? https://t.co/APwknZNBP7

— Jay Coffin ⚰️ (@JayCoffinGC) March 13, 2020

We will never know what light bulb went off or what information the Business Unit obtained. Maybe someone pointed out to the PGA Tour how they would be the only major sports league besides a spectator-free NASCAR pushing forward while the rest of sport shut down to help contain the potentially civilization-altering virus.

Pausing here to let you reflect: the PGA Tour was going to forge ahead with The Players while others retreated in hopes of promoting quarantining and making the pandemic less awful.

But at 9:54 pm players were texted. The Players was cancelled, as were the next three events in Tampa, Austin and San Antonio. They had “no choice,” one player told Rex Hoggard.

It took a “no choice” situation to finally shut things down. No choice, as in, we-waited-to-long-to-be-proactive and we will look foolish now playing golf while the world addresses a pandemic.

The inability to sooner recognize the absurdity of proceeding, should serve as a wakeup call when the golf can get back to addressing First World problems. In the coming weeks and months, with tournament golf halted and the future so uncertain, there will be no better time for the sport to assess who represents the game best and which organization is most intuitive. And a rough few days in Ponte Vedra exposed an unenlightened PGA Tour not quite in harmony with the world at large.

Ponte Vedra Bubble Burst: Players Championship Goes On With Spectators As Rest Of Sports World Shuts Down

As a series of incredible pandemic-driven events played out, the PGA Tour held their ground.

Take your pick of clues that it was time to rethink spectators at The Players Championship, if not an all-out cancellation.

There was a Presidential address to the nation announced in the early evening and given at 9 p.m. ET. Landmark restrictions were announced by President Donald Trump.

The NCAA and NHL eliminating spectators from tournament games, the Seattle area teams are also eliminating games.

The NBA was rumored to be meeting to take drastic measures (later in the evening there was a season suspension and game cancellation after a player, who mocked the virus earlier in the week, tested positive for the coronavirus.)

Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson tested positive for the virus in Australia, where, mercifully they could at least be tested.

The virus can linger in the air for up to three hours, according to preliminary study findings.

St. John’s County, home of the Players, had its first positive CODV-19 case announced Wednesday afternoon.

Oh, and the World Health Organization declared a pandemic earlier in the day. Among other signs.

The world of sports has been forced to lead the way in quarantining and slowing the spread of COVD-19, no matter how expensive and painful the move may be at a busy time of year for championships.

The PGA Tour, whose Players Championship is heavily attended by seniors as fans or volunteers and who are more susceptible to the virus, had nothing to say. Zilch.

Finally, this statement arrived at 12:15 a.m. ET and less than 8 hours before the first tee time:

The PGA TOUR is aware of rapidly changing developments regarding COVID-19.  With the information currently available, THE PLAYERS Championship will continue as scheduled, although we will absolutely continue to review recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control, World Health Organization and local health administrations. This is obviously a very fluid situation that requires constant review, communication and transparency, and we are dedicated to all three aspects. The PGA TOUR will provide an additional update by 12 p.m. ET on Thursday.

In the meantime, players in the field have been notified to be prepared to play round 1, as scheduled.  

Fans who no longer wish to attend THE PLAYERS Championship may request a refund or exchange; details on how to do so will be announced shortly.  Please visit PGATOUR.COM/THEPLAYERSfor more information.

Since Monday’s painful and unnecessary appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Commissioner Jay Monahan and his team have clung to the notion that vast outdoor acreage will be the PGA Tour’s primary defense against a virus with so many unknowns. And there was Monahan’s emphatic statement about converting a “Task Force” to a “Business Unit”, as if that was a discernible course of action with any real meaning to fans or players.

His full answer:

I would tell you that it started out as a task force. It's now essentially a business unit, where we have two leaders, Tom Hospel, our medical director, and Alison Keller, our chief administrative officer, who have organized a large team to fully understand the coronavirus and its implications on all facets of our business. I think it goes without saying that the health, safety, well being of our players, our fans, our tournaments, everybody that's involved in our ecosystem is of utmost importance.

So for us, we are relying heavily, as other leagues and sports and entertainment venues are, relying heavily on the World Health Organization, the CDC, but primarily given the fact that we're playing 175 tournaments over six tours, this really is about a market-to-market exercise and truly understanding what local public health officials, local government officials, what's happening on the ground through our tournament directors in every single market where we play.

That answer spoke to a level of disconnect from reality, particularly for a Commissioner who was so welcomed because he seemed much more grounded than his sometimes aloof predecessor. Now, with everything that happened Wednesday, his statement has aged even less gracefully given the actions of the World Health Organization and other sports leagues.

Tour executives spent Wednesday entertaining “partners” from around the country and hosting them for the annual Wednesday night party, while some senior staff were reportedly lecturing player agents on the push to make people associate the color gold with The Players. Important stuff.

And the only sign anyone in Ponte Vedra realized they might regret having an on-site concert Wednesday? It came with the deletion of a Tweet showing The Chainsmokers playing to fans packed in like sardines at the 17th hole.

Since this is The Players and owned by the the players, the event is more than entitled to carry on with the PGA Tour’s finest taking whatever risks they choose. But hundreds of television personnel, tournament workers and volunteers will now be subjected to spectators, despite increasing signs that large public gatherings are a bad idea.

However, the PGA Tour’s reckless indifference to public safety should come as no surprise.

Six were injured on Saturday of last year’s Tour Championship when the PGA Tour refused to move tee times up despite just a 30 player field and a 1 pm planned start. There was an 80% chance of storms at the time and a 90% chance for Saturday predicted Monday of that week.

Just as with the coronavirus, signs of impending trouble apparently do not penetrate the Ponte Vedra bubble. When dissent is so strongly discouraged and executives must pass conformity examinations before getting hired, a culture of fear is bound to develop. That a decision on Thursday’s opening round was not even made until after midnight is one thing, but to only offer refunds and not take more aggressive action, could end up looking like willful neglect.

When too many executives are focused on maximizing revenues, minimizing inconvenience and juggling jargon to get a promotion, you get moments of profound incompetence. The 2020 Players Championship, no matter how it plays out or who it plays in front of, has burst the bubble. We can only hope that the innocent folks in this do not leave north Florida with a virus all because the non-profit PGA Tour put profit ahead of common sense.