Major(s) News & Notes, October 31st, 2024
Major(s) News & Notes, October 31st, 2024
The urge to reduce field sizes over taking serious slow play action. Plus, how Ryder finances are divvied up, the R&A's new partnership, new U.S. Open book, Quotable, This, That and Reads.
Days to The Masters opening tee shot: 158
You can’t buy legitimacy. Just ask LIV Golf.
The major championships remain legitimate even after some course setup and other odd flirtations. Every professional sports league of merit constantly works to maintain or enhance the orthodoxy of the dreaded “product,” knowing they are worthless without an overriding sense of legitimacy. So it’s confounding to once again see the PGA Tour flirtations with becoming a better-dressed version of pro wrestling.
This week’s field-size reduction reveal had been telegraphed for a while as the leading effort to improve operations and engage fans. The yet-to-be-approved cut in field sizes will not erase the meritocracy, but it sure feels like a huge dent in the Tour’s legitimacy and a push I fear will eventually turn into irrational player demands for majors to downsize. Such a short-sighted watering down of the pro golf structure seems especially silly after decades of resisting slow play penalties and distance regulation that would allow full fields to get around in reasonable time.
For Quad readers who have actual lives and had not studied the details?
The proposal looks like this: there will be 100 instead of 125 (almost) full-access PGA Tour cards starting in 2026, only 20 instead of 30 Korn Ferry Tour grads, and a host of other efforts to reduce field sizes throughout the season. The “deck” sent to players embarrassingly exposes the ever-increasing struggle to finish rounds on time. Without weather as a factor rounds were not finished a whopping 14 times in 2023 and 12 times (so far) in 2024.
Never mentioned is the embarrassing subtext: how decades of ineffective pace of play policing, extending golf courses, and resisting regulatory proposals to keep par 5 tees from logjamming, created this moment. Instead, the PGA Tour continues to prioritize player sponsorship relationships with ball manufacturers while regularly undercutting the spirit of the Rules of Golf that help give the sport legitimacy. The PGA Tour players are cannibalizing a model that has worked pretty well for the better part of five decades by taking away 25 largely guaranteed spots lost to speed up play instead of aggressively acting in ways that would not reduce playing opportunities. They’re also the chipping away at open qualifyings and invites that add fun or the occasional Cinderella story. It’s a bizarre and beautiful component that separates the PGA Tour from everything else in the world of sports. No other legitimate sport cracks open an opportunity for upstarts, dreamers and the millions who love seeing Davids take on Goliaths.
Here is how the Tour explains the issue for full-field summertime events:
The new spacing of fewer groups per side will probably be “more better” between groups. But it’s still gobsmacking to see the PGA Tour make such consequential changes while so lightly addressing pace of play.
This week’s new plan was unveiled and devised by the “Business Affairs Subcommittee” and the “Tournaments, Fans and Sponsors Subcommittee.” Apparently, these subcommittees are also populated by non-Major League Baseball fans who are unaware of 2024’s uptick in attendance, ratings, and exciting playoff action. All of this came thanks to a series of rule changes that sped up the game, brought back some small ball, and even forced the almighty coveted demo to look up from their phones to reconsider the beauty of baseball.
The PGA Tour needs to find ways of cutting an hour off from rounds that now take four hours in twosomes on a weekend, five hours or more in threesomes. It’s really that simple. But in touting these policies in what will only be the start of efforts to push this on major championships where legitimacy reigns supreme— thanks to the field makeup and size.
The first player to defend the not-yet-approved policy rationalized the changes by citing the plight of golfers who do not have private physios. That’s right!
In an engaging back-and-forth with Any Given Monday’s Ryan French, Billy Horschel was twice asked to explain how the changes would be good for fans and not just a response to LIV’s pay-for-play.
Meager try #1:
“Some of the changes we make with the possibility of reducing cards and that way in some smaller fuel sizes, it may not have massive effect or a massive increase in viewership or some other things that you've talked about, but there's other things that it's going to create a better product for the players on Tour. And I know I read your article about the pre and post-round warmup. Guys don't understand. We open up our physio trailers two hours before, so you have a 7:00 A.M. tee time. Our physio trailer opens up 90 minutes before. So if someone, who doesn't have a private trainer has an issue they've got to get worked on before that, which then limits their time to warm up before around the golf. Another thing, there's a lot of times we warm up in the dark. I'm fortunate enough that I have a really good tee time category because of my wins on the PGA Tour. But guys at 7:00 AM? Their first tee shot is not until sunlight hits, which I don't care what anyone says, you're at a disadvantage warming up under lights.
A few minutes later, French got Horschel’s second try at explaining why “signature event” changes have been and would continue to be good for the PGA Tour fan.
“Listen, I mean I can say our recovery center that we put in place, I think this year, the cold tanks, the saunas, having that amenity for recovery for the players has been added benefit. Now it's very minuscule on the entire, when you look at it on a page, and it may not make a difference to the golf fan, but it means a lot to the PGA Tour players. Because that's something that was sort of requested. Listen, I'm going to say stuff that people listeners like, well that's nothing special because it is not improving their fan experience. But our food at tournaments, the way the quality of food, the options of food has gotten better over my time, especially over the last couple of years.”
It is true that Billy threw fewer tantrums in 2024. We’ll give him the benefit and chalk it up to the wild-caught salmon.
And that, Quadrilateraldodgerfans, in a nutshell, is what it loks like when players are the visionaries driving decision-making.
Meanwhile, we have notes today on the Ryder Cup, R&A, a new book on the best U.S. Open’s, the 2025 DCP field, This, That and Reads.
How The PGA of America Spends Ryder Cup Money
Former PGA of America president Ted Bishop spoke to SI’s Bob Harig about the brouhaha over Ryder Cup finances in the wake of outrage over 2025’s $750 tickets.
I don’t think this rationalizes the price for an exhibition started for very different reasons than funding a member organization, but it may help explain the desire to squeeze profits out of the matches:
As to its importance on the bottom line, Bishop says that the PGA of America a decade ago would typically net about $10 million on an international Ryder Cup and about $25 million for a domestic event—not including the television rights fee revenue.
“What we would do is take that $35 million and allocate it over a four-year period of time. And when you break that down, the PGA of America when I was president had an annual budget of $156 million,” Bishop says. “So that was $8.75 million a year and an important engine for our association.”
Fans are currently getting their ticket lottery notices but in a curious twist, a special $1300-$1600 package that includes “a 3-hour evening event at Five Iron Golf’s Grand Central location,” is already available on SeatGeek.
R&A Agrees To New Partnerships
The Scottish Government and VisitScotland will contribute a combined £11 million towards staging The Open, AIG Women’s Open and the Senior Open in Scotland between 2024-2034. (Psst…Quadrilateralscotsman: we won’t tell the government these events weren’t going anywhere but England or maybe Ireland in a few years, plus it’s a small annual £1 million investment given the significant economic benefits of hosting R&A events.)
The money guarantees a total of 14 championships to be held in Scotland across various Scottish venues during the eleven years.
According to the announcement, the ten Open stagings in Scotland since 2005 have delivered a £1.36 billion economic benefit with more than two million fans attending, of which 250,000 were from overseas.
“Independent studies have proven that major championship golf delivers significant economic benefits to Scotland by driving tourism, showcasing the country to a global audience and generating income for local communities and businesses,” said R&A CEO Martin Slumbers. “The results produced by The 152nd Open at Royal Troon reinforce this and we look forward to working with our partners in government over the next ten years to stage a number of outstanding major championships in Scotland.”
Other numbers of note from the R&A-commissioned annual independent study by Sheffield Hallam University’s Sport Industry Research Centre (SIRC):
The R&A’s Kids go Free initiative has resulted in 230,000 young people under the age of 16 being able to access tickets at no cost.
The most recent Open at Royal Troon produced £303.3 million in total economic benefit for Scotland.
The Open at Royal Troon was attended by a record-breaking 258,174 fans.
Ayrshire alone received a £43.8 million of new money as a result of Troon hosting the 2024 Open.
Over half of the spectators who attended The Open (51.1%) traveled from outside of Scotland.
Nearly 10% of spectators traveled from the United States.
68% of surveyed spectators had attended at least one Open before and 55% had attended an Open since 2012.
The remaining commitment leaves up the question of which Scottish venues are likely to host these championships over the next decade.
“We are always looking to get the Open and we will do anything the R&A want us to do,” Oldham said while discussing the Ailsa Course. “We wouldn’t want to ever put ourselves in a position not to get the Open back by having another event on there. It would only be an R&A credited event—boys, girls, amateur, Walker Cup, Curtis Cup—anything by the R&A.”
Book Review: The Greatest U.S. Opens
David Barrett’s The Greatest U.S. Opens is out today and a terrific addition to the list of books chronicling America’s national championship. Unlike his The Story of The Masters, Barrett wisely did not scour newspaper archives and provide a retelling of every U.S. Open dating to 1895. That would be a multi-volume set even Dickens wouldn’t force on his worst enemy. Instead, Barrett selected the best based on the quality of finishes and the characters involved.
Barrett’s choices are wise and no-brainers, with only 2024’s at Pinehurst maybe worthy of inclusion for a future edition (the book was undoubtedly finished before what is aging gracefully as an all-time great U.S. Open).
As with his Masters book, the fun here is not in the prose but in the details of tournament weeks. It’s always fun to look back on the singular weeks and realize they’re each worthy of a book based on just how much &^%$ went down in seven days. Barrett does not seek to soothe your soul waxing poetic, but instead gets right to the state of affairs heading into the event and how things played out. Anyone who loves tournament golf will love picking this up, one all-time great U.S. Open at a time.
Quotable
Cam Smith on LIV needing to schedule more appropriate golf courses prior to majors after he had to go from Valderrama to Troon this year.“It was really two polar opposites of golf,” Smith said of the challenge of adjusting from Valderrama to Troon in just a few days. It was really hot [at Valderrama], the ball was going a long way up in altitude, and then getting on to links [at Royal Troon] where it’s quite cold and windy, it’s probably not the best prep. It’s definitely something that we spoke about. They (LIV) are well aware of that. I don’t know if it’ll happen next year, but definitely in the future it’s something that we want to do.”
Harry Higgs, who regained his PGA Tour card, on the No Laying Up podcast discussing the state of pro golf business. “If I get one more damn email about the progress that’s being made without any details, I mean, unsubscribe. Just send me an email when you know the details. On maybe the field size and eligibility and whatever the hell else they are trying to change, and the update on the PIF and LIV merger wouldn’t be the right word—the (&^%$!) deal.”
Drive, Chip And Putt Finalists Set
The numbers are in and the stories will unfold on April 6, 2025.
Eighty junior golfers representing 28 states, two Canadian provinces and India have earned an invitation to compete at Augusta National Golf Club next year.
The 11th Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals once again went through three stages culminating at ten regional qualifiers. And as per tradition, the program was open to boys and girls, ages 7-15, divided into four age divisions.
The latest edition produced six returning finalists and two former champions, incredible feats before even reaching Augusta National:
Niko Ameredes (2022 National Finalist), Pittsburgh, Pa.
Eloise Fetzer (2023 National Finalist), Charleston, S.C.
Ava Frazier (2021 National Finalist), Austin, Texas
Ella June Hannant (2018 National Champion), Pikeville, N.C.
Hudson Justus (2023 National Finalist), Gainesville Ga.
Alexandra Phung (2023 National Champion and 2019, 2022 National Finalist), of Forest Hills, N.Y.
You can see the full list of qualifiers here.
And a shout out to all of the courses hosting, including the ten final regional sites:
Sept. 8 - The Golf Club of Tennessee - Kingston Springs, Tenn.
Sept. 15 - Valhalla Golf Club - Louisville, Ky.
Sept. 15 - Sea Island Golf Club - St. Simons Island, Ga.
Sept. 21 - Aronimink Golf Club - Newton Square, Pa.
Sept. 21 - The Ridgewood Country Club - Paramus, N.J.
Sept. 21 - Chambers Bay - University Place, Wash.
Sept. 22 - Hazeltine National Golf Club - Chaska, Minn.
Sept. 29 - Fields Ranch at PGA Frisco - Frisco, Texas
Oct. 6 - TPC Deer Run - Silvis, Ill.
Oct. 20 - Hualalai Golf Course - Kailua-Kona, Hi.
One final tip of the cap to all of the west coast competitors who made the trip to Hawaii to make a go of reaching the finals.
This And That
The top five fall winners receive Masters invitations while the bottom seven do not. And that’s with the ranking favoring the PGA Tour card holders.
Tissue box alert! LIV golfer Paul Casey and longtime coach Peter Kostis have split for unspecified reasons. But maintaining his lack of perpetual lack of class or wisdom, Kostis felt the need to Tweet out the news for some odd reason,
spinningwriting: “Reluctantly, after 24 years I feel it's best for me to step away from my work with Paul Casey. My reasons are both personal and private and will remain as such. Helping him become an elite ball-striker and world-class player from the days he left ASU all the way to today was a very rewarding journey and I wish him well going forward.”The R&A published a new guide that outlines the best ways to use restricted areas of land for golf course development. I have a copy and it’s terrific to see some of the ways small acreage can be used creatively. The
Golf for Smaller Spaces was produced with the support and assistance of the European Institute of Golf Course Architects.
Reads
🤔 Joseph LaMagna on the lack of the right changes in the PGA Tour’s field downsizing.
🏟️ Sam Lubell on the architectural showdown between Dodger Stadium and Yankee Stadium.**
**I should note one huge difference between the two stadiums: only Dodger Stadium is home to the 2024 World Series Champions! 🧢🍾🎉🥳🧢🍾🎉🥳🧢🍾🎉
Two hours ahead for the "physio truck," recovery time...... I didn't realize that golf was a contact sport. Does the pga have a concussion protocol? As for slow play, maybe fewer "rulings" when there is a sprinkler head several feet from the ball, a suspicious impression in the turf that may have been caused by a burrowing badger, etc.
1. Dodger Blue - time to extend Robert’s contract and agree Buehler is worth the investment
2. Golf’s decades long miscreant policies first iteration of the Putin Policy : “ let ‘em do whatever the hell they want”
3. Memo to Billy follows the old adage “ better to remain silent ….than to speak and remove all doubt” - “waiter, I’ll have the blue cheese dressing”
Boys, let’s form a circle and commence to fire.