With the kind of built-in synergy that has become part and parcel of sports in the 21st century, Fox Sports’ venture into golf began this afternoon with their final-round coverage of the Franklin Templeton Shootout which moved up a day so that Fox didn’t trample on their own NFL coverage, played at a course designed by Fox Sports’ new analyst Greg Norman.

Please god no glow balls

To be fair, I tried to break this down into the good and the bad.

The Good:

Innovation: If nothing else, Fox has brought numerous innovations to televised sports in the US.  They used a drone for their hole fly-overs and on  a few on-course shots (from the fairway), giving viewers an angle that they otherwise wouldn’t be seeing.  They aren’t all gems, to wit I’ll submit the Fox Glow Puck, which was famously lampooned by Greg Wyshynski.  The “ground cam” that they have used in NASCAR and baseball got used, and while I’m not sure about the value it gave viewers something that they don’t normally see.

Graphics: The leaderboard and other graphics that they used were clean and easily seen.  I still can’t stand Golf Channel’s “stroke box” thing that they used (hint- if it’s a par 5 and someone’s putting for birdie anyone with half a brain can see it’s their 4th shot on the hole).  To use it during a regular PGA Tour event is silly beyond words.  Fox got the graphics right with a good mix of colors.

Brad Faxon: For all the talk about Greg Norman, I found Faxon far more engaged.  Their side-by-side comparison over chip shots was interesting, but I don’t see how this makes a telecast during a US Open.  I can easily see Faxon being much better on a Sunday afternoon.

David B. Fay: Fay is their rules expert, and while he didn’t get a lot of work (other than when Ian Poulter and Billy Horschel were having a hissy-fit over a camera), his explanation of club lengths for drops was something I’ve never heard before (if it’s free take one club length, if it’s a penalty take two club lengths).  While I hope Fay has a quiet US Open, having him in the booth can help, since it’s clear that Joe Buck and Greg Norman are in need of help.

Steve Flesch: Generally speaking he wasn’t bad.  He didn’t make any mistakes, and he did a good job when called upon (there were several times when they should have gone to him and didn’t).  He’s not Feherty, he’s not Judy Rankin and he’s not Roger Maltbie.  But he wasn’t bad at all, and he did no harm.  I’d put him alongside Notah Begay in the “up and coming” on-course reporters.

The Bad:

Joe Buck: Buck is a good play-by-play man in a meat-and-potatoes kind of way (when called on he’s one of the best at baseball and football).  Being that does not, however, equate to being a good golf lead, and between now and June 2015 he won’t get any actual tournaments, and it’s not like he can go back and look at previous tournaments held at Chambers Bay.  Made several mistakes, notably referring to Fay as USGA President (he corrected himself shortly after), but went into “no stupid, dig up” mode when referencing Kim Kardashian and Twitter.  It’s not clever or funny (if you want to see Joe Buck trying to be funny go find the YouTube video of his ill-fated HBO show when he had Artie Lange on).  Not sure if this was the control booth but he didn’t seem at all comfortable with throwing things to either Faxon or Flesch.

Greg Norman: The good news is that he will have six months to improve.  The bad news is that he was terrible.  I’ve always felt that a good analyst (especially a former major winner) can tell me what I don’t know but what a touring professional would know.  None of that.  He fawned over fellow Aussie Jason Day, and generally provided zero analysis.  He fawned over the resort (okay all the networks do that) and the course (again- he designed it) as did Buck.   He fawned over the holes (as a designer he would do the viewers a huge aid by telling them where the trouble is on a particular hole rather than talk about how beautiful of a setting it is).

Fox Labs: I’m sure people will find this great.  I didn’t.  The swing guru guy made me want to stab my eyes out, and the green target around the hole was useless.  Golf Channel’s graphic showing the path the ball has to take is much more useful (and horribly underused).

Trackman and Green Layouts: File under “did you forget something?”  CBS and NBC/Golf Channel use Trackman…it’s great and shows the viewer the flight of the ball.  So, where was Fox’ version?  For a network that is all about innovation this seemed a no-brainer.  Also…while I liked the drone flyovers they didn’t have any of the topographical layouts of the greens (NBC, when they use it, is the best of the bunch).  I felt like the drone would give them a chance to take that to the next level…didn’t see any of this.

Music: Using the same music they do for their MLB and NFL coverage was like having to listen to fingernails on a chalkboard.  CBS has a different intro music for each of their properties…so does NBC and ABC/ESPN.  I half-expected that stupid robot to start  yelling baba booey or something.

Overall:

Maybe it’s unfair to expect a network to come in and get it right from the start, but this is exactly what the USGA is doing with their signature event when they went with Fox.   Norman was terrible, but if they had tournaments then him and Buck would have a few events to develop that give-and-take.  Remember that Dan Hicks was a tower announcer before getting the big chair, and Nantz was doing similar and had years of watching Pat Summerall (plus Hicks and Nantz had established main analysts who were there when they took over).  Buck has none of that.  Norman is equally new- how’s he going to handle the back nine on Sunday if you have five or six guys within a shot of the lead?  Is he going to be willing to be critical if circumstances warrant?

Dear Eldrick (since that’s your birth name)-

This was a bad week for you, and for that, we’re all very sorry.  That mean old man Dan Jenkins wrote a fake interview with you that clearly offended your tender mercies.  Since you attended Stanford University I’m going to assume that you know what the definition of fake is.

I’m also going to hope that while attending Stanford (you attend football games and wear Stanford stuff all the time so I’m going to assume this was fun for you) you learned what the word satire and parody mean.  At a minimum, you should probably understand the word fake.

I say this because your response (online- I’m not going to link to it; people can easily find it online) sounds like it was written by someone in high school, not someone who attended one of the greatest universities in America.  The best response would have been to use Twitter (something that Jenkins does far better than you), and put that Stanford education to good use…maybe something clever.  You have done this on occasion.  Or even better, spend a few minutes with Jenkins.  He’s a pretty good writer (his book “Dead Solid Perfect” was turned into the best golf movie that nobody has ever seen, and the book is just as good).  That not good enough?  Ignore it.  Seriously.  Pretend it doesn’t exist.  Go about your rehab and ignore the noise.

If you didn’t find his column funny (it was funny), then while you’re working on your swing with your new coach, might I suggest work on finding a sense of humour?  Jenkins has gone after numerous pros (you should follow him on Twitter- during the majors he’s at his best).  You’re on twitter…try throwing out an occasional joke.  Not saying you have to be Ian Poulter, but humour has that ability to soften things up a bit.

You’ve spent most of your career treating the press like a dog treats a tree.   When you do talk to the press you’re about as exciting and quotable as a piece of cardboard.  This is your right, and I’ll defend your right to be this way as long as you choose to.  There’s no rule saying you have to spend hours of your time with the press doing interviews that I’m aware of.  You can show up to tournaments, play in them, and go home and play video games or whatever it is that you do and not bother to thank all of the volunteers or give the local press an interview…in short, you can be a prick if that’s your choice.  However, when you make this choice, you have to be willing to accept the responsibilities that come with this choice.

You’re incredibly thin-skinned when it comes to people being critical of you.   You have a long history of these ginned-up feuds with people who you feel have slighted you.  This isn’t news to you, and my sense is that you don’t care.

You’re also widely known as being incredibly cheap when it comes to tipping.  What ever reason(s) you might have, it’s poor form and clearly, you don’t care (which is the larger issue at hand).  I’ve seen you (and others I know have seen you) blow people off for autographs.  Not just adults but kids.  Arnold Palmer’s policy on autographs is pretty simple (want one…just ask).  Phil Mickelson is equally happy to sign.

The 2014-15 PGA Tour season has already started.  In approximately six weeks the 2015 portion will start, marking the 20th year that you’ve been on tour.  By now, you would have hoped that the game would have grown and  you’d see more minorities on Tour.  This is not the case.  For all the talk about how  you were going to grow the game…it hasn’t happened.  Your legacy was a brief, real-estate driven boom and the inevitable bust.  As it turned out, the so-called “Tiger Effect” only benefited one person (you).  Well, you and the industry, if you look at the years of 1997-2008.

Let’s get one thing straight- your run from late 1999 to mid-2002 was, without a doubt, as dominant as anyone has ever been.  Did you have a touch of luck?  Of course you did, but you were also at the top of your game, and anyone with a brain could see this.

You’re getting close to 40.  I’m not a doctor but it’s no secret that your body is breaking down on you.  I won’t speculate as to why, but my guess is that you know more than you let on (again, your right).  If you were to retire tomorrow, you leave the game as one of the dominant players of any era, and would easily fall into line along with Hogan, Sarazen, Jones, Palmer, Player, Trevino and Nicklaus.

So what of the next 40 years of your life?  Do you continue to be this perpetual child, or do you decide to start acting like an adult…and more specifically, a sportsman.

The game will survive because young people are taking the game up; the exact numbers aren’t as good as some would like but the game will survive.  What’s unfortunate is that the death of caddie programs (others far more eloquent than I have written about this far better than I ever will) at courses have taken away that additional upward path.  Lee Trevino is but one example of this.  The game is the better by having Trevino in it.  Trevino was a sportsman, had a wonderful sense of humour (often self-deprecating) and taught himself the game.  Compare this with your run of coaches; you hired Chris Como as your new coach (if you’re wondering, compare your slew of coaches to what Hogan, Nicklaus, Palmer, Trevino, etc. did for coaches).

If you wanted to do some good for the game, require any courses you develop to have caddie programs (I got my start being a caddie at a private country club) and specifically, junior caddie programs.  Endow scholarships for both men and women (talk to Arnold Palmer…he’s done this to a successful degree at Wake Forest; there are scores of golfers who’ve gotten their education on an Arnold Palmer scholarship).  Start to volunteer your time and mentor the next generation of players.  Endow a Tiger Woods Scholarship at Stanford, and also one or two at your high school so that they can go on to college.  Become that mentor to your touring professionals.  Think about how Nicklaus, Palmer, Player and Trevino helped you.  Do the same.  Do it quietly.  If you’re going to make Florida your home, find a couple area high schools and invite their golf teams to your club.  In short, make a difference.  You know things about the game that few, if anyone else does.

Speak out about issues; speak to inclusion in the world of golf.  If you want to be a true legend of the game, start acting like one.  Look at how people like Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus are spending their years.  You have a voice that few in sports do- you have (for better or worse) the ability to raise consciousness on issues.  Do you use that voice to add another set of digits to your bank balance or do you actually do something for the greater good?

Also, learn to lighten up a bit.  Develop a self-deprecating sense of humour (meaning, learn to laugh at yourself a bit- trust me…when you do this you’ll come off far better than you can imagine, and I do think you have this in you).  Look at how Jack and Arnie (and Lee and Gary Player) got on and get on today.  They were competitive but when it was over they shook hands and lived their lives.

Yours in golf,

Your friends at singlegolferincart.com

P.S. Quit shitting on hockey.  Do you know how many NHLers play and usually to single digit handicaps and better?  Put it this way…if you were to have a Ryder Cup style event between the NBA’s best golfers and the NHL’s…I’d put my house on the NHL to win.

At the start of the week I had Europe tying 14-14 and retaining the trophy.  Think the Americans end tomorrow 3-3 1/2 points down, stage a rally on the Sunday singles but end up tying.

Still think this is the case.

Not that anyone cares but I correctly picked Europe to win two years ago at Medinah.

Pro Tip: if you’re already tiring of Johnny Miller and/or the long commercial breaks and have Sirius XM radio, I can’t recommend their coverage enough on PGA Tour Radio.  It’s a European Tour group but they’re not overly jingoistic.

Enjoy the Ryder Cup, but don’t get tricked into any drinking games involving terms like “dormie”, “playing for love of country/continent” and that crap.  Unless you enjoy being in a drunken coma for a week…not that there’s anything wrong with that.

And not that anyone’s asking, but if I had a vote, my ballot for the next Ryder Cup captain would have the following three names:

1) Jack Nicklaus 2) Arnold Palmer 3) Phil Mickelson

Earlier this month I called for PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem to resign for various reasons.  Just yesterday, I received a call from Ponte Vedra Beach informing me that Tim Finchem has resigned, and recommended my name to be his successor.  I have accepted their offer and in lieu of a press conference, this blog can be considered as my opening address.  I’d have done it today, but She Who Is Really In Charge and my hounds are napping, and I don’t want to disturb them.

Ladies and Gentlemen-

It is a tremendous honor to be the third PGA Tour commissioner.  Deane Beman and Tim Finchem have made the PGA Tour what it is today and I thank them for their hard work and service.  However, the reality is that the PGA Tour must continue to look to keep itself relevant to not only its core audience but also with newer fans, sponsors, and business partners.

It is in this spirit that I announce, with immediate effect, the following changes-

1) The Tour will immediately begin announcing all fines, penalties, and suspensions.  Any notable rules violations that occur will be announced via Tour video and the videos will be available on pgatour.com.  The NHL does this with suspensions, and frankly they get it right.  For now I’ve asked Jim Nantz, David Feherty and Gary McCord to rotate the announcements until I can find someone suitable.

2) Effective today, any positive tests for PED’s or illegal recreational drugs (as defined by WADA) will result in the following suspension- a first time offense will call for a one year suspension, a second offense is a three-year suspension, and a third offense will be a lifetime ban.  Players will be tested at least four and not more than 10 times in a calendar year and will be tested at least once when they are not competing.  I’ve spoken to the PGA of America, the European Tour, the Royal & Ancient Golf Club, and the USGA and they have agreed to honor any suspensions handed out; in turn we will reciprocate.

3) Effective tomorrow all players are on a 40-second shot clock.  Any player that takes more than 40 seconds to play a shot will be given one official warning.  A second violation will result in a one-stroke penalty and any subsequent violations will also come with one-stroke penalties.  Any player with more than four penalties will be ineligible for participation in the FedEx Cup playoffs.

4) Effective immediately distance measuring devices that do not measure slope, wind, or elevation are now legal; following the R&A and USGA rules allowing such.  Any player caught using an illegal device will be disqualified and will be ineligible for participation in the FedEx Cup playoffs.

5) Following the lead of professional baseball and hockey, no putter may be longer than 39 1/2″ unless the player is taller than 6’9″.

6) Effective immediately the Tour will use video in the scoring tent on any questionable shots (i.e. grounding club in hazard, rules questions).  The Tour will use rules officials on each hole who will let the player know of a possible violation and then communicate with the scoring booth.  Any video evidence presented after the player signs their card will not be used as the basis of penalizing or rescinding a penalty.

7) Spectators will be allowed free admission on Monday and Tuesday practice rounds at all Tour events.

8) Mobile phones will be allowed on grounds, and can be used in designated “phone zones” at each tournament.  Phones are not permitted to be used on the course during tournament rounds but fans are permitted to use their phones to take pictures during practice rounds.  Fans violating this policy will be escorted off the premises.  We know technology is part of our lives but we can’t have phones going off in someone’s backswing.

9) Starting in 2015 I’m announcing a “1 in 4” rule for players who were on the last Ryder Cup team, have won multiple majors, or are in the top 20 in the world.  By that, a player who falls on one of these lists must play each event at least once every four years and must play any new events in the first two years.  Any player who falls into these categories and accepts appearance money to play in an event opposite a PGA Tour event will fall into the “1 in 2” category.  Our fans deserve seeing the best players in the world.

10) The minimum age for anyone to appear in a PGA Tour event is now 18.  This includes sponsor exemptions, which after feedback from tournament directors, will be increased to 8 exemptions per tournament for events other than WGC events, and the Players Championship.  Anyone accepting a sponsor exemption will be, at the tournament director’s request, be required to play their event up to seven times in a ten-year period.  Players with no Tour status may accept up to four exemptions in a season.

11) I am pleased to announce that the winner of the Tour Championship will receive a 5-year exemption into all major championships.  The European Tour will announce that their Tour Champion will receive the same exemption.

12) Beginning in 2016 the Presidents Cup will not be contested in Olympic years.  The next two Presidents Cups will be contested this year (2014) and again in 2018.

13) Working with Mike Whan of the LPGA Tour, we will hold a LPGA-PGA Tour competition beginning in 2015.  This event will occur in late March at Pasatiempo GC in California.  The top 12 men and women (by each Tour’s ranking two weeks prior) will be drawn into two teams of six men and six women each.  Captains will hold a televised selection show on The Golf Channel, and play for the Ken Venturi Cup, making alternating picks.  This will be a Ryder Cup-style format.   Players from the winning team will receive automatic births into their respective Tour Championship event which for the PGA Tour has been expanded to 32 players (from 30).

14) Effective immediately “lift clean and place” will not be used at any Tour event.  If a ball is plugged a player can remove it but the ball may not be cleaned or dropped.

15) The Tour Championship has been expanded to five days of competition.  Day 1 will be a qualifying round to determine seeding.  Rounds 2 and 3 will be single-elimination match play, which will leave eight players in contention.  Round 4 will be a single round stableford event, with the top four players advancing to the Tour Final.  The Tour Final will be a 36-hole final, with the lowest cumulative score awarded the Tour Championship, $12mm in prize money, a five-year exemption into all major championships and be given a $5mm donation in their name to the charity of their choosing.

Thank you again for your time.  I will have further announcements tomorrow.

Dear Tom Watson,

As the last US Captain to win on European soil 21 years ago (seriously it’s been that long), you probably know you’re going up against a pretty strong European team (one that’s won 2 of 3 majors and is leading the 4th one).  By now, everyone and anyone has given you suggestions about what you should and should not do with regard to your 3 wild card/captain’s picks.

You’re going to need players who can handle playing in Scotland under what will probably be less than splendid conditions.  Think players who can play in wind, and possibly rain.  Players who can play under pressure, and have put together a solid body of work this year.

Looking at the qualification list, I want to help you make those three picks in hopes that you’re able to send a team over that will be competitive and maybe, just maybe, pull off the upset.

The first wildcard should go to Phil Mickelson.  He’s currently ranked 10th in the qualification standings and is coming onto form.  He had a solid Open Championship.  He won the Scottish Open and the Open Championship last year so playing in the wind won’t be an issue for him.

The second wildcard should go to Keegan Bradley.  He’s currently ranked 11th in the standings, and you only need see how well Bradley and Mickelson played together in both the fourballs and foursomes in both the 2012 Ryder Cup and the 2013 Presidents Cup.  They’re the closest…no only thing that compares to the pairs that Europe has rolled out.

Those two picks are chalk…but your third pick is where it gets tricky.  I have four names, but rather than give you their names, we’re going to do the blind test.

Player 1: Rank 15th in the standings.  Has won one major since start of 2012.  One previous Ryder Cup with a .50 points percentage (the second highest).

Player 2: Rank 69th in the standings.  Played on last two Ryder Cup teams with a 3-4-1 record.  Was the anchor (12th player) on one of the losing teams in the last two Ryder Cups.  Career points percentage of .44.  Has been on one Ryder Cup winning team.

Player 3: Rank 66th in the standings. Played on last two US winning teams. Career points percentage of .42.

Player 4: Rank 32nd in the standings. Played on two of last three Ryder Cup standings.  Was the anchor on one of the losing teams in the last two Ryder Cups. Has won a Match play tournament. Career points percentage of .56 (highest among the four).

If you picked player 1, you picked Webb Simpson.

If you picked player 2, you picked Tiger Woods.

If you picked player 3, you picked Justin Leonard

If you picked player 4, you piecked Hunter Mahan.

If you honestly picked player 2…please walk away from the computer and go seek help immediately.

Of the four I would pick Webb Simpson.  He went 2-2 in Medinah.

If I could bounce one player in the top 9, I’d bounce Bubba Watson.  His record in playing outside of the US is abysmal, and if the wind kicks up he’s a liability.  I think he peaked at Augusta.

So who do you pick?

If you follow golf or sports in general, by now you’ve heard (as reported by both Golf.com and Golf Digest) about Dustin Johnson’s suspension/voluntary leave of absence.

Golf.com’s piece details that Johnson has three positive drug tests- a 2009 positive test for marijuana and 2012 and 2014 positive tests for cocaine.

If math isn’t your strong suit, that’s three positive drug tests over a five-year period.  For one athlete.  In most Olympic sports this would get Johnson a lifetime ban.

Remember when drug testing started back 2008 and you heard players remarking how drugs 1) wouldn’t help 2) that somehow by magic the players would police themselves 3) that steroids don’t help?

Well, come to find out that there are PED’s that don’t have the effects that steroids do, and there are PED’s that help with recovery after a grueling round or workout.

As for marijuana?  The IOC (remember, golf is now an Olympic sport starting in 2016) explicitly bans the use of marijuana and hashish.  You can argue the merits of this (and Golf Digest had an article about recreational golfers lighting up earlier this year), but for professionals it’s illegal, and I say this as someone who smoked marijuana for a period of just over 12 years on an occasional basis.  The ATP and WTA (tennis) have to abide by similar protocols since they are also an Olympic sport (if you’re looking for a comparable).

The difference is that, while the ATP (men) and WTA (women) announce suspensions, fines, and the like, the PGA Tour does not.  The PGA Tour would have you believe that Dustin Johnson is taking a voluntary leave of absence for a period of time, and this morning Golf Channel’s Morning Drive show was trotting this line out.  At some point I can only hope that they regained sanity and began conducting themselves like professionals.

For Tim Finchem to think that he is, in some way, protecting the field/rank and file players by failing to announce suspensions and fines is laughable.  You announce these things because you want to let your sponsors and the public know that you’re serious about policing the game.  You announce these things because you want to protect the players by letting them know that actions have consequences.  By not announcing them, people assume you’re letting the players run amok.

Maybe, just maybe, if you announced fines every time players spit on the green or in the hole, or threw a club followed by a slew of profanity that people would understand that you’re serious about policing the game.

The major team sports announce suspensions and fines, even “individual” sports (tennis, auto racing) announce fines and suspensions (so the “team sports have collective bargaining agreements that govern this” canard is just that).  Chris Kermode (President of the ATP Tour) and Mike Helton (President of NASCAR) both announce fines and suspensions.

There’s no question that history will show that Tim Finchem’s 20 years of being PGA Tour Commissioner has seen massive growth in revenues, prize money, and taking the game global.  With that being said, Finchem certainly has benefited from having Tiger Woods show up in 1996.  Finchem also borrowed heavily from Greg Norman (who first proposed what became the World Golf Championships back in 1994).  The PGA Tour have their own international team competition (The Presidents Cup- the PGA of America controls the US portion of the Ryder Cup) and the FedEx Cup has been a work in progress that I have tried to fix in an earlier blog, but the FedEx Cup feels all too similar to NASCAR’s season-ending races and something that the professional tennis tours have been doing for nearly four decades.

In other words, beyond lucking out by having a generational superstar show up on his watch and creating a tournament series and a team event that others had proposed and/or are doing, there hasn’t been a new idea out of Ponte Vedra Beach since Deane Beman (Finchem’s predecessor) first came up with the all-exempt Tour in the early 1980’s.

Beyond that, Finchem has allowed John Daly to misbehave both on and off the course, then Tiger Woods, then Sergio Garcia, and now Dustin Johnson.  To not hold people accountable for their actions only allows further misbehavior.  It’s time for this to stop.  It should have stopped a long time ago, but it didn’t.  Look at the actions of Daly, Woods, Garcia, and Johnson and imagine if they were in a team sport.

It’s time for the Tour to embrace transparency and the realities of the 21st century.  It’s time for a new commissioner.  Twenty years of letting the inmates run the asylum is twenty too many.  It’s time for Tim Finchem to resign and it’s time to hire a commissioner who will truly protect the field and think about the greater good.