Month: May 2021

Opinion: Is the PGA Tour afraid of the Super League Golf ? Absolutely!

Do not leave the PGA Tour or else pally! Image courtesy of Getty Images.

PGA Commissioner Jay Moynahan threatens players with possible expulsions from the PGA Tour, Rory McIlroy says “is a money grab”, and PGA of America CEO, Seth Waugh, says “be careful of what you wish for”.

Well, well, well, that is easy to say by someone like McIlroy who has made millions on endorsement deals and PGA/European Tour victories.  But ask the guy looking from the outside, or who’s career is on the downside, and he may think is a great idea to earn a set salary while playing golf for a few weeks a year.

What is the Super League Golf?  According to ESPN.com, “Originally, plans were for an 18-event schedule from January to September with 48-player fields and $10 million purses each week, with a season-ending team championship.  The Premier Golf League would offer the top players $30 million up front with a share of the teams they would be part of. Those teams would compete week to week, with individual results also logged and big-money purses for each tournament”.

It sounds like good old competition to me.  The PGA of America and the PGA and European Tour posture on this appears to be disingenuous to say the least, more life mafia type strong-arming.

Speaking of money grabs, the PGA Tour has established a $40 million Player Impact Program which will only reward the top 10 players on tour based on their popularity and not their skills.  That is a nice “money grab” like McIlroy would say, and for under achieving advertising magnate Ricky Fowler, that should be a nice pay day.

Give me a break!  I thought professional golf was about entertainment, giving back to the community, etc., etc., etc.   Excuse me, it is about business and profits, otherwise Moynahan would not be sweating bullets and issuing threats like a third world dictator.  If the PGA Tour is such a good an honest product; what is there to be afraid of?

This season alone, the PGA Tour is looking at giving out over $500 million dollars between the FedEx Cup, tournament wins, and bonuses.  Do not forget, in 2022, they will kick a $700 million television deal with NBC, which for sure will contribute to higher purses and bonuses.

Of course, the European Tour is lock in step with the PGA Tour in their opposition to the Super League.  But let us not forget, the European Tour is pretty much a lap dog of the PGA Tour since the PGA Tour has a controlling stake of the Euro Tour.  Who says money grabbing is not a good thing?  Right Rory?

Let us face it, the PGA and European Tour are afraid the top players are going to be lured by the idea of making millions of dollars in what, for all intent and purposes, is nothing more than a very lucrative Tuesday Night Men’s League.

I look at it with a different lens.  Moynahan is threatening players, independent contractors, with expulsion from the Tour.  But who would be the ultimate loser? 

Who the fans want to see?  Dustin Johnson or the 125th player on the money list?  If Johnson decides he wants to join the league; are you going to expel the #1 ranked player in the world from the Tour?  Do not be a fool Jay!

On the other hand, if the 126th player on the money list could make several millions by playing on the Super League Golf: why not?

For marquee players like McIlroy is easy to seat there and open his mouth about money, after all, he does not have to worry about it.

At the end of the day, it is a business and competition is always healthy.

I, for one, would love to see the Super League Golf come into fruition.  The PGA Tour has made several boneheaded moves in the last year, and frankly, I am ready for an alternative.

I just want to watch golf for its entertainment value, and if the PGA and European Tours cannot deliver a bias free product, then perhaps is time for a new and fresher option.  Let the free market decide.

To the USGA: Arm-Lock Putting is Anchored Putting

To Anchor or Not to Anchor…..

Putting is my favorite thing to do while playing golf.  So much so, I have a putting green in my basement and a bunch of putters laying around, including several Scotty Cameron’s made specifically for me.

I was never a fan of anchored long putters because it provided a crutch to those players who were not good putters or did not practiced enough to be a good putter. 

I still think that allowing the usage of long putters on tour should not be allowed and it opens the door to scrutiny as has been the case with Scott McCarron and Bernhard Langer on the Champions Tour.

The governing bodies banned anchored putting on January 2016; but did they? 

Introducing Arm-lock putting.  Let us be honest, Arm-lock putting is nothing more than anchoring a putter grip to your forearm restricting a “free flowing swing”. Was this a compromised to appease the “yipsters” out there on the professional tours?

Arm-lock putting may not be the textbook definition of “the player’s forearm held against his or her body to establish a stable point”.  By locking the grip, or “resting the grip against the forearm” the putter is technically locked against the body and therefore establishing a stable point.

Whatever the reason behind it, it is still anchoring by another name and it should be banned all together.  Putting requires skill, grit, patience, and controlling one’s nerves under stress. 

To me, skillful putting is what separates a Major Champion from a journeyman, and it should be preserved in its purest form.

It is time for the USGA and the R&A to right this wrong. Make putting great again!

https://www.usga.org/content/dam/usga/images/rules/anchoring/understanding-anchored-strokes.pdf