I'm at the keyboard and raring to go, if only there were a bone upon which to gnaw.... Join me for some table scraps?
Price Check in Aisle Four - This one should come with an irony alert, not least because of that People's Country Club thing:
Have the people been priced out of “The people’s country club?” That is the general worry on social media after ticket prices for next year’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, revealed earlier thisyear, went viral. Golf Twitter can be a tough crowd, yet this wasn’t just a few amplified voices manufacturing a controversy, as the subject became one of the trending topics on both X and Google trends Monday. We do our best to sort the Ryder Cup mess out below.Wait, what Ryder Cup controversy?The uproar began when No Laying Up’s Kevin Van Valkenburg posted a screenshot of the daily badge prices for the 2025 Ryder Cup. He amplified it by writing: “I would like to go on the record now and say that if Europe wins the Ryder Cup at Bethpage because the crowds were turned into a polite snooze fest like LACC by the insane ticket prices, it's going to go down as a massive own goal.” That would be a nod to the infamous turnout at last year’s U.S. Open, where tight confines and a persnickety Los Angeles Country Club membership limited the allotment of general admission tickets to fans, leading to one of the quieter galleries in recent major history. But this time it’s not topography or a club keeping the public out, but potentially the cost. Entry for one of the event’s three days of competition starts at $750 per person, with practice days tagged at $255.
First, that's quite the hefty price tag for remarkably little golf action, especially on Friday and Saturday. I've long been worried about this very event, because of the anticipated unruly crowds combined with all-day alcohol and no golf to watch, but perhaps the PGA of America has it all under control....
I've been reliably informed by the Vice President that inflation is transitory and a high-class problem:
That, uh, seems high?Also correct. Using last year’s Ryder Cup as context, general admission tickets into Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Italy were between €50 ($52.97) and €60 ($63.56) for the practice days, €250 ($264.83) for Friday and Saturday tickets and €260 ($275.42) for Sunday. Yes, New York is a big market, but it’s not like Rome is a particularly small town.
This won't make it look any more reasonable either:
How does that compare with other golf events?It’s on the expensive end of the spectrum. Masters badges—inarguably the gold standard for golf tournament experiences in the United States—cost $140 per tournament day and $100 for practice rounds. The USGA is charging $60 to $85 for practice-round tickets at next year’s U.S. Open at Oakmont, with general admission on tournament days ranging from $150 to $200. Last year’s Open Championship at Royal Troon averaged around €100 for tournament days. As for the PGA Championship (which, like the Ryder Cup, is run by the PGA of America), next year’s tickets for tournament days clock in at $219, although that does include food and drink.
But on a per shot basis? At those majors you'll see 156 guys playing 18 holes.... at the Ryder Cup you'll see....well, twelve golf shots.
To this point I've deliberately elided the bigger irony, to wit, the last three years have been about creating compensation for Patrick Cantlay above the level the golf ecosystem can support, which one assumes ultimately turns into higher TV rights fees and ticket prices. It's just, what's the word, ironic,
that this should arise at that one event where the guys don't get paid....
This will only reignite the Ryder Cup’s player-payment debate, won’t it?
Absolutely. It was just last year that reports surfaced that American players questioned whether there should be payment for participation in the event (currently, players don’t receive money for competing but each is given $200,000 to donate to charities of their choosing). In the wake of Xander Schauffele reportedly being threatened with dismissal from the U.S. team over issues with the player benefit agreement, his father Stefan Schauffele said the topic of payment for players was worth having a “meaningful conversation about.” Considering major golf events are run by a free workforce of volunteers and the changing landscape of name, image and likeness usage in American sports, the 2025 ticket prices will only give more fodder to critics that the PGA of America may need to start sharing the massive amounts of profit its make from the biennial match.
God, I love golf journalists! How could you possible cover the controversy over payments at the Rome Ryder Cup and mention Xander but not Patrick? Just a reminder, he was that guy without a hat.... Perhaps you might remember why?
Let's see how he does here:
What’s the defense?So far, the PGA of America has not commented about the prices since the debate became heated. If we had to make an argument (and to be clear, it’s not one we’re taking a side on), there is demand for an event that only comes to this country three days every four years. Yes, the Ryder Cup is expensive compared to other golf tournaments, but against other premier spectacles—say, the Super Bowl or a Taylor Swift concert—the prices are about in-line with the market. Of course, the Super Bowl drew 130 million audience last year compared to the Ryder Cup’s 3.4 million, so maybe not the best comparison.
Shall we see how he did?
I think the Ryder Cup is a Tier 1 event, though he might be indicating that the PGA Championship belongs in a lower tier....Good to know.
On Wednesday, the PGA of America's Bryan Karns went on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio to discuss the ticket pricing for the biennial event, which will return to the United States at Bethpage Black next fall. Speaking with Taylor Zarzour, Karns, the Championship Director at the PGA, not only defended the prices—$255 for a practice day, $750 for a competition day, to be clear—he essentially doubled down on them, saying that the demand for the event is at an all-time high."We view ourselves as a Tier 1 event that's on par with a World Series, or with an NBA Finals Game 7," Karns said. "That was a part of it. So when we look at pricing, we're able to tap into data from all these different venues."We're able to see, 'what do people pay?'" Karns continued. "So that really drove this, too. Again, our position in this landscape [is] where do we see ourselves? I think that's the reality. There are people who have the Ryder Cup on their bucket list in the same way that someone would have a Yankees opening game World Series on their bucket list. Ultimately, we felt like that's where we are. The demand is at an all-time high for this event, so we wanted to make sure we priced it appropriately."
There's logic to the argument, and their argument is buttressed by the assumption that they'll sell all their ticket inventory, but the argument still leaves me cold. Those World Series and Super Bowl comps are for an assigned seat that allows one to see every second of the event. What does the sap who pays $750 for a Friday ticket at Bethpage actually see? Shockingly little, which seems like it should matter....
But Van Valkenbug is pointing to a potential further irony, that justifying these ticket prices by comparing it to a Super Bowl might result in a Super Bowl crowd, which are notoriously quieter by virtue of being neutral sites. Mind you, there is no way the Euros are going to win this, but it would make your humble blogger laugh if the PGA of America allowed their greed to impair the evnt.
The Peter Principle - Guys are kicked upstairs all the time, but surely not this guy, right? Wrong, and please stop calling me Shirley:
Greg Norman’s tenure as the CEO of LIV Golf has been a tumultuous one as the 20-time PGATour winner and former world No. 1 has butted heads with numerous organizations, made outlandish claims about the league’s ascension and even had him showing up at major events with tickets from a secondary market.But according to a new report from Sports Business Journal, the Saudi-based league is working behind the scenes to find a replacement for Norman as CEO, even though the two-time British Open champ could be retained in senior leadership.
According to SBJ, Norman has remained in decent favor with the ownership group, so he could still be used in a multitude of roles in the future.
Tumultuous would seem the least of it, I might have called it a billion dollar failure. Not that it's Greg's fault, as he was always a figurehead. He served them well only in the sense that he attracted some of the stray voltage, inducing Tiger and Rory to punch down. But it's all inconsequential, as all important decisions were made above his pay grade.
The bigger issue is whether they'd be casting him aside as part of a rapprochement with the PGA Tour. Stay tuned....
Dylan's Wish List - Dylan Dethier had some fun bits in his weekly Monday Finish column, that will sustain me through this post, including this big question:
ONE BIG QUESTIONWhere should the PGA Tour go next?Now that the Tour has checked off Utah for the first time in six decades, which uninhabited states should it visit next? Factoring in venues, crowds, proximity to golf-hungry populations and personal bias, here are five…Honorable mention: Illinois. I’m not including the Land of Lincoln because the John Deere is technically in Silvis, Ill. every July — but that’s a different Illinois than the Chicago area, which was terrific as BMW Championship host last summer and should have a Tour event more frequently.
5. Alaska
What, like you wouldn’t watch the Yukon Challenge? Bring in David McLay-Kidd to design TPC Matanuska Glacier, leave your mark as the best golf course in Alaska, tee off any time you want…
4. Pennsylvania
Next year’s Truist (the artist formerly known as the Wells Fargo) is coming to Philly Cricket Club next summer, which should serve as a proper litmus test. In my mind greater Philadelphia is ideal for a golf tournament — a blend of well-to-do Main-Liners and ungovernable Eagles fans? Sure! — so let’s make it happen.
3. Wisconsin
Let’s tap into the ghost of the Greater Milwaukee Open and take advantage of elite golf by the lake.
2. Washington
I’ll make no attempt to hide this list’s bias; I live in Seattle and I’m from (spoiler alert) Massachusetts. But it’s time the Tour returns to Chambers Bay. Amazon, Microsoft, T-Mobile — let’s make it happen!
1. Massachusetts
Okay, let’s talk full vision. I may expand on this for a future piece, but the simple version: Memphis and East Lake are fine Tour venues but they should be in the spring, not the summer. August in the Southeast is humid and lifeless. The Tour’s three playoff events should rotate as follows:Playoff Event I: The West. I’m talking Chambers Bay (Wash.), Castle Pines (Colo.), Pebble Beach (Calif.) etc.Playoff Event II: The Midwest. This is where Wisconsin and Chicago come in. Whistling Straits or Erin Hills (Wisc.), Olympia Fields or Medinah (Ill.), maybe even Crooked Stick (Ind.)? Okay, that sounds hot and humid, too, but you see where I’m going.
Playoff Event III: The Northeast. Let’s ping from Greater Boston to Long Island to Philadelphia and back, one every three years, constant rotation. This is your new Tour Championship. Does this ignore all existing big-time sponsorships tying the TC to Atlanta and East Lake? Sure it does. But that, for our purposes here, is not my concern. See you at The Country Club!
Yeah, but they're so damn insane in Ponte Vedra Beach, that I almost hate to take on this subject.
You have to start with that which I think is the peak insanity:
- The Tour has abandoned many major markets, including New York City, Boston and Chicago. I think Dylan would have been better served to think in terms of markets as opposed to sates, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are very different places it goes without saying. Specifically, in slimming the FedEx Cup from four to three events they left New York and Boston, which makes little sense to this observer.
- If you're going to conduct your season-ending event in Augusta, is Atlanta and Memphis really the best you can do? I used to joke about the PGA of America taking their August PGA Championship to such places so that we could have the pleasure of seeing Tim Herron in a sweaty golf shirt, but this is no better.
And then, from our latest segment of “confusing Viking-esque names”: At the French Open, Rasmus Hojgaard finished T13 at 10 under par. You may have heard of Rasmus; he’s a young, talented Danish pro with five DP World Tour wins including one over Rory McIlroy at last month’s Irish Open. You may have also heard of his twin brother, Nicolai Hojgaard, who made it onto last year’s European Ryder Cup team and played the PGA Tour this season. Nicolai finished one shot behind his brother in T18 at 9 under par.But get this: two other Danes finished at 9 under alongside Nicolai. The first is Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen. The second is Niklas Norgaard. What’s the point? There isn’t one, really, except that Rasmus Hojgaard is a different guy than Rasmus Neergard and Nicolai Hojgaard is a different guy than Niklas Norgaard. Hojgaards and Neergards and Norgaards everywhere you look. Nicolai is already on the PGA Tour; Rasmus H. and Niklas N. are likely to join him there next year. Buckle up, American broadcasters.
What's the over-under for the number of Danes at Bethpage?
That's it for this week. Go Yanks and have a great weekend.
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