The Round Table: a revamped team event, an instant major and the end of Tiger

Each week we ask our panel of writers, PGA members and golf industry experts to weigh in with their views on the hot topics of the day.

Last week, the Zurich Classic included a handful of Top 50 players but it was two relatively obscure players that won the team event. In fact the field contained a lot of obscure players, non-PGA Tour members and even a couple of well-past-their-prime veterans in John Daly and David Duval who finished dead last and an embarrassing 12 shots behind the second worst score. What are your thoughts on the field for this event, the format and any reasonable suggestions for making it better?

Jim Deeks, Fairways Magazine (@jimdeeks): I must admit, I’m having to get used to turning on the Golf Channel or NBC coverage and squinting to read names I’ve never heard of on the leaderboards of most events these days – at least on the PGA and LPGA Tours.  The Zurich Classic was like reading the roster for a Canadian Tour event in Newfoundland… that is, until Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin showed up on Sunday afternoon with a great joint round and finished second.  I dunno what to do about this.  I suppose I should be more tolerant and happy for all the new names coming forward.  But without familiar names like McIlroy, Spieth, Scheffler, Rahm on the leaderboard, it’s hard to make a point of tuning in, or paying attention if you do.  Maybe they should all be “designated events” for the big names.  (Yeah, good luck with that, Jim.)

Craig Loughry, Golf Ontario (@craigloughry): I think the event is embarrassed too, they should be. That field needs some serious re-thinking on quality control. I like the format, it’s unique, but the minimum player qualifications need to be evaluated, or maybe created based on the players in the field. I know it’s coming, but wouldn’t it be cool to pair up one LPGA player and one PGA Tour player, and REQUIRE there to be top 100 player participation? Agents/Sponsors can easily help coordinate this; maybe pair two TaylorMade staffers. I’d absolutely watch this event if changed. As it is now, I watched the finish on Sunday because our Canadians were in the hunt.

Michael Schurman, Master Professional / Hall of Fame Member, PGA of Canada: With the mess created by Jay Monahan and his Mega events there has to be some collateral damage and the Zurich Classic is one of them. Other tournaments will attract some top players depending on the course, attractions for their families, sponsor obligations and personal reasons. Don’t expect to see strong fields out of loyalty, duty or other long-gone romantic reasons. There are few features that appeal to the players more than being a major, money, points and PGA Tour obligations. Pray for the Canadian Open. As for improving the event, add one day of two-man scramble.

TJ Rule, Golf Away Tours (@GolfAwayTJ): The event does nothing for me, and I understand trying different formats, so that’s not the issue. It’s just that the field is weak and why are they inviting guys like Duval and Daly?  Taking away money and FedEx points for fringe players trying to keep their cards.  It just doesn’t do anything for me, but do I have any suggestions?  Not really.  It’s just tough for events to draw big names if they aren’t a designated event.

Peter Mumford, Fairways Magazine (@FairwaysMag): The Match Play event has been eliminated. The Zurich team event is the only thing between us and a constant diet of 72-hole stroke play events. Keep it, fix it, maybe even elevate it. Daly and Duval were a joke but if they had contended or even made the cut as Jay and Bill Haas did, it would have been brilliant. No reason you can’t have a fun, light-hearted break in the action at the mid-point of the season. This is supposed to be entertainment. Make it four days of alternate shot with a huge purse, add women, add seniors, add international players, stir until smooth.

The LPGA just had its first major of the year at a new venue and with a new title sponsor. The Chevron Championship replaces the old Colgate Dinah Shore Kraft Nabisco ANA Inspiration event that had been staged at Mission Hills Country Club since 1972 and always featured the winner jumping into Poppy’s Pond. It seems that one reason majors are considered so important is because of their historical legacy, their traditions and their continuity. Should a tournament with a new course and new sponsor automatically be considered a major without some testing period?

Deeks: In my view, no, it shouldn’t.  And the Chevron tournament itself did nothing to warrant its being considered a major… pond splash or not.  I think when the old tournament expired last year, the LPGA should have awarded major status to another existing and stalwart event… i.e., the CP Canadian Women’s Open, which is the descendant of the DuMaurier Classic, which WAS a major on the LPGA for several years, and is arguably the most popular tournament among the LPGA players in part for the enormous crowds who come to watch!  As far as I know, no such discussions ever took place… a missed opportunity for the LPGA, and a bit of an insult to Canadian golf fans.

Loughry: This is a good question. I would think with the history (as a past Major), and current support that the Canadian Woman’s Open has that it would have been a natural fit to slide into a Major designation. Although all Majors had to start at year 1 sometime, at some venue I do think history matters. I would have liked to have seen (if not evident at the start of this answer) that a current event with long history would have been elevated to Major status. And preferably on some kind of historically significant club/course.

Schurman: As I have previously written, the men’s four majors were determined by Arnold Palmer and Bob Drum when Arnie won the Masters and the US Open back-to-back. Between them, while flying to the UK, they decided the Open and the PGA would become the Grand Slam. Nobody knows who decided the Ladies’ majors including how the DuMaurier Classic become one. The entire subject now comes down to political influence and money. If someone actually cared about doing the right thing, perhaps the best group to make up the qualifying criteria, it would be the World Golf Hall of Fame. Once they set down the guidelines, they could begin by removing the Men’s Players Championship from being the top major and include it in the Grand Slam where it should be.

Rule: The PGA Tour moves three of their majors around every year, and three of the other four LPGA majors move around as well, so I don’t see an issue with moving this tourney to a new venue.  It’s still the same tournament, and perhaps it’s good to try other venues, it’s not like Mission Hills is the Augusta of the LPGA Tour.  If they could put the ladies on an iconic course, I could see generating some real interest and – eventually – history.

Mumford: Part of what makes the Masters so popular with fans is their familiarity with the golf course. Same for the Players Championship. Perhaps that will happen eventually for the Chevron tournament too but there are plenty of other long-standing LPGA hosts that could have been elevated to majors. Sure, it would have been nice to see the CP Women’s Open get some consideration but I’d prefer at least one LPGA major to stay in the same spot.

Tiger Woods announced last week that he had successful surgery to fuse two bones in his right ankle together and would be out of competition for at least three months. Many in the media speculate we won’t see Tiger again in 2023 except maybe at the PNC Championship where he can take a cart. In the bigger picture though, we wonder, for the umpteenth time, if this spells the end of Tiger’s competitive career. Your thoughts?

Deeks: Who knows?  The guy is now rivalling The Who for most comebacks in a single career.  I admire his pluck, and fortitude, and perseverance, but I think Tiger should retire and rest on his laurels. Hyping up media interest then failing to compete just doesn’t do justice to his legacy, and risks becoming part of a late show host’s monologue. It’s a shame he didn’t get to tie or beat Jack’s majors record, but he will forever be mentioned in the same breath as Jack, in terms of Greatest of All Time. Let that suffice, Tiger… don’t dim the lustre.

Loughry: Every time I think he’s mending he has a setback, and I’ve always gone on record as saying I wouldn’t bet against him. I’m now having serious doubts as to whether we’ll see him seriously contend at all in any tournament he plays in ever again. I will no longer speculate on his future in competitive golf.

Schurman: I think Tiger should join LIV. The PGA TOUR already pays him silly money when he doesn’t play. They say the money is for performance and actions that generate profile and income for the PGA TOUR. If that were the case, Arnie’s estate should get a big check every year too. I’m so tired of Tiger, Tiger, Tiger and Phil, Phil, Phil I actually turn up the volume to hear Brooks K who is always likely to say something dumb.

Rule: The way he was wobbling around at Augusta showed how seriously his body is beat up at this point in time. And now he has another surgery, how many operations can a body withstand and still remain competitive at the top end of a sport?  I hate to admit it, and I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t see him being competitive any more on Tour.  He has proved many wrong in the past, but it seems like The Big Cat has now used up most if not all of his nine lives.

Mumford: Someone recently compared Tiger to the knight in Monty Python’s Holy Grail who had his arm cut off and shrugged it off as a mere flesh wound. I’ve lost count of the number of surgeries Tiger has endured and body parts he has broken, strained, torn or ruptured. Injuries can be fixed but each one takes a toll, and you have to wonder what’s next. There’s no way Tiger is competitive again without a cart, so maybe we have to wait a few years until he’s eligible for the Senior circuit. But why he’d want to do that is beyond me. Does he have Bernhard Langer’s record taped to his wall?