When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
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Punishment for those collecting seven and eight-figure appearance fees (Photo by Geoff Shackelford)
They weren’t bluffing down there at the Global Home regarding February’s Saudi International and preventing as many as thirty top players from playing the same week as the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Nobody messes with Jay Monahan! He is the Sheriff of all…wait, what?
The potential defectors get to abandon one of the biggest events on the PGA Tour calendar and their punishment will to play Pebble Beach-Spyglass-MPCC over the next two years? All while collecting huge appearance fees and possibly laying the groundwork for fundamentally disrupting the PGA Tour’s business?
Tony Soprano, he is not. Guess Jay’s in the holiday spirit?
Back in July Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch reported that players would be denied releases to play the event believed to be a precursor to a Saudi Golf League. But now Lynch is first to report the releases will be granted for the February 3rd-6th event but with “strings attached.” Some really, really thin strings.
Any player who has competed in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am event at least once in the past five years must commit to play at least once in the next two years (2023 and 2024). Players who have not competed at Pebble Beach in the last five years will need to do so twice in the three years until 2025.
The travesty of it all! How will they cope?
A source familiar with the names of the 30 players who applied for waivers told Golfweek that 19 of them will have to commit to one appearance at the AT&T, while the other 11 will be required to play twice.
Cracking that whip! I half-expected to read they’d be prevented from getting Spanish Bay rooms overlooking the service bay.
One source familiar with the situation told Golfweek that lower-profile players invited to compete in King Abdullah Economic City have been offered appearance fees of around $400,000, with mid-tier players receiving between $500,000 and $750,000. High-profile stars get seven-figure offers. Chartered private aircraft to and from Saudi Arabia is also provided.
Growing the game!
Meanwhile the PGA Tour Twitter account acknowledged this gruesome situation. Remarkably, the PGA Tour has yet to suggest it has any issue with how the country in question sometimes conducts its business. Psssssst: someone tell the Global Home the Fund is no longer invested in Disney and Marriott, so no need to worry about upsetting proud or semi-proud partners.
With conditions, the TOUR has granted releases for those wishing to play overseas February 3-6 in 2022.
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) December 20, 2021
Greg Norman (artist’s rendition)
Greg Hardwig reports from this week’s QBE Shootout on the latest related to Saudi Arabia’s attempted takeover of the pro game after Greg Norman spoke to assembled media. The LIV Golf Investments operation running the potential Saudi Golf League had named a new COO Thursday: Atul Khosla, who has bee the chief corporate development and brand officer for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
This gave the Shirtless Shark a chance to ride “C-suite” as only he could.
“Our C-suite (or major executive team) has been very, very special to say the least, and it’s a testament to our business model, it’s a testament to our commitment to the game of golf and our C-suite, which is deep and very experienced not only in sport, team sport, not only in business, but right across the board,” Norman said. “Our C-suite starting in London to where we’re going to be in West Palm Beach is solid. Really, it is a commitment by them of, like I said, believing in the product, believing in the business model and believing in the players.”
Three C-suites in so little time. Oh but why quit there?
“‘I’m very, very passionate about that,” he said. “I’m not going to lose focus on that at all. I stay finely tuned with my C-suite people on the same thing about our future and about how we want to get to certain milestones in our life and obviously for our investor.
“They’ve invested for a reason, they invest for a reason because they see golf and sport as an asset class now and you’ll see it all around the world, whether it’s in IPL cricket or whether it’s even the NFL, NBA, NHL, you see it in all different leagues, people invested in sport in general.”
Meanwhile Graeme McDowell suggested he was displeased at seeing his name “plastered all over the media like I’m a bad guy” for being one of eight listed as asking the PGA Tour for a Saudi International release. His interest was first revealed by Golfweek and McDowell was subsequently revealed as part of the tournament field list while his photo is used in the official tournament masthead.
“I’m on the list of guys that were given permission to ask for a release, and then it gets plastered all over the media like I’m a bad guy; I’m just doing what I was told to do, which was ask for a release,” he said. “Listen, it’s really up to Jay Monahan, however Jay wants us to handle the situation. I’m just going to wait and find out what Jay wants. First and foremost, I’m a PGA Tour player until further notice. That’s the bottom line.”
The Saudi International is scheduled to go up against the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am where many C-suite types turn up every year.
If you had took the over—50 words—you’re a winner.
It took Bubba Watson 51 before he dropped a “grow the game” to rationalize his hopes of a PGA Tour release to the Saudi International. Quite a contrast to Lewis Hamilton’s stance before the recent Saudi F1 race.
Speaking before this week’s QBE Shootout:
Q. Just your thoughts on you're on the list for the Saudi Arabia tournament and obviously a lot of players are just waiting to see what happens or what the Tour says. How are you approaching that part of it?
BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, it's one of those things where I love to travel and I wanted to travel somewhere else.
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
And Saudi Arabia, they're trying to change.
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
They started with women's golf, started supporting the women's golf and then they started supporting men's golf. There's women's tournaments already that they sponsor. Trying to grow the game.
ROFLROFLROFLROFLROFL
They're trying to change industry over there, bring golf, bring tourism to Saudi Arabia with the beautiful beaches that they already have.
ROFLROFLROFLROFLROFL
It will be interesting to go over there and play, but also see the beauty of other parts of the world that God's created. I can't wait to get over there.
Okay this is not funny now. Someone needs to convey to Mr. Bubba that in the eyes of those paying him lavishly to come see their country, his God did not create those beautiful beaches. And they don’t really like his God. At all.
Hopefully the Tour lets us go. Again, you know, the charity dollars is what's most important, so the more money I can get in my hands, the more I can give away. So it's an honor and a privilege if they let me go over there and play.
BINGO!
We got a grow the game, God and charity.
Jordan Spieth and Henrik Stenson were each assessed a two-stroke penalty for playing from the wrong teeing area on No. 9 during the final round of the Hero World Challenge.
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) December 5, 2021
You know it’s the end of the year when two players you’d consider among the more detail-oriented tee off from the wrong box. Playing first out and undoubtedly taking as little time as necessary, Jordan Spieth and Henrik Stenson teed off from the 17th tee on The Albany’s 9th.
By all accounts the Tour staff had made clear of this possibility and gigantic tee signs were on each box, meaning the caddies also had a chance to intervene. So this one was on the players, as the video explanation from Shane Bacon and Notah Begay covers it all, followed by Spieth and Stenson talking to the press after the round:
To get an idea how zoned out the two were…
Q. What was your reaction when the official told you?
JORDAN SPIETH: I actually didn't think we were going to get penalized because it's a charity event, but then I realized there's world ranking involved and all that. I think the frustrating part for us now is that every other group's going to be -- they're making sure to tell them, but for us they didn't. It obviously didn't matter for us, which is fortunate I think for those guys.
HENRIK STENSON: My question was if we could just finish 19th and 20th and leave after 9, but that wasn't an option, either.
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, he did. He asked them if we could just go to the airport and I said I'm down.
In normal times this would be quite humorous particularly given how meticulous these two and their bagmen usually are. But with all of the disruptive tension and importance of world ranking points, even the above antics get noticed when the field in a 20-player even has checked before the conclusion.
This invitation end-of-season Hero Challenge Bahamas jolly for just the invited 20 players (many of whom are in total wind down mode) carries more projected World ranking points than the European Tour’s DP World Championship - a tournament which culminates a season. #justsayin’.
— Greg Allen (@gregallenRTE) December 5, 2021
Comments this week from Justin Rose and Collin Morikawa offer a reminder that the terrible virus known as “grow the game” has failed to go away.
My Quadrilateral plea to be vigilant plus speculation on grow the game’s origins.
**After filing this latest newsletter, I saw Mark Cannizzaro’s lengthy NY Post story on the Bahamas buzz over the new league. Naturally, it included this:
One high-profile player, who has been approached by representatives for a potential “league,’’ told The Post this week that he’s “concerned for the game’’ if an all-out legal brawl ensues between the PGA Tour and what it would consider another organization infringing on its empire.
“This should all be about growing the game,’’ the player said.
Barf.
Or give a gift subscription. Because it’s that time of year.
In between questions about ripping off his shirt in Dubai after a rough final round—and getting quite cranky about those inquiries—Rory McIlroy made very clear that pro golfers are independent contractors who should be able to play where they want free of fines to pay for the Global Home’s moat cleaning.
Problem is, both the PGA Tour and European Tour are threatening major fines and other retaliatory tactics for players seeking releases to play in an event controlled by the Saudis, who’d like to poach those players for a golf league.
Another problem: McIlroy carries significant influence, as evidenced by news earlier in the day of green reading books effectively being banned by the USGA and R&A. A move likely instigated by his role in Player Advisory Council discussions and vote on the PGA Tour Policy Board.
So here goes Jay Monahan’s last non-grey hair:
RORY McILROY: I think we're independent contractors and we should be able to play where we want to play. So in my opinion I think the Tour should grant releases. It's an Asian Tour event, it's an event that has OWGR rankings, I don't see any reason why they wouldn't.
I do see reasons why they wouldn't grant releases, but I think if they're trying to do what's best for their members and their members are going to a place other than the PGA TOUR and being able to earn that money, I mean, we're independent contractors and I feel like we should be able to do that if that's what our personal choice is.
My personal choice is not to do that, but obviously a lot of players are doing that and I think it's fair to let them do that.
This didn’t really help his buddy Jay, either.
Q. Going down the road there could be legal battles and arguments.
RORY McILROY: I think the professional game needs to get to a point where we as professionals need to know where we stand. Are we actually independent contractors? Are we employed by a certain entity? That's stuff that's just -- there's a lot of gray area in that and that's what sort of needs to be sorted out, I think.
This was more helpful, I guess:
Q. With all the rumblings of the team concept and whatnot that's in the ether there, so to speak, do you feel like that can co-exist successfully with the Tour?
RORY McILROY: No, so for me, like the PGA TOUR is the best place in the world to play.
I'm not saying that the whole thing needs to be blown up and we do a different thing here. I think if people want golf to be more innovative and they want it to be more engaging and they want to see different concepts, there's no reason why the PGA TOUR can't do that themselves, you know? They have the know-how how to put golf tournaments on, they have all the staff, they have everything, they have the best structure in place to do it.
I'm certainly not saying that I want anything else to come of this, but there are certain elements to different concepts of professional golf that I do see merits in, but I don't see any reason why the Tour couldn't do it themselves.
Yeah, uh, about that. They’ve had years to react to disruptors, consider where sports might be heading, discuss updating how they do things and have dug in on a moldy old model. What was it Seth Waugh said back at the PGA? “I actually think it’s healthy. You either disrupt or you get disrupted. That’s what this is.”
A day after an interview by his partners at Golf Digest/Discovery that saw Tiger Woods open up on several topics, he faced questions from assembled scribes in the Bahamas to kick off Hero World Challenge week. As is fairly typical of , Woods avoided any details of his car accident and referred everyone to the police report that was eventually posted by TMZ.
He was again clear about his ability to play at a high level being very much up in the air.
I'll put it to you this way: As far as playing at the Tour level, I don't know when that's going to happen. Now, I'll play a round here or there, a little hit and giggle, I can do something like that. I certainly like -- you know, the USGA suggested Play It Forward. I really like that idea now. I don't like the tees on the back. I like Play It Forward. Come on, let's move it up, let's move it up. To see some of my shots fall out of the sky a lot shorter than they used to is a little eye-opening, but at least I'm able to do it again. That's something that for a while there it didn't look like I was going to. Now I'm able to participate in the sport of golf, now to what level, I do not know that. I'll keep you abreast, all of you abreast as progress continues to go on, whether I'll be out here and at what level and when.
Actually it was Tee it Forward and I believe that one’s ten years old and about 14 slogans ago. Excuse me, brand campaigns. But we get the point.
Q. Tiger, I'm wondering what you remember of the accident. Obviously we all saw the result and it looked so horrifying and scary, and I have a follow up to that.
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, all those answers have been answered in the investigation, so you can read about all that there in the post report.
Short and not very accountable. Would have been nice to say he’s just glad no one else was hurt.
He is out playing golf more than we might have realized:
Q. Have you played golf holes, like a full hole or 18 holes?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I play full holes, yeah, but not from my tee markers.
As for the pain…
Q. I don't want to get too personal, but what are you experiencing there at the moment, sitting there?
TIGER WOODS: My back hurts and my leg hurts.
He was asked about The Open at St Andrews and gave perhaps my favorite answer regarding the Champions dinner:
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I would love to play at St. Andrews, there's no doubt about it. It's my favorite golf course in the world. To be a two-time Open champion there, just being a part of the champions dinner is really neat. From my first one in '05 I got to attend a champions dinner, it was pretty neat to be a part of. Peter Thomson was still alive, and I sat right next to him and to hear him tell stories of when he came over and he played and shots he played and how he did it, that was awesome. Those are things like at the Masters, those dinners are priceless and those stories and listen to them talk about how they played, when they played it and what they did, it's just an honor to be a part of a room like that. Yes, I would love to be able to play that Open Championship, there's no doubt about it.
Physically, hopefully I can. I've got to get there first. Tournament's not going to go anywhere, but I need to get there.
After mentioning the Par 3 at the Masters he was jokingly asked by AP’s Doug Ferguson about committing to the Par 3 when it returns.
Q. Did you just commit to the par 3?
TIGER WOODS: No. I committed to I can play courses of that length. Now, if the Tour wants to not have golf courses lengthened, they shorten up that much to make it more difficult, that's fine by me, I have no problem with that. If they want to go back to wooden shafts and feathery balls, okay, I'm cool.
Shorter courses and a retro event. What we’ve all wanted! Maybe Jay Monahan can work on that after Tiger gave him this answer to a question about the Greg Norman disruptor league and what players should do.
TIGER WOODS: It's going to be his decision, period. I've decided for myself that I'm supporting the PGA TOUR, that's where my legacy is. I've been fortunate enough to have
won 82 events on this tour and 15 major championships and been a part of the World Golf Championships, the start of them and the end of them. So I have an allegiance to the PGA TOUR.
And I understand that some of the comparisons is very similar to when Arnold and Jack broke off from the PGA of America to start the Tour. I don't see it that way. I think the Tour has done a fantastic job, Jay's done an unbelievable job during a very difficult time during the pandemic when there was ample opportunities for players to leave, but we were the first sporting tour to start.
So with that, yes, did we have some protocol issues at times? Yes, we had to learn on the fly, but Jay and the staff had done an incredible job of that. I think the Tour is in great hands, they're doing fantastic, and prize money's going up. It's just not guaranteed money like most sports are. It's just like tennis, you have to go out there and earn it.
This answer pre-accident would have been huge news. But now that he’s on the Hogan schedule, at best participation in PGA Tour events will be very limited.
Woods also left out the thank you payment he’s receiving from the PIP pool or that he loathes Norman. But do note that he references the “end” of the WGC’s. Better not mention that in May’s WGHOF speech while Tim Finchem is saluted for creating them.
Moving along…more on where he’s at and where’s going. A far more revealing answer about his future:
TIGER WOODS: You made a great point. Am I going to put my family through it again, am I going to put myself out there again. We had a talk within the family, all of us sat down and said if this leg cooperates and I get to a point where I can play the Tour, is it okay with you guys if I try and do it. The consensus was yes.
Now, internally, I haven't reached that point. I haven't proven it to myself that I can do it. I can show up here and I can host an event, I can play a par-3 course, I can hit a few shots, I can chip and putt, but we're talking about going out there and playing against the world's best on the most difficult golf courses under the most difficult conditions. I'm so far from that.
Now, I have a long way to go to get to that point. Now, I haven't decided whether or not I want to get to that point. I've got to get my leg to a point where that decision can be made. And we'll see what happens when I get to that point, but I've got a long way to go with this leg.
This from Golf’s Dylan Dethier was another effort to ask about the accident:
Q. When it comes to the day of the crash, clearly that's something that you're hoping to keep private. Is that something that you feel is sort of your business and not the rest of ours, for lack of a better phrase?
TIGER WOODS: Well, I kind of feel that way with most of my life. Doesn't really work out that way. I understand that it's -- I had friends that insulated me from a lot of the things that were said outside. I didn't have my phone, I didn't have access -- well, I did have access to a TV and I was just watching sports. But I refused to turn on the local channels and news and stuff like that, I didn't want to go down that road. I wasn't mentally ready for that road yet. A lot of things in my body hurt at that time and whether I was on medication or not, it still hurt. And just trying to imagine me coming off of that stuff, how much it was going to hurt, I didn't want to have my mind go there yet, it wasn't ready.
Yeah, people are going to poke and prod and want to know more about my business, I understand that. Just as long as they don't go into -- they can poke and prod at me all they want, just stay away from my family.
Considering the usual interruptions from journalists there to fill seats for the sponsor and the haphazard nature of such press conferences, it was fairly classic Woods session with a few good reveals if you look close enough. More telling may have been the clarity in his voice and eyes and cautious tone from someone who traditionally projects extreme confidence.
The lure of testing the game out on storied Royal Greens can never be underestimated, but more germane to the topic du jour it seems the Saudi’s are offering attractive appearance fees for this year’s edition. Now co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, the former European Tour stop will be February 3-6, 2022. The Saudi International is the same week as the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Barring some sort of threat to the independent contractors that changes minds, these players will be defying the PGA Tour and DP World Tour threats of fines by playing. The Tours have until 30 days prior to the event to agree to or deny a waiver to play. As reported last week by the Telegraph, the DP World Tour leadership can now fine players whatever they like for playing a competing event.
It does not appear to have scared away some big names based on the commit list updated at Golf Saudi’s website:
Abraham Ancer
Adri Arnaus
Rafael Cabrera Bello
Paul Casey
Bryson DeChambeau
Jason Dufner
Tommy Fleetwood
Sergio Garcia
Tyrrell Hatton
Dustin Johnson
Jason Kokrak
Shane Lowry
Graeme McDowell
Phil Mickelson
Kevin Na
Joaquin Niemann
Louis Oosthuizen
Ian Poulter
Xander Schauffele
Adam Scott
Henrik Stenson
Harold Varner III
Jhonattan Vegas
Bubba Watson
Lee Westwood
Biggest surprises? Xander Schauffele for sure. Maybe Shane Lowry, Bubba Watson and Joaquin Niemann, too.
Schauffele is schedule to meet with media Wednesday at the Hero World Challenge.
Rex Hoggard looks at the PGA Tour’s Player Impact Program as the exciting, unpredictable season-long race for Meltwater Mentions nears its secretive conclusion. He quotes several players who either do not understand it or care for the program’s secrecy.
“No idea,” Herman laughed when asked to explain how the PIP list is created. “I wish we had a list. I wish we knew, so if a guy is on the list and he’s close and had an idea of what they needed to do to crack the top 10. That’s the hardest part for the rest of us. They are throwing a lot of money out there without a real good understanding of how you can crack the top 10. We feel like it’s a popularity contest.”
According to various sources, the Tour will not show the entire list to players but will tell each player where they are on the list, which only seems to fuel the confusion over how the list is compiled.
And these fellows cut right to the chase:
“It’s a way for Tiger Woods to be rewarded even more for what he’s done for the game of golf,” Chesson Hadley said.
But while every player agrees with Hadley that Woods will be atop the PIP list, it remains unclear how his single-vehicle crash in February and the ensuing media coverage of the accident should be factored into his index score.
Monahan explained at East Lake that the point of the program is to get “players to engage in our game, help grow our Tour, and help grow their own respective brands.” But where exposure ends and controversy begins, is anyone’s guess.
“What they should have done is taken all $40 [million] of it and sent it to Tiger and say, thank you,” Scott Stallings said. “We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him. When he posted that picture of himself on crutches it outperformed the last four tournament winners [on social media]. If he even tried it’s over.”
In a letter to PGA Tour players, Commissioner Jay Monahan loosened the reins, went to the whip early and rode this announcement way, way too hard.
Call the stewards! Inquiry! No Laying Up summarized and posted the letter to players that screams of greater desperation than you’d expect for such great news:
Memo sent to tour players today announcing:
— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) November 22, 2021
-FedExCup bonus pool up to $75M from $60M
-Comcast Business Tour Top 10 up to $20M from $10M
-PIP up to $50M from $40M
-Official prize money up to $427M from $367M
-Average purses of $9.1M up from $8M
Further details:
— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) November 22, 2021
-Player hosted invitationals (Riv, Bay Hill, Memorial) up to $12M from $9.3M
-WGC’s up to $12M from $10.5M
-FedExCup Playoff Events up to $15M from $9.5M
-Players Championship up to $20M from $15M
Full memo sent to PGA Tour members today: pic.twitter.com/PvUUHD0nsr
— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) November 22, 2021
Rory McIlroy reiterated the importance of majors as the PGA Tour focuses on financial incentives. My thoughts on this dichotomy are shared with a very profound solution.
Plus, Inverness and Olympic Club news, Slumbers on model local rules and media, capped off by some Reads.
Steve DiMeglio reports that the PGA Tour has fired social media host Teryn Gregson after the 32-year-old pregnant mother sought a religious exemption from COVID protocols, including mask wearing in the office for those who are unvaccinated.
Gregson took to Instagram to share her saga and has been retweeting the usual fringe news outlets like BlazeTV and Outkick The Coverage taking up her cause while seeking donations.
“I was in need of religious exemptions from their vaccine protocols of masking and testing,” Gregson said in her post. “They would not accommodate me in such a way that I did not have to violate my religious beliefs.
The story features an extensive rebuttal from the Tour where 94% of employees have been vaccinated and they have greater existential threats to deal with right now than social hosts who feel violated by masking and testing.
“When mandatory in-office work for Northeast Florida employees at our new Global Headquarters and PGA Tour Entertainment building commenced on November 1, the vaccination rate of employees was at 90 percent. Presently, all Tour employees based in Northeast Florida are required to return to the office and follow health and safety protocols.”
In a phone call, Gregson said she is contemplating pursuing legal action against the PGA Tour. She said she has not given much thought about seeking other employment. She added that she has been overwhelmed by an outpouring of messages from people across the U.S., many who said they are dealing with this same issue.
“I don’t know what’s next,” she said. “But I have to figure some stuff out.”
Start by looking for a job where you can go without a mask? Don’t bother with Fox or Newsmax. Good luck!
That could be a fun band name: the Houston Open Flatbellies. Too bad in this case the name represents the never younger, more athletic, more popular PGA Tour fall collection of tournaments buoyed by FedExCup points but still losing to the geezers. Who says the Champions Tour is dead?
There is some positive news for golf: TNT’s Wednesday prime time hockey game pulled up the rear for the second week in a row, but still crushed golf in the only demo that matters.
Showbuzzdaily.com posted the 2021 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open ratings (.15/222,000 average viewers of which only 32,000 are of the magical 18-49 demo). Remember, I am not responsible for carpel tunnel caused by scrolling down to find the golf where, you’ll see the flatbellies were beaten by the Schwab Cup Championship featuring Phil Mickelson winning and Bernhard Langer capping off his sixth cup win.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
