Last month’s Players Championship moved from its usual May date as part of an overhaul to golf’s calendar in 2019.getty images
After finally solving a Rubik’s Cube of moves needed to reshape golf’s 2019 calendar, the moment of reckoning for the PGA Tour’s Andy Pazder came not at some flashy press conference in New York City, or even an announcement from the tour’s Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., headquarters.
Instead, Pazder found himself in sleepy Moline, Ill., overseeing the John Deere Classic Tour stop last summer when he was summoned to a local NBC affiliate for an early morning remote appearance on Golf Channel to outline the bold changes that make 2019 one of the most pivotal years in the business.
“It was my exhale moment,” said Pazder, the tour’s chief tournament and competitions officer, of the schedule changes that are part of the golf industry’s efforts to grow the game and fan interest. “These are big, meaty decisions.”
The overhaul touches nearly all of golf’s stakeholders. From the properties and players, to sponsors and TV partners and to tournaments vying to attract compelling players fields, the changes represent a definitive new era in the game while still respecting the tradition-laden sport. And it’s not just the men’s golf landscape that is being redefined. The LPGA this year is also ushering in a new era of bigger purses and new branding to raise the profile of the women’s game.
“What is at stake is a real desire to sustain and build upon the success the sport has had,” said David Grant, principal at MKTG, which represents the PGA Tour’s biggest sponsor in FedEx. “You don’t have to look that far back when Tiger was the one guy moving the needle.”
A New Cadence
At The Players Championship last month, where virtually the entire golf industry gathers in the Marriott Sawgrass lobby, no conversation was complete without a comment addressing golf’s new schedule. It shifted The Players Championship to March from May for the first time since 2007, and moved the PGA Championship to May from August. Those moves are key pieces of the new puzzle that allows for shortening the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs to three events from four in order to have the Tour Championship end by Labor Day and before football season begins.
In addition, new PGA Tour events were added in Minneapolis and Detroit while traditional summer stops at — A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier and the Houston Open — were shifted to the fall to better accommodate the summer tour stop schedule.
The cadence of golf’s calendar now is punctuated with successive tentpole events — The Players in March, the Masters in April, PGA Championship in May, U.S. Open in June, British Open in July and the Tour Championship in August — over six successive months with the hopes of driving fan interest in golf’s biggest tournaments.
The schedule changes, including shortening the FedEx Cup Playoffs to three events, will allow the Tour Championship to be completed by Labor Day.getty images
“We think having the new schedule is much better for the game,” said Seth Waugh, chief executive officer of the PGA of America. “There was too big of a gap and the pace for fans is better. The FedEx Cup ends when it should, it helps the Ryder Cup and we think it is better for us, too.”
For the PGA of America, the move of the PGA Championship to May brings with it the expectation to build more interest in its biggest tournament as it follows the Masters in the majors rotation and comes just as the golf season generates the biggest buzz.
But the change also was made with a wider view of the game.
The switch accommodates the PGA Tour’s strategy to increase drama and to finish the season in August to avoid going head to head for TV ratings with the NFL and college football.
In addition, golf insiders believe a compressed FedEx Cup playoff system will create more compelling competitions and more clarity of the playoff format.
“The FedEx Cup playoffs will be more cutthroat and each week will be a more do-or-die atmosphere,” said Mike McCarley, NBC Sports golf president. “The Tour Championship in the past was confusing to say the least for the average fan. Now it makes golf easier to follow with the three weeks having more interest.”
Even executives at the USGA, which keeps its traditional Father’s Day weekend U.S. Open slot, view the new format as a way to boost interest.
“We see it as a schedule with bigger focused events that garner more attention on the game,” said Mike Davis, chief executive officer of the USGA. “It will help the game globally and domestically.”
Risk vs. Reward
While many of the game’s insiders see the new structure as a gimme putt for success, there are risks.
A new rotation of the majors and the shift of The Players Championship combined with a shortened FedEx Cup playoffs creates uncertainty among players in deciding which events to play throughout the summer.
“We are in brand-new territory,” said Steve Loy, president of Lagardère’s golf division and agent for Phil Mickelson. “It means there will be an exciting end to a brand-new year, but the guys are having to play in more tournaments than they normally would. It will start to really separate the elite tournaments from the regular tournaments. But the FedEx tournaments will have more meaning.”
For some PGA Tour events, the new schedule creates more competition to attract strong fields, which is critical for tournament directors looking to drive ticket sales and sponsorships.
The PGA Championship shifts to May, the second major of the year, following this month’s Masters.getty images
“The tour is 46 stops, of which the players make 20 to 25 stops along the way and now they have to find a new rhythm and some changes in venues,” said Jason Langwell, executive director of the Rocket Mortgage Classic, the tour’s new event set for late June at the Detroit Country Club. “There is huge impact because players are taking longer to make their decisions and there is a domino effect. It plays a huge factor in sponsorships and it creates a more competitive environment. It is ‘How can I recruit the best possible field when there is real uncertainty?’ That is what is happening behind the scenes.”
Longtime golf sponsorship executive John von Stade predicts some struggles at the tournament level this year as the new system takes hold.
“By the end of 2019, you will see some of the tournaments disappointed in how their fields shape up,” said von Stade, partner of Accelerated Growth Partners, which represents Charles Schwab, a major tour partner. “It is going to create a greater demand on the tour to figure out how to provide a solution over the next few years. There will be challenges. But you back that out with the long-term benefits. PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan is taking everything into account. There is no blind eye.”
