15 Comments
Oct 10Liked by Geoff Shackelford

Great stuff and Geoff you are fearless. Numbers tell a bleak story but there is really no excitement around the current model and the dirty secret is the Civil War is hurting golf. One thing that has to go is the FedEx Cup and for the Players the Tour would be very smart to make that an “Open” event for all players.

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Yep, the FedExCup and football's expanding schedule window has made a mess of things without delivering on the numbers side (unless Fed likes all the mentions). It really is something to see the Ryder Cup turn the Players into a regular event from one year to the next. While it's correct, it would not impact the points race much to have treated it as a major. Quite telling what the folks at the PGA, Task Force and Captain Keegan think of how weak the field has gotten.

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founding
Oct 10Liked by Geoff Shackelford

After the last Ryder Cup where the US got their rear end kicked, there was no way they were going to not allow DeChambeau on the team.

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We'll see what he does this year but yes, hard to imagine he won't be picked unless he completely loses his game. Which, with is "content" creating obsession can't be ruled out.

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19 hrs agoLiked by Geoff Shackelford

According to Matt Adams, the Ryder Cup ‘footprint’ is 5 times larger than any other golf event. He didn’t reveal the source of this information or the metrics. I found this to be an astonishing claim. The Ryder Cup is arguably bigger than the Masters and Open Championship, but 5 times bigger? If so, maybe the PGA of America is on to something with their ticket prices.

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It’s very big but I’m not sure I buy 5x. The Open and US Open have comparable numbers of tents/chalets/temporary structures.

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22 hrs agoLiked by Geoff Shackelford

Apropos of nothing herein but I was reading about one of the international caddies spouting about bad language directed toward his player and partner during the President's Cup. I know podcasters like to real in their bros to build content; but it is time for the Tesoris and LaCavas of the world to return to show up, keep up and shut up. Out.

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I intentionally ignored that one for the roundup as I would agree with your point and I have to question his motives as he’s backing his employer.

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Oct 10Liked by Geoff Shackelford

Donald on dealing with the American crowds. “Obviously when we come to New York, it's going to be very pro American. "Current politics would say otherwise."

The good thing about New York is that it is a melting pot. "From food point of view there's no place like it in the world."

There's lots of different cultures here. "South Bronx vs Queens vs Upper West Side vs Lower East Side vs Staten Island vs North Shore Long Island. Better wear the correct colors."

So there will be some support, which we didn't have in Whistling Straits, which was a really tough atmosphere. "Ask a Boston Redsox fan what their life expectancy is at Yankee Stadium. A Euro fan at Bethpage maybe a nanosecond longer."

Regarding Sergio ... put him on the team. Give him a Red Sox hat to wear. When the dust settles golf will be better for it.

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Oct 10Liked by Geoff Shackelford

The US Open has a window for AMEX holders to purchase General Admission Tickets from Oct 9-23. Monday general admission starts at $60 with a progressive scale thru the week . Nice savings compared to Ryder Cup Gen Admin.

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Oct 10Liked by Geoff Shackelford

thx. Ryder Cup $$ is a joke. Grow the game among 1%ers, their friends and clients.

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Yes when you contrast something like that with the Ryder Cup prices, it's hard to see them selling out. They have ways to dump tickets on the market at a lower cost, so I'd wait to see if that happens on SeatGeek as it did for the 2019 PGA at Bethpage.

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Oct 10Liked by Geoff Shackelford

If you believe those viewership numbers that Big Data is selling, then I got a bridge for you too. Oh desperate times call for desperate measures. They must really be worried about sponsorship money if they are going to those lengths to bolster the numbers. Thanks Geoff. Always look forward to bc seeing the quad in my inbox.

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It's odd to see Nielsen essentially reevaluating numbers and publicly confirming that with a reporter. I appreciate the transparency but what a statement about their current number gathering. Either way, even if they wipe out the 20% decline, outside of network numbers the ratings are shockingly low on the channel that the Tour and select other bodies rely so heavily on.

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This Ryder Cup captain news got me to thinking about passed over captains. Was O'Mera ever considered? Was his "ball marking" controversy on the Euro tour the death blow to his potential captaincy or was it the "pay to play" dustup in 1999?

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