Mickelson Says PGA Tour Disregarded His Plan To Improve Tour
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Mickelson (l) Says Finchem Disregarded His
Proposal Requiring Top Player Participation |
Golfer Phil Mickelson said that PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem "totally disregarded" Mickelson's proposal that the Tour host "20 events where the top guys have to play," according to an extensive Q&A with Bob Verdi of GOLF DIGEST. Mickelson said he worked on his plan "for two years," and also discussed it with "a lot of CEOs" and TV execs. Mickelson: "As it is now, sponsors are upset because they don't know who will be in the field and therefore they don't know what they're buying. Same with television, where the ratings are flat or falling off. Fans would love it, too, to have 20 events a year with the top guys mandated to play." But Mickelson added, "Problem is, 200 players don't want that to happen. The top 100 don't want to be told where and when to play, and the bottom 100 can't afford to lose the leverage for those remaining 20-plus or however many events." Mickelson contends for the events "with the top guys guaranteed, sponsors and television would have to pay a premium," but that would "create a huge discrepancy in purses between those 20 events and the others." As part of his proposal, Mickelson said, "If the commissioner were in a position to control when and where players played, as I believe he should be, and if he were able to sell that, he would be able to go to the four majors and the Ryder Cup and say, 'If you want our guys to continue to play in your event, you have to pay the tour a certain fee.' ... Then you take that new revenue stream and subsidize the 20 or so events where the top guys are not guaranteed to play." Meanwhile, Mickelson also said Finchem "should be concerned with the big picture and make decisions without any input from the players." Mickelson: "That would make the tour the best-run organization possible, but that's not the way it works now. ... I believe no one player should have input on the operations of the tour" (GOLF DIGEST, 6/ '09 issue).
NOT SO FAST: Finchem prior to this season implored golfers to play in more events, and Arnold Palmer said, "I think it's important that the players give as much as they can to playing in tournaments around the country. But mandatory? I question that. I've always had a question about making players play where they're not ready to play." However, Palmer added, "I think it's important that they do play in the events. I think the wealth of the tour has contributed to a little less attentiveness, to put it gently" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 5/20).
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