Freddy's Fairway Thoughts

The PGA Tour is freaked about over the possible competition from the Saudi-backed tour that has Greg Norman as its main shill. The new tour is waving money at a collection of international names — some big, some Fleetwood — and there are plenty of rumors that some have already accepted the cash.

In response, the Tour is throwing money around, sending execs to Dubai and, of course, having meetings.

Quit fretting, PGA Tour leaders. You’re looking in the wrong direction.

The PGA Tour has had zero real competition since it pulled away from the PGA of America in the late 1960s. Little things pop up from time to time and quickly disappear. And, over the years, the Ponte Vedra boys slowly have nibbled away at minitours, the LPGA and the European Tour. They are now even into collegiate play, and its influence into junior golf is massive (see: AJGA.)

The Saudis have money (very important, of course), the Asian Tour (important only as a vehicle), Norman (an aging blowhard) and not much else. A lot was made of rules official Slugger White and administrator Ron Cross joining the Norman crowd, but White was at the end of his PGA Tour career (whether he liked it or not) and Cross had been shown the gate several years ago.

The PGA Tour’s main problem, as always, is from within, and the top-level players are using the Saudis to get what they want. Mainly, they want to get big money and prestige by playing fewer tournaments. The Saudis have a lovely model: 10 tournaments, $200 million.

The PGA Tour’s success is enormous. It is easily the best run of all the major sports by any comparison. And that success has brought demand, so we have a Tour event almost every week. Great for TV, great for us. Not so great for the big names who want Ryder Cup points and the like, who now see middle-pack players picking the goodies in what used to be the off-season.

What do the McIlroys want?

Start with invitationals, like Bay Hill (Arnold Palmer) and Memorial (Jack Nicklaus) with limited fields. Expect more of those: fewer players, maybe bigger points, guaranteed entry for the stars. Keep adding goodies for the biggies. The purse for the Players will be $20 million. There is $40 million set aside in a pool to reward the good guys, and you can expect most of that going to those who the PGA Tour needs, whether they are good guys are not.

The players know they need to get it while they can. A top player has a shelf life of maybe 15 years. The alternatives may look lovely, but they can’t offer pension plan funding, access to the majors and the big sponsorships that come with playing on the PGA Tour.

The PGA Tour is more worried about competition than it should be (c’mon, man, are you really going out of your way to watch Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson?) They need to look at their own organization, which is where the real pressure is coming from.

And a look into the future: keep reading.

Predictions

File this one away for future reference: when major league baseball owners tire of the current commissioner’s missteps, they’ll get rid of him and go after PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan. And, he’ll take the phone call.

Monahan? Lifelong baseball fan (Red Sox) who likes the big city lights (New York.)

So who will be the next Tour commissioner? There has only been one who was a player: Deane Beman, who turned out to be maybe the best commissioner any sport has had. The players own the Tour but they have let the suits take it over, and they want to take it back.

So: Monahan quits and Davis Love III is elected commissioner.

Short stuff

• Geez, the Houston Open used to be a real big deal, and now it seems to be so weak that it barely gets onto the off-season schedule. Wouldn’t you think that the nation’s fourth-biggest market in a golf-crazy state would have a big-time place on the PGA Tour’s schedule? • This sounds goofy but it’s getting consideration among those trying to get the length back to a realistic level: limit the size of golf tees. • Women’s college golf is producing a lot of very good American players but they disappear after graduation. Right now, it’s Lexi Thompson against the world on the LPGA Tour, and she can’t win an event. • Phil Mickelson was a terrific guest on the Monday Night Football sideshow last month, asking great questions of the Manning brothers and adding good comments. If he ever quits the Tour, he’ll be target No. 1 for the networks. • Satire is hard to keep going (see: demise of Saturday Night Live) but those behind Club Pro Guy are still sharp after a half-dozen years or so. And you don’t have to be a Southeastern Conference football fan to enjoy SEC Shorts, which pops up on You Tube.

Comments? Lawsuits? fs4569@comcast.net.