Join the Club by John Patrick: We need your Signature
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The PGA Tour has some challenges, and they were on full display at the 3M Open in Minnesota.
Here’s a look at the final leaderboard from Sunday:
- Jhonattan Vegas -17
- Max Greyserman –16
- Matt Kutcher -15
- Maverick McNealy – 15
- Taylor Pendrith – 14
After them, Kit Kitayama, Patrick Fishburn and more…
If those household names don’t have you reaching for the clicker, I don’t know what does.
This issue is a byproduct of a couple of things. The first is the framework agreement between the PGA Tour and the Private Investment Firm from Saudi Arabia – the organization behind the LIV tour. The second is the creation of Signature Events on the PGA Tour.
Let’s start with the “framework agreement.” The announcement was made 13 months ago, and the lack of transparency about how the discussions are progressing has left many wondering just how difficult it is to get this deal done. And while it’s not getting done, there are still players leaving for LIV and rumored to be leaving for LIV. The Tour seems unwilling to either stop the defections or stomp down the rumors.
That brings us to the Signature Events – tournaments so designated as to entice bigger names to play more often. Purses have been increased, which is kind of where the enticement started and ended. There were eight such events on the schedule this year. Add those to the four major championships and one or two other events players deem as favorites and you’ve got a season – 12-14 events. That’s about what Tiger played in his heyday.
That means, the non-Signature Events, of which there are 23, end up with leaderboards like we had in Minnesota. I have to think that the Tour is aware of these issues. I have to think their broadcast partners, who try during each of those weeks to build compelling storylines around the leaders, are also aware. Because their ratings on those weekends tell them so.
I’m confident the Tour will fix the issues. I’m confident they’re working on them diligently. What I’m unsure about is how long they have before fans find other distractions and lose interest in watching Jhonnattan Vegas’ life change forever.
I already have friends, deep fans of the game, complaining about the names they don’t recognize.
What do they want? What they’ve always wanted – to watch their heroes’ lives change by winning major championships.
The wait will continue.
As of this writing, there’s 255 days until Jack, Gary, and Tom hit those ceremonial tee shots in April.
