{"id":1240,"date":"2006-03-15T11:12:17","date_gmt":"2006-03-15T16:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/uncategorized\/greg_norman_to_pga_tour_show_me_the_books\/"},"modified":"2006-03-15T11:12:17","modified_gmt":"2006-03-15T16:12:17","slug":"greg_norman_to_pga_tour_show_me_the_books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/b\/pga\/greg_norman_to_pga_tour_show_me_the_books","title":{"rendered":"Greg Norman to PGA Tour: Show Me the Books!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GregGreg Norman wants to see the the PGA Tour’s books. As Tim Rosaforte says in his article<\/a>, the request is not new<\/a>. However, this may be the first request from a player with as high a profile as Greg Norman.<\/p>\n

Norman is so serious about seeing the books that he’s hired high-powered attorney Leonard Decof, last seen representing Ping against the PGA Tour over the issue of square grooves. Though a lawsuit over the PGA Tour’s books has not yet been filed, it has certainly been threatened.<\/p>\n

Rosaforte says “Norman’s view is that as a tour member, he’s entitled to see the financials and the minutes of all its meetings.” PGA Tour Co-COO Ed Moorhouse told Golf World “We’ve offered to sit down and answer any specific questions. To this point he has not availed himself of that, but we are ready to sit down and discuss any questions he has.”
\n
\nThe PGA Tour is a 501(c)(6) organization, the classification given to non-profit “business leagues”<\/a> by the IRS. Every 501(c) organization receives a letter saying, in part:<\/p>\n

\n

The law requires you to make your annual return available for public inspection without charge for three years after the due date of the return. You are also required to make available for public inspection a copy of your exemption application, any supporting documents and this exemption letter to any individual who requests such documents in person or in writing. You can charge only a reasonable fee for reproduction and actual postage costs for the copied materials. The law does not require you to provide copies of public inspection documents that are made widely available, such as by posting them on the Internet (World Wide Web).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Similar language can be found here<\/a> and here<\/a> on the IRS.gov site.<\/p>\n

The PGA Tour is required to make certain documents, like their Form 990 or 990-EZ tax returns<\/a>, available to anyone who asks for them. Other documents, like board minutes, must be made available to all members<\/a> (more questions answered here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Says Decof, “Under law, every person has [the] right to access the books. It’s an absolute right. The players don’t know what’s going on. They go to those meetings and they get mumbo-jumbo. Greg wants to know what’s going on in a corporation that he’s a member of.”<\/p>\n

Norman’s request to see the “financials and the minutes of all its meetings” appears to be well within the law as a member of the PGA Tour. However, we’re not so certain that Moorhouse’s offer to sit down and answer questions does not meet the obligations the Tour has to the law and their non-profit status. What does Norman want to see? What are the “financials”? Do they include the general figures as seen in the 990 or do they include Tim Finchem’s corporate credit card statements?<\/p>\n

Until the question of exactly what Greg Norman wants to see is answered, we cannot say who may be right or wrong in this case. The words “books” and “financials” are vague at best. Perhaps Greg Norman’s request to see the “financials and minutes” left Moorhouse as confused as us. It certainly explains to me why Moorhouse would offer to answer “specific” questions.<\/p>\n

Through the years, Greg Norman has had numerous run-ins with Tim Finchem (see here<\/a>, here<\/a>, and here<\/a>). Is this latest maneuver by the Shark a media-grab or a sincere request?<\/p>\n

One thing is for certain: this has the potential to become a huge<\/strong> story.<\/p>\n

Photo Credit: © Unknown.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Norman-Finchem fight enters round number, uhhh, we lost track when it hit 50 last year. 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