Thursday Threads - Patrick's Revenge Edition

I'm sure you remember the rules.  When they tell you it's about the money, it's about the money.  On the flip side, when they tell you it isn't about the money, that's when it's ALL about the money.

Thanksgiving Comes Early - Perhaps a Christmas reference might have been more apt, yanno a certain hatless wonder apparently being, to my surprise, not on the Naughty list:

Patrick Cantlay gets his way – US Ryder Cup players are going to be paid

Lest you assume that it's just your humble blogger flailing at his favorite piñata, that's from the Telegraph, specifically the curmudgeonly James Corrigan.

America’s Ryder Cup players are on course to be paid for the first time, in a break from a near 100-year tradition.

Team USA are in line to receive almost £4 million collectively for next year’s showdown in New York.

The organising body of the American team has drawn up proposals that would see its golfers paid directly for the first time in the match’s 97-year history. It is understood that a figure of $400,000 (£315,000) for each player has been put forward and insiders say it is likely to be ratified at board level.

Certainly, the United States officials will not want any repeat of the unseemly episode in which Patrick Cantlay was accused of not wearing a USA cap in protest at the lack of financial rewards – a mini-mutiny that Cantlay vehemently denied waging – and the European galleries responded to the story by waving their own hats and ridiculing the inscrutable Californian.

I for one am quite excited, because I've been reliably informed that the game of golf can only grow if Patrick gest paid.  And the last few years have been about little else...

Of course, it's not just the one guy:

But this time around, it seems that unless there is an about-turn, the increased handouts will go

straight to the individuals on Keegan Bradley’s home team. Of course, sound PR dictates that the players would pledge to divert the funds to good causes, but the crucial difference is that it would be solely up to them and their accountants and that all these years later, Woods would finally be getting his wish.

“I would like to see us receive whatever the amount is – 200, 300, 400, 500,000 dollars, whatever it is – and I think we should be able to keep the money and do whatever we see fit,” Woods said towards the end of the last century.

“Personally, I would donate all of it to charity. But I think it’s up to the other person’s discretion what they would do with it. With all the money that’s being made, I think that we should have a say in where it goes.”

To be fair (Ed.: Why start now?), the context for Tiger was a lot different, predating the sell-out of the Tour's rank and file, not to mention the egregious PIP Program.

Shockingly, Geoff Shackelford has thoughts on this, including that killer bit I've kept under wraps for a few 'graphs:

While we’ve known pay-for-play was inevitable after 2023’s dust-up involving hatless Patrick Cantlay, demands of Netflix back end points, blah, blah, and blah, two key details from the latest reporting could dramatically change the match atmosphere.

• Corrigan’s Telegraph report says, “There are no plans for European players to be paid to appear.”

• The PGA of America is charging a record-price for general admission tickets which have now reportedly sold out (more below).

But Geoff might be underplaying the distinctions, because not only are the Euros apparently to not be paid, they actually don't WANT to be paid:

“They can do whatever they want,” one Europe player told Telegraph Sport. “But we don’t want payments in our bank accounts, as it’ll be the thin end of the wedge and is not what the Ryder Cup is about.

Wow, wish we had a name, because we may have identified the anti-Cantlay.  In case the idiom is new to you:

"The thin edge of the wedge" is an idiom that refers to the beginning of a minor change that could lead to a more serious or unpleasant development. For example, you might say "The bank's decision to raise rates could be the thin end of the wedge if other banks follow along".

So, a player is actually wondering whether an action beneficial to himself might actually be destructive of the larger enterprise.  Sheesh, this is professional golf, there's no room for that around here.

I do acknowledge that the event is massive, and the PGA of America has certainly brought on the scrutiny with its ticket pricing, but this still seems profoundly counter-productive.  Geoff does a deepish dive on those ticket prices, and for sure it's a s**tpile of filthy lucre:

With a purported sell out of the Ryder Cup’s Friday, Saturday and Sunday match days, this would mean the PGA of America sold around 120,000 tickets at $750 a piece despite the backlash. Pretty impressive.

That $90,000,000 must look swell in the depleted accounts.

I know, that's buy Patrick a lot of hats.  

They seethe with anger as their alleged financial mistreatment, but is the PR hit worth it for an additional $350,000 in the pockets of each of the top twelve American golfers?  Shack analogized it to change in the sofa cushions, but it's clearly an amount of money for which they would refuse to get out of bed.

Geoff hints at a potential outcome that mirrors my experience at recent cups:

Pay for (American) players was inevitable. But in the current environment, where eight times as many people will watch a rerun of Die Hard than a round of PGA Tour golf, their timing could not be worse. The two PGA organizations and assorted hanger-on types apparently couldn’t convince the players to put this scheme on ice to help rebuild their images as athletes. Meaning: the pay-for-play demand could deliver an unprecedented wrinkle to 2025’s matches. As the visionaries who pushed for this think they’re now Goldman-partner material for negotiating pay out of the PGA of America—even as they had all the leverage—the potential backlash could play a factor in the matches.

Even if you fall into the camp of wanting to see players compensated for putting themselves on the line during the intense biennial matches, the contrast of one side playing for money and the other playing for the love of competition might have an unimaginable impact on fan partisanship. It’s not as if the folks attending will be there after paying bargain basement prices…

At the last two away Ryder Cups I found myself rooting for the Euros by Friday afternoon, just because the U.S. guys were such asshats.  At Bethpage it appears I might not even hold out that long...

Geoff also amuses himself about ticket sales, posting this from the PGA of America:

Don't hold back, Geoff, tell us what you really think:

Social media rage unfolded Wednesday when fans were emailed their turn in line for expensive Ryder Cup tickets—only to be redirected to inflated resale options on official site Seatgeek—the PGA of America announced the event was sold out.

The statement above, which exudes as much joy as a ransom note, claims more than 500,000 people from 47 countries registered interest in tickets to next year’s matches.

But there is a dreaded but. Anyone who waited the 20-30 minutes (as I did for the opportunity), may have noticed:

• Tickets are still widely available for the practice days at face value.

• There are few resale options on the Seatgeek but there are some pricey official packages that were there since the beginning of the ticket sales process.

• Resale prices on a competing resale, Stubhub, are lower and more plentiful despite not being an official partner of the Ryder Cup.

As you can imagine, fans who waited “in line” for their chance were not pleased with a redirect to prices in the $1300-before-fees range. They let the PGA know it on the above post and also subsequently took to Twitter.

And a helpful reminder of what that $1,300 actually buys:

It remains shocking to see these prices for what is essentially a standing-room-only ticket with there is no guarantee of seeing a shot.

I'm pretty excited.  How about you?

Will Work For Food -  I didn't see this one coming, but I guess he needs to get out of the house:

Paul Azinger is returning to the broadcast booth in 2025.

Golfweek has learned that the 64-year-old former 12-time PGA Tour champion and winner of the 1993 PGA Championship will replace Lanny Wadkins, who announced his retirement on Friday,

as the lead analyst on Golf Channel’s coverage of PGA Tour Champions for 10-12 tournaments next season as part of a one-year deal.

“It’s not like a full-time gig or anything, which I don’t want, but to be able to go in there and part-time some golf, some really great golf, it’ll be kind of fun,” Azinger told Golfweek in a phone interview on Monday. “I’ll just be as candid as I can and enjoy it.”

Peter Jacobsen and John Cook will split time in the analyst chair when Azinger is off. [Cook will serve as on-site walking reporter when he’s not an analyst.

It probably makes sense for all concerned, but it's quite the demotion from the big chair he once occupied.  But the audience is measured at the low three figures, so we can move on.

Synergy, Baby! - It's all good fun and a welcome bit of PR juice for the LPGA, though you know there's a "but" coming....

Caitlin Clark mania in full force on LPGA as WNBA star plays alongside Nelly Korda, Annika Sorenstam

Caitlin Clark mania descended upon the LPGA Wednesday, transforming what’s normally a

sleepy pro-am day into a must-see event. After splitting her 18-hole round alongside World No. 1 Nelly Korda and Annika Sorenstam, Clark made her way to the rope line behind the 18th green at Pelican Golf Club to sign autographs. The frenzied crowd swarmed to get to her, holding out posters, jerseys and basketballs.

Security officials encouraged everyone to relax amidst the crushing support. The crowd following Clark’s foursome on Wednesday was larger than what many final-round groups attract on the LPGA.

From the moment Clark stepped on the first tee just before 7 a.m., fans lined the fairway for a rare close-up view of the WNBA superstar.

It was all good, or at least mostly good:

Caitlin Clark shanks tee shot, nearly hits fans at LPGA's The Annika pro-am

Can one actually shank a driver?   

Golfweek has pictures of the two girls that we apparently need to see:

I actually wasn't sure which of the two was taller, but I'm thinking that these pictures will get more hits:

The Debbie Downer note is this from Shack, though Beth Ann Nichols does her best to elide this thought:

🏌️‍♀️Beth Ann Nichols on Caitlyn Clark’s pro-am appearance drawing a larger crowd than many LPGA final groups.

Given the apathy for men's professional golf, we have to stay realistic about prospects for the ladies.  But Clark has certainly blown through expectations for women's basketball, but golf is the Come of Silence of the sports universe.

That'll have to do for today.  We'll catch up again next week, assuming there's something to discuss.  Have a great weekend.