Okay, let’s put a quick end to this, shall we?
Hand every player on the PGA Tour a slip of paper with this question:
Which of these tournaments would you most want to win if you could only win one?
The choices:
A. The Masters
B. The U.S. Open
C. The Open Championship
D. The PGA Championship
E. The Players
When the top 50 players in the world ignore A thru D and circle “E” — then and only then will The Players become a major championship.
We get this every year when The Players rolls around and it is basically because the PGA Tour powers-that-be have a sad case of “Major Envy.”
Augusta National runs its own major, the USGA runs its own major, the R&A runs its own major and the PGA of America oversees its major championship. Which leaves the PGA Tour out in the cold, major-less and jealous.
What happens is that guys at the Golf Channel like Brandel Chamblee stir the pot. This week Chamblee made the eye-opening claim that The Players is “the hardest tournament to win.” Which makes us wonder if Chamblee has ever played Carnoustie when the wind’s blowing 25?
Golf writer Jaime Diaz got into the “suck up to the PGA Tour act” when he went on the Golf Channel and declared “It’s open for discussion” as to whether The Players should have “major status.”
Okay, let’s squash this again and poll anyone who has ever played a round of golf with this quick DogLegNews poll question:
You can play only one, would you rather play:
A. Augusta National
or
B. TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course
That could be the worst landslide vote ever in the history of polls. Yeah, let’s see — Dr. Alister MacKenzie or Peter Dye? Yeah, that’s a tough one.
As far as a fifth major? What the hell? Do these people think that this is the LPGA Tour? The LPGA Tour up and declared The Evian a major a few years back when the Daddy Warbucks over in Switzerland ponied up a truckload of cash and basically bought themselves a fake major championship.
That’s not what golf does.
Majors are created by history and tradition. They are also created by the determination of players to win one of those traditional, historic championships.
Would Jordan Spieth ever miss a cut in three straight majors? Well, he’s done exactly that at this pompous Players Championship.
The only real reason they want to win this one is that the PGA Tour, the world’s largest fake “not-for-profit” organization is throwing $11 million into the till for these guys.
First place pays a whopping $1.98 million.
Second place pays a whopping $1.188 million.
Third place pays a whopping $748,000.
Fourth is a measly $528,000.
Fifth is a pitiful $440,000.
Heck, you get a little north of $27,000 if you finish 50th.
And this is your “not-for-profit” that forked out a massive $250,000 for hurricane relief in Houston.
This is the PGA Tour’s week puff out its chest and put that massive $81 million clubhouse/headquarters office on display to the world.
Pretty gaudy digs for a “not-for-profit.”
But then again, with more than $2 billion in annual revenues, the PGA Tour is basically a fake “not-for-profit.”
Just like The Players certainly is not a real major.
7 Comments
baxter cepeda
Sadly for your other reader I Totally agree about the Players Tom. So we wont be bickering on this one.
Most Everyone at the PGA Tour and Golf Channel seems to be put on a mission to make this happen. Kudos to nobilo for being the voice of reason although the powers know many Amaricans will let international thoughts in one ear and out the other.
It seems Golf channel probably has more to gain than the tour with this non 5th major designation. Chamblees blasphomes are to be expected but Interesting that the minute Diaz becomes a Gc company man his actual views from decades of being a scribe change.
I guess getting ones newspaper face on tv will make you sell yourself here and there. At least it really, really seems as such.
The players can give twice as much money and twice the field but its still not a major.
Golf has its majors. Let it be. Because this topic has me ready to give up watching the Players as i am not getting any younger and my blood pressure only gets higher every year with this greedy nonsense of a 5th major at a mediocre at best venue in Florida when golf is growing by leaps around the globe.
Tom Edrington
Baxter, as I’ve always told you, we enjoy ALL your thoughts, certainly don’t have to agree with us, but as I told Charlie, the PGA Tour is a blatant abuse of IRS Code 501-c-3…..lots of greed up there, check out our “other news” today where the tour basically goes totally against it’s LIVE LIFE UNDER PAR credo and forbids its players to sign autographs during a practice round…..bah Humbug, hats off to the players who thumb their noses at that awful policy and sign for the kids who are there, totally makes a child’s day and makes them a fan for life and isn’t that what the tour wants (besides money)? Thanks for checking in, as always, your comments are always welcome and appreciated.
charliej01
You’re awful negative about the PGA tour, seeing how they provide your livelihood. If you really believed they were so awful you should stop covering their events.
Tom Edrington
Sorry Charlie, not my livelihood……obviously you did not see our posting of the PGA Tour’s tax return…..if you understand business, then you’d see how they abuse the 591-c-3 IRS code for real charities like the Salvation Army….wonder what folks might say if the Salvation Army built an $81 million palatial headquarters then overpaid all the folks who work there, owned loads for (for profit) golf courses, etc. do I need to go on any further?? Pure abuse of a “not-for-profit” tag….check those concession prices at the Players this week and wonder if its “not-for-profit”……it is our simply duty to uncover the truth and abuses of a designation reserved for true charitable organizations.
Tom Edrington
Sorry, missed keystroke its 501-c-3 along with two others.
charliej01
Tom, we’ve had this discussion before. The NFL & NHL also have tax exemptions. You don’t really believe that none of your livelihood is due to the PGA tour? How much interest would your blog generate without the “weekly” PGA tour events?
Tom Edrington
Definition of “livelihood” is making a living……this is not what I do to make a living…..what we are doing here is pointing out abuse of the “not-for-profit” IRS code exemption by an organization that is all about profit…..the tour would survive quite nicely if Congress came to its senses and revoked that exemption….keep in mind, they generate more than $2 billion in revenues, they fork out more in prize money this week than they give to any charity in the nation……they do “prop up” the World Golf Hall of Fame and its complex with an $11 million contribution and that’s not a charity. Simple as that.