If I was Ernie I'd tell the PGA Tour to bring it on. If they do anything to him he can just go Casey Martian on them and take it to court. He obviously isn't breaking any rules with the ammount of tournaments he's playing. The PGA Tour has got to be bluffing.
Last edited by Allen89 : October 22nd, 2004 at 06:27 PM.
If I was Ernie I'd tell the PGA Tour to bring it on. If they do anything to him he can just go Casey Martian on them and take it to court. He obviously isn't breaking any rules with the ammount of tournaments he's playing.
Els would have to be from another planet (Martian perhaps? ) to bring suit against the PGA Tour. The PGA Tour requires membership. To keep that membership you must abide by the Policies set for membership. If Els (or anyone else) decides they don't want to abide by the rules they have options. One option is to get the Policy Board to change the rules. Another is to resign his membership and play elsewhere.
To-date Els hasn't broken any rules. He's simply requesting that he not be required to play the extra PGA Tour events the PGA Tour requires for him to be granted permission to play other world wide tournaments of his choosing.
Suing The PGA Tour because Els doesn't want to be forced to play in the required number of tournaments would be like a professional basketball player suing the NBA because he doesn't want to play an 82 game schedule.
This scenario is entirely different than the Casey Martin case. Els is not being discriminated against. He has a valid point and I'm sure the Policy Board (which contains current PGA players) will come up with a compromising solution.
This scenario is entirely different than the Casey Martin case. Els is not being discriminated against. He has a valid point and I'm sure the Policy Board (which contains current PGA players) will come up with a compromising solution.
The problem there is that the board rarely contains a top-25 player (in the world), and thus one capable of playing all over, getting appearance fees to play in Japan, and so on.
Of course, maybe Fred Funk or whoever is on the current board would love having the big guns playing in less tournaments. More chance for them to top-10 that way, right?
The problem there is that the board rarely contains a top-25 player (in the world), and thus one capable of playing all over, getting appearance fees to play in Japan, and so on.
Of course, maybe Fred Funk or whoever is on the current board would love having the big guns playing in less tournaments. More chance for them to top-10 that way, right?
I believe the players on the Policy Board are elected by their peers, the PGA Tour players themselves. They are elected to represent ALL the members, not to omit the interests of the Top 25. To do any less, for any reason, would bring some to question their integrity. Their integrity......the one thing every golfer plays their entire life to protect. No professional player would risk that. Would you?
Well, it seems to me that Ernie (et al) need to make a compelling case to their elected officials. This is a "special needs" type of thing: very rarely does a "non-big-name" player need to worry about the rule or policy we're discussing here.
I think...
David Toms? Does David Toms get appearance fees or offers to play in South Africa, Japan, etc.? I could clarify the "top 25" bit to mean "attractive players" (John Daly qualifies here, while David Toms would not). Attractive to tournament sponsors and fans, that is... but anyway, that'd just get into a debate on what that means and who is in the top 25 in that category.
Anyway, something should be done.
I propose this rule: membership on the PGA Tour requires:
a) you must compete in a certain set rotation of tournaments if eligible and healthy: Players championship, the Tournament of Champions, two of the three US majors
b) you must compete in at least 10 other PGA Tour tournaments, and those opposite majors don't count
That's it. Tiger will play a PGA Tour event (or major) at least 15 times a year, as will Ernie, Vijay, etc. The rest of the year they're free to do what they want for whatever reason.
"Never said I don't like Tiger. I don't like the media and the obvious preferrential treatment surrounding one man."
Oh, please!!! Your comments here and elsewhere are always personally insulting and derogatory toward Tiger Woods, not aimed at the media and its preferential treatment!
You certainly have the right to dislike Tiger for whatever reason but why be less than honest about your feelings?
Sometimes its hard to pinpoint the source of your emotion and feelings for something. However, yes Tiger has gotten special treatment. But, then again, he deserves it. He singlehandedly changed golf from a wimpy beer drinking white man's game to a great sport for everyone. In my book, that deserves the red carpet.
However, yes Tiger has gotten special treatment. But, then again, he deserves it. He singlehandedly changed golf from a wimpy beer drinking white man's game to a great sport for everyone.
I won't start by naming all the great players of "color" before Tiger Woods because, regretfully, I might omit someone.
There's a few guys that might take offense to your "wimpy beer drinking white man's game" comment. Let's start with Hagen, Sarazen, Hogan, Snead and move to Palmer, Player, Nicklaus, Trevino, Watson, Norman, and so on.
Not many "wimps" in that group. I won't argue the point these guys may have had a brew or two in their day. but I certainly wouldn't call them, or their sport "wimpy." Not to their faces anyway!
Golf has always been a great sport for everyone. Tiger Woods just made it "cool."
No, no. I'm not calling them wimpy. I believe that they were the paragon of the athletes of the day. However, I am stating that many people believed the sport was like that. Despite that these men could conceivably be called some of the best athelets of their day, many people did not view the sport that way. And in the pre-Tiger era, the view was even more like that. I am merely stating that Tiger changed the public's perspective of the sport.
By the way league, I'm an avid member of the sport of golf, and I in no way think that golf ever has been, or ever will be wimpy. I'm of the opinion that golf requires some of the most intense physical and mental concentration of any sport.
"Never said I don't like Tiger. I don't like the media and the obvious preferrential treatment surrounding one man."
Oh, please!!! Your comments here and elsewhere are always personally insulting and derogatory toward Tiger Woods, not aimed at the media and its preferential treatment!
You certainly have the right to dislike Tiger for whatever reason but why be less than honest about your feelings?
Tiger plays the same number of PGA Tour events as the guys that got the letters. Why has Tiger not gotten one? Preferrential treatment. Until this kind of stuff stops I will continue to denegrade the situation surround this ONE person. One person does not the tour make.
Anyway I believe it's a free country. YOu have the right to blindly follow and I have the right to criticize obvious inequalitiies in policy.
Tiger also doesn't ask for 10 extra free passes to go play where he wants each year. Ernie has played 18 non-PGA Tour events over the past two years. Tiger has played 3. The letter was because Ernie's breaking a tour rule, unfair as I believe that rule is. Tiger's breaking no rule by playing the same amount of events so long as he's not asking for a bunch of extra exemptions to go play in Europe or Australia or wherever.
October 22nd, 2004, 06:22 PM
) to bring suit against the PGA Tour. 
The PGA Tour requires membership. To keep that membership you must abide by the Policies set for membership. If Els (or anyone else) decides they don't want to abide by the rules they have options. One option is to get the Policy Board to change the rules. Another is to resign his membership and play elsewhere.
but I certainly wouldn't call them, or their sport "wimpy." Not to their faces anyway! 
Ernie has played 18 non-PGA Tour events over the past two years. Tiger has played 3. The letter was because Ernie's breaking a tour rule, unfair as I believe that rule is. Tiger's breaking no rule by playing the same amount of events so long as he's not asking for a bunch of extra exemptions to go play in Europe or Australia or wherever.
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