Even though Tiger Woods and PGA Tour Commissioner Tim
Finchem "seemed to have reached some kind of accommodation,
things are not completely settled among the rank-and-file"
golfers, according to Will McDonough of the BOSTON GLOBE,
who reported that Boston-based Ropes & Gray attorney Dennis
Coleman has been hired as a consultant "by some of the golf
professionals." Coleman: "There are a lot of issues and
they are going to be addressed shortly. ... This group wants
to have more of a say about what goes on in their game.
There is a series of meetings coming up in the next three or
four weeks that will tell the players more." McDonough:
"The No. 1 thing the players would like is to see the
financial books of the PGA." In addition, "some of the
things that bother players are that the Tour designs new
golf courses in direct conflict with Tour players in the
course design business, players are still required to pay
$100 to get into a tourney should they qualify, players do
not get their expenses paid when playing in a tourney, and
often the PGA makes sponsorship deals that cause major
conflicts with the players" (BOSTON GLOBE, 12/16).
ON THE UP AND UP? Finchem recently said the Tour "still
[has] an awfully long way to go" to have its players paid
equal to today's other top-paid sports stars. But in
Boston, Jim McCabe wrote, "On the contrary, Mr.
Commissioner, your sport is well ahead in so many respects.
Your athletes are more courteous, more respectful of
tradition and heritage, and more conscious of their
obligation to give back. Your spectators -- at least a huge
majority of them -- are more civil and more dignified. All
of that should count for something, even if it doesn't add
up to $20-million-a-year salaries. Be careful what you wish
for. Sometimes in the quest for more, more, and more, you
offer less, less, and less" (BOSTON GLOBE, 12/17).
