Midweek Musings

Somebody shut a valve off and the torrent of snow has slowed to a trickle.  I was gonna give myself a day off from blogging, but lots of sound bites coming out of Northeast Florida.....

Meeting The Plebes - With everyone who's anyone in PVB, those driving the train deigned to present the fait accompli to those no longer invited to the big-money events:

To hear Rory McIlroy tell it, the PGA Tour player meeting held at TPC Sawgrass, the home of the Players Championship, bright and early on Tuesday at 7:30 a.m. served its purpose of informing the

membership on the changes approved by the Tour Policy Board last week.

“When more information and data was presented to them, the people that maybe had reservations about it I think came around, or at least were more informed on their opinions,” McIlroy said.

He noted that Tour executives walked the players through a scaled-down slideshow of what was presented to the board during its meeting, which lasted nearly seven hours.

Translated into English, when told what had already been decided, nobody pulled a shiv....

I've been watching some of the Golf Channel Live From coverage, which has been in overdrive to support these changes.  One very curious bit was listening to Paul McGinley describe how the players used the LIV threat to wrest control from the Tour administration, which is true as far as it goes.  But he then described the ongoing friction as a battle of the players vs. the administrators, whish is missing the reality by a substantial degree.  What we have, instead, is a nascent civil war between a small group of elite players and the great unwashed masses of PGA cardholders, with the former certainly having their way.

But Rory seems to feel that this should make those disgruntled rabbits happier, although I suspect it will do just the opposite:

McIlroy conceded that the presentation in Delaware at the BMW Championship in August when the top players gathered on their own to create a unified front against LIV Golf was “very self-serving for the 20 players in that room.” He said that the approved plan beginning in 2024 is vastly different from what he and Tiger originally pitched.

“We were looking at fields of 50 to 60. We were looking at only 10 players dropping out of that top 50 every year, so a retention rate of 80 percent,” he said. “The Tour were like, look, the typical retention rate for the top 50 has historically been around 60 percent, so let’s try to get back to that number.”

 So you want the shop even more closed....Why 50?  Why not just Tiger and you?  

“I think if we had have went down that road, it doesn’t serve the membership anywhere near as well as what this structure does,” he said. “You look at the entire schedule, there’s eight designated events outside of those tournaments that I just mentioned. But then there’s 29 full-field events during the rest of the calendar year.”

That's great, but do those full-field events carry comparable purses and FedEx Cup points?  That's the scam, you've limited who has a shot at the crown jewels.  

Obviously cooler heads prevailed and they maintained at least a semblance of openness, leaving them able to tell their disaffected peers that all they have to do is play better.  That's cute, but those pathways are a trickle, whereas they've retained the goodies for a select number of cool kids.  The fact that Rory and Tiger wanted those fields to be even smaller tells me all I need to know.  These guys want to be LIV, just without the baggage.

But our precious Rory seems a little touchy here, no?

Rory says player meeting turnout was good—but noted James Hahn's absence.

"Like, you say all this s--- and you’re not even in the meeting? If you want to get informed and be a part of the process—the fact that he wasn't even in the room was a slap in the face to everyone there."

— Dylan Dethier (@dylan_dethier) March 7, 2023

To get informed?  The decisions have all been made, but Hahn has to show up to kiss Rory's ring?  I get that there needs to be an organizational leadership structure and that not all 200 members can participate, but it's unclear whether these initiatives could survive a vote of the membership.  But that's the whole point, isn't it?

There's little new ground in this piece, but I'm guessing this header doesn't mean exactly what was intended:

Jay Monahan defends criticism of PGA Tour’s no-cut designated events

 Pretty much the opposite, but they do have those layers and layers of fact-checkers, no?

The PGA Tour’s most influential figures came armed with talking points. Not long after Rory

McIlroy rattled off no-cut win totals by Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan did the same for the aforementioned trio of stars.

Now, there was a slight discrepancy in their totals for Nicklaus and Palmer, but the point remains: there was some controversy regarding the Tour’s new designated events model it plans to roll out in 2024, and McIlroy, essentially the player-CEO of the PGA Tour, and the actual boss of the PGA Tour, were ready.

It's an obvious and somewhat effective talking point, which you and I would make were we defending that ground.  The problem is that, take those WGCs that Tiger won, they kinda sucked as golf events, which is kind of indisputable given that they've been torched.  So sure, Jay, let's go back to that failed model...

There are pathways for players not already qualified to play their way into the no-cut designated events, but some critics have still said this creates two different tiers of the PGA Tour.

“There was and there still is a lot of discussion and debate on whether or not there should be no cuts. But for us to be able to have our stars assured to play for four days is a really important element to this model going forward,” Monahan said. “We think that’s what fans want, particularly given the players have earned their right and their ability to play in those events.”

They're now trying to tell us that the process of qualifying is the "cut", but what they've "earned" is the right to play for huge sums without any of those pesky middle-tier players stealing their milkshake.  Guys like Kurt Kitayama...

It's the elite vs. the masses, and the former have seized the day.  This header seems as inaccurate as the one above:

'This is what fans want': Commissioner Jay Monahan looking forward to future of PGA Tour scheduling

More it's what twenty guys want, errr demand, to not cash a LIV check.  

I Saw It On TV - As I moaned about yesterday, my taping of the final round went up in smoke, but I did watch Saturday's broadcast on tape.  Even fast-forwarding through the commercials and Play-Through segments, I was staggered by the commercial load, which I thought rendered the broadcast unwatchable.

Geoff agreed, though thinks that Sunday might have been better:

Saturday’s massive commercial load/Playing Through interruptions lit up Twitter and made for a genuinely unwatchable show. Sunday seemed better until late in the proceedings when some key tee shots were not shown.

Yeah, that showing actual golf shots seems be a challenge for our networks....Yanno, like critical tee shots:

Kitayama and Hovland both striped tee shots from the final group on the 70th hole while in break btw. https://t.co/s5ExQzYKjP

— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) March 5, 2023

Geoff also thinks they went cheapo on production values:

The API highlighted issues that arise when key production elements are not part of the weekly lineup. Even though NBC kicked off the Florida swing with the Honda Classic, it was a minimalist production minus the extras expected at Designated Event Model (DEM’s) tournaments (and employed weekly by CBS).

While it’s admirable that NBC is trying to keep up with CBS’s depth-of-field cameras, live drones and AirPod player interview, the moments came off as clunky. By not using these technologies on a weekly basis—shareholder value delivery being the likely culprit—it makes for noticeably less sharp coverage on a network where the producers pride themselves on putting out a polish product.

There is also the matter of sharpness: NBC’s live drone and depth-of-field cameras just seem less sharp than those used by CBS.

These innovations have given golf broadcasts a fresh and attractive look, yet NBC’s drone shots seem extra cautious and not particularly useful in attempting to bringing viewers to the proceedings. And on a dead flat course like Bay Hill and without blimp coverage, the drone could give us a perspective of the scarier tee shots or oddball green complex shapes that traditional rear-green views fail to deliver. A pre-taped drone fly-through of an empty corporate chalet on 14 did about as much as the Mastercard executive interview to advance the story.

I can't say that I picked up on those deficiencies, mostly because I was too preoccupied find the fast forward button seemingly every 30 seconds.

 James Colgan takes on this issue of excessive interruptions:

As most people who have watched the Tour on television will tell you, golf TV has a commercial problem. There are too many of them, they run far too often and they distract too frequently from the viewing experience. In many ways, this development is a monster of the Tour’s own carefully orchestrated creation.

It usually is...

Largely, these agreements have worked in harmony. The broadcast partners got loads of pre-sold advertisements, the sponsors got a chunk of commercial time and the PGA Tour got a boatload of

money. But then came the Tour’s latest round of rights agreements in 2020, which sent the cost of the Tour’s domestic media rights soaring to nearly $700 million annually.

As the value of golf’s TV rights increased precipitously, so too did the number of advertisements the networks needed to sell to pay for those rights increases. Suddenly, those CEO chats and pre-sold spots weren’t going as far as they once did. The networks had to sell more ads just to break even.

Enter our current predicament. Since the Tour signed the latest round of rights agreements, cracks have formed in the bedrock of its media rights strategy. Fans have grown wise to the growing number of advertisements, and they aren’t happy about them. Each weekend, those watching the events on TV bemoan the commercial load, the number of pre-produced packages and the lack of live golf shots shown.

Which is compounded by the creation of the designated events, which has required sponsors to write ever larger checks...

The problem, it seems, is that it might not be possible to improve golf’s broadcast product to the degree golf viewers wish. The Tour is too deeply entrenched financially in its current structure for wholesale changes like the ones seen in the tournament product, and those wholesale changes have weakened the Tour’s standing with its network partners (smaller, bigger events don’t necessarily equate to larger audiences). Even if any different media structure were possible, it would have to ensure a complete return on investment to CBS, NBC and ESPN, who paid billions for 10 years of a TV product that has changed dramatically in the last six months.

And, unlike with the schedule, a strong enough incentive to change might not yet exist. The ratings tell us that viewers are still enthusiastically participating in watching the Tour’s product, even when it’s diluted with ads — and the commercial breaks tell us that there are no shortage of willing advertisers. For all the frustration it generates, the Tour on TV is still very good for the bottomline.

“I mean, we’re running a business,” Monahan allowed. “We’re fortunate to have the great corporate support that we have, and we’re doing the best we can to balance that with making certain that we’re showing as many live golf shots as possible.”

Sigh!  I take James' downbeat prognosis to mean that the only way out of this mess is to find a sovereign country that needs to wash it's horrible human rights record by funding golf.  Anyone have any candidates?

Alan, Asked - I do need to get on with things, so some anaerobic blogging is called for.  Shall we sample some of Alan's Q&A?

Given the item above, this seems a logical starting point:

Why are golf broadcasts significantly worse than in any other sport? @KYECHSPORTS

Because in every other sport all the action occurs in a confined space while golf tournaments sprawl across 150 or so acres and tons of things are happening simultaneously in different places. The logistical challenges are immense, requiring an army of staffers and a mountain of equipment. And this moveable feast has to barnstorm to a new town every week, whereas stadiums and arenas are built out with fixed infrastructure. So the cost of producing golf telecasts is high, and one way for the networks to get their money back is a heavy commercial load and the dreaded CEO interviews to keep the underwriters happy. Then there is the fact that golf has tended to lag behind other sports in innovation, whether it’s advanced statistics or upgrades to the viewing experience. I guess we can blame the older demographic, which is perceived maybe not to care about such bells or whistles, or just the general, longstanding gentility of golf viewing, which has always been Muzak in the background of our lives. Clearly newer, younger fans have different expectations, but the telecasts have evolved slowly, if at all.

I might have started with the fact that golf is excruciatingly boring....

That's mostly right, although Alan values that younger demographic far more highly than I think is justified, as I don't they'll ever watch much of our game.  but so much of the frustration comes from their simple inability to show the actual golf...

One other quasi-related bits:

So many of today’s top players have massive support teams. Would it be good for TV to have interviews with these members during a round? Heck, I’d love to hear from Cam McCormick on Spieth’s swing, Jon Rahm’s chef or whatever… @EduCrawford

Yes, this would be solid journalism. It’s what I’ve always tried to do during tournament rounds. The players are busy and harried; you’re only going to get them briefly, if at all. But if you walk the golf course, all of their people are just hanging out for four or five hours, and they are often happy to have expansive chats. A lot of good golf reporting comes from the stressed-out wives, parents, friends, swing coaches and others in the gallery.

Can we exclude the WAGs?  So many of those interviews are cringe-worthy....  The difference is that Alan is a print journalist, but any such interviews would be time spent not showing golf shots, which is our biggest criticism.

One more on TV:

You’re a TV exec for a day. How do you fix the golf broadcast? My answer is simple… just show golf shots! @Scott_Semaya

Yes, that is clearly the starting point. Every player and caddie should be mic’d up at all times. We also need a running feed of advanced metrics and Mark Broadie and Scott Fawcett in a booth to break down strategy and course management. ShotTracer on every swing. Cameras on every group so fans can pick a bespoke feed to follow their favorite players. A talented essayist to tell the players’ stories in richer, more nuanced ways. The range and practice putting green should be blanketed with microphones so we can capture all the stolen moments. Watching guys play golf is kind of fun, but the telecasts are two-dimensional. We need to bring to life the inner game that makes golf so compelling.

This deserves more thought, but how about we first ban anything related to gambling?  I'd be more excited about Alan's list of enhancements were CBS and NBC already meeting the basic needs of following the tournament.

But enough TV stuff, I hear they're playing an event this week:

Alan, can we please put this treacherous idea of “fifth major” to bed? It is jarring to hear the notes every time the suggestion is made about this agenda to produce a non-existent major. Would love your views. @SportASmile

For starters, excellent use of treacherous. I think it’s harmless filler for early in the Players week and then no one thinks about it again for the next 51 weeks. Anyway, the whole notion has taken a big hit now that the defending champ and various other LIV golfers won’t be at Sawgrass. A major selling point for the Players Championship was that it annually had the strongest field in golf, but that is clearly no longer the case. Hey, at least it still has a 36-hole cut! This may be the enduring the legacy of LIV: It will spare us future talk about a fifth major.

 Yeah, as compared to the majors, it's missing about three guys that might matter.

But to me, what's far more interesting is that this will now be the only full-field PGA Tour event at which we can logically expect to see the bold-faced names.  Isn't that kind of effed-up?  

But will the big names still show up?  Probably, but many of them don't love the course and they have eight other big-money events at which they only have to beat a small number of guys, so why go to Sawgrass?

Are we in a golden age of golf? Tournaments feel awesome week after week. @connoreclay

I think we have discovered Jay Monahan’s burner account. But you’re right, this year’s PGA Tour schedule has been a barn-burner, with a thrilling run of elevated events: Kapalua, Phoenix, Riviera and Bay Hill, each with tons of starpower on the leaderboards. The other weeks have produced blue-chip winners in Jon Rahm, Max Homa and Justin Rose and some unlikely, likable characters like Chris Kirk and Kurt Kitayama. I equate this to a 75-degree day in February: Global warming is great in the short term! But what is coming? The Tour has undoubtedly injected new life into the schedule, and the elevated events are doing what they were designed to do, which is get the stars in the same place at the same time (and pay them tons of money). The underlying question is what will this mean for the other 30-plus tournaments on the schedule as the lesser events try to scrounge together decent fields with discontented player for the wary sponsors? A reckoning may or may not be coming. But for now, enjoy the show!

Is it Jay's burner?  because the questioner includes the Honda and Kurt, but the business plan is to minimize any chance of such surprise winners at big events.  And Justin Rose as blue chip?  Ummm, watch much golf lately, Alan?

What is the expectation for Jordan Spieth going forward? @WayneOW66L67

There is none. Life as a Spieth fan is not week to week, it’s shot to shot. The guy’s iron play at Bay Hill could easily carry him to a green jacket…but you have to make 4-footers at Augusta National. With Spieth it is always two steps forward, two steps back. I let go of expectations a long time ago.

I predict lost of chatter with Greller..... I know, going way out on a limb.

To me, Jordan is still interesting.  He seems to have tightened up his ball-striking significantly, but is now clueless with the putter.... Kinda crazy, but interesting, no?

Is it too soon to start thinking about the Ryder Cup? Let’s pretend you’re the Team USA captain and you’re required to use all six captain’s picks on Ryder Cup rookies. Who are your 6 picks? @luke_peacock

It is never too soon. I’ve been thinking about this Ryder Cup ever since Paris! The U.S. appears on the verge of long-term dominance but it will take a win in Europe to cement that dominion. Anyway, to your question: Homa, Will Zalatoris, Cam Young, Sahith Theegala (below), Keith Mitchell, Joel Dahmen. Strong crew.

When is that European arbitrator to issue his ruling?  At this point I'm just hoping there's a Ryder Cup...

I think this deserved a longer answer:

API is a sneaky terrible tournament, right? @jasongrant19

It’s the quintessence of Florida golf: flat, entirely man-made, suffocated with houses, and almost every hole looks the same. The brutal setup has turned Bay Hill into sadistic fun, more penal than most modern U.S. Opens! But it does lead to defensive, unimaginative golf, which I think it was informs your question.

I do like that it was firm and fast, but it is a dreadful golf course.   

Does Rory’s retreat in the final round at Bay Hill shake his confidence even more heading into major championship season? I don’t want to exaggerate and say today had a “major feel,” but it was a stacked, incredibly tight leaderboard in tough conditions. @ScottFergs

McIlroy is and always will be enigmatic. Going back to the start of last year he is playing at an insanely high level: 18 worldwide top 10s with a level of consistency only a handful of all-time greats have attained. But he has converted that into “only” four wins and obviously no major championships. (We’re coming up on nine years since he won his last, at the 2014 PGA Championship!) That’s a good career for a lot of dudes, but Rory always leaves us wanting more. I would consider Bay Hill a minor setback—we know he can now top-five in his sleep, but it would have been a statement to get a gritty win with the Masters only a few weeks away.

I don't get the surprise.  Rory has never played well when it's firm and fast, he's a target shooter.  We'll all start assessing his chances at Augusta, but I suggest waiting until we see how fast it's running and how much wind is in the forecast.  Rory's four majors all came in the softest of conditions....

#AskAlan Golf used to be considered a niche sport. One with a small albeit affluent audience. Do you think the PGA Tour is trying to be something it isn’t? Tennis knows it’s a niche sport and is happy to own 8 weeks of the calendar year; does golf want to own 30 weeks? @david_troyan

Blame Tiger Woods and, more to the point, Tim Finchem. The former PGA Tour commissioner had the blessed luck to take the reins at the dawn of the Tiger era, and Finchem had grandiose designs on making golf a mainstream sport. Woods’s transcendence made that a reality for a solid decade, but once Tiger started fading there was always going to be a correction. But as in most businesses, there is always pressure to grow, and LIV Golf has finally brought competition to the highest level of professional golf. So Jay Monahan is forced to try to supersize the Tour even though it’s natural state of being is, as you say, a nice little niche sport.

I think you have to differentiate between the professional and amateur game.  Golf viewership is tiny, but it's not like the NFL has 25 million fans that actually play football (or, more to the point, buy helmets, shoulder pads and balls that go missing).

There's little doubt that the PGA Tour has over-expanded and diluted its product, though it's quite complicated to think through how to rationalize it all.  Then again, how do we criticize the expansion of purses given the threat from LIV with unlimited resources available to it?

I haven't actually followed it, but Alan has moved to a start-up called the Fire Pit Collective, and there was a bit of a blood-letting recently:

Sooooo, how’s it going over there at FPC? #AskAlan @fakePOULTER

Just look at the recent output and I think that question answers itself. I dropped a long story from LIV Mayakoba. Bamberger was writing live from Bay Hill and is now doing the same from the Players. We podcasted on Sunday night, per usual, and I nabbed PGA Tour board member Peter Malnati for a needed primer on the new world order. On Wednesday, Matt Ginella is dropping an incredible feature about the golf course architect/Pete Dye wingman Bobby Weed and his non-verbal autistic daughter; there is a written piece, podcast and nine-minute video, and it is powerful and life-affirming stuff. Now you’re reading this column! The Masters has always been slow to recognize new media companies, but this year the green jackets have credentialed both Michael and me, which says something. We’ll both be at Augusta National pumping out stories and podcasts. As a company we had to get a little leaner and do some restructuring, but the Fire Pit remains a content machine. For you, the golf fan, it shall remain business as usual.

The traditional golf publications are so compromised that one has to root for the upstarts, but obviously it's quite the hostile media environment.

 I will catch y'all down the road.