Jack Nicklaus '86 Masters Video

So I was only 6 years old in 1986 when Jack won his 18th professional major at age 46, but I remember coming home from grandparent's house in Augusta and watching the end of the final round with my dad. Here is a great 10 minute video with highlights from the final round.

Changes to the FedEx Cup

The PGA Tour came out with changes to the FedEx Cup today. The first 3 events will be played in succession beginning August 21st. Then there will be a 1 week break with absolutely no golf on the PGA Tour. The following week (September 21st) the Ryder Cup will be held at Valhalla. The only other "change" is that a portion of the prize money will be paid directly to the players rather than put into the player's retirement account.

The tour's press release says the first year worked "well enough" and therefore no major changes were made. I think that statement is questionable at best. This year your 2 biggest stars in Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson skipped an event, as did Ernie Els and British Open Champion Padraig Harrington. This change will help those that will play in the Ryder Cup, but I don't see where it will do anything about players skipping events.

I just don't think Tim Finchem and the rest of the Tour leadership did enough. According to Jason Sobel at ESPN.com 37.5% of fans thought there needed to major overhaul and 44.2% thought there needed to be minor changes. I don't think what has been done would even qualify as a minor change, from my eyes it looks like a "no change."

The Tour does note the posibility of a revision in the point system, but this will not be finalized until February - after the season has already begun. Hopefully this change will take place and give more players a chance to challenge for the championship. However, none of the changes made or the proposed changes address the major problem with the schedule. I don't see Tiger or Phil being anymore likely to play 5 of 6 weeks than they were to play 4 in a row this year.

Maybe next year.

Timberlake Open Bringing SexyBack to the Fall Series

Justin Timberlake will join the Fall Series next year. Some may remember that in the spring Timberlake said he would like to play in a PGA Tour event. Fortunately we won't have to watch a 6 handicapper playing on TV. Timberlake's role will be as a tournament host, a la Bob Hope and Bing Crosby.

His event will be what was this year the Frys.com Open (not to be confused with the Fry's Electronics Open). It will take place from October 13-19, 2008 in Las Vegas. The name of the event is even ridiculous in these day of multiple corporate sponsors, as it will be called the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, which leads me to wonder what was wrong with simply the Las Vegas Invitational?

The tournament will have Timberlake and a concert. Problem is that it still won't have any of the top players. I am guessing the teenage girl demographic is not going to help ratings on the Golf Channel for the tournament.

I have nothing against Timberlake, but this makes post-FedEx even less relevant in my eyes. This leads me to believe even more in my hypothesis that the Fall Series could be gone soon - if Tim Finchem and the tour brass don't make some changes to the FedEx Cup and/or the current Fall Series.

PGA Tour Fall Series

The PGA Tour is in the midst of its Fall Series right now, but is there even any interest among casual golf fans? Those of you, like me, would watch the Christmas Island Open if it was on the Golf Channel are still watching, but I bet most are not. The casual golf fan just isn't interested in the battle to finish in the top 125 on the money list and keep a Tour card for next year.

First, there is a lack of star power. Tiger isn't playing in any of these of post Tour Championship/FedEx Cup events and I don't believe he will in future years either. This week's event in Scottsdale had Phil Mickelson in the field, but he missed the cut. According to www.philmickelson.com, this will be his last PGA Tour event of the season. Obviously all the players out there are great, but without the big names that doesn't matter for viewership.

Next, there are too many other sporting events going on. You have the NFL, college football, baseball pennant races and playoffs, and the start of the NHL and NBA seasons.

One final issue is the TV coverage. With Saturdays and Sundays full of football, the events have been relegated to the Golf Channel. Someone flipping through the channels isn't as likely to flip to the Golf Channel to watch an event. Many might check ABC, NBC, CBS or ESPN, but they aren't going to check out the Golf Channel.

What does this mean for the future of these events? I wouldn't be surprised if these events are gone in the not so distant future. The problems above could easily lead to a lack of sponsorship and in today's world an event can't survive without a sponsor. Look at the last 2 events - this week they are playing the Fry's Electronic Open and last week was the Frys.com Open. If the best the Tour/events could was get the same sponsor 2 weeks in a row, it is pretty obvious to me that there was not much competition to sponsor these events. It would be sad to see an event that has been around since 1922 (like the Texas Open) fade away, but I think it is more than plausible without a change to FedEx Cup or a reshuffle of events.