Conference 7.286::golf

    I personally am of mixed emotions about this.  I love seeing the
    leading European golfs play in this country.  They seem to have a
    competitiveness and drive about them that many US pros seem to be
    lacking.
    
    I can understand, however, the desires of the PGA Tour to not have the
    European golfs "skim the cream" of the PGA tournaments.  
    
    I actually would like to see the PGA Tour go back to limited exemptions
    and qualifying for everyone else for every tournament.  No more "Top
    150" money winners.  Let any member of the PGA (US player or foreign
    citizen -- don't forgetsome of the leading Australian and Japanese
    players!) attempt to qualify and impose no limits (such as 15
    tournaments).  That ought to really improve the competitive caliber and
    fiber of the US pro tour!
    
    John

    
    Rick,
    
    I had heard that Langer was not going to be playing as you stated, I
    saw them interview him after the tourney this past week end, but I
    hadn't hear about the others...
    
    Can you or anyone else clarify just what the rules/regs. are concerning
    foreign players playing on the tour in the USA...? And is this 15
    tourney requirement up from other years or the same?
    
    Thanks
    Gene

Gene,

    I've been hearing things in blurbs as the summer progressed. Saw the
  interview with Langer and read about Faldo this morning.  This is what
  the Boston Globe had in the Sports Log section. Reprinted without
  permission of course....


   "Masters champion Nick Faldo resigned his PGA Tour membership and will
  play a restricted schedule of no more than nine tournaments in the United
  States in 1990 the Associated Press learned yesterday. A Tour source, who
  asked that his name not be used, also said former Masters winner Seve
  Ballesteros and Ian Woosnam previously declined to accept Tour membership
  for 1990. The decisions apparently came as a backlash at PGA requirements
  for a minimum of 15 US appearances for foreign players competing under the
  so-called 'home tour' regulations.  PGA Tour commissioner Deane Beman was
  in Japan on business and unavailable for comment..."


    What are the "home tour" regulations? All I know about them is the 15
  tournament minimum.  The players will continue to play the grand slam
  events evidently but won't play the lesser US tournaments.  Sorry, I don't
  know all the details, it just struck me as petty on the PGA Tour's part
  to not lower the minimum.  Overseas travel is brutal on these guys, 
  especially the ones with a family.

-rick
    

       This is a good topic ! I have been trying to follow the issue as it
    has evolved and I still cannot understand what is the problem with
    either the European or the PGA positions.
    
     The major concern seems to be the 12 or 15 tournament requirement.
    I really do not see the concern by both parties. I look at it this way,
    if there is 15 tournament requirement what are places that the pro's
    will play ? Ok, there are 3 majors held in the U.S.. If we can assume
    that Seve or Ian or Nick would want to tune-up prior to the major, then
    the major plus the tune-up would account for 6 of the 15. They most
    likely would play in several other big events, say the TPC and
    Murfield. This plus a tune-up the week before would have them playing
    in another 4 events and require them to play in another 5.
    
     If the number is 12 and not 15, then they would only have to play in
    another 2 tournaments. Frankly, in either case, the golfing public has
    little opportunity to see these guys in person, no matter if they play in 2
    or 5 more events.
    
     I suppose that by playing an additional 5 would require 5 weeks away
    from home and family. I certainly think this is a valid point. But yet,
    I wonder why they still play after the PGA season is over in such
    places as Japan and Australia, if family concerns are so strong. Or is
    this a chance to push for appearence money ?
    
    
    
    
                     Ken

    
    
    My question now is, just what the heck does having the PGA Tour
    Membership do for these guys? Does not having it prevent them from
    playing in some of the tourneys (obviously it doesn't affect them
    playing in the majors here)...?
    
    I think Langer said in the interview that to play in 15 events here
    he would have to spend almost 6 months of the year in the states...!
    
    Gene

    RE: .4
    
    Ken,
    
    	The US open is not a tour event it's held by the USGA so that
    wouldn't count.  Also I think that the Masters is not a tour event
    but an invitational held by Augusta National so that doesn't count
    either.  The PGA I'm not sure of but that's open to all PGA members
    and MAY not be a tour stop.  If so then that 5 becomes 8 or that 15
    becomes 18.  In defense of the Eurpoean players, I can speak from
    experience that trans-puddle-travel wears on you.  Also being away from
    home for extended periods is tough on a family.  I can still remember
    my daughter holding on to my leg begging me not to go when I was on the
    road alot.  So I see their point, why should they have to spend all
    that time here.  Those 3 extra tournaments probably translate into 5 or
    6 weeks extra away from home.
    
    On the flip side why should anybody be allowed to cherry pick?  Maybe
    .1 has the right answer, let's eliminate the all exempt tour and go
    back to the rabbits.  Maybe if there was a little fire in the bellies
    the paying public would have more fun too.
    
    
    
    					KO

      Gene,
    
             I wonder how Langer comes up with that figure ? By playing in
    15 events, that would cover 4 months. Where does he come up with the
    additional 8 weeks ?  But I remember one of the European touring pro's
    saying the same thing or something very close to it.
     Wonder how it is calculated ?
    
     Any opinions on whether or not it is an effort to get appearance 
    money ?
    
    
    
                       Ken
    

      KO,
    
          You are right! I forgot that the Masters and U.S. Open are
    non-tour events. 
     I certainly can feel for them about being away from their families.
    While being on the PGA Tour has a lot of glamour to it, I, for one,
    do not think that I would want to do it because of the travel. Nicklaus
    once mentioned in an interview that he felt sadden that he missed so
    much of his kids growing up because of being on the road. 
    
     
    
                 Ken

 Hi,
   I'm new(ish)to this conference and seeing this topic discussed prompted
 me to put pen to paper, as it were..
   Looking at this from a European point of view, it seems petty of Beman to 
 impose a fairly arbitrary number as the minimum quota of tour events that
 the European pros must play to retain membership of the PGA tour.  Why 15 ?
 Why not 12 ?   It seems a little silly to me !    
   We are well used to Seve complaining about being discriminated against
 in the US (hence his fervour in Ryder Cup) and take his moaning with a grain
 of salt.  However,  in this case, Beman seems to really have it in for him.
   Ian Woosnam seems to be a real family man (despite revelations in the 
 English tabloids during this year's Irish Open) and it's not surprising that
 he's not prepared to make the sacrifices demanded by Beman.
   I'm surprised, though, to hear about Faldo.   I thought I'd read that 
 he was going to keep his card ??  I was under the impression that Beman
 had agreed to the 12 tournament minimum but had insisted that 3 of these be
 nominated by himself or some other person-in-charge-of-the-welfare-of-US-pros.
 The Europeans didn't like the idea of being forced to play in 3 mickey-mouse
 tournaments which, presumably, would be ones which are barely surviving and
 the sponsor is going to leave unless a big-name makes an appearance.  Has
 this idea gone by the board ?   Does this mean that 3 of the top five in the 
 world will play in the States in only the majors + invitationals ? (This is
 probably good news for the European tour as we'll see more of these players)
   The "stop the 'cherry-picking'" philosophy seems to be the raison d'etre
 for this latest piece of insularism.   What is Beman afraid of ?   That
 some foreigners will win the top tournaments ? (it can't be money - there's
 an obscene amount of that floating around just for hitting a little white ball
 around a field)   Is he trying is molly-coddle his stars ?  Why should he
 bother - they're well able to take care of themselves ?    
   The USPGA tour without Ballesteros, Faldo, Woosnam, Lyle(well...), Olazabal,
  Langer...   -  best in the world ?

 Ronan   
             

    Another view from Europe...
    
    Firstly I'd say that it's a symptom of the shift in the balance
    of world golf form the US that this situation has arisen. So many
    more of the best golfers arn nolonger from the US.
    
    Regarding the number for tournaments, don't forget that these folks
    are European golfers who also want to play on the US tour. The two
    tours generally conincide so 15 tournaments in the US is probably
    going to mean more clashes with the 'home' tour, it's not just a
    case of '15 weeks out of 52 ain't so bad'.
    
    Someone also questioned why these pros then play Asia/Far East as
    well if they don't like being away. In some cases, although this
    is true, players like Faldo and Ballesteros are very selective about
    how many tournamemts they play. This year in particular, Faldo has
    missed a lot of tournaments out of choice (I think he's only played
    about 15 or so in Europe). Just because they're not in the US doesn't
    necessarily mean they're playing somewhere else, and they're beginning
    to resent people who try to tell them they should be playing
    competition every week.
    
    Of course, the self-preservation law also applies - trying to make
    players play one tour rather than another, make it impossible to
    compete on both, to add self-esteem to that tour. In the long run you 
    spoil it for the punters because the big names will stay away. The 
    cherry-picking argument applies to any pro - even a regular tour 
    player doesn't play every single tournament.
               
    Paul

    	When you come right down to it, we the fans are the ones who
    support the PGA.  We pay the ticket prices, wekk in and week out.
    Sponsers put a lot of money into these tournaments, but don't for
    one second think their doing it out of the goodness of their hearts.
    Their doing it to appeal to the fans of golf, hoping these fans
    will buy their products.  What all this means is that the golfers
    play for BIG BUCKS!!!  Beamen, in my opinion, is just trying to
    ensure, that we the fans, get to see the best golfers in the world,
    on a regular basis.  By making a 15 event minimum, he has ensured
    us that 1 or 2 or 3 of the best golfers in the world, cannot come
    over here and selectively choose the 3 or 4 or 5 richest tournaments
    and walk away with all that money, and allow, us the fans of golf,
    to only see them play 3 or 4 or 5 times a year.
    	What it comes down to, is if they want to make the big bucks
    that the PGA tour offers, they have to make a sacrifice and allow
    the fans of the PGA the opportunity to see them play more than 3
    or 4 times a year.  If they're not willing to make that sacrifice,
    then the big bucks will not be available to them.
    	After that being said, I do however, think that 12 PGA tour
    events should be enough.  If they played in 12 events each year,
    I would think they qualify for the tour.
    
    Beak

    Maybe this is a bit cynical but, pay me $1M+ each year and I will
    bring my family with me to the states for six months.  While fifteen
    is an arbitrary number and many have commented as to why not 12
    ... why not 18?
    

    
    	Does the European tour impose similar rules on Americans?
    
    	For that matter... I have no idea what the scope of the PGA
    	is.  Is the PGA American only? If so, what is the European
     	equivalent?
    
    	How about someone giving a Readers Digest version explaining
    	the American and European tours and any restrictions currently	
    	imposed?
    
    	Please excuse my lack of info,
    
    	thanks	Walt

    I agree with the 'beak that Beaman-san is enforcing his petty little
    rules to ensure the best field for each and every tounament. BUT! Don't
    be naive and then conclude that its because of the fans. Its because of
    the sponsers! Beamen is responsible for delivering the best product he
    can to those who are paying for it. The sponsers! Without your Buick
    , MacDonalds, Kemper, etc., these guys are back playing for 10K first
    place money and don't anyone forget it! I think Beamen's rules are
    bull- puckey, but I also think that the golfers had better refrain from
    biting the hands that feed them, or the tour will go back to riding the
    bus instead of first class on the concorde.

    
    Trouble is these Europeans would like to play the US tour as well
    as our (European) tour. The likes of Langer, Woosnam, Seve, Faldo,
    Lyle are already big names who have made big bucks, so money isn't
    the issue. At the end of the day they will still play in the majors
    (maybe not the Masters, they've forgotten who won the Ryder Cup
    ;-)) and maybe a couple of other sponsors invitations, so they won't
    care if they're barred from the tour - your loss, not ours/theirs.
    In the end it achieves nothing except bad feeling.
    
    I think Beman is trying to protect the US tour by trying to force
    the big names to play that rather than any other, thus trying to
    make the US the centre of world golf that it was 10 years+ ago.
    
    RE- US/European tour differences. I'll try to dig out some info
    on this tonight. Most of the organisation is pretty much the same,
    where you say PGA, Open, etc we put US in front of it - so Open,
    etc here means British Open to you. Because the European Tour is
    interrnational, I think it is run by a seperate body rather than
    the PGA itself (ie the GB PGA). It is I think essentially an exempt
    tour, so I guess US players wishing to compete would face some similar
    problems.
         
    Paul

    Well I had a look at some info on the exemption list and various
    categories for the European Tour, and as far as I can see there
    is NO stipulation of a minimum number of events. The exemption
    categories are all based on previous tournament victories, position
    in previous year order of merit, regional PGA rankings, position
    in qualifying school, etc. 
    
    So for a non-tour member to play I'd say that he either goes to
    the qualifying school (unlikely for Messrs Strange, Kite, et al)
    or relies on a sponsors invitation. Once actually playing, retaining
    their exemption will depend on their success NOT by being forced
    to play a fixed number of events.
    
    On the current list (1989) I noticed US exempt players:
    Tom Watson, Bill Rogers (for their British Open victories)
    Craig Stadler (for winning Dunhill Masters)
    Mike Reid (for finishing high enough on the 1988 order of merit)
    Mark O'Meara (can't remeber why)
    + 1 or 2 others who have chosen to play on this tour regularly.
    
    Paul

    Reply .15-.16
    
    	Thanks for taking the time and answering my questions Paul.
    
    	As a viewer I feel the tourny is a "big one" once I see Seve,
    	on the TV. I know if he's there, the other big names will be
    	also...  Some tourny's draw a lot of names I am not familiar
    	with. Usually if there's a few "unknowns" there's few knowns.
    
    	With all the money flying around, maybe some of the other tourny's
        feel snubbed when Seve and others don't feel obliged/drawn to play.
    	Even though the winnings are huge. Beman must be feeling pressure
        to do "something" to get the other world class players to attend?
    
    	Personally, I feel there shouldn't be any restrictions. If you can
    	qualify... play ball!
    
    	Walt

>    	Even though the winnings are huge. Beman must be feeling pressure
>       to do "something" to get the other world class players to attend?

           He did "something" alright.  He managed to alienate 4 of
         the world's best players.  They now will be playing in  0 to
         9 tournaments in the US instead of the proposed 12 event
         minimum.  Jeesh, even world leaders have learned the word,
         compromise.  All he has done is created a public relations
         nightmare for the PGA.  Again, IMO.
    
>    	Personally, I feel there shouldn't be any restrictions. If you can
>    	qualify... play ball!
    
         Absolutely!!
    
    -rick