Major(s) News & Notes, June 27th, 2024
Seth Waugh steps down as PGA CEO. Plus, Scheffler on Pinehurst, Keeper of the Green details St Andrews prep work, one element of the '25 Ryder Cup is on schedule, Quotable, This, That and Reads.
Days to the Open Championship first tee shot: 21
Days to the AIG Women’s Open Championship: 56
As the run-up to Troon starts gets serious with Final Qualifying arriving next Tuesday, this week’s schedule puts the competitive world at some old-school gems: The Women’s Amateur is at Pormarnock, the U.S. Senior Open at historic Newport Country Club, and Detroit Golf Club again hosts the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage.
Meanwhile, the PGA of America made a big announcement Wednesday so we’ll kick off this edition of News & Notes with that before items on Pinehurst, the Old Course, the 2025 Ryder Cup, This, That and a bunch of good reads.
Seth Waugh Departs As PGA CEO
Seth Waugh is stepping down upon the June 30th expiration of his contract.
The PGA of America announced the news late Wednesday. Journalist Tim Cronin was first to break the news of a non-renewal via the Illinois Golfer Twitter account.
Six years ago the former Americas Deutsche Bank CEO and PGA of America board member was elevated into the CEO job. Waugh led the organization during several significant moments in its history while improving its image and bringing a certain air of easy-going nobility that also opened up new doors to the corporate sponsorship world. He leaves the organization in a loftier position than he found after former CEO Pete Bevacqua departed for a coffee as head of NBC Sports before moving on to his dream job running Notre Dame athletics.
Included among Waugh’s accomplishments: a television contract renewal with CBS and ESPN, expansion of the PGA of America’s REACH Foundation, an aggressive role to get golf cleared as a safe activity during the COVID-19 pandemic, deferred compensation for the PGA’s 30,000 members, and completion of the organization’s move to Frisco, Texas. He was a proactive and progressive leader of an organization overseen by a bloated board that has historically struggled to keep up with the times. Waugh also put a freeze on committing to major sites more than seven years in advance of the tournament date and has defended the PGA Championship’s move to May even in the face of soft ratings.
To be determined: the success of a Frisco venture that will bring an excessive number of championships to an unproven and immature venue sharing similarities to past unsuccessful PGA of America forays into real estate, resorts, and championship golf.
As a member of more than a dozen classic courses up and down the eastern seaboard, Waugh sadly broke from his deep respect for the game’s traditions and politics to campaign against distance regulation. His efforts were coordinated with the PGA Tour and were voiced in a private letter to the USGA and R&A after a multi-year public process comment period had expired. Even the influential Waugh appeared unable to manage the Tour and PGA of America’s tendency to prioritize commercial interests over the best traditions of the sport.
The timing of Waugh’s departure is curious given how he appeared to be more engaged with issues at May’s PGA than at any point in his tenure. Reeling off numbers about the sport’s growth in his trademark laid-back style, Waugh trumpeted gains golf has made in attracting more women and children while highlighting the many creative ways newcomers are finding the game as a result of various initiatives. Waugh has also set a high bar for any CEO replacement thanks to a tone and gravitas built on years of dealing with far more difficult matters and people during his time as as a bank CEO.
Insiders say the PGA of America would like to name a member of its organization as its CEO.
The announcement came just days before Waugh’s contract’s expiration and the odd timing likely can be explained by not wanting to interfere with the KPMG Women’s PGA. In the increasingly corporatized game of optically-sculpted departures and seemingly seamless transitions, any willful departure for the 65-year-old should have started months ago with a swan song farewell at the PGA Championship. Instead, the odd announcement suggests Waugh and the PGA Board no longer were on the same page.
Waugh said he made the choice to not renew his contract.
“I recently informed the board that I would not be renewing my contract that is set to expire on June 30, but am honored to continue to serve the Association as a Senior Advisor,” said Waugh. “It has been an absolute privilege and honor to serve as the CEO of the PGA of America for the past six years.”
The timing looks especially precarious given rumored possibilities surrounding the Ryder Cup and PGA Championship. Both events have long been envied by the PGA Tour, a cultish black hole of imagination that has failed while trying to create events of comparable stature. But the PGA Tour’s two boards are now armed with spending money while driven by player-first thinking and resentment at only getting 20% of Ryder Cup profits.
Waugh’s well-known friendship and close working relationships with key individuals were potentially seen as a plus or a huge conflict depending on who you ask. But it’s no secret Waugh’s especially close with PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and the Fenway Sports Group which once ran the now-defunct Deutsche Bank Championship.
As outlined by Arthur Blank in February, the PGA Tour Enterprises board is looking to shift the Tour into a for-profit entity. Buying control of the only major championship potentially for sale along with the American portion of the Ryder Cup would be an obvious target for private equity looking to add tangible assets.
Tiger Woods, the legend and PGA Tour Policy Board member emeritus who has delayed a decision on captaining the 2025 squad at Bethpage Black, has long been close with Waugh. He has been holding off on taking the keys to the Captain’s four-seater due to his Tour board commitment and, according to insiders, the uncertainty surrounding Waugh’s status. The two men played as partners in the Seminole Pro-Member earlier this year and Waugh was more amenable than the traditional me-first PGA of America board types to prospects of Woods making select captaincy appearances on his preferred schedule.
Regardless of whatever ended Waugh’s tenure, all involved painted a rosy picture surrounding Wednesday’s news.
“On behalf of the more than 30,000 PGA of America Golf Professionals, we are grateful for Seth’s leadership and for all that he accomplished for our Members, our game, the business and our people,” said PGA of America President John Lindert. “He skillfully led us through incredibly challenging times and was always a great partner. We are fortunate to be able to call on him going forward for his always helpful advice and counsel.”
Waugh never intended to make the move to Frisco from the PGA’s former headquarters in Palm Beach Gardens near his winter home. When originally announced, the PGA of America intended to retain a staff in Florida. During the transition to the “Silicon Valley of Golf”—as Waugh regrettably dubbed Frisco’s place in golf while propping up previously barren land outside Dallas—the organization laid off staff and forced some to move. A few were even subsequently let go after moving to the Dallas suburb from greater West Palm Beach. It’s unclear if Waugh’s preference for sea breezes and Seminole over desolate Frisco factored into the parting. However, multiple insiders have suggested his choice of residence was a problem for some on the PGA Board—except when he hosted them at NGLA for golf-and-lobster lunch during PGA week—and they must now find a replacement with similar gravitas and credibility.
Waugh spoke in advance of the announcement to Global Golf Post. A story by Ron Green Jr. appeared on the site moments after the PGA’s press release went out and featured fresh quotes.
“After a lot of soul searching, I feel like it’s a good time for me to step off the carousel, not just personally but also professionally,” Waugh told GGP. “We have done an awful lot as a team, and the game has never been in better shape at the recreational level, which is where we live. I’m pretty proud of that.”
Chief Championships Officer Kerry Haigh will serve as interim CEO while a “national search” for Waugh’s replacement commences. Several, including some PGA past presidents, are said to have begun campaigning for the job.
Scheffler On Pinehurst
Early last week Scottie Scheffler discussed where his U.S. Open went wrong. Eventual winner Bryson DeChambeau bomb-and-gouged his way around with an erratic driving performance by USGA standards (32 of 56 fairways/T66). The champion also gained strokes on the field off the tee with a 318.9 average for all tee shots and 337.8 on the measuring holes (4th ST off the tee). Still, Scheffler felt the setup deprived him of making shrewd misses.
“When I'm not playing my best I feel like one of my skills is kind of managing my way around the golf course knowing where the misses are,” he said. “When you have pretty much a coin flip on whether or not you're going to have a swing or not there's not really a side of the fairway to miss it on, there's not really areas you can play to, you just have to hit great golf shots.
Because of the “nature of the grass” in Pinehurst’s wire-grass-and-sand roughs, Scheffler said, “you could hit it a foot off the fairway and be in a bush, and you could hit it 20 yards off the fairway and have a perfect lie that you're -- and it plays like you're in the fairway. So that part of the course I didn't love, but tee to green -- fairway -- sorry, I should say fairway to greens, I thought it was fantastic.”
In a world where distance-istas say all issues can be solved by harvesting thick hack-out rough, Pinehurst’s less predictable sandy scrub was more interesting, thought-provoking, annoying, and, yes, a bit random.
With a winning score of -6 in warm conditions with no wind and perfect turf, the course clearly held its own and rewarded a certain style of golf. There is also the question of whether a U.S. Open course should have a good side miss.
Pinehurst: 35.0 average fairway width, a missed fairway penalty average of .39 strokes and a non-rough penalty of .37 (in lieu of the normal cost of rough stat that was not tracked).
LACC: 43.0 average fairway width, missed fairway penalty average of .51 strokes, a .48 rough penalty and a .60 non-rough penalty.
Muirfield Village (2024 Memorial): 32.5 average width, missed fairway penalty of .45, rough penalty of .40, and .47 non-rough penalty off the tee.
Scheffler was more clear in his praise of short grass around the greens.
“It challenged us in all the right ways. You had to hit great shots in order to hold the greens. Around the greens you always had some sort of shot because you're playing out of the short grass.
“So I think sometimes when the rough is really heavy you see guys playing the same shot over and over again. And a ball that runs through the green goes the same distance over the green as a ball that barely trickles. And when it's all runoff areas that are tightly mown you pay bigger penalty for a bigger miss, which I think as players that's all we're looking for is to have good shots rewarded and have bad shots punished accordingly to how bad they are.”
So to recap: short grass yes, wire grass not so much.
How this squares for his chances driving down the fairways at Troon with tall natives and heavy gorse will be determined in three weeks.
Keeper Of The Green Discusses A Rough Winter
The Courier’s Michael Alexander profiles St Andrews’ tenth Keeper of the Green Jon Wood who chatted about climate change issues highlighted by a brutal winter ahead of August’s AIG Women’s Open.
Projects on the Old, New and Jubilee courses under Wood’s supervision included rebuilding 49 bunkers, restoring Hell Bunker, and a new 13th tee.
Of bigger concern: rising sea levels and mitigation options that include ‘Dutch-style dykes’ to protect the courses.
“Look at countries like Holland where land below sea level is protected. Maybe in 100 years’ time we’ll be looking at things like that? We can only do what we can do.
“But work over the last 10, 15 years has helped. There were a lot of storms at the beginning of the winter, and we did lose dune systems during those storms.”
The Links Trust has invested in new property that will help with the efforts to protect the courses.
Situation Normal For Junior Ryder Cup Squads
The task force-infused USA Ryder Cup may not have a Captain or even qualifying details locked in 456 days from the opening session at Bethpage—a situation not improved by Seth Waugh’s departure—but at least the Junior Ryder Cup is moving ahead on schedule.
While the adult USA team only has a mysterious ranking at the moment, the PGA of America announced the ways promising young Americans can make the matches set for Nassau Country Club and Bethpage Black.
The 2025 U.S. Team points list for qualification will begin at the 2024 Junior PGA Championships (July 30 - August 2 at Congressional) and the final U.S. Junior Ryder Cup Team will be announced following the 49th Junior PGA Championships, July 29 - Aug. 1, 2025.
All potential players must compete in the 2025 Girls or Boys Junior PGA Championship to be eligible unless exceptional circumstances prevent the player from competing. There are ten spots with exemptions to winners of the 2025 Girls and Boys Junior PGA, the 2025 U.S. Girls’ Junior, the 2025 U.S. Junior Amateur and the top two girls and boys on the U.S. Junior Ryder Cup points list.
The final two spots, one girl and one boy, will be selected as captain’s picks.
Among the notable Junior Ryder Cup alumni: Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Scottie Scheffler, Tony Finau, Lexi Thompson, Rose Zhang, and Brittany Altomare of the United States, and Rory McIlroy, Nicolas Colsaerts, Suzann Pettersen, Emily Pedersen and Carlota Ciganda of Europe.
Meanwhile, Europe will wheel back victorious 2023 captain and four-time DP World Tour winner Stephen Gallacher to lead the 2025 Junior Ryder Cup.
“Being a Captain away from home will be a tough task, but it is a challenge that motivates me,” Gallacher said. “I will do everything I can to make sure our 12-strong team will be ready to head to New York in 2025.”
Quotable
Padraig Harrington on elite golfers. “We're seeing an influx in the game now of swingers, real good hitters of the golf ball, great ball strikers; whereas when I started playing, it was players. Not necessarily -- there would be some good swingers of the golf club, but necessarily. They were players who knew how to get it done. They're getting squeezed out at the moment by the good ball strikers. Obviously the next generation will be a combination of the two, like Tiger was. He was a player and a great swinger of the golf club. So the next generation had better learn quickly how to play the game because everybody will know how to hit the ball.”
This And That
The two leading players not already exempt and who make the cut in the Italian Open will book a trip to The Open at Royal Troon.
The draws for Final Qualifying on July 2nd are now posted at TheOpen.com.
Final Qualifying is at Burnham & Berrow, Dundonald, Royal Cinque Ports and West Lancashire with 288 golfers competing for a minimum of 16 spots into The Open.
More ticket packages for the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont are now on sale. A Monday-Sunday gallery ticket starts at $800 (plus fees).
In advance of hosting the 2026 U.S. Women’s Open, 2028 Olympics, and 2031 U.S. Open, Riviera Country Club has begun work on new tees extending two of golf’s most famous holes: the par three fourth and par four 18th. The changes will add length but also change 97-year-old playing angles on the George Thomas and Billy Bell-designed holes.
The digging continues at Augusta National according to the latest Eureka Earth images (here and here). Among the projects underway: underground parking under the member driving range and a new tunnel under Washington Road that will allow access to the new “Map & Flag” hospitality pavilion.
Reads
🥱 Matt Chivers on why so many golfers do not care about Olympic golf.
🇸🇪 Casey Bannon talks to Ludvig Aberg about growing up in Eslöv and golf in Sweden.
🥼 Zach Helfand of The New Yorker profiles surgeon to-the (sports) stars Neal ElAttrache.
📔John Branch on why high-end outdoors magazines are thriving.
On that note Quadrilateralebians, have a fantastic weekend,
Geoff
So at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando in January the rumor at the Show was that the rank & file PGA wanted Seth Waugh gone when his contract came up for renewal in June. Well low & behold the rumor proved true and the PGA of America terminated Seth Waugh!
Waugh did not leave on his own despite spin we are seeing from PGA!
Bomb and gouge was never supposed to be a way to play, contend and win the US Open. Bison now has won two of them doing just that. That a lie in the most demanding of the Major championships is a matter of pure dumb luck is a shame. Scottie's comments not withstanding. Gross