Labour Day Observations
There’s still something fundamentally flawed about the FedEx Cup playoffs. It’s this perpetual blending of the regular season and the post season. With the possible exception of NASCAR, of which I’m totally ignorant, no other sport I can think of continues to reward regular season play into the various playoff rounds. Sure it makes sense to establish seedings based on what happens during the year but once the playoffs start, it should be perform or be eliminated. This past weekend is a perfect example. A number of players missed the cut at the Deutsche Bank Championship but are still exempt into the next round based on accumulated points. The silliness climaxes at the Tour Championship where one player can win the final event while another can win the FedEx Cup playoffs.
Commissioner Finchem says the FedEx Cup playoffs are working just fine after a few tweaks during preceeding years. That likely means the sponsor isn’t getting as many irate phone calls from golf fans who can’t figure the whole shebang. And while I’m on this mini rant, what’s with the Fall Series? It’s like the season starts up again and makes some of those players who qualified for the playoffs vulnerable to losing their card because a bunch of players who didn’t make the playoffs suddenly get hot and bump out the other guys. Confused yet?
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Had to say I was intrigued when Webb teed it up against Chez in the Deutsche Bank playoff. At the start of the day Bo, Hunter and Bubba were also in the mix.
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While there were only three tournaments to report in this week’s Bulletin, it’s the first time I can recall not having any Canadians make the cut. None of them played the Deutsche Bank Championship or the Omega European Masters but at The Nationwide event there were four Canadian players in the field and none made it to weekend play. It’s not looking too good for any of them to make it to the PGA Tour next year based on a Top 25 finish. By my count Jon Mills has missed the cut in his last eight starts and continues to slip down the money list.
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What a bounce back for Alena Sharp at the PGA Women’s Championship held at Bayview last week. After missing the cut at the CN Canadian Women’s Open the week before, Sharp put it together to dominate the field, except for 16-year-old Anna Kim of Toronto. Sharp needed an extra day and eight extra holes to eliminate the teenager in a playoff but the win may be the confidence boost she needs to see some better finishes on the LPGA Tour.
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Finally, a sad note to close. Last week, the Canadian golf industry lost a friend and contributer when Norm Woods died after a relatively short battle with cancer. Norm was 67 and had started GolfScene magazine a dozen years ago, at an age when many are contemplating retirement. Always a consummate salesman, Norm was a likeable guy with a sharp wit and a kind word. He and I first crossed paths shortly after I started Fairways Magazine and although he’d only been a publisher for a year longer, he always had helpful hints and good advice. Sometimes we competed but more often it was a friendly collaboration. Over the years we travelled together on media trips or attended the same functions where we had the chance to play golf and dine together or just relax with a drink. It was always low key but very enjoyable. For those who knew Norm, you didn’t always know when he was in the room, until one of his zingers made you abundantly aware of his presence. There was a pretty good turnout from the Canadian golf media at the Celebration of Norm’s Life last Thursday at Whistle Bear. Some funny stories and a few pops turned out to be a great way to say goodbye to a friend and colleague who will be missed.
Just play it!
The Canadian PGA released their tournament schedule this past week and for the fourth consecutive year there is no CPGA Championship. That means that Jon Mills is still the reigning champion, having won the trophy at Whistle Bear Golf Club back in 2005.
The CPGA Championship is, or perhaps was, one of the oldest professional championships in North America. It was first played in 1912 at Mississaugua Golf & Country Club and won by Charlie Murray of Montreal. Over the years, the event has had many notable winners including Canadian Golf Hall of Famers Stan Leonard (8 titles), George Knudson (5), Al Balding (4) and legendary Moe Norman , who notched a couple of victories in 1966 and 1974.
From 1978 to 1983 the Canadian PGA decided to open the event to non-Canadians and the PGA Tour pros took over. Winners included Lanny Wadkins, Ray Floyd, Jim Thorpe, Arnold Palmer and Lee Trevino twice. After that brief interlude it was back to Canadians and Jim Rutledge, Dave Barr, Dan Halldorson and Rick Gibson among others won titles between 1984 and 1990.
In 1991 the Canadian PGA made yet another change and aligned the tournament with the Nationwide Tour and its predecessors (Hogan, Nike, Buy.com etc). For the next fourteen years a mix of Canadian club pros, Canadian touring pros and international touring pros vied for the title. During that span four Canadians, Ashley Chinner, Stuart Hendley, Richard Zokol and reigning champion Mills, managed to triumph. The rest of the trophies went to up and comers on the PGA Tour like Americans Steve Stricker and Aaron Oberholser and Tim Clark of South Africa.
Other than some hiccups during the war years (1915-18 and 1943), the Canadian PGA Championship has been played continuously, albeit not always in the same format nor with the same set of qualifying criteria. In many ways the different formats have added colour to the event and it certainly never hurts to to say that past champions include the likes of Arnold Palmer and Lee Trevino.
Following the 2005 event at Whistle Bear, the tournament lost Samsung as its title sponsor and the Canadian PGA decided to suspend the tournament in 2006. Reaction was mixed. Most Canadian PGA members hoped it was a temporary thing and a new sponsor could be found so play could resume the following year. It didn’t happen. The CPGA engaged IMG to help look for a title sponsor but nothing came of that. So no tournament in 2008 either.
Officially, the CPGA’s stance on this has been “they want to do it right.” That means a title sponsor, big purse, perhaps a TV contract and alignment with a recognized Tour. Over the past four years they haven’t specified what a new CPGA Championship would look like but they have resisted calls from many quarters to play the Championship in a watered down form.
So now we come to 2009 – perhaps one of the worst years on record to be looking for sponsorship of any kind. It will be a miracle if anyone, let alone the CPGA, can find a sponsor willing to pony up the kind of dough required to host a significant event with all the bells and whistles. Again the question has to be asked, why not just play it? There are 3,200 Canadian PGA members. Some of them have game. At least a few of them know how to run a tournament. Many would be willing to host the event and more than a few could and would volunteer in whateve capacity is required. How difficult is it to find 144 players who want to engrave there name on a trophy alongside Arnold Palmer and George Knudson?
Over at the Ontario PGA, they’re running a forum on the member’s portion of their website, asking if the CPGA Championship should be restored, even in a very basic form. The response has been overwhelmingly in favour. The common sentiment is “we need to get back to basics.” They don’t need a big purse, courtesy cars or fancy sponsor galas. There is a strong sense of history and tradition for this Championship amongst the Ontario PGA members and that probably extends to PGA pros across the country too.
Based on last week’s announcement it doesn’t appear that the CPGA will be resurrecting the Canadian PGA Championship this year. It would be pretty neat if the Canadian PGA members stepped up and said, “the hell with it, we’re going to do this anyway.”
Peter Mumford is the Editor and Publisher of Fairways Magazine in Toronto. Fairways is intended for avid golfers and this blog site is an extension of that same philosophy - we don't dumb it down for the uninformed!