I have played in 2 and 3 man scrambles and you play with opponents. That eliminates most cheating, but four man is always a joke
The caveat being who has what in their contract. Does everyone have that? Maybe the old dudes that were their heads on the wall that were always going to suck got that deal.
Last two man I played the other team casually suggested we let each other take unlimited mulligans, ignore missed short putts, etc. Pitched that idea to the wrong two people haha. Watched them like a hawk the whole round and didn’t let them get away with a thing. They had a long day
I was at a course once and saw them pair 4 man teams together to stop the cheating. 8 players playing the hole at the same time was a new sight for me
So I played with the "20" handicap last weekend. He shot a 97 and was awful all day. I don't know how he's only a 15 and have no idea how he managed to pull off a 78 considering the stakes but I don't see him breaking 80 again anytime soon. As for my own game, come out playing fairly well and am only +2 after 6 but settled for a front side 41(par 35). I am +2 on the back after 4 holes when I totally unravel. Played the last 5 holes in 10 over including a closing quad bogey on 18 to shoot 89. So frustrating...can't figure out why I love this stupid game so much.
The grinders struggling weekly with travel and caddie expenses are likely breathing a nice sigh of relief seeing $5,000 for missed cuts
The timing of that announcement given everything else currently happening just feels a bit gauche. Also feels like Tiger and Rory are trying to guarantee their own piece of the pie regardless of how things net out with the tour(s). I understand that’s shrewd business intellect on their side, but it doesn’t make them look all that good publicly. All that said, will probably watch if it’s worthwhile enough.
the Tour needs to rotate the 4 tbd elevated events, or that would be more fun. Keeps it from being stale. And probably still need to revamp the rest of the schedule. But that can be done in 2024. Rory's answer on him reaching out to Cam Smith after st andrews was interesting.
and as someone suggested on Twitter, this four could be more international. Have one in Australia, Asia maybe go to South Africa with it.
I agree with you on wanting them to rotate. I’m excited for the new schedule. It changed it just enough while still maintaining the integrity of the tournament formats. What did Rory say? I didn’t see that anywhere.
will look for a video later but Cliffs was he was still trying to convince him to stay. Said 2 days after Open he basically congratulated and then let him know what him/Tiger had planned in the pipeline. Suggested Cam wasnt being told the entire truth by LIV. broader point is just how hard that core group of guys are working to stop the saudis
Tiger and Rory are the top two international golf stars. Why shouldn’t they capitalize on people wanting to watch them more than anyone else?
Rickie is inside the top 125, travel stipend is for those non-exempt players below the 125. The more egregious change is how the “top players” category is based on the PIP, so someone like Rickie who barely made the playoffs will still fall into this category
The whole point of every argument is that certain golfers bring more to the table than others though so I get it. Rickie is still bringing more money to the PGA tour than someone like Aaron Wise and they arent even close to being the same caliber of golfer these days
Oh I’m not blaming them for the idea at all. The timing of the announcement could’ve simply been a bit more sensitive of the shitstorm currently happening. This idea has been in the making for over a year. Probably could’ve waited a couple months to announce.
Not at all. My last point on this was actually “I’m glad the Tour is choosing to change”. That’s giving them credit for trying to compete with LIV and making changes to the Tour that would raise the profile of the best players and create a better TV product for fans. I just know for a fact there are some Tour players that are not happy with the timing of this Rory/Tiger announcement. The two largest voices telling everyone not to go for the money grab then announcing their own money grab is not great optics. Also, Harold Varner is a guy currently on the fence and many Tour guys are doing everything they can to keep him around. There are also established Euro names actively trying to come back to the Tour from LIV. It will be an interesting next few months.
for some reason I had assumed this would cycle with the schedule and would be a traveling show. Go to the nearest arena for the tournament that week.
Some other random murmurings I heard from someone extremely close to a player in the Tiger meeting… - The players recognize that the NFL and other major sports leagues have a commissioner handling the best interests of the league, and separate heads of player unions handling the best interests of the players. The PGA Tour has Jay Monahan trying to do both, with the Tour’s business interests ultimately always winning out. Regardless of what happens to Jay long-term, they want somebody representing their best interests in high level Tour decisions moving forward. They’re going to request that position be created and that person to have legitimate power. - Everyone has a price. It’s the unfortunate reality. But for most of these players, they don’t think the Saudis can meet their price without major sponsorship backing and more long-term assuredness behind their contract offers. - The Tour is going to be willing to let the right guys back if they think it ultimately hurts LIV. Someone like Stenson has already made his bed, but if DJ wants back in, he’ll be welcomed with open arms. - Guys will need to give up both scheduling flexibility and potential sponsorships to make the new season work. They’re willing to do so if the money makes enough sense. But the changes need to be made immediately and not wait until 2024. - Caddies need to be taken care of. Every single one of them wants their player going to LIV. Agents are pushing it too. More money and less work for them. So between caddie, agent, and potentially family seeking the money, it’s tough for many of these guys to say no to those outside influences. - The players who have left have been ostracized in their communities. Many of them live next door to and/or regularly travel with guys on Tour. Their families and kids are best friends. That’s all stopped. To the point where some are now feeling the need to uproot themselves and move. They’ve gotten more backlash from their own peers than they could’ve ever imagined. Many of them are now reaching out and asking about the Tour’s long term plans for potential defection back. - Hideki leaving would suck because of the sponsorship power it would bring. Guys like Xander or Cantlay potentially leaving are also much bigger deals than fans would make it. It’s not just the Rorys, JTs, and Justins that need to stay. The second level of guys would bring additional defections too. - The Patrick Reed lawsuit is mostly seen as frivolous and ridiculous, but there’s one thing the players are truly worried about - the discovery phase potentially unearthing evidence that the Tour does in fact try to dictate messaging of players to the Golf Channel. Even if the lawsuit goes nowhere but simply proves that, it’s going to be a shitstorm for the Tour and potentially kill them. - The 9/11 family demonstrations at the Bedminster LIV event were apparently put together by the PGA Tour behind the scenes, and apparently put a bad taste in a lot of players mouths. While they all understand the connection being made and the need to call out sportswashing, they found using those families as pawns to be pretty gross.
I just played with an 84 year old who walked, only had five clubs, played from the blues, and shot a legit +1
He was a great guy too, talked the whole round. Supported my saving bogey more than his own birdies. We exchanged numbers after and I'd be happy to play again with him
Maybe the Tour should give players guaranteed payouts to play in their events so they’re not taking on the risk of potentially losing money by playing a professional sport. As it stands now, many of them are spending five figures to just play in any professional event with zero guarantee of getting any of that back. That’s a terrible setup compared to almost every other professional sport.
"You eat what you kill." Cool concept, but outdated as fuck in the modern landscape of professional sports.
well they just did that. We’ll see if players give any of that to their caddies unless they earn it. And I don’t disagree that their should be a minimal amount given to the players. And the caddies should be taken better care of by the Tour. But at the end of the day the caddies work for the players. And there’s story after story of players being dicks to their caddies. but today seems like a positive step forward.
I think the overarching viewpoint from a lot of the players is that LIV happens to be the current threat, but it’s not the actual problem. It’s simply the organization shining the light on the problem. If someone with the Saudi’s pockets but without atrocities on their hands decides to compete against the PGA Tour, the Tour is dead and buried quickly. The players want reform on the Tour to make the product defensible long term. Simply killing LIV doesn’t fix everything, and that’s why they want to come together to try to find those fixes.
It will be interesting to see if they address the viewer experience at all to solidify the fan base as well. I suppose the Tiger/Rory thing will help but they clearly got to fix their presentation