New scheduling rule for PGA Tour players (idea)

[tmac20]

I heard this idea from the sports radio host Bob McCown, and it's worth repeating here, because it's a great idea in my opinion. In 3 seasons, PGA Tour players must play in each tournament at least once. For example, if Tiger Woods does not play in the Canadian Open in 2014 and 2015, he must play in 2016. All players must follow this rule, with exceptions made for injuries/personal issues. This would be beneficial to the tournaments that get bad fields such as the Fedex St. Jude and Frys.com open. It seems like every year, good players such as Woods, Mickelson, Scott, and McIlroy only play in the tournaments that fit in their personal schedules. It seems unfair to the tournament sponsors who put up the same purses as the other events, only to get Hunter Mahan as their best player in the field (no offence to Mahan). Would you like to see this scheduling rule enforced? Or are you fine with the current system, where players can play in whatever tournaments they want to?

[minitour]

What about people that don't keep their card every year?  Someone that had a card for two years, lost it for a year or two and gets it back....do they have to visit the crappy stops they avoided the first two years or does it re-set since it's been 3 years?

[plum]

they should be able to play any tournament they want

[tmac20]

What about people that don't keep their card every year?  Someone that had a card for two years, lost it for a year or two and gets it back....do they have to visit the crappy stops they avoided the first two years or does it re-set since it's been 3 years?

It gets reset in that case. But usually the crappy players play in as many tournaments as they can.

[iacas]

they should be able to play any tournament they want

This. And skip any they want to skip. Especially those around majors, for example.

[mchepp]

I think that if Tiger plays in a tournament like the Fry's he takes a spot away from a guy who is trying to earn a card. These smaller tournaments give chances to guys on the fringe to get back on track, so to speak.

[Golfingdad]

I would not be opposed to them restructuring the fedex points system in some way so as to ENTICE better players to play more tournaments ... Assuming that would even work. NASCAR somehow gets all of their drivers to every race, and I assume part of it is because it's too costly for the season points race to skip any of them. Other than that, though, it should stay the same. I agree with plum and Erik.

[Fourputt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by plum

they should be able to play any tournament they want

This.

And skip any they want to skip. Especially those around majors, for example.

This^^.  To force a top player to play in some nothing tournament the week before the Open Championship, then fly over and try to acclimate in less than a week simply isn't reasonable.  If I was put in that position, I'd deliberately blow the previous tournament so I missed the cut, and immediately hop the redeye for Heathrow.  How much sense to does that make to the organizers?

[meenman]

And nevermind the legality.

Golfers are independent contractors - they can choose when they want to *work*

[JCRuzanski]

They are basically self employed contractors, they shouldn't be forced to play of they don't want to play.

[nick1998bunker]

Or if you are tiger and you only play 13 PGA events a year. Or stricker

[Chris223]

This^^.  To force a top player to play in some nothing tournament the week before the Open Championship, then fly over and try to acclimate in less than a week simply isn't reasonable.  If I was put in that position, I'd deliberately blow the previous tournament so I missed the cut, and immediately hop the redeye for Heathrow.  How much sense to does that make to the organizers?

Zach Johnson seemed to play just fine in the Open this past year.  He always plays the John Deere.  One of the reasons I am a fan of Zach is because he often seems to play these tournaments that nobody else does.

I wish the top players would play more of the lesser tournaments vs ONLY playing the Majors and WGC's or Players but as everyone else has said... they don't work for the PGA Tour, they can choose when they want to play, and if you're lucky enough to be a top 50 or so player, you have further luxury as you don't HAVE to play every week to earn a living like a lot of those guys who fight to keep their card every year.  They have to play every week because otherwise they'd never make enough money to earn a living and because they typically don't make cuts at the bigger events if they even get into them.

[jamo]

Would you like to see this scheduling rule enforced?

No thanks.

[nick1998bunker]

It would just make it harder for the guys who actually play those tournaments. It's like the minor leagues to the bigger tournaments which are minor leagues to the majors

[MEfree]

Interesting idea, but...

While it might be nice to see some big stars each week, a rule like this would reduce the chances of getting all the top names- i.e. some of the non-major, non-WGC events that get strong fields might see their fields weakened.

[jamo]

Interesting idea, but... While it might be nice to see some big stars each week, a rule like this would reduce the chances of getting all the top names- i.e. some of the non-major, non-WGC events that get strong fields might see their fields weakened.

Good point. Those second-tier tournaments like Bay Hill and the Memorial (for example) would likely see their fields weakened.

[Harmonious]

By my count, there are 43 weeks with full field events. The four majors, the four WGC events and the four week Fedex Cup playoffs, make 16 tournaments that the top players will want to enter every year. Then, this proposal would force them to play 1/3 of the remaining 27 events every year. That's an additional 9 tournaments for a minimum of 25.

Or let's assume they also want to play certain events every year, such as The Players, The Memorial and Bay Hill. The big names usually play these three. They would then be forced to play 1/3 of the remaining 24 events. That would bring their minimum total to 16 + 3 + 8 or 27 events. That's a lot of extra golf for guys who schedule their years very carefully around certain events (and certain courses they like) and only play 18-20 events currently.

And what purpose would it serve? So people in New Orleans or Memphis or Quad Cities can see Woods or Mickelsen every 3 years? I can imagine a lot of "injuries" coming up just about the time the John Deere rolls around.  I voted NO.

[MEfree]

By my count, there are 43 weeks with full field events. The four majors, the four WGC events and the four week Fedex Cup playoffs, make 16 tournaments that the top players will want to enter every year. Then, this proposal would force them to play 1/3 of the remaining 27 events every year. That's an additional 9 tournaments for a minimum of 25.

Or let's assume they also want to play certain events every year, such as The Players, The Memorial and Bay Hill. The big names usually play these three. They would then be forced to play 1/3 of the remaining 24 events. That would bring their minimum total to 16 + 3 + 8 or 27 events. That's a lot of extra golf for guys who schedule their years very carefully around certain events (and certain courses they like) and only play 18-20 events currently.

And what purpose would it serve? So people in New Orleans or Memphis or Quad Cities can see Woods or Mickelsen every 3 years? I can imagine a lot of "injuries" coming up just about the time the John Deere rolls around.  I voted NO.

Your points are valid, but I am having trouble following your math-

4 Majors + 4 WGC + 4 FEC is 12, right?

Add in the Players and you have 13 events that everyone wants to play every year if possible.  I am not sure if the CIMB counts, so it looks like you have 43 or 44 total events meaning 30 or 31 optional (every 3 year events).  That means a minimum of 23 or so assuming they always play the top 13 events and only play the others 1 every 3 years.

My conclusion is the same as yours- NO as it is currently formulated.  For it to even be a consideration, it would have to be something like once ever 4 or 5 years.

In terms of the purpose it serves, not only would the local fans get to see Tiger or Phil every so often, but there would be more TV dates that would at least have a Tiger or Phil or other big name (but this would likely come at the expense of weakening events like Bay Hill or the Memorial to some extent).