Major(s) News & Notes, December 8th, 2022

First player reviews of Augusta's 13th tee. Plus, Perpall nominated to be the next USGA president, Milstein v. Nicklaus affidavits, SBJ reader survey results and a bunch of other good Reads.

Dec 8, 2022

Days to the 2023 Masters first tee shot: 119
Days to the 2023 PGA Championship 161
Days to the 2023 U.S. Open first tee shot: 183
Days to the 2023 Open Championship first tee shot: 225
Days to the 2023 Ryder Cup first tee shot: 295

I don’t know about those of you in the Quadrilateralatmosphere, but I’m still relishing that Australian Open final round over the Sandbelt masterpiece called Victoria. But this is also a pre-confession: after around two holes or the first “little brother I never had” reference from Saturday’s “The Match” featuring McIlroy, Spieth, Thomas and Woods, I’ll be turning to my streaming queue for any show devoid of filler flashbacks. Which, I do realize, rules out 3/4’s of the shows currently eating into the whole OTT profitability thing. (For the record, Yellowstone, Slow Horses and Andor have been grandfathered in as I work through the kinks in my non-flashback policy.)

So if you missed the Australian Open, I’m sorry since replays are unlikely, but here is a roundup. Or, if you want to start pondering 2023’s high quality match play on the Old Course, check out Wednesday’s Q&A with Walker Cup captain Mike McCoy.

This week’s News & Notes include two early reviews of ANGC’s new 13th tee, USGA Presidency and Executive Committee moves, details from Nicklaus v. Milstein for those reveling in rich guys making lawyers richer, an SBJ survey of sports executives, and a bunch of notable stories, Tweets and Reads.

First Reviews Of No. 13: Still Reachable!

New 13th tee at Augusta National (Eureka Earth)

Golfweek’s Adam Schupak spoke to Kevin Kisner and Tony Finau about their recent rounds at Augusta National. Naturally, the only question on any inquiring mind with too much free time: how is the most famous par-5 in golf playing after a 35-yard extension?

“If we catch it straight into the wind, I’m not sure you can get it around the corner,” Kisner said. “But it’s a par-5, you can lay up.”

One of the shortest drivers on the PGA Tour, Kisner said there was no roll and he still had just 210 yards into the green. But he also lamented the lack of an option to play forward in certain conditions.

Finau, who averaged 18 yards longer off the tee in 2022 than Kisner, played twice in similar conditions and had 3-iron and 4-iron into the green.

“In the spring, that should be a 5- or 6-iron,” he said.

Unless an unforeseen ice storm causes a large branch to sag and forcing a more pronounced draw off the tee. Or, something completely random like that.

Perpall Nominated To Succeed Francis As USGA President

Fred Perpall of Dallas, Texas, has been nominated to serve as the USGA’s 67th president, succeeding Stu Francis beginning in February 2023.

Perpall’s a native of the Bahamas and CEO of The Beck Group, an architecture and construction consulting firm based in Dallas. He most recently chaired the Championship Committee that oversaw the inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open in Pinehurst and will be President for three years, as was his predecessor Francis (a USGA first in the modern era after the Executive Committee voted to move on from the traditional two-year term).

Perpall was elected to the prestigious American Institute of Architects College of Fellows in 2016 and is believed to be the first registered architect to serve as president. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Texas at Arlington where he played basketball and ran track and was a member of the 1994 Bahamian National Basketball Team. Perpall later graduated from the Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program and was a member of the Board of Trustees that helped build Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas. That’s where a unique public/private partnership led to the creation of a First Tee and other community events, along with a lot of PGA Tour player point missing about good golf architecture during three ill-fated AT&T Byron Nelson’s.

Francis exits after having inherited several potential disasters, including the COVID-19 pandemic, some genuinely awful “C-level” hires and dwindling player faith in former CEO Mike Davis to set up a course. Francis’ term appears likely to be remembered for significant leaps in the U.S. Women’s Open purse, leading the overall elevation of the championship and driving the hire of new CEO Mike Whan.

“Stu embodies everything that’s good about our game, and he’s been a tireless advocate for the USGA during several years of change and challenges,” said Mike Whan.

In other Executive Committee moves, Nick Price is retiring after four years and will be replaced by another former PGA Champion Jeff Sluman. Also nominated to three-year terms: Leslie Henry of Houston, Bryan Lewis of South Haven, Michigan and Michael McCarthy of San Francisco.

The USGA’s Annual Meeting is scheduled for February 25, 2023 in Napa, Calif.

Nicklaus v. Milstein Affidavits

Alex Miceli shares key details from affidavits in Nicklaus Companies vs. Jack Nicklaus, a.k.a. Howard Milstein suing Nicklaus.

Besides loads of financial details, a difference of opinion over Nicklaus’ role with the company becomes more clear in the affidavit when the 18-time major champion says Milstein “acted as if he owned me.”

“I went from being the company’s owner to being a disrespected employee. I made a deal that I thought would allow me to continue controlling the business I had built, but it did not work out that way,” Nicklaus said while concluding his affidavit. “Howard made a deal too, however and that didn’t include ownership of me for the rest of my life.”

Miceli reports that following Milstein’s original payment to Nicklaus of $145 million in 2007 for 49% of the company, the Golden Bear “received no additional participation of profits from ’07 to ’12” but did see $21,167,600 from 2013-21 and $8,932,700 in salary over the duration of the deal.

Here is the Nicklaus affidavit. And the Milstein sworn statement.

Milstein is the owner of 8 a.m. Golf and Golf Magazine/Golf.com.

SBJ Reader Survey: LIV’s The Top Story Of Year; Masters Tops Sports Bucket List

Sports Business Journal surveyed their readers and while 73% of the respondents were male and of a certain vintage, more than half cited themselves as “longtime sports industry executives.” This made two of their top choices of particular note: the top sports story of 2022 and the bucket list event they’d most like to attend.

Even in a year with NIL’s radically transforming college sports and the outcome of streaming wars becoming even less clear, LIV Golf’s emergence ranked first despite 82% saying they never watched a shot of the YouTube streams.