New PGA policy passes first test
The PGA has passed a proposal that will require PGA Tour members to compete in a certain number of specific tournaments. The proposal has already passed the initial stages of inauguration, and is expected to be adopted before the end of the Fall Series.
The PGA felt that in the past certain tournaments have suffered from weak fields, and in an effort to bolster these tournaments it has designed a new concept. The PGA will designate a group of events based on tournaments with typically weak fields of which certain players must select at least one to participate in.
The process of getting the proposal accepted is almost half over; the idea was approved last week in West Virginia by the PGA policy board, but will need to pass a second test before it can be instated.
"Because it's a tournament regulation, it has to be passed twice," said PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem. "It was preliminarily approved in concept. Now we go back to the PAC (Players Advisory Council) and work through the details, get some player input and bring it back to the fall meeting."
Some of the fine tuned details such as how many tournaments will be designated into this group are yet to be decided. The other question is which golfers will be required to play these tournaments, and how they will be selected. The Tour could choose these players based on the FedEx Cup standings, the PGA Points list (the money list), or even the previous year’s Official World Golf Rankings. Either way this is the closest it has come to instating mandatory participation.
The LPGA already has a one-in-four concept in place; players must compete in every tournament at least once over a four year span. The effect is an equalizing of the field.
Finchem is “positively inclined” that the proposal will be passed, even if it stirs up a ruckus among some players. If the policy is put in place by September, which is what Finchem is striving for, it would give players time to get used to the new procedure before the 2011 season begins in January.
Finchem is also working on another policy proposal which will see the field expanding at the season opening tournament, the SBS Championship at Kapalua. In the past this tournament has been reserved for winners of the previous season. The proposal has yet to be passed and appears to be stalled for the time being.
The PAC are onboard with the decision if they are able to allow a two year exemption at Kapalua for PGA Tour winners and Finchem agrees this is a fair tradeoff. The hold-up comes from searching for a new sponsor. SBS is under contract with the PGA Tour to host the event until 2019, but Finchem wants to see if a new sponsor will appear before the changes are made to ensure that a new sponsor would agree to the changes before they are put in place.
In other PGA Sponsorship news, the sponsor of the PGA Tour event at Quail Hollow Club, Wells Fargo & Co., announced on Tuesday that they will restore their name on the tournament. What has been called the Quail Hollow Championship for the past two years will now be referred to as the Wells Fargo Championship.
Since the tournaments inception in 2003 it had been called the Wachovia Championship. When Wells Fargo & Co. bought out Wachovia in 2008 at the start of the financial crisis, the sponsors decided to remove the banks name from the tournament. Though Wells Fargo & Co. agreed to honor the sponsorship deal through to 2014, the decision was made due to the criticism financial institutions were receiving during the federal bailouts.
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