Closed Shop Blues

The great Shackelford takes off on a first-class rant, one that makes me hope there were no hot beverages in the vicinity.  As an admirer and frequent practitioner of the art, I can only doff my metaphorical hat and say, Well done, Sir!

The causal agent of said rant is this seemingly innocuous Rex Hoggard piece on Patrick Rodger's plans to

play his way onto the PGA Tour.  For those few amongst you that have actual lives, Rodgers is the Stanford junior that tied Tiger Woods' record for wins at Stanford, and is the recent recipient of the Jack Nicklaus Award as the outstanding collegiate golfer this year.

Rodgers is obviously a great collegiate and amateur player, and will no doubt have an extremely remunerative career on the PGA Tour, so what's the problem?  

Well the above is no doubt true, but the path to the Tour has been lengthened by the actions of our favorite actor, Commissioner Ratched Finchem.  Last year, in an effort to land a new sponsor and salvage his Hogan Nike Nationwide Web.com Tour, Finchem agreed to can the PGA Tour's Q-School, thus effectively requiring a year of indentured servitude on the developmental tour.

I'm extremely happy to have this come up, as I've long thought (and noted several times in this forum) that the untold story of the Ratched years is the extent to which the PGA Tour has become a closed shop.  It increasingly protects those with current playing privileges from those seeking access to the Tour, and that is inconsistent with it's claims to be the purest meritocracy in sports.

And as further context, let's remember that earlier this year we found out that many of the kids that had successfully run that gauntlet, were still unable to actually peg it in Tour events due at least partially to the record number of players eligible under medical exemptions.  So here's your path to fame and riches, young man, but when you get there we have other tricks up our sleeve to further deny you access.

But here's what had me rolling my eyes and shaking my head (and yes, I can be as much of a drama queen as anyone) from Shack's rant:

This is where I get more annoyed than normal with the entire Q-School, wraparound-fiasco Tim Finchem has saddled the game with. Besides the oversaturation of the "product," the best feeder tour in golf can't feed players because of the current structure. As a Walker Cupper, Rodgers was exempt to U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying on Monday, but instead he played (and missed) at an 18-hole Local Qualifying a few weeks back.

Why did he go the Local route? Because Rodgers hopes to parlay the sponsor exemptions this summer that come with being the top college golfer of the year (he's got two for sure and a likely third at the Greenbrier). He is taking this opportunity to try and make enough money (FedExCup points!) to avoid Web.com Q-School in early fall. It's a longshot, but with Rodgers' credentials, if there's anyone capable it's someone whose college careers was actually stronger than Spieth's. But why didn't Rodgers just try to qualify for the U.S. Open and then, should he qualify, play as an amateur before his pro debut the following week at the Travelers? Because he needs to try to get as many starts earning money as possible but with the playoffs not that far off, the shrewd move was to take a shot at the U.S. Open as a pro or not at all.

As Shack notes through the spittle spewing from his mouth, that's by no means the only perverse incentive that Finchem has authored, making it really difficult for collegiate players to see through their full seasons, much less stay for a full four years.  And for what, the Web.com Tour and the Finchem empire?

It's one thing to require a year of seasoning when the players are being compensated and trained, as in minor league baseball.  But in golf the players are the ultimate independent contractors, with no return on the investment of a year of their lives.  All to support a tour that isn't sustainable without this indentured servitude.

And as one last related note, wasn't Q-School just about the most gut-wrenching, dramatic event of the year?