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Finchem Discusses
Upcoming Season |
The ’06 PGA Tour season begins today with the Mercedes Championship in Hawaii,
and next year, the Tour will see some major changes, including a new playoff format
and TV arrangement. In a Q&A with USA TODAY’s Jerry Potter, PGA Tour Commissioner
Tim Finchem said with the changes planned for ’07, “this year becomes bit of a
lame-duck year, although there’s an awful lot of exciting things we’re looking
forward to.” More Finchem: “Our philosophy is (that) when you’re doing really
well that is the time to change. We see the other sports and other entertainment
competition changing all the time, trying to be better, trying to figure out more
ways to attract people’s attention. ... We think the changes we’ve made make the
sport even more compelling. ... It gets the top players, and players generally,
to play a little bit more.” He added, “It’s something we’ll probably tweak going
forward from time to time, but we think the fundamental direction is in everybody’s
interest, the fan, the sponsor, the charitable organization, the player.” Finchem
said of the Tour’s popularity, “If you add up our total viewership ... it’s right
up there near the very top, probably second only to the NFL on an event basis”
(
USA
TODAY, 1/5). Finchem declined to discuss changes to the Tour schedule
beginning in ’07 due to ongoing negotiations, but said that “once the 2006 season
began, differences between the old Tour and the new Tour would likely take a back
seat to the competition.” Finchem: “The focus will be on guys there to play a
course and compete. I don’t know that a lot of attention will be on whether this
tournament or that tournament will be in a different spot next year” (
FLORIDA
TIMES-UNION, 1/5).
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Many Feel Woods, Mickelson Should Be
Playing In Season-Opening Tournament |
MISSING IN ACTION: Only three of the top-ten ranked players are competing
at this week’s season-opening event, with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson among
those who withdrew. But Finchem said, “Once the competition gets going, once the
scores are on the board, it’s kind of yesterday’s news” (
USA TODAY, 1/5).
However, Fred Funk said, “Mercedes is putting up a lot of money here. They want
to see the marquee guys. It really hurts the field. You get enough guys not showing
up, it would make a sponsor say, ‘Why am I doing this? Why am I putting up all
this money?” (
TORONTO SUN, 1/5). Only players who won a tournament last
year are eligible to play in the Mercedes, and Funk added, “If you qualify for
one of these, you got to be laying on your death bed before you can’t come to
one of these events” (
HONOLULU ADVERTISER, 1/4). Mark Calcavecchia said,
“It’s just golf, you know? It’s not a marathon. It’s not the Ironman out here,
swim 26 miles or something. It’s just golf. Take next month off.” Bart Bryant
said, “It feels like there’s a little something missing” (
AP, 1/4). However,
Stuart Appleby said, “Having Phil and Tiger not here, Retief [Goosen], is a good
thing for me.” Calcavecchia added, “I text-messaged Tiger and said, ‘No Hawaii
for you, more cash for me.’ ... Good for me, bad for the tournament” (
HONOLULU
STAR-BULLETIN, 1/4).
