• Tour Talk

  • Players Championship and the week that was/wasn't...

5th Major my ass...

Well, for starters I must congratulate Camp Ponte Vedra for officially repositioning the Players Championship from what used to be considered arguably the game's 5th major to that of the Mayakoba Classic.

Taking nothing away from Si Woo Kim's steady short-game performance last week, particularly on Sunday when the 21-yr-old seemed impervious to the clowns' mouths and windmills that grabbed the attention of everyone else... only one player within the top-40 of the world rankings was remotely a factor on Sunday. And as good as Louis Oosthuizen is, he's still yet to win an event on US soil and was really never a factor in the final round of the PGA Tour's marquee event. The reality is that when you "tweak" an already tricked-up course to the point where an aging, irrelevant Vijay Singh is the lead story heading into the weekend, you have to accept the fact that you've failed miserably. I suspect the tv ratings will be dreadful when they officially come out.

Brandel Chamblee continues to fall well short in the dick-measuring department....

Not sure why Golf Channel continues to employ this worthless asshole. He spent most of the telecast afterward Sunday evening essentially destroying Ian Poulter for being a coward, assuming that he wasn't trying to win based on his shot selection, but rather playing for money and a lucrative finish. It's almost like he's never watched this tournament over the years, as numerous players have taken on certain hole locations and paid an enormous price coming down the stretch. But to an even more confounding degree, Chamblee seemed completely incoherent with just how much firmer the greens were last weekend compared to years past, and how difficult a majority of those hole locations were to get to, even prior to the firm conditions being what they were last week. He's a loud mouth prick who no longer has anything worthwhile to offer but negativity and criticism. He achieved nothing during his career compared to the average tour player today, playing against a bunch of nobodies. He just needs to go away.

I guess it is all about the money...

The new FedEx Cup deal just agreed to by the PGA Tour is one that will surely irk a handful of players, at least those who are sponsored by FedEx's competitor - UPS. The new conditions being required from FedEx to continue hosting the FedEx Cup points race and playoff tournaments are requiring that UPS logos not be allowed during the tournament playoffs. Granted, only a handful of players are sponsored by UPS... but it seems a bit extreme of them to disallow a player to wear a logo of a competitor of their's. Then again, they're forking over quite a sum of lucrative money to continue funding the year-long points race and subsequent playoff bonanza, so those with all the money make the rules as they say. It will be interesting however to see what happens if those who are sponsored by UPS make the playoffs.

And lastly... the quote of the week comes from non other than J.B. Holmes, who on Saturday evening had this to say after sharing the lead going into Sunday. "Hopefully I can go out and play well enough to win tomorrow, and if I do - my life really isn't going to change. I'm going to load up the car and drive to the next tour event next week, live in the same house, drive the same car."

Holmes shot 84 Sunday. But at least he didn't lose his car or his house in the process.

    PA-PLAYA It will be interesting however to see what happens if those who are sponsored by UPS make the playoffs.

    I would stick masking tape over the logo (you can still see through it) and listen to the whine.
    or put UPS on masking tape and stick it to my shirt for a big FU, but that's just me
    lol

      I thought it was a pretty dreadful finish to watch, but then I switched over to watch the Spurs choke away a 25pt lead against the Warriors. That was worse.

      Poulter's recovery on 18 was pretty extraordinary, as was Holmes' collapse on 17.

        ZWExton

        Agree on all counts. The Spurs collapse was almost as bad as J.B.'s.

        Then I heard this afternoon that Vijay's caddie (Kip Henley) resigned immediately after the round Sunday, saying that's he's looking for a new employer. So it'll be interesting to see if there's a potential back-and-forth between he and Vijay in the coming week regarding the specifics.

        Poulter's recovery shot was remarkable. He owned up to hitting "one of the worst shots you could possibly hit in that situation," per his words, but really saved the day with such an incredible play from no-man's land, especially with that front pin so close to the water.

        Nothing much else to speak of regarding the tournament. It was pretty much a snooze fest, other than watching J.B. spend a lot of cash on the 17th hole. He hit it all over the place Saturday and escaped with a 2-under 70, which was incredible really... mostly due to great scrambling. He was never gonna get that lucky two days in a row, not there.


          Weirfan

          I don't remember you snapping that picture of me last year in Zona my friend, but I have quite a bit more hair.

          Nice Photoshop!

            I can see this new FedEx deal ending up in court if the deal with the PGA keeps UPS sponsored players out of FedEx Cup playoffs. Tour players are Independent Contractors who would be told who they can take sponsorship money from??? That will not fly...

              I am getting to the point of just watching the majors.....although with no football and college basketball being over and the pros coming to an end (playoffs offer some intrigue....I will watch if it's golden St vs Cleveland).....there is little else on (sports wise) that is of interest.....oh and the Ryder cup. I've watched as much lpga as I have pga.

              raggmann54

              Perhaps.

              I'm not privy to the written agreements set forth by the PGA Tour to its players regarding membership requirements, and/or how that all relates to whatever contractual agreements the tour has with it's sponsors.

              I don't believe the tour's lawyers would let them agree to something that could potentially become a legal issue that bites them in the ass later on, but then again who knows.

              In either case this certainly doesn't look good on FedEx, even if they are within their legal sponsorship rights to demand such a trivial, petty request.

                To clarify something about the FedEx cup deal... this was just reported yesterday, via Golf Channel.

                **PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Along with the announcement on Tuesday that the PGA Tour has reached a new, 10-year agreement with FedEx to sponsor the circuit’s season-long points race came news that the deal includes a category exclusivity clause.

                According to sources, the clause will keep players from participating in the season-long race if they have endorsement deals with one of FedEx’s competitors.

                “All I'm going to say on that front is when you're in business with someone for 30 years, and you're about to commit to 10 more, you do some things to protect each other on a long-term basis,” commissioner Jay Monahan said. “That's what we've done in this agreement, and our players know that; our players understand it; our players think so highly of FedEx and what they've meant to them in terms of playing financial opportunities. So we do everything we can to protect our partners.”

                Lee Westwood and Louis Oosthuizen both have endorsement deals with UPS but have been grandfathered in and will not be impacted. Their manager, ISM’s Chubby Chandler, said he has not received any official correspondence from the Tour regarding the sponsorship status of either player.**

                So it appears, at least on the surface, that players that have already been sponsored by UPS (or another competitor to FedEx) prior to this new contract coming into effect, will be permitted to compete in the $10 million FedEx Cup points race.

                But the bigger issue not being talked much about with this new "exclusivity clause" agreed to with FedEx, is what happens when other sponsors start demanding the same criteria for their tournaments? Is Farmer's Insurance, Bridgestone, etc. gonna expect the same concessions in their tournaments when it comes time for them to renew their sponsorship deals?

                It smells like a can of worms may have been opened.

                Interesting.....I could see it being legal....there is some sort of joke looming about getting free shipping, but cannot come up with anything at this time😉

                I thought it was a great tournament. It has one of the strongest fields all year and tied for the biggest purse with the PGA at 10,500,000.00.

                I think it is the 5th Major. It's a tougher course with the recent changes where disaster awaits on any hole. You really need to manage your way around that course. It's a tournament where truly anyone in the strong field can win.

                For me it ticks off the criteria for a Major. Strong field, large purse and I like that this one is played on the same tough course year after year (35 years) like the Masters.

                No one complains when Fred Couples or Bernard Langer competes for 54 holes at the Masters and then collapses. I like that a short hitter or bomber can win at the Players. Unique tournament in it's own right.

                Sunday's television ratings couldn't beat the final round of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am back in February.
                Down 16% from last year's event, down 1/3 from 2015, and tied as the lowest final round of this same event going all the way back to 1998.

                But... I'm glad you liked it.

                  PA-PLAYA

                  I think that using television ratings is of limited value these days and certainly when trying to compare to years gone by .

                  millions of people have ditched cable tv and the numbers are growing rapidly ( especially up here) a large segment of the population streams their sports now and others like myself use android boxes to watch .

                  Golf viewership and participation rates have been dying for years now and will likely continue to. its not just golf but NFL etc are all getting less views ( although I suspect that the above reasons are a contributor)

                  as far as I know spring and summer golf tourneys always get less viewership ( excluding majors) than winter and fall events do .....weather is nicer and more folks are out and about not sitting in and watching tv.

                  i too enjoyed the tournament, especially with Poulter in the hunt, a nice story line. The lack of a big name in the hunt Sunday probably hurt a bit . I only watched Th,fri and Sunday and watched it all Sunday.

                  as for the course, the pros seem to like it and while it is quite a deviation from the normal courses we see, I think that it adds excitement and intrigue to the event so I'm fine with it. 17 is always voted the best and most exciting hole on tour
                  not what i want to see every week ( then again neither is a US Open set up) likewise I wouldn't want to see a course like St Andrews or Chambers Bay used every week, i like that they are mixed in once in a while

                      What happens if UPS decides they want to wholly sponsor a tournament......and they demand no mention of FedEx during the broadcasts? And, of course, no player logos or on course signs??

                        Par4QC

                        I'm no financial wizard, but $10 million per year over the course of 10 years is a lot of money. And that's just for the year-long points race annuity windfall, not including the $6.5 million sponsorship purse they provide to the FedEx St. Jude every season.

                        So to answer your question, if UPS gave me said demand for what amounts to a $5-$6 million per year sponsorship, I'd politely decline.

                          Weirfan

                          I think the 17th is a fabulous hole, undoubtedly my favorite hole of the entire layout. But overall the course just seems a bit too artificial for my tastes. Then again, I tend to favor the more traditional style layouts. I was never a huge fan of Doral either, so maybe it has more to do with the typical Florida style layout than anything else (superficial mounding, lots of water, etc..) Yet I do like the Honda Classic and Bay Hill, and both those courses have a lot of the same characteristics I guess.

                          The streaming viewership aspect, imo, has yet to make a sizable difference as far as taking away normal television viewing (at least for golf). Although there's no doubt that in the coming years it will have a significant impact as far as a lot of other sports. I don't think there's any doubt that the PGA Tour is already looking ahead and preparing for that inevitability. And when that does happen, it'll be interesting to see how they go about marketing it, and how that will all transition with the tournament sponsors, advertisements, etc.

                          I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that a majority of the viewers watching golf currently are older, as in those who would still rather watch the program via cable tv as opposed to online streaming. The other aspect is within the streaming concept itself and the potential features available to the viewer. If the only available-viewing option is live, then that's going to be a huge negative to those of us who've grown to enjoy the ability to DVR the coverage and FFW through commercial ads a few hours later watching it delayed.

                          That ability to FFW through commercials and all of the other nonsense is really the only thing holding my interest currently. I might make an exception with maybe the Masters, since commercials are limited to only 4 minutes per hour during the usual telecast. And their streaming coverage online is excellent, as I'm usually watching it prior to the live televised coverage starting. I'm sure to some degree that the online streaming is fairly significant that week for golf, but mostly because they seem to improve their online product each year. It is fantastic, especially if you're using a wide-screen computer monitor. They allegedly implemented a viewing app for Apple TV this past tournament, although I have Apple TV and searched all of my available apps and couldn't locate it. But that would be an awesome option too.

                          But given where things are heading, I think the PGA Tour would be wise to consider creating their own network and do something similar, if they're not in that planning process already.

                          Then, of course, the question is whether they'll require an annual fee to subscribe, and if so - how much.

                          And one last thing - let's assume that a majority of people will completely do away with cable tv at some point and convert to online streaming for most of their sports/entertainment viewing. What impact will that have on download speeds? I currently have the quickest/best online package available for residential customers, yet there are times when it's impossible to watch something because so many other people within the network territory are also online, like peak hours for instance... Sunday night, 8 p.m. Although this seems to be the direction we're heading for sure, I'm not so sure that most internet service providers are prepared for that type of demand quite yet. But you can bet that when they upgrade their servers and overall infrastructures to better handle that type of increased volume - those upgrade expenses are going to be quite significant, and naturally passed on to the consumer.

                            I believe I heard The Players since it's been played at TPC Sawgrass (since 1982) and The Colonial (now Dean and Deluca) are the only tournaments that haven't had a back to back winner. I tend to like courses that don't favor one type of player (i.e. a bomber). It's also nice to see where minus 10 wins a tournament.

                            Also, my guess is if you asked the players besides the Majors which tournament they'd like to win, it would be the Players. That would say a lot in factoring whether it being called a 5th Major has any merit IMO.

                            Outside of the "Masters",this is one of my favorite tournaments to watch.
                            Seems like danger is just around the corner on just about every hole.
                            You always have one of the if not the strongest fields of the year,and the fact that
                            no one seems to be able to repeat as the winner proves what a challenge Sawgrass is.
                            17 has the major league 'pucker factor' for being such a short hole,just adds to the excitement
                            and drama of The Players.
                            And 18 is no picnic either,also the the changes to the drivable par 4 12th hole just adds to the risk/reward
                            choices this diabolical course offers.

                            Should it be a Major?
                            Why not,you have a tough course that 'tests'every aspect of a golfers game,always a strong field,tons of money and spectators,and it seems like one of the tour stops the pro's really want to win and put on their resume's!
                            Hey the LPGA added a 5th might as well have the PGA follow suit! IMO 😉

                              darpar

                              I can, on some small level, agree that the tournament generally offers one of the stronger fields, and (with exception to the tournament this past week) often times offers somewhat of an exciting finish. And one could easily argue that a majority of the past Players Championship winners have either won or gone on to win major championships.

                              Nevertheless, I still can't possibly elevate this tournament to the status of the current four majors. To do so, imo, devalues the traditional concept of everything required to be considered a major champion. As much as some of us like to rank the PGA the "less-prestigious" major of the four currently, it nevertheless traditionally requires a lot more competencies of a would-be winner than what is required to win the Players.

                              But based on the credentials of those who've won this event in the past, I can understand why some would have no issues elevating it to major status. I just personally believe that the layout itself is too inferior to equate the accomplishment to that of the same level as a major.