The '14-15 PGA Tour campaign concludes this week with the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club outside Atlanta, and PGA Commissioner Tim Finchem yesterday at his annual season-ending press conference said that the Tour "gets an 'A-plus, five stars,' for a season that he insists resonated emphatically," according to Jim McCabe of GOLFWEEK. Three of four majors were won by either Jordan Spieth or Jason Day, with the two of them "wrestling week-to-week with Rory McIlroy for World No. 1," making it "hard to argue against the commissioner's enthusiasm." It is "not lost on Finchem -- and most media folks, to be honest -- that these three are 22, 27 and 26, respectively." Finchem said, "I think this is, in many ways, our strongest year. It really is interesting when you look at the players who are here this week and their ages and what’s happened.” Finchem also "expressed a bullishness" for having more than 60% of sponsors "signed on for five years or more, that 'PGA Tour Live' has been launched and for the continued health" of the FedExCup playoffs. Finchem: “I’ve never been more excited for the future." However, he did admit that there are ongoing talks of "instituting a policy that would require players to have 'some movement' in their schedules." Commonly referred to as the "'one in four' or 'one in five' rule, it would require top players who haven’t played in an event in four or five years to play those tournaments" (GOLFWEEK.com, 9/23).
HANGING UP THE SPIKES? GOLFCHANNEL.com's Rex Hoggard noted some have speculated that Finchem, 68, would "step down from the post he’s held" since '94, "particularly after" the Tour named Jay Monahan Deputy Commissioner in '14. The PGA Policy Board "would have to approve any extension to Finchem’s contract and that group only has one meeting remaining this year." Finchem: “We’ll work through it the first half of next year" (GOLFCHANNEL.com, 9/23). GOLFWEEK's McCabe noted there has been talk that Finchem was rethinking his "decision to retire" in '16 because things "are going nicely." But he said, "That decision isn’t really hinged on the general flow of how we’re going. It’s more (like) we’ve got two or three projects on the horizon, and it’s a question of how far into these projects (we are)" (GOLFWEEK.com, 9/23).
TALKING ABOUT PLAYOFFS: Finchem yesterday called the playoffs "hugely successful." ESPN.com's Bob Harig noted when asked about the example of World No. 10 Sergio Garcia skipping the first two playoff events, Finchem said that he "saw no changes forthcoming." Finchem: "As we look at the next five years and some of the thinking that our team is doing, I think it's going to continue to grow in its strength, and doing anything that would say, OK, this player has to do this or that, that's kind of a negative." He added, "We don't require anybody to play the Players Championship. We don't require a player to play because it's Jack's (Nicklaus) tournament. We don't require you to go play a major because it's a big deal. So I don't think we would go down that path" (ESPN.com, 9/23). Golf Channel's Damon Hack said, "You have the best players in the world playing at the height of their power and yet to me, there still feels like something is missing." The net's Cara Robinson added, "There's definitely still something missing, the fact that we saw players able to take weeks off. ... I think maybe not being able to skip events would really help. Having said that, these guys are all independent contractors, and we can't commit them to have to play anything if they don't choose." Golf Channel's Hoggard: "The problem with the playoffs is two-fold. ... It's not a playoffs. We should have never used that word. We should have come up with something else because it just doesn't fit. ... The other one is it's too long. I think we could probably cut a playoff event" ("Morning Drive," Golf Channel, 9/22).
THREE'S COMPANY, TOO: USA TODAY's Steve DiMeglio notes Spieth, McIlroy and Day, all ranked No. 1 at some point during the season, are the "leaders of a young torrent of talent saturating the Tour and attracting fans of all ages." McIlroy said, "It has been a year of some of the younger guys really breaking through. It’s been a great season. And if this is the sign for things to come, then obviously golf is in a really good spot.” Spieth said that he "likes being a part of the changing of the guard in golf, even if the new guard is changing places in the world rankings from week to week." Spieth: "The state of the game is in a phenomenal place. ... It’s cool to be a part of that conversation. As long as I can stay a part of the Big Whatever, then I’m doing my job on the course" (USA TODAY, 9/24). GOLFWEEK's Jeff Babineau wondered if the Big Three should be amended to the Big Four to include Rickie Fowler, as Day, Spieth, McIlroy and Fowler are all 27 or younger and "sit among the world’s top 5." In a season when Tiger Woods "struggled with injuries and his game once more and Phil Mickelson didn’t win, golf’s young guns have stood shoulder-to-shoulder and lifted the sport, comporting themselves as rock stars on and off the course"(GOLFWEEK.com, 9/23). Author John Feinstein said, "Golf has a new order. Just as 1997 will always be a pivotal year in golf history because of Woods’ emergence as a superstar, 2015 will always have a special year in the golf pantheon because it will be remembered as the year when golf’s new Big Three, or perhaps Four, was truly born” (“Golf Central,” Golf Channel, 9/23).
