PGA Tour's New HQ Already Has A Name And It's NOT Terminal A

Foster and Partners are not known for working cheap so I apologize for suggesting their new PGA Tour headquarters—sorry, Global Home—looks like an airport terminal.

I realize that’s unfair since the terminal is partially fronted by a moat. More suited to yacht-docking.

Garry Smits files a lengthy and detail-rich story that lands like an alligator in the front lobby amidst a pandemic, last year’s layoffs and when $65 million collaborative work spaces won’t be cool for a while.

It sounds beautiful, except in a Cat 4 storm:

Thanks to five large skylights, a “collaborative atrium” connecting the two wings and floor-to-ceiling windows, natural light is one of the main features of the building designed by Foster + Partners and built by Clark Construction – which also built the TPC Sawgrass clubhouse in 2007.

“It’s 100 percent intentional,” said Kirsten Sabia, the Tour’s vice-president for integrated communications on Thursday after leading a media group through the building. “Prior to designing it, Foster interview a number of employees and asked them what they desired in a new building. The top-two answers were natural light and meeting space. You feel energized when you walk into this building and you feel energized when you walk out.”

Better than feeling fleeced!

The Tour initially is planning on 25 percent occupancy and will continue to give employees the option of working at home until the pandemic subsides.

But how will they feel energized? Other perks of the building…

• Nearly 100 meeting spaces, ranging from small rooms with a table and several chairs to the conference room off Monahan’s office that can seat around two dozen participants.

So, like a third of the vice presidential core.

• A fitness center with aerobic machines, weights, rooms for yoga, pilates and Zumba classes and full locker rooms and showers.

Did I miss a memo? Zumba is back?

Wouldn’t it have just been cheaper to buy everyone a Peloton, an Aeron and a 27-inch Mac? Maybe throw in a home simulator for the six golf nuts left?

But then they’d miss this vital component…

• A dining area that includes a salad bar, sandwich bar and pizza oven. Food purchases will be made from area vendors, produce wholesalers and even farms, and plans are to start a vegetable and spice garden.

The things you can grow in a converted swamp these days.

• A coffee bar where the staff will bake their own pastries and bread.

OFFS.

Stewart Moore, senior director of communications, said the amenities of the Global Home will enable the Tour to compete for talent in areas such as finance, legal, media, digital, broadcasting, data and technology and marketing — since part of the deal to get tax and utility incentives from St. Johns County was to add 300 new jobs over the next 10 years.

I know 50 or so you can add back.

“This is going to be an amazing recruiting tool,” he said. “You talk to people and they want a café, coffee shop, a fitness center.

All key for staying awake watching launch angle golf.

“Having this modern space where they want to come to work will help us keep bringing in the brightest people to keep growing our business.”

Eh em…that’s growing the charitable giving, remember?

The Global Home also will be in full view of fans coming to The Players Championship for years to come.

Goosebump alert!

While the old headquarters buildings were tucked away on the main road leading to the Players Stadium Course, the new digs will remind fans that the Tour is unique among professional sports in that its headquarters, signature event and signature are in the same location.

I couldn’t have said it more confusingly myself.

The Times-Union version of the story includes this photo gallery. Just think, Greg Norman’s newly listed home only would run you about $5 million less. But I bet his staff can’t back their own pastries and bread.

Players Championship To Have 20% Capacity, No Chainsmokers Reunion

The upcoming Waste Management Open will feature a reduced 16th hole corporate hospitality, 5000 a day where America’s highest infection rate currently resides and take the PGA Tour where they are begging spring training to stay away.

So by that measure and many others, The Players appears to have a more sensible plan based on Executive Director Jared Rice’s comments.

From Will Brown at the Jacksonville Business Journal detailing the 20% capacity plan for the March 11-14 event.

“…From a hospitality perspective, we have modified everything. So, that means in hospitality zones we will have open-air venues. We’re looking for ways to make sure it's as safe as possible, limiting some access there. From a fan perspective, we are looking at ways we can focus on social distancing as part of the food and beverage experience and make it great for our fans.”

Rice also announced The Players will begin selling tickets to previous attendees on Feb. 1. Tickets for the general public will be made available on Feb. 16.

Masks will be required and social distancing will be strongly encouraged.

The tournament will feature digital ticketing, contactless commerce as well as altered food and beverage protocols at The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. There will not be a Military Appreciation Concert this year, but there are plans to honor members of the armed forces as has been the case in years past.

The Chainsmokers probably won’t be back for a while and that’s ok on many levels.

The Iconic PGA Tour Logo Turns 40 And We Get To See What Might Have Been (They Made The Right Call!)

Deane Beman posing with mock-ups of possible PGA Tour logos

We have our branding fun in these parts but we all know there is something to a timeless logo. So as the PGA Tour’s turns 40, Laury Livsey posted a few stories at PGATour.com about its origin, timelessness and golfer mystery.

The best part of the package? The many other logos considered. I see some great ironic trucker hat options for The Players merch tent, but it’s also apparent the shield with the most permanence and class—after some small tweaks—was selected.

From Livsey:

Outside of minor tweaking here and there through the years—but nothing along the lines of a facelift—the iconic symbol of professional golf remains largely unchanged from its original 1979 design that replaced the TOUR’s “shield” logo. Four decades later, it has stood the test of time. With companies changing logos and color schemes and brand imaging all the time, the TOUR has not budged.

As for the mystery of who the golfer is, well, Livsey tries to answer that question. I won’t spoil it but will paste this from Deane Beman, who signed off on the final version.

About the logo’s design, Beman remembered, “There is no question in my mind as to what I said was that I want the name on it—PGA TOUR—and I want an active golf figure in it.” So what would the silhouette be doing? “I didn’t want him to be at address. That doesn’t denote motion. It has to be during the course of the swing or at the finish of the swing,” Beman added.

And don’t forget to check out what could have been…

Do Not Live Over Par: "Have A Game Plan.­® Bet Responsibly" Aims To Educate Golf Fans On Gaming

You’ve got to know when to hold' ‘em, know when to lay up, know when to…I digress.

Sorry Kenny and RIP. Just a stellar song.

So remember kids, know that when you put a hundred down on Zach Johnson to hit the longest drive of the day at 200-1, you might have a problem. The AGA is here to help. And they’ve registered Have A Game Plan in case you were getting any ideas of stealing that killer slogan.

For Immediate Release:

PGA TOUR and AGA Align to Educate Fans on Responsible Gaming

TOUR to introduce golf-specific content campaign “Know When to Lay Up” 

January 19, 2021, 10 AM ET

WASHINGTON – The PGA TOUR joined the American Gaming Association (AGA) as the newest Have A Game Plan.­® Bet Responsibly public service campaign partner to educate golf fans on responsible sports betting. 

As part of the campaign, the TOUR will develop content that encourages its fans to “Know When to Lay Up” and bet responsibly. The co-branded responsible gaming content will appear on social and digital platforms along with public service announcements that will air on PGA TOUR Radio.

Wait what? Radio? No TV?

“A key pillar of the PGA TOUR’s sports betting strategy is responsible gaming and ensuring our fans are equipped with the appropriate resources so they are properly prepared and educated,” said Scott Warfield, VP of Gaming at the PGA TOUR. “By aligning with the American Gaming Association in support of its Have A Game Plan campaign we’re able to align our efforts and provide a consistent message focused on responsible gaming.”

To the vast radio audience.

The TOUR joins NASCAR and the National Hockey League (NHL) as league partners in the campaign, which focuses on the fundamentals of responsible sports betting: setting a budget and sticking to it, keeping betting social, knowing the odds, and playing with trusted, regulated operators.

Ah now we’re getting somewhere. Trusted, regulated operators. Where we get a proper cut vs. Jerry at the corner bar.

Monumental Sports & Entertainment and the Vegas Golden Knights have also committed inventory in support of the campaign.

Committed inventory sends an even stronger message than radio.

“The AGA is thrilled welcome the PGA TOUR to our growing responsible sports betting campaign,” said Casey Clark, AGA Senior Vice President, Strategic Communications. “As legal sports betting continues to expand in both availability and popularity, it is imperative that responsible gaming education keeps pace. Today’s announcement is a testament to the TOUR’s thoughtful approach to sports betting and marks an important step in continuing to engage all industry stakeholders in our shared responsibility to educate fans on safely and responsibly betting on sports.” 

Gentlemen, this bill will be a giant step forward in the treatment of the insane gambler!

Launched in 2019, the AGA’s Have A Game Plan campaign provides consumers with a state-by-state guide on where to find legal operators, spotlights the basics of sports betting, and raises awareness on signs of problem gambling. 

This partnership is the latest in a string of progressive and industry-leading sports betting initiatives by the TOUR. Following the Supreme Court’s decision that overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in 2018, the TOUR instituted a robust integrity program in collaboration with Genius Sports and later that year announced a global partnership with IMG ARENA to license its official, live scoring data to betting operators all over the world. The TOUR’s official sports betting partners include BetMGM, DraftKings, FanDuel, and PointsBet, and the organization continues to evolve its innovative GolfBet partnership with The Action Network. The TOUR is also a platinum member of the National Council on Problem Gambling.

Sure seems like they are worried more about the gamblers than how the gamblers might effect the players, but only time will tell. Still a ways to go

Background

• 25 states and Washington, DC have now legalized sports betting, with 20 jurisdictions already operational.

• 45%, or 115 million, of American adults now live in a jurisdiction where wagering on sports is legal.

• Between June 2018 and November 2020, bettors legally wagered more than $35 billion on sports nationwide, generating nearly $2.5 billion in sportsbook revenue and approximately $330 million in tax revenue to state and local governments.

45% of states means this is illegal in 55% of states, FYI.

Malnati: "When people say, oh, this golf course is all about angles, that's not true."

After a Sony Open first round 62, was asked about a recurring Waialae Country Club theme: is this one of the last courses where a more strategic, accurate player can win?

The full exchange, though the last question answered is the best part addressing the idea that there are any preferred “angles” of attack left in modern golf:

Q. Talking to a few guys about this week, as the game goes to distance, are there places you can't win?

PETER MALNATI: Where I can't win? I hit it far now. I'm longer than average I think.

Q. Are you longer than Cam Champ?

PETER MALNATI: No. But he's pretty long. There's not places I can't win. There's probably conditions in which I can't win. But like golf courses, I've never been to Augusta. Augusta probably ain't going to suit me great but I putt it really well and I hear you have to do that there.

Q. You do. You have to do it everywhere. What conditions are you talking about, do you think?

PETER MALNATI: When it's super wet and we're doing everything through the air -- one of my favorite things to criticize, a weird way to say something, I absolutely hate it when I'm watching golf on TV, which is rare, and I hear the commentators say, oh, this course is all about angles.

Golf, on TV -- that's rarely ever true. Have you ever watched golf on TV? Like, look at the way Jason Day hits it. Angles don't mean anything when you fly it to the hole. Like just fly it to the hole and land it next to the hole. Angles aren't important. So when people say, oh, this golf course is all about angles, that's not true. Like that doesn't matter.

And so there's places that are the big, wide open course when is they get really soft like it's going to be tough to hit three clubs longer into a green and compete. But when the ball is bouncing and going crazy places, like here, I hit several drives ShotLink will say they went 320 plus. Like when the ball is bouncing like that, I can play anywhere.

Also note that Malnatti makes clear he doesn’t watch much golf on TV. Why do pro golfers always like to let us know that?

The bigger point here though: angles as we knew them hardly matter in the launch angle era. Unless a new angle can be created with a 12 degree launch angle and 320 yards of carry. Just ask Waialae’s 18th hole.

Why The "Golf's Biggest Events" Graphic Evokes So Much Outrage

Given the terrible times you’d think golf fans might be shrug off a silly, poorly-executed graphic.

The current graphic of scorn comes under the banner, Golf’s Biggest Events. In the past it’s been something about Championship Season, Season of Championships, etc. and has been relentless mocked by the younger sophisticates the game theoretically hopes to embrace.

The PGA Tour’s partners at CBS, NBC and Golf Channel all have used the graphic because of exposure to PVDS, currently untreatable by any drug or vaccine.

Ponte Vedra’s Desperation Syndrome has been seen most in VP’s based around greater Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. It generally inflicts males with marketing backgrounds. Scientists looking into the syndrome have found PVDS to most impact those with almost no sense of the game’s history, no interest in anything but PGA Tour, and who have shown an almost irrational belief in The Players and FedExCup Playoffs rising to major championship levels.

PVDS has also been known to be highly contagious in certain sectors. Researchers find that senior level television network executives often labor under the syndrome’s most relentless, bonus-impacting elements. They will even sometimes take to Twitter, as NBC’s prime PGA Tour liaison Tom Knapp did, to defend the madness as viewers point out flaws in the graphic’s logic and execution. (See below.)

(The replies now sleep with the fishes after just one too many replies slamming Golf Channel for ignoring the women’s game, but that’s why we leave browser tabs open.)

Various LPGA players and media shared the tweet and their disdain for the inconsistency (examples here, here, here and here. The most pointed from an LPGA player:

“Ratings”

1. Golf network decides women’s golf has no value to fans(?)
2. Golf network pretends women’s events don’t exist
3. Casual fans can’t fit them into the context of the golfing calendar
4. Casual fans don’t watch the events they were never told about
5. Poor ratings
🔁 https://t.co/MJezU448N5

— Meghan MacLaren (@meg_maclaren) January 8, 2021

You can still see the offending graphic above and screen captures of the replies below. Obviously, the graphic should have simply said Men’s Biggest Events or something more clever. And the graphic should correctly state the dates of the FedExCup Playoffs, though the inclusion of those playoffs is only to keep the Ponte Vedra red phone from ringing. Few syndrome-free individuals believe they warrant inclusion on the list of championships above and many other smart folks could make a case that the desperation undercuts the cache of certain “biggest” events.

The outrage in a time of strife and pandemic speaks more to the channel’s unexpected new direction for those outside of the thralls of PVDS and who, devoted as viewers, fear for its future.

Just this week, Golf Channel reporter and anchor Lisa Cornwell painted a less than rosy picture of the network’s culture and its recent elimination of females from the channel payrolls in the name of Comcast/NBC Sports cost slashing.

The graphic causes more annoyance than is should due to relentless rollout of the USGA’s “Women Worth Watching” campaign, fueled on and off air by a woefully inorganic Golf Channel rollout.

And finally, these kinds of graphics remind viewers that a successful channel built on catering to many different golf audiences and viewers is fueled by a move to PGA Tour state TV mode that is already tough to watch and increasingly harder to trust.

Now, back to the more serious matters at hand.

**The people were heard!

@BigRandyNLU you did this! pic.twitter.com/EEKL9MApy1

— Golf & Science & Bulldogs (@BrianMcGolf) January 8, 2021

"Win Equity" Stat A Fascinating Study And One We Probably Won't See Adapted By Tours

When I saw the euphemistic-sounding “Win Equity” stat cooked up by John Ezekowitz , a No Laying Up fan fed up with debates over Tony Finau’s one win status, I feared an excuse-maker for players who seem to have immense talent, contend a lot, but just don’t seem to win much.

But just based on my C+ math skills, this seemed like a pretty neat bit of research that looks how players perform on the weekend and how often they are genuinely unlucky to lose. We’ve had our share over the years and more recently, Rickie Fowler and Tony Finau have gotten the most attention.

Anyway, check out his Medium post here. This is Strokes Gained level stat-re-imagination but I wouldn’t count on adoption by the PGA Tour since it could put a player in a negative light (even though the stat also validates who have been recently clutch performers, something fans and the, eh-em, investors would like to know).

This can be illustrated through a stat I call Win Equity, which is defined as Expected Wins given Actual Play minus Expected Wins entering Round 4. Generating positive Win Equity means that a player outperformed his expectations, ignoring what others shot. This stat best removes luck from the equation of final round play.

Finau’s performance in Win Equity especially noteworthy: in the 36 final rounds where Finau has entered in the top 10, he has added win equity through his play in only 3 of them (2017 Valero Texas Open, 2019 HSBC Champions and 2018 Safeway Open). That is by far the lowest rate amongst these players.

#CringeContent: PGA Tour, Betting Sites Continue To Exploit An 11-Year-Old Boy And Folks Have Seen Enough

The PGA Tour Instagram page

It’s never good when Instagram commenters are the arbiters of taste and standards. But that’s what is happening as various outlets pad year-end numbers and take bets off of an 11-year-old boy.

The PGA Tour’s 23rd Charlie Woods post in a week has finally started to prompt the inevitable questions about where to draw the line from commenters. Here is the latest post and just one selection of the many comments suggesting the exploitation in the name of activation, views, growing the game or family values.

The PGA Tour’s official account has featured 23 posts on Charlie during and after PNC Challenge week. When they keep showing up 3 days after the final round it’s clear no line will be drawn.

For context: in contending during and winning the Masters, Dustin Johnson was worthy of 21 PGA Tour Instagram. He, however, is a (A) an adult (B) a member of the PGA Tour (C) compensated in multiple ways for the use of his likeness.

Included in the chorus of critics of today’s post was Tour player Dylan Fritelli. The 2019 John Deere Classic winner hopes the “media/people” will respect the young lad and his privacy, even though it’s the PGA Tour social media account still pushing the story as other sites have finally backed off.

And then there are the betting sites.

Christopher Powers reports at GolfDigest.com in a story titled, “You can now bet on Charlie Woods' chances of winning a major, proving we've all lost our minds”:

The website sportsbettingdime.com sent out its Charlie Woods futures odds on Monday morning, proving we've officially lost our minds. According to SBD, Charlie is 825-1 to win a major by the age of 25, this despite not knowing if he even wants to take up a career in professional golf.

And thanks to reader Grillo for this horrifying option from betting site Bovada:

PGA Tour Commissioner: COVID-19 Vaccine A "Choice" With "Pros And Cons Associated With It"

Note to self: put a hold on those posts about how the PGA Tour could play a vital role in marketing the merits of getting the COVID-19 vaccine, or how they could first welcome back fans and health care workers who have been vaccinated as a way to boldly, proudly and wisely reintroduce eventual normalcy to PGA Tour events.

Only select media get the conference call invites these days—let’s call it a bespoke approach—so I’m not privy to the transcript or tone of PGA Tour Jay Monahan’s COVID-19 vaccine remarks and how he says this scientific marvel’s possible impact on the business of pro golf.

Bob Harig’s ESPN.com account of Monahan’s remarks did not exactly give the vaccine an enthusiastic endorsement even as health care workers and medical professionals ecstatically take the Pfizer product in hopes of reducing spread and saving lives.

His comments came just hours before Moderna’s vaccine received a 20-0 approval vote, seemingly more positive news given another influx of vaccine supply into the marketplace.

"I think vaccination is a choice, and I would apply the same logic and the same amount of care to that subject as we have to every other subject, and that is to try and do our best to educate our members on vaccination and the pros and cons associated with it,'' Monahan said during a conference call with reporters. "But ultimately it's an individual decision.''

I could think of 15 things an $8 million-a-year executive, who is eager to get his business back to normal, might have said instead. But hey, he speaks for his players and we have to assume this is the pulse of the PGA Tour.

And for those wondering, Harig most certainly was not cherry picking as the “choice” remarks were led with in several other stories by other writers. (Here, here, and here.)

Besides Thursday’s exciting and expected Moderna approval news, the Monahan remarks came the same day that vaccinations will be taken by Vice President Mike Pence, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and next week, President-elect Joe Biden.

Monahan was also quoted sounding skeptical. While he was not mirroring the sad-but-inevitable beginning of Fox News conspiratorial takes on the vaccines and anti-vaccine information laundering campaigns, he clearly has no intention of mandating vaccines or using the PGA Tour to advocate for them:

"As exciting as it is, I think there's still an awful lot that we need to learn and we need to know. But I would say at this point we're not going to be in a position where we're mandating vaccination, and that's the way we're looking at it at this point in time.

Again, it’s suprirsing to read that a collection of pro golfers are essentially casting doubt on the work of scientists, doctors, major pharmaceuticals and the FDA.

Or was he?

One story by Rex Hoggard struck a different chord, with Monahan quoted in a tone I would have expected of someone hoping to see PGA Tour golf return to a form of normalcy:

“It really is hard to predict at this point what that will be. We're very encouraged by the news around the vaccine and vaccine distribution and paying very close attention to what that can mean as we go into calendar year 2021,” Monahan said. “I think you'll just see a slow and steady increase in the number of fans that we have on-site, but again, we won't be the sole arbiter in that. Any steps that we take we'll be doing in concert with our partners in the local communities where we play.”

Obviously a vast majority of the world could care less what the PGA Tour decides to do with the vaccine matter given far more important matters in front of us. But given that they view the vaccine as a “choice” with cons, I do wonder if the Tour realizes many may simply “choose” not to support or attend events if the stance is one of vaccine skepticism?

There are many more layers to this story and it is certainly a complicated decision for many to take any kind of vaccine, but we also require them in plenty of circumstances. I can’t entirely gauge Monahan’s tone here either. But given the opportunity to show a leadership role for something so vital to public safety and being taken by some of the nation’s leaders, the initial notes of skepticism came off as peculiar when juxtaposed against the day’s largely positive vaccine news.

Workday Moves (To Yet Another) Sponsorship, This Time The Memorial And Likely Dooming Steph Curry's SF Event

The almost schizophrenic movement of Workday around various golf tournament sponsorships is too bizarre to try and recap and not particularly interesting unless corporate ADD is your thing.

So just when you thought the company had found a superb sweet spot in sponsoring and hosted by Steph Curry at TPC Harding Park, they are replacing Nationwide as presenter of The Memorial. (Here is the full release detailing the 10-year deal with the quotes they might live to regret given Workday’s attention span.)

Either way, The Memorial will always be fine. And while the most important part remains—proceeds benefitting the amazing Nationwide Children’s Hospital—the loss of the Columbus-based blue-chip sponsor in Nationwide is not ideal.

With the Tour’s 2021-22 schedule far from finished, we don’t know the status as of yet for the Curry event slated to debut in the fall, but as Ron Kroichick notes for the Chronicle, today’s news and the inclusion of Curry’s Play. as a Memorial beneficiary, it doesn’t look good.

The Chronicle reported last week that the Curry event probably would not take place in 2021, but now its long-term future appears all but dead.

Workday, the finance and human-resources software company based in Pleasanton, previously was in line to become title sponsor of Curry’s event. But the company grew worried about making a heavy financial commitment to a new tournament in San Francisco, sources told The Chronicle last week, given lingering uncertainty about coronavirus restrictions.

If you are thinking Harding Park’s sudden double whammy abandonment looks odd given the success of 2020’s PGA Championship, you are not wrong. The course lost the 2026 Presidents Cup in lieu of the Curry event and now appears to be a free agent despite producing an compelling finish and most important above all else, major championship conditions.

Slugger, Russell Speak On Retirement And Huge Changes In Rules Administration World

Adam Schupak does a nice job packing a lot into this story and Q&A on golf losing a combined 160 years of experience at the top of the rules administration game. The players: White, Russell, Paramor and McPhee. Sounds like a law firm!

In the U.S., as reported here Monday, Slugger White and Mark Russell will be winding down their PGA Tour days as tournament directors and officials. White is hanging up his walky talky sooner while Russell will take a longer last lap around the country as he hands things over to Gary Young.

But the loss of golf’s four most prominent faces at applying the Rules of Golf at essentially the same time begs the question: how do the PGA Tour and European Tour begin to replace that institutional knowledge?

“The most important thing to me over the years that I thought I was responsible for was hiring the best possible people,” Russell said. “I’m extremely proud of the people that Slugger and I have hired and I’m sure it will carry on.”

“It’s a lot of years and you take a lot of experience with you,” White said. “I hope I’ve given some of that experience out and I’ll be around for a little bit. They know what they’re doing and they’ll be fine.”

In the Q&A White tells the story of his first ruling after retiring as a player. Of course, it was Jack Nicklaus who called for an official.

PGA Tour Outlines A Very Sensible Early Season Return Of Limited Fans*

Of course you know it’s *Scottsdale that wants 8000 a day and to continue its (indoor) corporate hospitality. A move which, combined with the uh, clientele, seems like a recipe for disaster. And there are the optics which are dicey in the best of times.

Their plans also seem bold after the Houston Open experiment was capped at a purported 2000 a day and did not exactly give the impression we’re quite ready as a society to gather in huge crowds. I mean, 2000 a day.

Otherwise, the plans for early season events are impressively conservative, restrained and in compliance with local officials, no doubt an arduous and painful process to work through.

Especially when there is the Waste Management Open still wanting to do its thing, albeit scaled down. Brian Wacker writes for GolfDgiest.com:

The tournament with the highest annual attendance on tour—in 2018 it had a record 719,179 fans for the week—will allow up to 8,000 fans per day next year, by far the most of any PGA Tour event to date. Scott Jenkins, who is chairing the tournament for the host organizers, The Thunderbirds, in 2021, told Golf Digest last month that the plan was to build a one-story structure to accommodate fans at the par-3 16th, which has in recent years had a three-story grandstand surrounding most of the hole.

We can only hope they build it in way that is well ventilated. spaced and limited, but it’s also a bit amazing they want to take the chance.

Hoggard: Medinah To Replace Harding Park For 2026 Presidents Cup

Nice scoop from GolfChannel.com’s Rex Hoggard: Medinah No. 3 will land the 2026 Presidents Cup originally planned for TPC Harding Park, which is set to become a regular PGA Tour stop site in 2021.

And as seems to be the tradition at No. 3, a master plan and renovation is likely to happen (again) between now and then. As Hoggard notes, which The Fried Egg reported exclusively first, the firm of Ogilvy, Cocking and Mead will be getting their hands on the often-changed layout.

Geoff Ogilvy, an assistant at the last two Presidents Cups, is a likely captaincy candidate for those 2026 matches.

Guardian: Premier Golf League "Pressing Ahead" With Events For Golf's Independent Contractors

Despite the news-dumped landmark strategic alliance announcement between the European Tour and PGA Tour, The Guardian’s Ewan Murray says the Raine Group’s Premier Golf League is forging ahead with event plans.

The Raine Group, venture capitalists who came close to an agreement with the European Tour, believe the finest golfers in the world – as independent contractors – can still be coaxed to play in competitions not sanctioned by the sport’s traditional tournament organisers.

There remains concern among some at the upper levels of professional golf that, by coming closer, the PGA and European tours are not boosting the market by allowing competition. Meanwhile, Raine are not going away.

It would take major contraction or a financial collapse of the European Tour for a full PGA Tour monopoly to take hold. And great news! The European Tour is “categorically” flush after laying off 68 people and the world is grand shape. Never better.

Anyway, Murray suggests the PGA Tour presented an offer the European Tour could not refuse.

Documentation seen by the Guardian understood to have been shown to the European Tour board cited, as examples, potential scheduling conflicts and increasing the number of minimum events that players must enter to retain PGA Tour status. The notion of PGA Tour qualifying events in Europe, the lobbying of major championships regarding eligibility criteria, pressure on broadcasters over coverage and impact on the Ryder Cup were all even mooted as possible outcomes. As things stand, the PGA Tour has no formal involvement in the Ryder Cup whatsoever.

A Ryder Cup bluff. Bold.

Of course, none of the threatened actions Murray reports would do anything to improve the product of either tour in any scenario. The ploys merely hold off an existential threat. That’s no small thing, but also demonstrates how far some folks are going to hold together the current model even as the times will inevitably demand some type of pivot by all tours.

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.