PGA Tour Expediting TV Rights Deal To Avoid NFL, Believes Golf Needs A Second "Linear Channel"

I got a chance to read the longer version of John Ourand and John Lombardo’s SBD piece on the PGA Tour rights fees and beyond the summarized version I posted about yesterday.

There were several interesting nuggets shared by Rick Anderson, who will head the Tour’s negotiations.

Ourand and Lombardo call the timing “aggressive” given that it could create an awkward situation with existing partners for two full seasons. Or…

If the PGA Tour signs new deals with CBS and NBC, it will be able to add new features two years early. If it moves on from CBS and NBC, the tour believes that it will need those two years to develop a new channel and digital presence.

Another reason for the tour to move early is to take advantage of an overheated media rights market before the NFL comes in and takes over a sizable piece of that market. The NFL’s deals are up in 2021 and 2022, and all indications are that the $5.5 billion of linear TV rights deals that the league collects annually will see a huge increase. 

The NFL is also pushing hard to expand its season deeper into February, which could impact who might be interested in fall or west coast events.

The Tour also seems to believe there is a need for a lot more golf on television, including options to pay for the privilege of seeing every shot from every player if someone chooses to:

Anderson said he is looking for one or, potentially, two linear channels. He pointed to the content it has from the PGA Tour, LPGA, PGA Tour Champions and Korn Ferry tours as evidence that the tour has enough content to fill two channels.

“When you start talking about capturing every player and every shot, the digital platform is where that would come to light,” he said. “We know that our opportunity extends beyond the current business model of cable and a linear channel. We can build a real digital platform that has content that people will pay for and in a different way than any other sport can do.”

I’m thinking you could call it PGA Tour Live. Just a thought!

It will be fascinating to see how many streaming services believe they can sell subscriptions with golf as part of their package. It’s hard to see HBO Max and ESPN+ feeling that adding golf will be that final piece getting someone to pay $20 a month.

In sizing up the bidders, SBD’s assessments beyond the expected interest of CBS, NBC and Golf Channel featured surprising notes, presumably shared with them by Anderson:

Discovery

Discovery signed a 12-year, $2 billion deal for the PGA Tour’s international rights. It paid $30 million to $35 million for Golf Digest this spring. But Discovery has not showed interest in the tour’s U.S. rights.

What happened to Netflix for golf on our phones? Oh right, when you’ve got to cover the CEO’s absurd compensation package, it’s hard to start a new channel.

ESPN

Much of ESPN’s interest revolves around its streaming service ESPN+. But new President Jimmy Pitaro has expressed interest in the PGA Tour’s linear rights, too.

Don’t count out ABC, where golf’s demographic actually would watch in numbers that sponsors care about.

Fox

Sources say Fox is not interested in a big PGA Tour package, but the tour hopes it will want tournaments around the U.S. Open to help streamline its production and sales processes around the sport.

The new U.S. Women’s Open date rules out the Memorial going to Fox two weeks out from the men’s U.S. Open, meaning an RBC Canadian or Rocket Mortgage could be in their future?

WarnerMedia

WarnerMedia has showed a lot of interest. Last week, AT&T’s Randall Stephenson said he is in the market for live sports rights for the company’s planned direct-to-consumer streaming service HBO Max. PGA Tour rights would fit that bill.

And since he gets to have a say as part of the PGA Tour Policy Board, you have to like his chances.

Links! Porthcawl Joins Troon As Next Two Women's British Open Venues

The early voting says you want links courses only to secure the Women’s British Open’s identity going forward and while I’d like to say the R&A heard you, this one obviously had been in the works for some time: Royal Porthcawl will host the 2021 edition. And Golfweek’s Alistair Tait says this should be a precursor to finally bringing The Open to Wales.

For Immediate Release:

ROYAL PORTHCAWL CONFIRMED AS VENUE 

FOR 2021 AIG WOMEN’S BRITISH OPEN

31 July 2019, Woburn Golf Club, England: Royal Porthcawl was announced today as the venue for the 2021 AIG Women’s British Open, following on from Royal Troon, which makes its debut on the Championship roster in 2020. 

Royal Porthcawl is renowned to be as challenging a course and as hospitable a club as you will find and has held many amateur and professional tournaments on its famous links. In 2014 the Club hosted the first ever Major in Wales, The Senior Open, which returned again for the 2017 edition won by Bernhard Langer. 

Among others, the Club has hosted The Amateur Championship, The Walker Cup, The Curtis Cup, The European Team Championship, The Men’s Home Internationals, The Vagliano Trophy, The Women’s Amateur Championship, The Dunlop Masters, The Penfold, The Ladies European Tour and The Coral Classic.

As South Wales’s first 18 hole golf course, Royal Porthcawl was awarded the privilege of the prefix ‘Royal’ in 1909, only the second course in Wales and one of only 66 clubs around the world to have that distinction.

Johnnie Cole-Hamilton, Executive Director – Championships at The R&A, said: “We are very much looking forward to taking the AIG Women’s British Open to Royal Porthcawl for the first time in 2021.  We have a very exciting couple of years ahead with the Championship also making its debut at Royal Troon in 2020. Both courses will present outstanding tests for the world’s best women’s golfers.”

Speaking on behalf of the Welsh Government, Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism, Lord Elis-Thomas, said: “We are delighted with today’s news and look forward to the honour of welcoming the AIG Women’s British Open Golf to Wales in 2021. Wales has built its reputation as an outstanding destination for major international events and the AIG Women’s British Open event will help to maintain this momentum and highlights our commitment to bringing world class women’s sport to Wales. We are committing funding to work with the R&A, Wales Golf and clubs and schools across Wales to use the event and the Curtis Cup in Conwy in June next year to inspire more women and girls to take part in golf.  Having these two great events in successive years at two fantastic venues like Conwy and Royal Porthcawl is a great boost for golf in Wales in general and women’s golf in particular.” 

Royal Porthcawl Club Captain, Rhys James, added: “We are thrilled that the AIG Women’s British Open will be coming to Royal Porthcawl in 2021. Hosting our first women’s Major is a tremendous honour for the Club and we cannot wait to welcome the world’s best golfers to Wales. Being here at Woburn this week and seeing the impressive scale and quality of the Championship makes us look forward to it all the more and to seeing how these fantastic players handle all the challenges our course in two years’ time.”

The Women’s British Open was founded by the LGU in 1976 and has been staged in conjunction with IMG, the world’s largest sports marketing company, since 1984. The event has been co-sanctioned by the LPGA and LET since 1994 and gained Major status in 2001. The Championship is now owned by The R&A.

European Tour Originals: New Guinness Record For Fastest Hole Played!

Given all the slow play talk of late, here’s some much needed therapy and another gem from the European Tour Originals team, this time as Thomas Detry, Sean Crocker, Guido Migliozzi and Paul Dunne all take a shot at the 1:33 record. The fine print:

The rules of the attempt dictated that the par five tenth hole had to play a minimum of 500 yards with each player required to finish the hole carrying the same number of clubs they started with.

After some highly respectable – and often dramatic – attempts, it was 26 year old Detry who succeeded in breaking the standing record, going from tee to green in just one minute 29.62 seconds.

Enjoy:

U.S. Girls' Junior Finalists Got Over Four Hours To Play 18 Holes...

Jillian Bourdage lost to Lei Ye in the U.S. Girls’ Junior and a few days later, he deliberate pace was noted on Twitter.

The pre-shot routine for a very short putt is painful and frankly, bizarre given that it’s not gamesmanship:

friend just sent me this from the US Girls Junior... Trickle down effects of slow play on a 3 foot comebacker pic.twitter.com/trYC2vZZIo

— Brendan Porath (@BrendanPorath) July 30, 2019

The criticism has been flowing, though I’d say from a general skimming of remarks, much of it is directed at adults for not better policing young players.

Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols warned that it’s a dangerous precedent to pin slow play issues on a young player and I would not disagree.

Particularly after reading this generous pace of play allowance in a match where the course is only available to two players:

A few things to consider about the Girls’ Junior finale that make this the perfect storm for slow-play critics:

1. It was a commercial-free broadcast

2. This was the only match on the course

There’s no cutting away during the boring stuff. Plus, the players were never warned about being out of position. Officials checked the time after each hole of the match.

The first 18 holes took 4 hours and 4 minutes. Officials allowed 4 hours and 12 minutes for the second 18, and they beat that mark.

Four hours and 12 minutes for two players on a wide open course after an almost identical time par in the morning?

That’s only 16 minutes faster than the average AJGA round…with a full field on the golf course and threesomes.

Sergio's Star Power Protecting Him From A Much-Needed Suspension For On Course Antics?

That’s what Golfweek’s Alistair Tait alleges of the kid-glove treatment for the pouting, golf course vandalizing Spaniard and possible future Ryder Cup captain following his latest pitiful on-course display.

Truth is, he can do almost anything he wants and not get a two-week ban. No way the European or PGA Tours are going to take serious action, especially the European Tour. The Euro circuit won’t want to alienate one of its biggest stars.

If true, that’s an amazing statement about where we are in the game: stars can behave badly before our eyes because they are star.

Then again, in February he vandalized greens mid-tournament and only got disqualified, so after that boondoggle, it’s no small wonder he continues to get a pass from the European Tour and PGA Tour for bad behavior.

Poll: Should The Women's British Open Be Contested Only On Links Courses?

That was the case I made today on Golf Central’s Alternate Shot while Matt Adams said there are plenty of great options in the UK to not limit the event going forward.

In 2020, the women’s major played this week will be run by the R&A entirely after merging with the Ladies’ Golf Union.

Here is our debate:

So…

Should they be open to some heathland and inland courses or only play links? Results will be here.

Should The Women's British Open only take place on a links?

Yes

No

pollcode.com free polls

Readers Questioning Clubs That Start Over The Speed Limit, But Within Testing Tolerance

Callaway CEO Chip Brewer issued a lengthy statement to explaining the Xander Schauffele non-conforming driver situation at the 2019 Open.

Brewer’s admission that the company handed their player a driver over the 239 CT limit but within the tolerance limit did not sit well with some observers.

Reader Chris writes:

Geoff, I am staggered at this statement:

“We know Xander’s driver was conforming when he received it. Probably in the range of 245 – 250 CT. At the Open we tested it at 255 CT, still conforming but close to the limit. The R&A tested it at 258, one over the limit.

The limit is 239, with a tolerance of 18 presumably for exactly the sort of circumstances Brewer describes in the statement. To hand a player a club they know to be beyond the limit is extraordinary negligence!

And Scott on Twitter also noted this issue with an analogy:

@CallawayGolf deserve everything they cop over this. The limit is 238 no? So why send one out at 245-250? Pelicans at best. Cheating maybe. Like complaining u were fined for speeding at 108 in a 100 zone with 10% tolerance. YOU WERE SPEEDING AND U GOT CAUGHT!

— Scott Hayes (@sthayes74) July 31, 2019

It’s hard not to wonder if both Schauffele in revealing his positive test and Brewer in admitting the company handed a driver to their player over the limit, brought all of the scrutiny on themselves. Particularly given the likelihood of “CT Creep” as outlined by Brewer in his statement.

The CEO’s statement could also backfire given the shots at the governing bodies about their testing suggesting some sort of possible tampering or illegitimacy (“Part of the issue is the testing location, a tent on the back of the range, where folks not directly involved in the specific testing can walk in-and-out too freely.”). That alone could invite more scrutiny, more required disclosure and more headaches for the manufacturers. This is trending toward ERC 2.0 by challenging the competence and very generous procedures of the enforcers.

As I noted just after The Open, all of these parties would have been wiser to admit their mistake and expressed gratitude at the lack of serious punishment. Because now it sure seems like they’ve kept this situation alive and festering, perhaps even warranting more scrutiny, more consideration and maybe tighter testing.

Given that the governing bodies have wrapped up their distance study and may take action this fall, this situation could help them make a case that the equipment rules need tightening and more public disclosure of those who fail tests. That would be an amazing turn of events.

Callaway Studying "CT Creep" In Drivers, CEO Issues Lengthy Defense Of Failed Driver Test

CT creep…is that…wait, there are no good, clean, family website jokes with that one.

I asked for a statement from Callaway last week to help clear up what was likely a slight change in Xander Schauffele’s non-conforming driver tested at The Open. Despite that, I was not one of the lucky ones to get CEO Chip Brewer’s lengthy statement, but my Golfweek colleague David Dusek did and prints it all.

As expected, it was a very minor issue turned into a drama by Schauffele who (A) blabbed publicly about a failed test that was otherwise unknown to press, and (B) should be traveling with a good back-up in case his gamer contracted, uh, CT creep.

The key excerpt from Brewer’s statement:

If anybody deserves blame or criticism for the driver test failure at the Open Championship, it’s us. We provide Xander his equipment. But in all fairness, I’m not sure we did anything wrong. We do everything in our power to design equipment that performs at the limit of USGA / R&A rules but does not exceed it. As long as I am in charge, we will never knowingly produce non-conforming equipment or condone its use, especially in tournament play.

“We test our drivers hundreds of times throughout the manufacturing process to make sure they are conforming. For tour product, we have a tour certification process that tests 100 percent of these products again at our facility prior to sending anything out to a player. We have also installed CT testing equipment on our primary tour trailers so we are now able to test in the field on both new and ‘played in’ parts, where high swing speed players could experience what we term CT ‘creep,’ and a driver that originally conformed could become, through play, non-conforming or deemed damaged into a non-conforming state. We are also doing fundamental research on managing or preventing ‘creep’ but more on that later.

“We know Xander’s driver was conforming when he received it. Probably in the range of 245 – 250 CT. At the Open we tested it at 255 CT, still conforming but close to the limit. The R&A tested it at 258, one over the limit. This sort of testing variation is going to happen. Because the R&A tested it over the limit, the driver was taken out of play and we replaced it with one that tested well within the limits. All before the event began and conforming with the rules of golf and intent of all the testing (both ours and the R&A’s).

Evian Nightmare Continues: Lexi Leaves Passport In Her Golf Bag And All Hell Breaks Loose

As if the disaster that is the Evian-as-a-major hasn’t been embarrassing enough for the LPGA’s Commissioner. After all, Mike Whan forced the event into a new date to avoid September’s regular rains (so it rained) and the fifth major—designated so by him—was played last week as a precursor to this week’s Women’s British Open.

Nothing screams quality like back-to-back majors.

And it’s not like this is the first time for the Evian as a major…debacle.

Slow play issues went viral and course conditioning gripes plagued the event again, but mercifully this substandard product was seen in the wee hours on Golf Channel or CNBC, where the event had to go because the schedule had long been set with the Senior Open, WGC FedEx and Barracuda.

And now, this.

I could try to describe the scenario explained by Randall Mell at GolfChannel.com, but I’ll trust you to hit the link and find out how Lexi Thompson’s missing passport caused forty players to not have their clubs at the Women’s British on Monday.

Drive on!

SBD: AT&T May Be Willing To Flip Headline News Or TruTV Into A Golf Network As Part Of PGA Tour Bid

That and other nuggets appear in John Ourand’s first significant Sports Business Daily story on the upcoming PGA Tour television rights chase.

The headline grabber: WarnerMedia, a subsidiary of AT&T looking to expand its sports offerings on their HBO Max app and on its various channels, is willing to create a new golf channel.

Given that AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson is on the PGA Tour Policy Board with oversight of the next TV contract, common sense says his company would seem to have an inside track if it bids. Then again, his company has received one of the worst dates on the PGA Tour just weeks after the Masters and the week prior to the PGA Championship. Tony Romo was the major draw this year.

In recent months, AT&T has been dealing with debt-reduction as its primary focus though that appears to not be a major issue.

It was WarnerMedia that most recently was responsible for 2018’s The Match as a test case for sports gambling, synergy and golf. Reviews were mixed, with a massive pay-per-view payment disaster, live drones that didn’t work and a sense that the intersection of golf gambling and television has a ways to go.

Ourand writes of other negotiation notes:

During its initial conversations with media companies, the PGA Tour has made it clear that it wants to control its own linear TV channel. NBC execs have discussed letting the Tour take an ownership stake in the NBC-owned Golf Channel, which has carried the Tour’s cable TV rights exclusively for the past 13 years. WarnerMedia owns channels like HLN (Headline News), which has distribution in 86.3 million U.S. homes, or truTV, which is in 84.1 million homes. Those two would be the most likely channels to be flipped if the company follows through on its initial plan.

And this on the timing, which sounds as if it’s on a fast track to be decided sooner than later.

Even though two years remain on its current U.S. deals, the PGA Tour will invite media companies to deliver formal pitches in the coming weeks. The Tour already has held informal talks with the incumbent networks, as well as others like Amazon, ESPN, Fox and WarnerMedia. The Tour hopes to have a new media-rights deal in place by the end of the year.

1.8 Overnight For WGC FedEx St. Jude, 0.6 For Senior Open

Austin Karp reports on ratings from the weekend where the good news for golf was that it led the way with a 1.8 final round rating for the WGC FedEx St. Jude. The bad news? There was nothing of note in the way of network sports programming and sponsor FedEx did not get the eyeballs their predecessor enjoyed for the premium WGC experience.

A week later last year and then the WGC Bridgestone, the 2018 event drew a 2.5 final round rating.

The Senior Open won by Bernhard Langer drew a .5 and .6 respectively on NBC.

Stunner! Sergio Continues To Conduct Himself In Unbecoming Ways

You may recall from February how European Tour Chief Keith Pelley swept Sergio Garcia’s Saudia Arabia on-course vandalism and tantrums under the rug and felt no suspension was warranted, the bow on a terrible week for the ET.

Since then Mt. Garcia has blown a few more times, though no word on whether any of the five families have taken disciplinary action. Sadly, it may take bodily injury to occur before he’s told to take a break from the game via a suspension. Mercifully though, anyone injured by his tantrums will have ample evidence of negligence by the various tours who have not acted.

The first came at The Open:

Vicious behaviour by Sergio Garcia throwing his club at his caddie after a poor drive in the final round of The Open.

🎥originalrayowens pic.twitter.com/9lf80Ci9Eg

— Doc from GolfCentralDaily (@IAmTheGolfDoc) July 24, 2019

And now this from the WGC FedEx St. Jude where most players were humbled by meeting patients at the St. Jude hospital

View this post on Instagram

C'mon Sergio, not again... 🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️ #SergioGarcia #WGC

A post shared by GOLF 60s (@golf60s) on Jul 27, 2019 at 3:09pm PDT

Thanksgiving, Christmas Beware! PGA Tour Up To 49 Events In 2019-20

Last I checked there are 52 weeks a year so only a few more events are needed to finally go year-round with PGA Tour events, apparently working under the belief that more is more.

The new schedule does not list silly season stops at the Hero and Shark Shootout, but I believe with those added there go two more weeks away from the player/staff point of view. At some point Christmas week may be on the table!

The major headline from Monday’s release involves a rare off-week during the Olympic men’s golf, a big improvement over Rio 2016 when the John Deere Classic was contested at the same time. We discussed this positive on Morning Drive just moments after the schedule’s release.

Other elements of note:

—The Arnold Palmer Invitational retains the date prior to The Players.

—The Genesis Open leaves 93 years of “open” status to become The Genesis Invitational.

—The new Rocket Mortgage in Detroit moves to late May, creating four events between the PGA Championship and U.S. Open.

For Immediate Release:

PGA TOUR announces expanded schedule of 49 events for 2019-20 Season

Opening segment features two new events along with a return of
A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier and Houston Open to the schedule

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA – The PGA TOUR today announced an expanded 2019-20 Season schedule of 49 FedExCup tournaments, featuring a dramatically changed opening segment and several late-season adjustments to accommodate the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.

The schedule reflects a net increase of three tournaments over the current season. Eleven of the 46 Regular Season events will be conducted in the opening portion of the schedule between September-November. This segment includes two new tournaments in The ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP in Japan and the Bermuda Championship, plus the return of A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier and the Houston Open following one-year absences due to their transition from 2018 mid-season dates.

Later in the season, the TOUR will have an open week during the men’s Olympic competition (week of July 27-August 2) before resuming with the Wyndham Championship and three FedExCup Playoffs events. Several changes also have been made leading up to the Olympics, most notably: the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit moving one month earlier to late May; and the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational and Barracuda Championship shifting from late July to the first week of the month, exchanging dates with the 3M Open in Blaine, Minnesota.

“After a very successful first year with our new schedule, we are thrilled to expand the number of events to 49 while maintaining a great flow from start-to-finish, allowing our fans to better engage and follow the TOUR throughout the season,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “For the second year, we’re excited about kicking off the Season of Championships with THE PLAYERS in March, bookended by the FedExCup Playoffs in August, and the return of the Olympics in that window. As for the early-season portion of the schedule, our players grasp the importance of a strong start in the Race for the FedExCup and this has translated into growth and momentum for the events played in the fall.”

With the PGA TOUR season now ending in August at the TOUR Championship, the 2019-20 season will open the week of September 9-15 with A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier. The Sanderson Farms Championship follows with its first-ever standalone date (September 16-22), before the TOUR moves on to the Safeway Open, Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and Houston Open.

The TOUR then embarks on a three-tournament Asian swing, beginning October 14-20 with THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES at Jeju Island, Korea. The ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP debuts at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Chiba Prefecture October 21-27, followed by the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, China, the week of October 28-November 3, which also marks the debut of the Bermuda Championship at Port Royal Golf Club in Southampton.

Following a week off, the TOUR continues the 2019 segment at the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Playa del Carmen, Mexico (November 11-17) before concluding with The RSM Classic. While that marks the end of FedExCup competition until the first week of January 2020, the 13thPresidents Cup returns to The Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia the week of December 9-15. It was there that the International Team claimed its lone victory over the U.S. Team in 1998.

Once the TOUR resumes in January in Hawaii, the scheduling sequence remains unchanged from the current season until the Rocket Mortgage Classic’s move from the last week of June to May 25-31. The next four weeks remain the same before the move of the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational and Barracuda Championship to June-29-July 5 and the 3M Open to July 20-26, the week before the Olympic competition.

Following the Olympic Games, the Regular Season wraps up at the Wyndham Championship (August 3-9), where not only the FedExCup Playoffs field will be finalized, but the added drama of the season-long Wyndham Rewards Top 10 will be determined. Introduced this season, the $10 million competition caps the Regular Season by rewarding the 10 leaders in FedExCup points, with $2 million going to the winner.  

Due to the off week for the Olympics, the FedExCup Playoffs will begin one week later and conclude the final week of August: THE NORTHERN TRUST August 10-16; BMW Championship August 17-23; and the TOUR Championship August 24-30.

The FedExCup Playoffs wrap up the Season of Championships, which begins with THE PLAYERS Championship (March 9-15) and continues through the Masters Tournament (April 6-12); PGA Championship (May 11-17); U.S. Open (June 15-21); and The Open Championship (July 13-19).

Several new or familiar venues are included during this stretch, beginning with the PGA Championship visiting TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, the U.S. Open returning to Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, and The Open Championship going to Royal St. George’s Golf Club in Sandwich, England.

Additionally, THE NORTHERN TRUST will be held for the first time in the Boston market at TPC Boston in Norton, Massachusetts, while the BMW Championship will visit Olympia Fields Country Club in suburban Chicago.

Too Soon To Wonder If The New Major Season Is Too Condensed?

That’s the question posed by Eamon Lynch for Golfweek as we are 250 days from the next major. But one thing we can all agree on: the fall schedule is anchored by a team event in December this year.

The Fall schedule ought to be more than an opportunity for journeymen to get a head start on FedEx Cup points before the stars return from vacation at Kapalua in January, but it lacks an anchor event. The Tour created this barren expanse on the calendar to protect the FedEx Cup playoffs — which is fair enough, since that’s where the bankroll is — and could remedy it by moving the Players Championship to the Fall. It won’t happen, of course. Even being the biggest event of the early wraparound season would still be seen as diminishing the Players, and ratings might suffer against the pigskin. So the highlight of our Fall will be a broadcast from Royal Melbourne in the middle of the night after all, this one the Presidents Cup.

A few have questioned this publicly and quite a few more privately for a variety of reasons. Players are not seeing the wisdom in the tighter major window and have played less around the majors. With some high profile defections at the WGC FedEx St. Jude and an even bigger no-show rate for the Wyndham Championship (you know, to help your playoff position), cracks have appeared in the new schedule concept. Namely: it’s weakening the very “product” it was meant to strengthen.

I think we need a little more time to mull the question as the only meaningful reversal will come after a new TV deal starts and the various majors have considered how the schedule plays out. The 2019-20 schedule is due out any day now and 20-21 won’t change much either.

But my initial take as a supporter of the new schedule’s tighter structure? The majors are stronger for it despite what players may legitimately think is too short of a window. The surrounding professional events on all tours have been weakened instead of strengthened as players conserve energy, and the PGA Tour Playoffs arrive too close on the heals of the majors. Given that the entire thing was built around avoiding football season and making the PGA Tour playoffs a bigger deal, the early reactions may force a re-thinking or even a scrapping of the wraparound schedule concept entirely.

Brooks Doesn't Need No (Lengthy) Warm-Up: Wins WGC St. Jude, Wraps Player Of The Year

Rolling in just David Cobb details Koepka’s low-key arrival less than an hour before teeing off and with only a little time spent on the range. Turns out, it was only a few minutes less than his normal Sunday warm-up.

Please Brooks, don’t be mad we didn’t know this!

As Brian Wacker correctly notes here for GolfDigest.com, the POY race is now over before the Tour Championship, if it was a race, given Koepka’s play in the majors (T2-1-2-T4).