Legal Commentary

NASCAR golf?

By Tom Kirkendall

This earlier post suggested a creative approach to create interest for a PGA Tour golf tournament caught in the Tiger Chasm -- i.e., the neverland of golf tournaments that draw nowhere near the interest or publicity as the 15-18 golf tournaments that Tiger Woods plays in each year.

Along the same lines, Angry Golfer John Hawkins points out that chronic party-boy John Daly is creating a similar type of niche for tournaments that are willing to grant him an exemption to play. Daly has made the cut in just 18 of his last 67 PGA Tour events, is currently tied for 156th place on the money list and is 531st in the World Golf Rankings and, in three tournaments this year, has earned a total of $9,805:

I called several tournament heads last week to get a read on whether Daly's ability to sell tickets is worth the headache he has become. [Honda tournament director] Kennerly didn't return my phone call, but others were quick to reply, and there remains little doubt that Long John Seismograph moves the needle more than a hundred John Sendens. "It's a pretty easy decision for us," says Clair Peterson, who runs the John Deere Classic and already has extended Daly an offer to join the field in July.

"He's like Randy Moss," says another. "He's a freak, he can be a huge burden, but in terms of what he brings you, it's a very unique dynamic. The NASCAR crowd, whatever you want to call it, is why 80 to 90 percent of the events will give him an exemption if he's anywhere near the top 100."

Or 531st, which is where Daly currently resides in the World Ranking, as if the NASCAR gang really gives a Hooters how well their man has been playing or whether he'll ever contend again on the weekend. The recent face-saving contest between PGA Tour brass and Westchester CC reminds us that every sputtering, non-Tiger event is a possible endangered species. Perhaps 15 to 18 tournaments are in excellent health; the rest lack significance or sound economics.

Full post as published by Houston's Clear Thinkers on January 30, 2008 (boomark / email).