The PGA Tour got all giddy up at the Players Championship on Tuesday when the new guy in charge announced that the tour was getting deeper into bed with its biggest sponsor.
Federal Express forks out the $10 million bonus every year for the FedEx Cup winner and probably spends another $30 million or so, splashing money at the PGA Tour.
Someone in Memphis obviously loves golf and isn’t afraid to spend a nice chunk of shareholder money to fatten the wallets of wealthy tour players.
The Tour and Federal Express announced that the FedEx Cup will be a tour icon for at least the next 10 years.
There was also a nasty little rumor going around that FedEx doesn’t want to see any competitors logos in the FedEx Cup playoffs.
You may have noticed that England’s Lee Westwood and former Open champion Louie Oosthuizen have the UPS (United Parcel Service) logo displayed prominently on their shirts.
There were whispers that the Tour won’t allow anyone in the playoffs wearing such logos.
“All I’m going to say on that front is when you’ve in business with someone for 30 years and you’re about to commit 10 more, you do some things to protect each other on a long term basis,” said new Tour czar Jay Monahan.
Chubby Chandler, manager of Westwood and Oosthuizen gave the impression that his lads are grandfathered in and won’t be shown the door come FedEx Cup playoff time.
In fact, it might be tough to enforce period. PGA Tour players are independent contractors and can sign deals as they please although the Tour doesn’t want anyone brandishing logos promoting alcohol, tobacco, gambling, strips clubs or other such things. You get the picture.
If someone shows up with a UPS logo on their bag and the Tour tries to keep them out of an event, a man in a black robe might frown upon such practices.
Could be interesting to see.
