Tour surrenders AT&T golf to Saudi event
So the PGA Tour surrendered, although no one involved would use that term. Maybe “gave in to reality” is more accurate.
Realized the big names always get their way, so why not give them what they want and avoid a conflict in what was once called the gentleman’s game.
The winners, among others, are Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson and the Saudi International tournament.
The losers are the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, CBS television and the restaurants and shops on the Monterey Peninsula.
The AT&T, which started as the Bing Crosby Pro-Am, has been around for more than 80 years. It’s a traditional stop on Tour. But tradition has no chance when matched against oil sheiks.
They created a tournament that the Asian Tour chose to endorse after the former European Tour (it’s been re-named the DP World Tour) stepped away. It is held at Royal Greens Golf Club near Jeddah and offers a huge purse and appearance fees.
That both events are to be staged in the first week in February makes for a difficult situation. Let’s go to the past tense — made for a difficult situation.
When a Tour player wants to enter an event opposite one on the Tour schedule, he must receive approval — and agree to stipulations for the future.
On Monday, Saudi officials sent a media release mentioning they had commitments from 11 major champions. Golf Digest asked who would blink first. We found out quickly enough.
It was the Tour. When the AT&T does get underway, they should put white flags in the cups.
Yes, I know the players are “independent contractors” and go where the money is, and I also know that in personality-driven sports such as golf (Tiger Woods, Mickelson) and tennis (Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams) the stars have leverage.
But they built their reputations and bank accounts in tournaments that enabled them to learn and improve. And earn.
The AT&T may offer celebrities and wonderful courses deep in the forest or along the bay, but it’s golf competition, and you want the top players, the ones who drive up attendance and TV ratings as well as drive a ball 330 yards down a fairway.
Long ago, when I tended to write about Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, even if they weren’t on the leader board or in the field, a golf official suggested I focus on the little-known players, to let people know who they were.
But that infamous headline, “Unknown wins Crosby,” will get only shrugs. ESPN, for better or worse, figured it out: Names are more important than games.
It didn’t matter that Tiger before the accident was 10 shots behind. To ESPN he was the story, often the only story.
You know that over the weekend Woods and his 12-year-old son, Charlie, played in the PNC father-son tournament. There were stories and videos from here to St. Andrews. Wow!
Tiger hasn’t been in the ATT for a while, but Mickelson and Dustin Johnson not only were there but more than once finished first. This coming February, however, they’ll be in Saudi Arabia.
The longtime tournament director of the AT&T, Steve John, has to be diplomatic and measured in any criticism. He’s not going to whine about players he hopes will be back in coming years.
"We are still focused on the many highlights of our tournament week," John told James Raia in the Monterey Herald. "We will be messaging that we will eclipse the $200 million milestone in supporting deserving non-profits in and around our community."
“We have received overwhelming community support from fans showing how eager they are to see their favorite celebrities.”
Good, but Phil Mickelson or Dustin Johnson wouldn’t hurt. In fact, they would help.