I went to my first Players Championship in ‘85, although back then everybody called it TPC. The course was called TPC, too. It was kind of confusing, like the two ways golfers use the word hole (the hole we play but also the cup). I have watched all of the tournaments since ‘85, most in person, the rest on TV, and that goes back to the second year, in 1975, when Al Geiberger won.
Later, I caddied for Al, aka Skippy. Winning TPC was a big deal for him. It got him a 10-year exemption into all manner of tournaments. He sent me to Memorial, thinking he was in, because of the 10-year thing, but it had expired by then. The tournament people kindly got me a job driving a shuttle van for the week. At the Players, I worked as a spotter for CBS in ’85. Calvin Peete won with Adolphus Hull on his bag. If you knew Hull well, you called him Ball and if you didn’t you called him Golf Ball. Everyone is sort of cordoned off now, players here, caddies here, writers here, agents here, Tour suits here, blah-blah-blah. Wasn’t like that then. Everybody was mixing it up. I was lucky to catch a little of it. It shaped the rest of my life.
This year I’ll be watching the tourney on TV. Broadly speaking, I would say it’s a good but hyped tournament on a good but gimmicky course. The height-of-season green fee, $750, is proof that golf’s gone crazy. Despite it all, and in its own way, the Players is one of golf’s grand events. In the top-10, for sure. I’d put the U.S. Senior Open and the Senior British Open in the top-10, too. I’m gonna say it right here: I think Rory will find himself playing both before he turns 60. Let’s see what the next quarter-century brings.
As the Masters has its annual Wednesday isn’t-that-cute par-3 tournament, the Players has its one-hole Wednesday par-3 tournament, in which the caddies take a swing on the Stadium Course’s cool/absurd 17th hole. You get a crystal bowl if you make an ace in the par-3 tournament in Augusta. J.J. Jakovac, Collin Morikawa’s caddie, won this year’s caddie contest on 17 with an ace. His win got him an engraved money clip, $27,000 and a story he will tell for the rest of his life. Pitching wedge, 132 yards. He got game.
Now, you might be saying: Would it be good if the Players had more of its own thing? Survey says yes. Innovations for legacy tournaments are not easy to come by, but here are a few quick suggestions.
1. Invite the top LIV players on a pay-to-play basis
Wha…? Invite players from the renegade breakaway league to the king of all PGA Tour events?
Yes! Create an eligibility requirement by which any LIV player who has won an individual LIV title in the past year or a major within the past five years may play in the Players — if said player writes a personal check for $500,000 made out to a charity of the player’s choice, plus another 10K for the caddie par-3 contest. No Venmo — we must see the check!
2. Have a pro-am, but not in the traditional sense
In an attempt to look more like the Masters, the U.S. and British Opens and the PGA Championship, the Players does not have a pro-am. But it should! Because if there is any one tournament that needs to show it understands its constituency, it’s the Players.
This does not need to be a traditional all-day pro-am. For instance, the ams, for a relatively modest sum — not even $750! — can sign up to play 16, 17 and 18 with a player in the field late in the afternoon on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. Others would go to the practice tee for a range session with a player sometime early on Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday. Others would eat lunch with a player or Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday. It doesn’t have to be an all-day slog-fest. It does have to provide a setting by which the players can be reminded who makes their lives possible. The Masters, you may know, used to have a long-drive contest. It’s OK, to try different things. More than OK.
3. More creative betting opportunities
For instance, everybody knows that Jay Monahan, the PGA Tour commissioner, loves the word listen. But how many times might he use it in a single Tuesday-morning press conference? The betting window is open! FanDuel weighs the mood and the moment and sets a number. Let’s say 10 — 10 listens in one press conference. Sounds like a lot, right? Well, if that’s the number, take the over! This year, Monahan used listen as a command 20 times, and 21 times all in! Likely a tournament record.
(Example: “Listen, you go back to where we were in January of last year, January 4th in particular, to be able to announce the investment that SSG was making in PGA Tour Enterprises but most importantly to be able to bring that level of experience and expertise on to our board, both within sport and beyond, was a huge step for us.”)
4. Broaden the broadcast reporters-on-site team
I’d suggest bringing in kids working on their middle-school and high-school newspapers to liven up the interviews. Short and straight-forward questions often reveal the players in basic and interesting ways. You can see the kids asking questions like, “You just made $4 million. What are you going to do with it?” Or, “When were you most nervous?” Or, “Do you feel sorry for the guy who finished second?” Or, “Do you have any idea how hard it is to be a golf fan? No, really: Do you know how much effort it takes?”
Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com
