golfrewind.com

Anyone see this on fox sports?

http://msn.foxsports.com/golf/story/3433392


I personally think it is too long. I think what Tiger said is true, about having more top 10 guys in the same field more often. But, I have no idea how that impacts network sponsorship and viewer ratings.

I can see his argument, but every year after the last tour event all these guys are out playing in skins and shootouts on TV. If the season is so long and grueling, skip these events Tig.

This ioa what I can't understand. After a 10 month season, these guys are still traveling and playing. I know to keep the game sharp, these guys have to hit balls, pretty much everyday. You can do that at home.

I have no idea what it would be like to be on tour, but If I was top 20, I would maybe play two events and take one off, just to be at home and see family.

tiger makes good points and i like his honesty.

he said "how can we compete w/ football?" and went on to say labor day should end the year.

only die-hards watch the boring fall-finish. i went down to greensboro last year and about cried. it was so boring and the atmoshpere was zapped. when it used to be in april the galleries were wild and there was sense of excitement.

i love that kind of frankness.

Excellent point about the extra events. I think if the players think the season is too long, don't play theses events that are meaningless in tour standing. Although they are fun for us, the general public, to watch. I think this argument could go either way, kinda like the whole nhl lockout.

The season is fine at it's current length. If any of them want to play a reduced schedule, that's up to them. If the interest & sponsorships are there for the less prestigious events they'll keep them regardless of Mr. Wood's wishes. This is a strange time to be bringing this up, considering that IMO the list of elite golfers is much deeper than at any time in recent memory, with a couple more guys knocking at the door. If Tiger or one of the other big guns sits one out it's no biggie to me, although I know there are those who feel it doesn't count unless Eldridge is in the field.

Although I posted that article in another thread yesterday, it's probably good that it has its own thread.

I do like the long PGA Tour season, as of course all golf fans do, because it means more golf on TV to watch. But Tiger does make a good point. If the tour season were shorter, it's likely that those top players might play more, knowing that they have basically a three month break from golf in the fall. Also, to sponsors, if there are only 36 events, rather than 44 or whatever there is now, if they were to pony up the money to sponsor an event, they want some big name players in the field. Currently, many of those events have no chance to get really strong fields due to small purses or bad scheduling. If the season were shortened, it would probably increase their chances of getting Tiger, Phil and Vijay in the same event and making their event more marketable. However, I do like the season at its current length, and if they were to shorten it, who decides which events get cut? And which events would be slid back to accomdate a short season? Some history-laden events like the Canadian Open and Greensboro Open would get cut or moved earlier in the year due to a shorter schedule, which is not a good move IMO.

If anyone cares, it would really hurt the marginal players trying to get & keep their cards, also.

I think the top 125 players on the money list get their card for the following year. If there are fewer tournaments, the top 125 will still get a card. And, since they are making $6,000 per tournament, and they maybe make half of the cuts, there would only be about a $30,000 difference in their overall earnings. Also, I think you could compare this situation to baseball. Some say that because there are so many teams, the talent pool gets more watered down as they add teams to the league. An example would be how much better would overall pitching talent be in MLB if there were 10 fewer teams. How about if they just eliminated the Rockies!!!!! LOL.

I don' think the season should be shorter so Tiger can play in all of the events, I just think it is too long. As mentioned, if the sponsors are there, they will have the tournaments.

I see both sides of this. I like the long season but don't see much of the fall tournaments because most aren't on TV. It would be great to have more tournaments like this week at Doral with such a strong field. But if the season was shorter there would just be more "silly season" events.

I like the season aas it is. I agree with wazmankg that if they dont want to play the events, dont. It's the only professional sport I know of who's shedule is optional and slective. Cant pick and choose which games you want your team to play in hockey, football or baseball.

Where did you come up with these numbers?

The top players are still going to play in no more that 20-25 events and most probably wouldn't have been playing in the tournaments that are dropped. Changing the number of tournaments won't affect them.

The solution is a World Tour ,comprising of 16 events plus 4 majors ,making 20.

8 events in USA ,5 in Europe and one in Australia,Japan and South Africa. Each event would be open to top 80 on World rankings ,plus next 50 on the tour holding the event and balance of field (24 ) split from top of other Tours. Remainder of Tour would be as it is now. Timetable could read like this :

January - Australian Open @ Royal Melbourne,
February - Torrey Pines and South African Open at Fancourt
March - Doral and Dubai
April - Masters and Hilton Head
May - Europe then USA event
June - US Open , one in USA then one in Europe
July - Brit Open ,one in Europe then one in USA
August - USPGA ,one in USA then one in Europe
September - one in USA ,one in JApan

This would keep the travelling down to the minimum.Both Tours could have events on at the same time as the World events ,as USA Tour did last week.

If the money on US Tour dropped for non World events, players would have their comfort zone challenged ,weeding out the mediocrity , and raising standards.

Els,Singh and Mickeson would jump at it , Tiger already says he wants it.