WEBVTT - Fire Drill 067: In The Room Where It Happened 0:00:03.800 --> 0:00:07.040 I ran for the board on the message that I'm 0:00:07.040 --> 0:00:09.320 going to fight for the middle and lower tiers of 0:00:09.360 --> 0:00:13.440 the PGA Tour, and in a very strange and ironic way, 0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:18.439 I just did that. I got thoughts in my head. 0:00:19.120 --> 0:00:25.360 Can't get John nothing, what I'm thinking about. Thoughts in 0:00:25.560 --> 0:00:30.520 my head, can't get them out. Nothing, think what I'm 0:00:30.560 --> 0:00:41.159 thinking about. Hello, Welcome back to their Fire Drill podcast. 0:00:41.200 --> 0:00:44.040 This is Alan Schipnuk big day in the world of 0:00:44.120 --> 0:00:48.120 professional golf. The PGA Tour has announced some sweeping changes 0:00:48.200 --> 0:00:50.680 to the structure of the tour and what the elevated 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:53.680 events are gonna look like going forward. I am delighted 0:00:53.720 --> 0:00:56.720 to be joined by a gentleman who's been in the 0:00:56.800 --> 0:00:59.920 room where it happened to quote Hamilton, Peter Ramalnaughty, one 0:00:59.920 --> 0:01:05.479 of the five player directors who runs the PGA Tour. Essentially, Peter, 0:01:05.560 --> 0:01:07.560 thank you for doing this, thank you for having me out, 0:01:07.560 --> 0:01:09.520 and I appreciate it's going to be it's gonna be 0:01:09.520 --> 0:01:12.280 a tumultuous time here. So let's put some truth out 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:17.840 there exactly. So. One of the criticisms of the tour 0:01:17.880 --> 0:01:20.760 in the past is that the player directors and the 0:01:20.800 --> 0:01:25.240 player advisory committee has skewed towards the best, most successful 0:01:25.240 --> 0:01:28.640 players who may not be fully in touch with the 0:01:28.720 --> 0:01:32.120 membership as a whole. And so I think one of 0:01:32.120 --> 0:01:33.760 the reasons why you got elected to the board is 0:01:33.800 --> 0:01:37.040 you were going to represent the tour middle class, if 0:01:37.080 --> 0:01:39.640 you will. Because the other directors are Rory McElroy, we 0:01:39.680 --> 0:01:42.000 know who he is, Patrick Cantley, top ten player in 0:01:42.040 --> 0:01:45.400 the world US Open, Champ Webb Simpson, and Charlie Hoffman, 0:01:45.440 --> 0:01:47.800 who's won about one hundred million dollars in the PGA Tour. 0:01:47.800 --> 0:01:51.320 It feels like and and so I think folks were 0:01:51.320 --> 0:01:54.280 thinking Peter mulnaughty is gonna is gonna He's gonna be 0:01:54.360 --> 0:01:59.000 the man who's in an obstructionist as as the delaware 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:02.040 you know, twenty three you try and reshape the tour um. 0:02:02.080 --> 0:02:05.120 But of course um hasn't quite played out like that. 0:02:05.160 --> 0:02:07.080 I know from our text matches today you've had a 0:02:07.160 --> 0:02:10.480 change of heart and you're thinking about about the structure 0:02:10.520 --> 0:02:13.320 of things. Can you walk us through how how you're 0:02:13.320 --> 0:02:16.120 thinking has evolved and what you think of these new changes? Yeah, 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:19.320 I mean I definitely can and and I will be 0:02:19.320 --> 0:02:23.240 the first to admit um. You know, I was I was. 0:02:23.919 --> 0:02:26.519 I was disappointed with the tour coming out of the 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:29.880 Delaware meeting. You know that the the frame that the 0:02:29.919 --> 0:02:32.120 tour tried to put on that was, look, how invested 0:02:32.120 --> 0:02:36.000 our stars are they they're meeting and and to me 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:39.160 and a lot of my peers, I think it felt like, well, 0:02:40.200 --> 0:02:43.359 I mean, the tour has a governance process and we're 0:02:43.400 --> 0:02:48.280 ignoring it, like, you know, we're just that this isn't leadership, 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:51.400 this is you know, blackmail like like like like I 0:02:51.440 --> 0:02:54.120 think there was a lot of um, there was a 0:02:54.120 --> 0:02:56.799 lot of angst, for sure, and and I was at 0:02:56.840 --> 0:02:59.720 the very top of that, like I was. I was, 0:03:00.280 --> 0:03:02.160 I was frustrated. I didn't think that was right. I 0:03:02.200 --> 0:03:05.720 felt annoyed. Sure, I do, I do really appreciate and 0:03:05.760 --> 0:03:08.520 did really appreciate that, you know, these guys want to 0:03:08.520 --> 0:03:12.600 be here playing on the PGA Tour, but um, it 0:03:12.639 --> 0:03:14.320 felt to me like they didn't want to respect the 0:03:14.919 --> 0:03:19.600 you know, the forty or fifty years of process has 0:03:19.639 --> 0:03:23.640 gone into building the PGA Tour. So as recently as 0:03:23.880 --> 0:03:29.240 um as recently as last Wednesday, I was adamantly against 0:03:29.280 --> 0:03:33.079 the idea of the PGA Tour adding small field, no 0:03:33.240 --> 0:03:37.600 cut events to its schedule. I just that that seems 0:03:37.880 --> 0:03:42.680 antithetical to me from the tour's mission of identifying and 0:03:42.760 --> 0:03:45.320 rewarding the best golfers in the world. I feel like, 0:03:45.840 --> 0:03:48.600 you know, just on a simple, simple scale, it just 0:03:48.640 --> 0:03:51.240 seems less competitive to me to have to be sixty 0:03:51.320 --> 0:03:52.840 nine other guys and it does have to be one 0:03:52.920 --> 0:03:54.920 hundred and nineteen other guys for one hundred and fifty 0:03:54.960 --> 0:03:56.880 five other guys for some of our full field events 0:03:56.880 --> 0:04:01.280 in the summer. So so I was I was just 0:04:01.320 --> 0:04:06.160 adamantly opposed. It felt to me like a way to 0:04:06.960 --> 0:04:10.119 put more money into the pockets of the top players directly, 0:04:10.200 --> 0:04:12.320 just just to hand it to them. And that's that's 0:04:12.360 --> 0:04:15.840 that's how it felt. And I was, you know, I 0:04:15.920 --> 0:04:20.760 was standing so strongly against that. UM. And last week 0:04:20.800 --> 0:04:23.279 we had a call the WEB. We call ourselves the 0:04:23.360 --> 0:04:26.800 OPS Committee, but essentially it's the player Directors UM UM, 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:29.640 you know, the policy board, So none of the none 0:04:29.640 --> 0:04:32.640 of the independent directors, but just the players UM are 0:04:32.640 --> 0:04:35.640 the OPS Committee. And we talk about tournament operations UM. 0:04:35.960 --> 0:04:38.440 And so obviously there's the only one real subject right 0:04:38.440 --> 0:04:40.080 now is you know, what does our what does our 0:04:40.160 --> 0:04:43.479 product looked like? What's our future model. UM. And so 0:04:43.600 --> 0:04:45.800 last Wednesday we had a call to talk about this 0:04:45.920 --> 0:04:49.680 and kind of the tour, the tour brass sort of um, 0:04:50.680 --> 0:04:55.320 you know, they they proposed this model that they basically 0:04:56.279 --> 0:04:57.840 the way this was kind of the way this came 0:04:57.880 --> 0:05:00.919 to be. They set it up as as kind of 0:05:00.920 --> 0:05:03.760 a a dicot or not. I don't know. It's a 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:07.000 trichotomy of thing three three three things. Um. There was 0:05:07.279 --> 0:05:09.760 essentially kind of coming out of the Delaware meeting, it 0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:13.919 seems like there was you know, if if if the 0:05:13.960 --> 0:05:17.200 tour had just given that group of twenty three players 0:05:17.200 --> 0:05:20.719 everything they wanted, we would we would essentially have either 0:05:20.760 --> 0:05:23.919 a two tour system or just you know, one elite 0:05:24.040 --> 0:05:27.920 PGA tour and then something else for the rest of us. UM. 0:05:28.040 --> 0:05:31.840 So that was definitely a two tour system. So that 0:05:31.920 --> 0:05:33.560 was you know, an option that was here at the 0:05:33.560 --> 0:05:35.680 top of the page, kind of at the bottom of 0:05:35.680 --> 0:05:38.240 the page was this idea of well, let's do nothing, 0:05:38.360 --> 0:05:41.520 Let's just keep keep moving forward with you know, we 0:05:41.640 --> 0:05:45.320 got invitations one hundred and twenty player fields, we've got um, 0:05:45.400 --> 0:05:49.160 you know, our regular FETs Cup events. Um, you know, 0:05:49.520 --> 0:05:51.400 maybe throw twenty million dollars in the purse of a a 0:05:51.520 --> 0:05:53.880 few events where we can somehow sell that to sponsors, whatever, 0:05:53.960 --> 0:05:57.680 just just move forward without changing anything. And so this 0:05:57.680 --> 0:06:00.480 this new model, which is in the middle of those 0:06:00.520 --> 0:06:02.800 two was proposed and the tours kind of coined it 0:06:02.880 --> 0:06:07.480 the designated event model. And you know, it's been through many, many, 0:06:07.520 --> 0:06:10.320 many iterations. But I sat in this meeting last Wednesday, 0:06:10.320 --> 0:06:12.479 this OPS committee meeting, and it's like, no paid it, 0:06:12.760 --> 0:06:16.200 absolutely hate it. No, you know, more events, small field, 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:18.760 no cut. You know, you're taking playing opportunities away from 0:06:18.760 --> 0:06:24.040 the members. It's just terrible. But in the days after 0:06:24.080 --> 0:06:25.960 that meeting, some of the points that they made started 0:06:26.000 --> 0:06:28.240 to sink in a little bit as I, you know, 0:06:28.279 --> 0:06:30.560 your brain kind of you go in with just this idea, 0:06:30.720 --> 0:06:33.599 and as I let this, I let some of the 0:06:33.640 --> 0:06:36.800 stuff that they said sink in. There became these moments 0:06:36.839 --> 0:06:40.000 where it's like, gosh like because to me, like any 0:06:40.040 --> 0:06:42.760 good point that they made in that meeting was just, oh, 0:06:42.800 --> 0:06:44.400 they're just saying that so they can give the top 0:06:44.400 --> 0:06:45.960 players what they want. They're just saying that so they 0:06:45.960 --> 0:06:48.120 can give the top players what they want. But then 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:51.520 as it sank in and I tried to have a 0:06:51.560 --> 0:06:53.359 little bit more of an open mind about it. I 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:56.960 started to sense some like there's some some merit to 0:06:57.080 --> 0:06:58.320 some of these things that were saying. And I'll get 0:06:58.320 --> 0:06:59.880 into the details of what it was they were saying, 0:07:00.240 --> 0:07:03.080 but essentially when we got to so by the time 0:07:03.120 --> 0:07:06.640 I got there for the Policy Board meeting on Tuesday, 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:11.560 I'm still like adamant that I'm going to represent the 0:07:12.360 --> 0:07:15.360 middle and bottom thirds of the PGA tour membership. That 0:07:15.360 --> 0:07:18.560 that's that's my job in that room. So so to me, 0:07:18.680 --> 0:07:21.920 that still means I've got to protect playing opportunities. I've 0:07:21.960 --> 0:07:24.240 got to fight for you know, these these fields to 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:26.360 be bigger, got to fight for him to be you know, 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:29.240 you know, full fields, close to full fields, you know, 0:07:29.320 --> 0:07:32.480 more more playing opportunities, and then to be getting the room. Um, 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:35.800 the Tour head was able between the time of our 0:07:36.480 --> 0:07:39.000 our Ops Committee meeting and the Policy Board meeting, they've 0:07:39.040 --> 0:07:43.840 been able to to create some visual graphics of of 0:07:44.000 --> 0:07:46.680 the data that they've been able to create through through 0:07:46.720 --> 0:07:50.320 some simulations that they've run, and it was really really 0:07:50.320 --> 0:07:53.400 clear that, um, the way to protect the middle third 0:07:53.720 --> 0:07:56.040 and the bottom third of the PGA Tour membership is 0:07:56.080 --> 0:08:00.480 to move forward with this model that has small fields, uh, 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:04.120 in the in the Destiny events, because that that sort 0:08:04.160 --> 0:08:06.880 of COUNTERINTUITI I want, that's a really key point here. 0:08:07.040 --> 0:08:09.560 Explain that so hard for me to wrap my head around. 0:08:09.600 --> 0:08:11.280 It took a week. So so that's what I actually, 0:08:11.320 --> 0:08:13.600 I've written a note that I've sent out to a 0:08:13.640 --> 0:08:15.320 lot of my peers on the tour, a lot of 0:08:15.360 --> 0:08:18.640 people who were who were, in all honesty somewhat counting 0:08:18.680 --> 0:08:20.520 on me, I think to go in and not let 0:08:20.520 --> 0:08:23.280 this happen. Um. So I've written this note because you're right, 0:08:23.360 --> 0:08:25.800 incredibly counterintuitive, incredibly hard to wrap my head around. And 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:27.200 I told them in this note that a road that 0:08:27.200 --> 0:08:28.920 it took me a week. It took me a week 0:08:28.920 --> 0:08:31.200 of simmering on this for it to kind of settle 0:08:31.240 --> 0:08:33.079 down and make sense. So I don't expect them to 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:36.840 be okay with it in a day. Um. But but 0:08:36.960 --> 0:08:40.400 the nuts and bolts of it is this, Um, you know, 0:08:40.559 --> 0:08:43.640 the events that the events that the majority of the 0:08:43.679 --> 0:08:46.680 tour can count on to play every year. UM. That's 0:08:46.679 --> 0:08:49.080 not to say that they're you know, lesser events, but 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:50.839 you know, if we look, you know, if you look 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:52.760 on the West coast, you've got the MX tournament which 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:56.160 uses multiple courses. Farmers Insurance uses multiple courses, so there's 0:08:56.120 --> 0:09:01.480 a big fields um. Yeah, yeah, we at pebbles, multiple courses, 0:09:01.520 --> 0:09:05.400 big field um. And then you move move west a 0:09:05.559 --> 0:09:07.880 movie sorry, to Florida, and you've got you know, the 0:09:07.880 --> 0:09:10.240 the Honda Classic, which will you know, still exist with 0:09:10.280 --> 0:09:13.160 a new sponsor moving forward. And then vals bar Um 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:16.120 in Tampa, which is you know, a great, amazing golf 0:09:16.160 --> 0:09:18.360 of course, but but you know, a bigger field kind 0:09:18.360 --> 0:09:20.200 of falls right around a couple of big events, so 0:09:20.240 --> 0:09:23.760 it doesn't always get supermarket names. So but all these events, 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:25.640 you know, and you go all the way, take that 0:09:25.679 --> 0:09:27.880 through the summer. And I made this little analogy today 0:09:27.880 --> 0:09:30.760 in my head too, where like, you know, there's all 0:09:30.800 --> 0:09:34.640 these all these people who are like like me've been 0:09:34.640 --> 0:09:36.439 on tour for several years. I've never made it to 0:09:36.520 --> 0:09:40.520 superstar status, you know, never never never sniffed a tour championship, 0:09:40.600 --> 0:09:43.280 but also have kept their card for several years. Um. 0:09:44.280 --> 0:09:46.520 And so I called them like those are the Peter 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:49.680 Malnaughties of the tour. And then with our tournaments, you 0:09:49.760 --> 0:09:52.720 have all these tournaments that are the John Deer Classics 0:09:52.720 --> 0:09:57.080 of the PGA tour schedule that are absolutely amazing events 0:09:57.120 --> 0:09:59.520 that may not always get or may never get the 0:09:59.559 --> 0:10:01.319 top how like like if if you look at the 0:10:01.360 --> 0:10:03.080 John Your Classic, I think it gets one to two 0:10:03.080 --> 0:10:05.960 of the top fifty players in the world, most most summers. 0:10:06.120 --> 0:10:10.760 Yet if you look at what it does, it gives, 0:10:12.320 --> 0:10:14.319 Like I think the last several summers, it's given more 0:10:14.320 --> 0:10:16.920 than ten million dollars back into the Mulling community and 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:19.440 to two charities in the Milling community. And it's a 0:10:19.480 --> 0:10:21.880 well attended event. It's a loved event by that community. 0:10:21.880 --> 0:10:25.880 It's a loved event by players on tour. So the 0:10:25.960 --> 0:10:29.920 reason that this new model works for every single member 0:10:29.920 --> 0:10:31.959 of the PGA Tour and helps every single member of 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:34.640 the PGA Tour is if we had one hundred and 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:39.960 twenty guys playing eight designated events, that takes not only 0:10:40.320 --> 0:10:43.360 the top tier of players out of the full field 0:10:43.400 --> 0:10:46.160 facts couple events, it takes a lot of the middle 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:48.800 tier out as well, because if they know they're immemorial, 0:10:48.840 --> 0:10:52.360 if they know they're in, you know, whatever events, they're gone. 0:10:52.360 --> 0:10:53.839 We don't know for sure what events they're going to out, 0:10:53.840 --> 0:10:55.960 but we can count on the player hosts invitations. I 0:10:55.960 --> 0:10:59.760 think being being elevated. But if if the top tier 0:10:59.800 --> 0:11:02.640 and middle tier know that they're in these designated events, 0:11:03.280 --> 0:11:05.880 they're going to skip, Um, you know, they're going to 0:11:05.920 --> 0:11:08.960 skip all these events in the middle of the schedule. 0:11:09.000 --> 0:11:13.560 They're going to skip the Classics, the vals, bars, the 0:11:13.800 --> 0:11:16.680 John DearS, they're going to skip them, and those events 0:11:16.760 --> 0:11:19.080 won't be able to sustain the level that they've come 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:22.160 to to to know whatether it's a purse level going 0:11:22.200 --> 0:11:25.360 back to the players, or a community impact level that 0:11:25.400 --> 0:11:28.440 they have in the towns where they are. But under 0:11:28.480 --> 0:11:31.480 this model, and there's so much about this model that's 0:11:31.480 --> 0:11:34.760 good actually because um, there's always going to be playing 0:11:34.760 --> 0:11:40.000 opportunities to get into the designated events always, and the 0:11:40.200 --> 0:11:42.880 full field regular FedEx Cup events are all going to 0:11:42.960 --> 0:11:46.400 serve as a qualifying way to get into the designated events. Um, 0:11:47.000 --> 0:11:49.760 we're going to see you know, a couple of names 0:11:49.760 --> 0:11:51.000 that I could pick out. If I looked at our 0:11:51.320 --> 0:11:53.920 I guess this season is so so so early. But 0:11:54.000 --> 0:11:56.040 if I look at our our season and just take 0:11:56.040 --> 0:11:59.560 where it is right now, you know, imagine that we're 0:11:59.679 --> 0:12:02.280 a year ahead. We're in twenty twenty four, but we've 0:12:02.280 --> 0:12:04.880 got the FedEx Coup lists that we have currently right now. 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:09.680 You would have guys, you know, you would have guys 0:12:09.720 --> 0:12:17.079 like you know, Billy Horshell's and Gary Woodlands, and guys 0:12:17.120 --> 0:12:21.920 that fans love, fans know, fans root for, that need 0:12:21.920 --> 0:12:24.760 to play these events, these full field, regular FedEx couple 0:12:24.760 --> 0:12:28.520 events because they might not necessarily be in a smaller 0:12:28.520 --> 0:12:31.920 field designated event, and so they're going to play. And 0:12:32.160 --> 0:12:34.240 it's going to make those events easier to sell the sponsors, 0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:37.080 easier to sell the media partners. Those events are going 0:12:37.120 --> 0:12:39.520 to be able to not only sustain the level they're at, 0:12:39.559 --> 0:12:41.760 I think they will truly be able to grow. And 0:12:41.800 --> 0:12:44.400 there's really wise people on the policy board that agreed 0:12:44.440 --> 0:12:46.920 with that, like that thought that they could realistically see 0:12:47.000 --> 0:12:49.840 growth for those events even though they're living in a 0:12:49.880 --> 0:12:52.640 world now that consists of eight of these designated or 0:12:52.640 --> 0:12:56.760 elevated events. I think we can realistically strengthen every event 0:12:56.800 --> 0:12:59.040 on the PJ Tour under this model, and I don't 0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:00.960 think we could if we at the larger fields that 0:13:01.000 --> 0:13:05.840 I originally fought so hard for. So, if I'm hearing 0:13:05.840 --> 0:13:08.280 you correctly, you think it's that middle tier of players 0:13:08.320 --> 0:13:12.080 that are going to support the lesser tournaments on tour, 0:13:12.120 --> 0:13:15.160 and they're going to be difference makers, but I still 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:21.480 think it's a star driven enterprise. And by kind of 0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:24.120 codifying that there's these two different tours in some ways, 0:13:24.480 --> 0:13:28.400 the John Deers and the Bob Hopes and some of 0:13:28.400 --> 0:13:30.720 those are are they ever going to get top players? 0:13:30.800 --> 0:13:32.760 And if if they don't get the top twenty or 0:13:32.800 --> 0:13:37.720 thirty guys, can they really survive? As as as the 0:13:37.760 --> 0:13:41.320 tour becomes more bifurcated, I think one thing that the 0:13:41.360 --> 0:13:43.240 tour is getting so right here that I didn't give 0:13:43.280 --> 0:13:47.720 them any credit for this. M A smaller field also 0:13:47.800 --> 0:13:50.800 means it's hard to be in those designated events. So 0:13:50.800 --> 0:13:54.960 if you look like like a superstar has a couple 0:13:54.960 --> 0:13:56.920 of meetings on tour, like the superstar is the person 0:13:56.920 --> 0:13:58.880 who's playing great right now, and obviously the top ten 0:13:58.920 --> 0:14:01.960 in the world, you know, like Addie Scheffler, absolutely a superstar. 0:14:02.679 --> 0:14:05.760 But but in terms of our fan base, like Ricky 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:08.360 Fowler's having a great year right now, so he's a 0:14:08.840 --> 0:14:10.960 he's back up to a level. But for the last 0:14:10.960 --> 0:14:14.320 several years Ricky would not be in these designated events 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:16.959 and you can't call him anything other than a superstar. 0:14:17.360 --> 0:14:19.760 And if you look at like, um, you know a 0:14:19.880 --> 0:14:24.640 fran Molinari. Frand Millinari is an absolute superstar in the game, 0:14:25.080 --> 0:14:26.600 but he hasn't played well for a couple of years. 0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:28.880 So he's not going to be in these designated events 0:14:28.920 --> 0:14:31.120 and he's going to need and want to get in them. 0:14:31.240 --> 0:14:34.880 Like that's the world strife for so this year, the 0:14:35.000 --> 0:14:37.360 schedule sucks and we all know that, like, like the 0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:41.000 Tour knows that, every single constituent group knows that, Like, 0:14:41.720 --> 0:14:45.280 you know, the Honda Classic being Sandwich designated designated Honda 0:14:45.400 --> 0:14:51.000 designated players terrible. No one wanted that. It was a 0:14:51.000 --> 0:14:54.320 trans It's a transition year. It's tough. The thing that 0:14:54.400 --> 0:14:56.160 got me to open my mind in the first place 0:14:56.280 --> 0:14:59.080 was looking at the cadence of the schedule for twenty 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:05.360 twenty four. It's beautiful. I truly think that even even 0:15:05.400 --> 0:15:07.360 the Rory mcelroys, and I mean they're going to have 0:15:07.480 --> 0:15:09.800 to play some of the full field events because they can't. 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:12.280 Like that's another good thing the Tour got right is 0:15:12.320 --> 0:15:14.760 the number of these designated events, Like there's not too many. 0:15:14.840 --> 0:15:20.600 They don't dominate the schedule, but the full field Regular 0:15:20.600 --> 0:15:24.120 Effects Cup events, some of the top guys, they're going 0:15:24.160 --> 0:15:26.480 to pick one out of the three pretty much every 0:15:26.480 --> 0:15:29.480 time I think to play, you know, because there's like 0:15:29.520 --> 0:15:31.800 I said that, the schedule has a beautiful flow. It 0:15:31.840 --> 0:15:34.960 goes like designated event full field, full field, full field, 0:15:35.080 --> 0:15:39.440 designated designated full field, full field, designated players, full field, 0:15:39.440 --> 0:15:42.240 full field. So there's always two and a lot of 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:46.680 times three full field events between designated events. And so 0:15:46.720 --> 0:15:49.280 I think even the top players will will most of 0:15:49.280 --> 0:15:51.920 those blocks pick one of the full field events to play, 0:15:52.040 --> 0:15:55.840 especially when they're in blocks of three, and so that helps. 0:15:56.680 --> 0:15:58.520 And then like I, like I was saying before, I 0:15:58.560 --> 0:16:02.320 just think, you know, there are several names in this 0:16:02.440 --> 0:16:06.680 middle group of tour players who have great, great, great 0:16:07.040 --> 0:16:11.960 name name recognition with fans and and are easy sales 0:16:12.120 --> 0:16:14.640 for for title sponsors who are like, oh, yeah, you know, 0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:17.120 we're gonna get Gay Woodland this year. We're gonna get 0:16:17.160 --> 0:16:19.600 Ricky Fowler this year, We're gonna get you know, whoever 0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:21.760 the case may be that maybe didn't have their best 0:16:21.880 --> 0:16:25.640 best play, because honestly, at a number as small as seventy, 0:16:26.240 --> 0:16:28.200 these destinated events are going to be hard to get in. 0:16:28.560 --> 0:16:35.000 And you know, another thing, I just really I truly 0:16:35.040 --> 0:16:41.440 believe that the strength of the entire schedule will be 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:45.200 improved by this, which I that's a one eighty for me. 0:16:45.400 --> 0:16:47.120 I must admit that that's a one eighty for me. 0:16:47.160 --> 0:16:50.800 A week ago, I thought small field no cuts were 0:16:51.400 --> 0:16:55.800 just horrible for the tours model and for the middle 0:16:55.840 --> 0:16:59.400 and bottom of the membership. And I have I haven't 0:16:59.560 --> 0:17:03.280 nudged myself toward thinking it's okay. I'm flipped to where 0:17:03.320 --> 0:17:06.080 I think this is a really good idea. Well, let's 0:17:06.080 --> 0:17:08.200 talk about the no cut because this has been a flashpoint, 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:12.800 and obviously hovering over all of this is live golf, 0:17:12.920 --> 0:17:16.800 and you know, I thought the strongest talking point the 0:17:16.840 --> 0:17:20.240 tour had is that that we are a hardcore competition 0:17:20.680 --> 0:17:23.440 and live is more of an exhibition and they don't 0:17:23.480 --> 0:17:26.440 have to earn it out there. And now all of 0:17:26.480 --> 0:17:28.520 a sudden, the tour has gone to smaller fields, no 0:17:28.640 --> 0:17:32.040 cut guaranteed money. This feeling by some people it's a 0:17:32.080 --> 0:17:34.199 clothes shop, even though there can be some turnover, But 0:17:34.240 --> 0:17:36.200 once you're in these elevated events, it's going to help 0:17:36.200 --> 0:17:39.639 you stay in the elevated events. So do you worry 0:17:39.680 --> 0:17:44.119 that that a fundamental component of the PGA tour is 0:17:44.200 --> 0:17:46.560 being lost that that need to make the cut to 0:17:46.640 --> 0:17:50.440 earn your spot and to prove it and at the 0:17:50.480 --> 0:17:54.359 same time also delineate yourself from the competition. Like a 0:17:54.400 --> 0:17:56.479 lot of people are upset about losing the cuts, especially 0:17:56.480 --> 0:17:58.360 in the most important event. So what is your response 0:17:58.400 --> 0:18:01.399 to that. I worry about that a lot. That that 0:18:01.560 --> 0:18:05.320 is something, um, you know, from as far down as 0:18:05.440 --> 0:18:09.160 you know, I get to UM, I'm really lucky I live. 0:18:09.400 --> 0:18:11.240 I live near the University of Tennessee. They have a 0:18:11.240 --> 0:18:14.000 wonderful practice facility for their golf teams, and so I 0:18:14.359 --> 0:18:15.879 mentored some of the kids on that team who are 0:18:15.960 --> 0:18:18.399 really really good, and and you know they'll ask me 0:18:18.440 --> 0:18:20.040 a lot, you know, you know, what's the biggest step? 0:18:20.080 --> 0:18:21.280 What do I need to do? How do I? And 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:23.600 I always tell him was like in the college Chennamant. 0:18:24.200 --> 0:18:25.640 You know, if you play, allows you the first two 0:18:25.680 --> 0:18:27.480 days and you'll play great the third day, you still 0:18:27.480 --> 0:18:29.160 help your team, you still feel good, it's all good. 0:18:29.760 --> 0:18:31.800 Pro tournament you play allows you the first two days. 0:18:31.960 --> 0:18:34.160 You just spent you know on a minute tour. You've 0:18:34.160 --> 0:18:36.679 probably spent fifteen hundred to two thousand bucks on a 0:18:36.720 --> 0:18:40.960 PGA tour. You've spent you know, four to eight thousand 0:18:40.960 --> 0:18:43.919 bucks and you don't you don't get anything. You go 0:18:44.000 --> 0:18:47.840 home like you're done, and and that's that sucks. And 0:18:48.320 --> 0:18:53.760 that's a real thing in professional golf. And so you know, 0:18:53.840 --> 0:18:56.600 I've thrown this in the Commissioner's space a lot of 0:18:56.640 --> 0:18:59.879 times that the first week Live played, it was, you know, 0:19:00.000 --> 0:19:01.760 I don't even know where they played, somewhere in London 0:19:01.880 --> 0:19:06.280 or something. We were at the RBC Canadian Open, and 0:19:06.400 --> 0:19:10.160 Commissioner went on CBS in the Sunday broadcast and he said, 0:19:11.760 --> 0:19:14.240 what we do at the PGA Tour is true and 0:19:14.359 --> 0:19:18.040 pure competition. And I've I've I've thrown that line at 0:19:18.119 --> 0:19:22.439 him incessantly over the last months because like, we can't, 0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:24.280 we can't have no cut events and say we do 0:19:24.320 --> 0:19:27.840 true and pure competition. That's just And I've been I've 0:19:27.840 --> 0:19:30.240 been adamant about that. And so I'll tell you why 0:19:30.240 --> 0:19:32.800 I'm why I'm at peace with this new model, UM, 0:19:34.280 --> 0:19:37.440 And it's it's the fact that I'll tell you the 0:19:37.480 --> 0:19:41.399 difference between between us and whatever I'm supposed to call 0:19:41.440 --> 0:19:47.760 him Live, UM. The differences Live guys were handpicked, not 0:19:47.800 --> 0:19:51.359 always based based sometimes on popularity, not based on recent 0:19:51.400 --> 0:19:53.880 results or anything like that. They were handpicked to play 0:19:54.680 --> 0:19:57.240 in a field where they're guaranteed to make a lot 0:19:57.240 --> 0:20:06.160 of money. These UM, these designated events will have nobody 0:20:06.280 --> 0:20:09.000 that was handpicked. They're gonna have UM there, there will 0:20:09.040 --> 0:20:13.080 be there will be sponsors, exemptions maximum of four I 0:20:13.119 --> 0:20:15.400 think I don't know if I'm even maximum of four 0:20:15.480 --> 0:20:18.480 for sure, But but they're not going to be they're 0:20:18.480 --> 0:20:21.879 going to be restricted to there's gonna be we haven't 0:20:22.000 --> 0:20:24.560 hammered out all the details. They're going to be restricted 0:20:24.600 --> 0:20:28.920 to either life members, which is Tiger, you know, or 0:20:30.240 --> 0:20:33.280 people who are in form right now, like they're not 0:20:33.320 --> 0:20:35.160 gonna be able to just you know, the tournaments aren' 0:20:35.160 --> 0:20:36.880 gonna able to say, oh, yeah, well we sponsor this guy, 0:20:36.880 --> 0:20:40.000 so we want tom nd. It's got to be someone 0:20:40.080 --> 0:20:42.159 who is you know, whether whether the que with some 0:20:42.200 --> 0:20:44.040 crew criteri we talked about was top hundred in the 0:20:44.080 --> 0:20:48.560 world currently for sponsors, invite or um multiple wins on 0:20:48.600 --> 0:20:51.560 the PGA Tour in the last five years, um, something 0:20:51.560 --> 0:20:55.200 along those lines. There will be nobody in a designated 0:20:55.200 --> 0:20:58.080 event who is being handed a spot and being handed 0:20:58.520 --> 0:21:01.600 you know what, it's last place money or anything like 0:21:02.240 --> 0:21:05.560 every person in those fields has played well to qualify 0:21:05.640 --> 0:21:09.280 for them, and it's either he played incredibly well the 0:21:09.359 --> 0:21:12.600 last season consistently over an entire season and so that 0:21:12.640 --> 0:21:15.560 got you in, or you're hot right now and you've 0:21:15.560 --> 0:21:18.920 played really well in the you know, the weeks or 0:21:19.000 --> 0:21:21.480 months leading up to this designated event to get in them. 0:21:21.720 --> 0:21:25.720 So the players who play in a designated event have 0:21:25.760 --> 0:21:28.199 earned the right to be there with their scores on 0:21:28.240 --> 0:21:31.800