Sometimes Less is More

The length of the PGA Tour season is a topic that has been discussed in detail for a few months now. There have been a couple articles about this here at The Sand Trap, but nobody has really voiced their opinions yet. I have thought about it many times in the past few months, and I finally have enough courage to speak my opinions on the matter. It’s not an easy topic because it would affect so many around the golf world. But would the effect be good or bad overall? That is the question I am going to answer.

The Supporters
Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have both publicly supported the idea of a shorter schedule. Earlier this season at Doral, Woods basically summed up his opinions by saying “We have an 11-month season, and that’s too long. There’s no other sport that plays 11 months of the year. I think we should end with Labor Day. How can we compete against football? It’s not going to happen.” Mickelson also added the fact that Jack Nicklaus rarely played more than 20 events per season during his prime.

The Nay-Sayers
While Woods and Mickelson obviously support the shorter PGA Tour season, other golfers like Tom Pernice Jr. are completely against the idea. It’s easy to see that Woods and Mickelson are two of the best golfers in the world right now, and they continually earn more than enough money to live on. That isn’t the case for some of the lower-ranked golfers, however. There are a lot of golfers that bust their butts playing over 30 tournaments a year just to survive, and a lot of that would be put in jeopardy with a shorter season.

Tom Pernice Jr., who is a former PGA Tour board member, had this to say about Tiger’s opinions. “We have 43 title sponsors, but Tiger thinks we have 18,” Pernice said earlier this year. “Right now, Vijay is doing more for the PGA Tour than anybody. Tiger has done a lot for us out there, but I think it’s time for Tiger to step up and play some more events.” Of course, Pernice is a friend of Vijay’s, but we’re just a dumb golf public, right? 😛

There are really two strong sides to this topic, and I’m not 100% sure either way is the right way. I’m going to break it down the best I possibly can with reasons supporting both sides of the issue, and I’ll give my final thoughts when all is said and done. I was originally on one side of the fence, but in recent months, I have switched over to the other side.

Arguments for a Shorter Season
I think a shorter PGA Tour season would entice the best golfers in the world to play more of the same events. As it stands now, the top five in the world don’t play in the same field until The Players Championship in late March. There is definitely something wrong with that. Tiger has already said he would play in more events if the season was shorter, and I think that would be the case for all the best golfers in the world. I know some would still play in Europe every once in awhile, but the fields would be stronger for the most part.

My second argument for a shorter season is the fact the golf season is basically over after the PGA Championship for some golfers. A lot of the top golfers play the season in hopes of winning the major championships. Just take a look at Phil Mickelson for example. After winning the PGA Championship last week, Phil returned home and didn’t show up for the WGC-NEC Invitational until the night before the tournament started. Even then, Mickelson didn’t really seem to care where he finished because he had won his major championship the previous week.

In my opinion, the WGC-NEC Invitational and the Tour Championship should be the only two events on the PGA Tour season after the PGA Championship is in the books. I know a lot of the mid-level golfers are fighting for their PGA Tour cards after the PGA Championship, but there are a lot of events that just don’t excite me until the Tour Championship comes along. I think the fields are very weak for the most part, and the fans really don’t care as much.

The final argument for a shorter season basically has to do with football starting. I agree with Tiger wholeheartedly on this issue. There is no doubting that the NFL is the biggest sport going in the United States. And college football brings in its fair share of fans as well. Most Americans start getting in the football mood about August or September, and they usually don’t get out of it until January.

The PGA Tour shouldn’t even try to compete with football in my opinion. They should end the season at the end of August and start it back up in January. And besides, there are numerous PGA Tour golfers that would rather be at a college football game than on the golf course some weekends (David Toms and Chris DiMarco).

Arguments Against a Shorter Season
I see a lot of good reasons for shortening the PGA Tour season. However, there are also a couple negatives to the idea. The shortening of the season wouldn’t really affect the top-ranked golfers, but it could heavily affect the mid-level golfers fighting for their tour cards. I already mentioned this above, so I won’t go into a whole lot of detail. Tiger made his big mark in late-1996 after the PGA Championship was in the books, and so many others have earned their PGA Tour cards late in the season.

There are a lot of chances for golfers to win their first PGA Tour tournament late in the season because so many top golfers are spending time with family. Ryan Palmer, Bart Bryant, and Andre Stoltz experienced this last year late in the season, and many others have in the past. This obviously wouldn’t be the case in the future if the season ended in August.

If the season was shortened, golf fans would have to go four months without seeing Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, and Phil Mickelson. That is, unless they played in celebrity events, skins games, etc. This isn’t really different from any other sport, but the golf world has never had to deal with that much time off from watching golf. This could go either way, as some fans may get that much more hyped up about the golf season if there was a four-month absence. Or some fans may get pissed and lose interest by the time the new season rolls around.

The Final Say
When I first heard Tiger talking about a shorter PGA Tour season, I thought it was a pretty selfish idea on his part. I was definitely against it originally. I started thinking about it, however, and I started to agree with Mr. Woods. I love watching golf as much as the next guy, but I’m just not a big fan of the 84 Lumber Classic, Funai Classic, Chrysler Classic, Michelin Championship, etc. As far as I’m concerned, the PGA Tour season is currently over, with the exception of the Tour Championship of course.

I would be happy to see the Tour Championship played at the end of August, and then the golfers can move on to the offseason. This would give them plenty of time off with their families, and they would be ready to go by the time January rolls around. And besides, football is king in the United States as I mentioned already.

I understand that the lower-ranked players have to fight harder to make ends meet, but maybe the PGA could implement more money into the other events throughout the season. The season would be a little shorter, but the purses could be much better. I think the ratings would be much better if the fields were continually stronger, and that would definitely bring in more revenue.

I like to watch the best golfers in the world battle it out with each other, and the shorter season would allow that to happen more often in my opinion. Each tournament would mean so much more, and that would give the best players in the world even more motivation to get the job done each and every week. And that’s what I want to see.

That is it for this week’s Thrash Talk. Do you think the PGA Tour season should be shorter? If not, what reasons do you have to support your opinion? Finally, are Tiger and Phil doing less for the PGA Tour by not playing as much as Vijay, and are they selfish for wanting a shorter season? Let me know what you think about this because I’m very interested to hear what everyone one thinks. If you have anything to add, feel free to comment below or discuss it in our forum. Thanks for reading and have a great week of golf!

Photo Credit: © AP Photo/Julie Jacobson, Augusta Chronicle.