PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem visited Morning Drive on the Golf Channel this morning, and I found some of his comments regarding fan call-ins, and the tour’s direction on globalization quite interesting. With a couple of key incidents this year involving Tiger Woods at the heart of the conversation, I think he is on the right track in solving these issues.
My biggest problem with high-definition television being able to expose rules violations, and the golf fan’s ability to call in infractions is the timing. It’s not fair to a player who depends on golf for a living to be disqualified for signing an incorrect score card when he may have not known that he violated a rule. I don’t really have a problem with the player incurring a couple of strokes, but disqualified?
Commissioner Finchem shared my concern as well. He was of the opinion that the rules, at times, can be vague, and he doesn’t believe a player deserves to be disqualified, and that there should be a time limit on call-ins so the player can proceed with the thought that the incident is over, and it won’t come back to bite him two days later when someone figures out that he made a mistake, and now faces disqualification.
Of course, any, and all changes to the status quo would have to be approved by the USGA, and Royal and Ancient, and I think you can expect some changes in the future.
Don’t expect the call-ins to go away however. The Commissioner thinks it’s great to have fans involved, and doesn’t want to discourage them from calling in their concerns. I agree with this take on the subject, and think it is the one of the things that makes golf unique. No other sport allows this kind of fan-involvement, and is one of the things that makes golf one of the greatest sports on television.
The other subject that came up was the PGA’s role in World Golf. The Commissioner indicated that he felt the game would continue to take on more International characteristics as time goes on.
As more and more players make their way to the PGA Tour from all places in the world, the PGA is becoming very International anyway. Like the LPGA, the PGA Tour will eventually morph into one huge tour that is fed by players from everywhere around the globe.
Finchem indicated that he is in favor of growth that takes golf in that direction, and eventually culminates in a World Tour. He doesn’t expect that it will happen on his watch, but will happen sooner that later, and it is something he would like to eventually see happen.
The PGA Tour has seen the fastest growth in history during Tim Finchem’s watch. I can only hope that whoever follows him will have the vision to keep this great game healthy. More people around the world are playing golf now than any other time in history.
The growth of golf comes from all of the programs that introduce youngsters to the game at an early age, and is supported by most of the elders of the game such as Arnie, Jack, and Gary. Golf is in great hands, and all I see for the next generation is more of the same.
