Take a mulligan: PGA "season" should not extend to November
Let's see: The PGA season officially starts in January. Wait a second, that's only a couple months away. But why then are the players still playing now in November? When does the PGA "season" really end?
While all other major professional sports have a true off-season (so their fans can take a rest and get rejuvenated and excited for the next season), professional golf believes that the season should last nearly 11 out of 12 months of the year , giving the fans an overdose of golf tournaments.
The result? Burnout. Can you blame Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods for saying: enough is enough? Especially in a year with the Ryder Cup, golfers and, yes, fans need a break from golf. Dear PGA, do the smart thing and put an end to the "season." Golf fans can get their fix of golf during the winter months by watching reruns of Big Break XXXXII and Shell's Wonderful World of Golf.
4 Comments:
I agree. Most other sports last only 6-8 months and then are completely gone. I think that's what makes football so successful. You really get a break from it for about 5 months so by the time it comes back there is a lot of anticipation. Golf could use a bit of a break from a fans point of view.
Even from a recreational players point of view it's nice to take a break. I live in Florida so I play year round, but I kinda miss the break I used to take up in New England in the winter. You could stop and reflect on your game...work on some new swing ideas...and generally recharge your batteries. It the long run it just makes it more fun.
Let's say you are a player consistantly at about 100 on the money list. Or say you are a player who does really well consistantly at the first two months of the season or the last two months of the season (you are a West Coast or East Coast player).
assuming that, your sponsor money is minimal, you make a pretty good living, but the length of the season helps to ensure that, and you have no guarantee of making money for the season if your game starts to fade. Those guys would hate a shortened season.
in addition, the Tour makes money with each additional tournament played. This helps to fund the retirement package of the players, as well (which is huge for guys like Haas that rarely miss cuts). As a business, the long season (if there are sponsors willing to make it such, as there must be) ensures more profit. Thus, that is how the tour acts.
Can't agree more that from a fan perspective, or for a top 20 player, a shortened season would be a nice change.
A shortened season would only give you one thing. Less tournaments without a diluted field, but it wouldn't give you more good tournaments. I for one, don't think Tiger and Phil need to be there for it to be a good tournament. I thought Corey Pavins win in Milwaukee was one of the most entertaining tournmanets all year long. When do you get to see a Pro hit those kind of shots and win? I loved it, I'm sorry. I really enjoy the International as well.
And Phil and Tiger don't get burnt out! Give me break. They fly around the world in their own 50 million dollar jets, stay in 5 star hotels, limo's everywhere they go. And play 5 or six rounds of golf in a week. That used to be called "Jet setting", now it's called PGA Golfing. Burnt out indeed.
You guys act like you have to watch tournaments in November and January. Watch football and basketball, and start watching golf after March Madness.
If you think the PGA Tour season is long, look at the European Tour. The 2006 season finished last week at the Volvo Masters in Spain, and the 2007 season begins next week at the HSBC Champions Tournament in china!
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