For a Tuesday in the Silly Season, we've got more of those random musings that you so crave.... So freshen that coffee and let's do this:
Napa No-Shows - We'll lead with this Doug Ferguson tweet:
Doug Ferguson
Announcement of new title sponsor. Opening event on PGA Tour season. And haven't seen anyone here all week from PGA Tour HQ.
Now compare that with the celebration of Spring that is baseball's opening day... The asture reader will quickly note the difference; to wit, in April baseball fans have been without for approximately five months, whereas on Thursday morning last we had suffered without PGA Tour golf for about an hour-and-a-half, and even that might be an exaggeration.
Shack had this rant:
It's only in Napa, home to some of the world's best winemakers and mosty dreamy October days. But when the golf season never ends, even the 7-Series set from Ponte Vedra has to put down their leather folios, power down their Blackberry's, un-roll their Oxford sleeves and give the expense tab a break.
Still, to pick the opening event on the 2015-16 PGA Tour schedule to go incognito was bizarre, especially as a title sponsor exits and a new one enters.
Blackberry's? Do we think Geoff is recycling decade-old rants?
But this is entirely in character for Commissioner Ratched and his 7-Series set. I've long noted that being a "partner" of the Tour seems a decidedly one-way avenue. They love you until they get a grand vision or something a little shinier comes along...
We noted the Thursday ratings previously, but fortunately Friday's improved dramatically....What? How can that be, it's an actual PGA Tour event with FULL FEDEX CUP POINTS:
0.0 193,000 viewer average over 3:02
The numbers for Friday:
PGA Tour 0.0 185,000 viewer average over 3:20 (east coast primetime)
Champions Tour 0.0 164,000 viewer average over 3:02
Prime Time is money! The problem is, as a MadMan would tell you, that a brand is only as strong as its weakest component.... Admittedly, Finchie keeps getting sponsors to write the checks, but what is Safeway thinking?
Silly Trophies - A while back there was a fun slideshow of silly golf trophies, including this bit of Henrik Stenson gay porn:
Now we can't all hold ourselves to those...ummm....tumescent standards, but what do we make of the trophy that Lexi Thompson earned in South Korea last week:
Are those water skis?
Bad Optics - The leader in the Republican Presidential nominating process doesn't want any of those pesky poor people playing golf, but I'm curious as to whether he finds this plan sufficiently aspirational:
Members who currently pay £8,000 annual subscriptions – after a one-off joining fee of £15,000 – will now be required to fork out up to an additional £80,000 to buy a 'debenture' share, or face being kicked out.
An insider told The Mail on Sunday that the club's Chinese bosses expect only 250 present members out of a total of 3,000 to remain after the price hike.
The source said they will be replaced by 600 'ultra high net worth' individuals – those with assets of more than £20 million each. Many of them will be Chinese or Russian tycoons.
Doesn't that sound like it will make for a warm, family-friendly club environment? This has some significance because we're not talking about just any stuffy old British club, this is Wentworth, an historic Harry S. Colt classic (since serially desecrated by Ernie Els) that serves both as headquarters for the Euro Tour and host of their flagship event.
And, of equal import since we're on a roll with great names, the owner pictured above is Dr. Chanchai Ruayrungruang. I'm gonna go with Doc...
Shark Tank, Golf Edition - Looking for an attractive Kickstarter opportunity for that cash burning a hole in your pocket? We're here for you:
You have just won the U.S. Mid-Amateur title (with an albatross in the final, no less). You have earned an exemption into the 2016 Masters, which means you can play and practice at Augusta National as often as you like this winter. But you are also a working stiff in the healthcare industry with two young daughters, who also happens to live in a part of the country where winter practice often involves a snow shovel.
OK, we love amateur golf and are especially fond of the MidAms, because they look like our fellow weekend warriors. But I read this story and my reaction is to acknowledge what a lucky dude Sammy is, but also to note that it's really crazy that he gets to play in the masters.
We all understand Bobby Jones' ties to the amateur game, and I'm perfectly fine with the U.S. and British Am winners (and in the former case the runner-up as well) getting their spots, as these are young talents on the way up. But MidAms are going nowhere in the golf world, and as easy as a Masters cut is, none have ever survived it. This is a spot in a small field that really should go to a competitive golfer.
No comments:
Post a Comment