Tour Players Complain about Playing 4 Weeks Straight

[Dave2512]

The problem is it's tough to configure playoffs for golf. It could end with someone not winning the tour championship but still winning the cup. Points get shuffled, the whole thing is odd. And then the harsh reality is the playoffs aren't as important to anybody as the majors, and obviously not the Ryder Cup. The entire thing is anticlimactic.

[Jeremie Boop]

I don't mean to pick on you specifically, but I honestly have no idea why people say stuff like this. No where in the established rules of the FedExCup does it say that they're supposed to be "a grind." No where. Golf isn't hockey/baseball/football/basketball/whatever. It should't try to pretend to be any of those sports. We shouldn't expect it to be like any of those sports.

If a week off somewhere in the middle leads to better competition and fewer golfers skipping out, then great.

They changed the rules a while back to limit that. If you skip the first event you have to just about win the other three (not exactly, but something like that) if you want any chance of winning the whole thing.

So that's the real issue, right? We want to stick it to them for making so much money while putting in relatively little time - or at least we want them to feel a little guilty about it.

The Tour's job, however, is not to teach Phil a lesson on perspective, it's to ensure that they put out as good a product as possible on the field.

I think most people don't realize how many hours the pros really do put in. All the time on the range, doing practice rounds, the competition rounds, the travelling... Yeah, it's a lot more hours than most people ever realize.

[Crim]

I don't mean to pick on you specifically, but I honestly have no idea why people say stuff like this. No where in the established rules of the FedExCup does it say that they're supposed to be "a grind." No where. Golf isn't hockey/baseball/football/basketball/whatever. It should try to pretend to be any of those sports. We shouldn't expect it to be like any of those sports.

Not in the rules sure, but yeah I guess it's just what we expect nowadays. It's already in our mind because of other sports that playoffs need to be more intense. I kind of like that mindset.

They changed the rules a while back to limit that. If you skip the first event you have to just about win the other three (not exactly, but something like that) if you want any chance of winning the whole thing. So that's the real issue, right? We want to stick it to them for making so much money while putting in relatively little time - or at least we want them to feel a little guilty about it.

Ahh, didn't realize that. I figured skipping the first event wouldn't have much effect. I'll be honest...I don't know the Fed Ex point system all that well.

[Dave2512]

They could probably make it shorter and more dramatic. Allowing 125 players into the first event doesn't make it seem exclusive. With that much participation it is just another tournament.

[jamo]

Ahh, didn't realize that. I figured skipping the first event wouldn't have much effect. I'll be honest...I don't know the Fed Ex point system all that well.

I just remembered that Tiger skipped the second event in the first year of the FedExCup and still won the whole thing, so the Tour upped the importance of the playoff events. It's too much of a points hit now to skip an event and still expect to win the Cup.

[skydog]

So that's the real issue, right? We want to stick it to them for making so much money while putting in relatively little time - or at least we want them to feel a little guilty about it.

The Tour's job, however, is not to teach Phil a lesson on perspective, it's to ensure that they put out as good a product as possible on the field.

Stick it to them making so much money?? Are you kidding me? I applaud success and have a great deal of respect for most touring pros. This isn't about taking issue with their fame and fortune, it's about them coming across as spoiled brats who don't know how good they have it.

And endurance/stamina is a part of every other sport- why shouldn't it be the same for the golf playoffs. You look at any other major sport- football, basketabll, and hockey, and almost all the guys are severely banged up by the time the playoffs even start...but you don't often hear them complaining because they're professionals and it's what you get paid to do. You're from MA- you should appreciate athletes like Larry Legend who showed up to work and did his job everyday despite dealing with blinding back pain. His philosophy- you get paid to go to work, so that's what you do and you don't complain.

[Golfingdad]

The problem is it's tough to configure playoffs for golf. It could end with someone not winning the tour championship but still winning the cup. Points get shuffled, the whole thing is odd. And then the harsh reality is the playoffs aren't as important to anybody as the majors, and obviously not the Ryder Cup. The entire thing is anticlimactic.

We're not really on the topic here, but I agree.  It's a no-win situation they have.  Make the playoff points too valuable and they make the rest of the season pointless.  Make them too weak, and they're even more anti-climactic.  Throw in the fact that since the PGA, most of us are really only excited about the Ryder Cup, and then yeah, the playoffs are kind of just like, whatever.

[Dave2512]

Maybe we should start a how to make the playoffs better thread, if it doesn't already exist.

[Golfingdad]

Maybe we should start a how to make the playoffs better thread, if it doesn't already exist.

There might be ... I remember a thread where I posted the points system for the playoffs, so that might have been the discussion.  Don't remember though. :)

[jamo]

Stick it to them making so much money?? Are you kidding me? I applaud success and have a great deal of respect for most touring pros. This isn't about taking issue with their fame and fortune, it's about them coming across as spoiled brats who don't know how good they have it.

Right, they don't know how good they have it ... because they make so much money while putting in relatively little time. That's what I said. You can't have it both ways. You're saying that the Tour pros are out of touch about how good they have it, but that you applaud their success (which is why they have it so good). You're saying you "respect most touring pros" but they're "spoiled brats." [quote name="skydog" url="/t/77093/tour-players-look-pathetic-complaining-about-4-weeks-straight/0_30#post_1053401"] And endurance/stamina is a part of every other sport- why shouldn't it be the same for the golf playoffs. You look at any other major sport- football, basketabll, and hockey, and almost all the guys are severely banged up by the time the playoffs even start...but you don't often hear them complaining because they're professionals and it's what you get paid to do. You're from MA- you should appreciate athletes like Larry Legend who showed up to work and did his job everyday despite dealing with blinding back pain. His philosophy- you get paid to go to work, so that's what you do and you don't complain. [/quote] Because it doesn't have to be! Because golf has never really been about that. Pro golfers have never played every day of the week, and they get to pick their own schedules. Maybe there's something nice (and unavoidable) about every single NFL, NHL, and MLB player being banged up come the end of the season, but it doesn't have to be that way in golf, and it's never been that way in golf. We could get better golf just by giving them a week off . Why is that not a good thing?

[nick1998bunker]

If you never strive for something better then your going to always be stuck where you are. Why would I want to play 4 weeks straight when I don't have to, regardless of money. It's human nature and everyone does it. If you don't then you will be at the bottom your whole life.

[Lihu]

Complaining about having to compete four weeks in a row. I know four weeks of traveling and playing can get old, but c'mon guys, this is why other athletes and non-golfers look down on you. Oh, I'm sorry you have to play golf for four straight weeks and compete for millions of dollars. Some of these guys need some perspective as to what real work and sacrifice is.

Oh, the horror.

It must be terrible having to get up every morning and saying to yourself "Just X more days of this toil."

[rdsandy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave2512

Don't forget the private jets. I can see how the travel and being away from the family could be a grind. But yeah they aren't fighting in the middle east. There a worse things than playing golf for a living.

Mwah, with an argument like that pretty much nobody can complaint about anything since there is always somebody else who got it worse. Even when making millions and swinging a club on a nice course doesn't mean a man can't miss his family and speak that out in my opinion...

I once complained that I had no shoes, till I met a man who had no feet.

[turtleback]

Some of them should go read Frank Beard's book detailing a year on tour, back in the prime of Jack, Billy, and Arnie, as lived by the guy who was the leading money winner that year.

http://www.amazon.com/Pro-Frank-Beard-Golf-Tour/dp/1111740062/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid;=1410454744&sr;=8-2&keywords;=frank+beard

Four weeks in a row??  With jet planes and royalty like accommodations?

Try many weeks in a row, traveling from stop to stop in a station wagon with kids and a crying baby, staying at cheap motels where the biggest consideration was whether it had a pool for the kids.  And this was not some "scrabbling to get by" pro, this was a guy who consistently made over $100,000 when that meant something and who, as I said, was the leading money winner the year of the book.

I do not begrudge them ANY of the perks they have today.  But complaining about having to play several weeks in a row goes nowhere with me.

[phan52]

The one thing I can see that is a legitimate beef is having to go to Cherry Hills, a place almost none of them know, on a short week (having played on Monday of Labor Day weekend). It didn't give them all that much time to prepare properly and it showed. These guys are creatures of habit and it got them off their routines.

[Flyrdrive]

Just for reference, Here's Byron Nelson's schedule in '45.  Won 11 in a row, and had to drive himself to most all of these events.  And not on interstate highways either, but lousy two lane roads.  Most of his fellow pros were  in the same boat.  THAT was a grind.

Byron Nelson's 1945 Tournament Results

• Jan. 5-8, Los Angeles: 71-72-70-71--284, second
• Jan. 12-14, Phoenix Open: 68-65-72-69--274, first, won by 2
• Jan. 18-21, Tucson: 67-68-67-67--269, second
• Jan. 26-28, Texas Open: 67-66-68-68--269, second
• Feb. 1-4, Corpus Christi Open: 66-63-65-70--264, first, won by 4
• Feb. 9-11, New Orleans Open: 70-70-73-71--284, first, won by 5
• Feb. 16-18, Gulfport: 69-68-72-66--275, second
• Feb. 23-25, Pensacola: 69-69-71-65--274, second
• March 1-4, Jacksonville: 68-66-72-69--275, sixth
• March 8-11, Miami International Four-Ball: first (team tournament)
• March 16-19, Charlotte Open: 70-68-66-68--272, first, won by 4
• March 23-25, Greater Greensboro Open: 70-67-68-66--271, first, won by 8
• March 30-April 1, Durham Open: 71-69-71-65--276, first, won by 5
• April 5-8, Atlanta Open: 64-69-65-65--263, first, won by 9
• June 7-10, Montreal Open: 63-68-69-68--268, first, won by 10
• June 14-17, Philadelphia Inquirer: 68-68-70-63--269, first, won by 2
• June 29-July 1, Chicago Victory National Open: 69-68-68-70--275, first, won by 7
• July 9-15, PGA Championship: first (match play)
• July 26-29, Tam O'Shanter Open: 66-68-68-67--269, first, won by 11
• Aug. 2-4, Canadian Open: 68-72-72-68--280, first, won by 4
• Aug. 16-19, Memphis: 69-73-66-68--276, fourth
• Aug. 23-26, Knoxville Invitational: 67-69-73-67--276, first, won by 10
• Aug. 31-Sept. 3, Nashville: 70-64-67-68--269, second
• Sept. 6-9, Dallas: 72-70-71-68--281, third
• Sept. 13-16, Tulsa: 73-69-75-71--288, fourth
• Sept. 19-23, Esmeralda Open: 66-66-70-64--266, first, won by 7
• Sept. 27-30, Portland: 71-71-67-66--275, second
• Oct. 4-7, Tacoma: 70-69-73-71--283, ninth
• Oct. 11-14, Seattle Open: 62-68-63-66--259, first, won by 13
• Dec. 14-16, Glen Garden Open: 72-65-66-70--273, first, won by 8

[mvmac]

Just for reference, Here's Byron Nelson's schedule in '45.  Won 11 in a row, and had to drive himself to most all of these events.  And not on interstate highways either, but lousy two lane roads.  Most of his fellow pros were  in the same boat.  THAT was a grind.

All the holes were uphill back then too

[Lihu]

All the holes were uphill back then too

In both directions, and covered with 2 feet of powder snow (even in the summer).

Seriously though, how hard is it to play 4 weeks of golf? They only play 18 holes each day, and they're young and healthy athletes.