Late Tee Times at Baltusrol ...

[JESII]

Matt,

Instead of pretending none of the financials matter, why don't you take the time to call one of the decision makers and get yourself a good understanding of the logistics with this topic.

[Matt_Ward]

JES II:

I'm not pretending anything -- it's you that are out in the deep cheap left field seats on this one.

Do yourself a huge favor in understanding what you likely don't know -- I was there for the entire week at the PGA -- I had the opportunity to question the Tournament Director -- as did other media right after play was stopped on Sunday -- and the answers that were given came up short big time. If you bother to familiarize yourself you can read a whole host of columns that were printed in the Monday papers from other writers who were there. I guess each of us had glass slippers on too!

I salute the PGA and Baltusrol for all aspects of the tournament save the one where the leaders are pushed right to the end of the day when other more prudent options were available.

You don't seem to understand that the PGA Tour does this routinely. The PGA of America needs to realize that a simply move-up of one hour would have likely accomodated the whole program and all parties -- including the financials -- would have been better served.

[JESII]

Matt

I understand all of the issues you bring up, that's great that you're not the only journalist that had a problem with the Monday finish. Just answer one question:

When contemplating moving play out of the "ideal" time slot to one which might prove more advantageous for all parties, due to the threat of weather, how much time do you alot to each particular weather system?

The reason none of the "majors" move their times is two-fold; any inclement weather problem is unpredictable in time thereby not allowing realistic adjustments such as 1 hour earlier (as you suggest in this case), and secondly the "majors" are a one shot deal each year and none are run by the PGA Tour for the PGA Tour players, and as such need to take full advantage of their opportunity to televise their event for maximum dollars.

I would be curious to see two things.

1) The TV contracts (and especially their differences) of the PGA Tour and those of the Masters, USOpen and PGA.
2) The TV contract for the Players Championship.

You continue to harp on the PGA Tour moving up its tee times on Sundays when weather threatens, and I am aware of this occurance. How do you think this effects their ratings when they do this? Positively? Have you ever seen the Masters, USGA, R & A, or PGA Tour for the Players move up their Sunday tee times due to the threat of inclement weather.

[Matt_Ward]

JES II:

Understand this -- there is no perfect solution. I said that upteeeeen posts ago.

What I said is to follow what the PGA Tour does when inclement weather threatens.

Moving up tee times would provide MORE OPTIONS -- it would not mean having to run everything on the tighest of time tables as a 3:00 PM tee time does. You need to come out of the clouds with this delusional thinking that everything could have been done (playoff included) with the start times originally decided upon for the Sunday final round. That is sheer nonsense and you know it.

Another thing -- just because other events don't follow the sensible actions of the PGA Tour doesn't make them smarter. The Masters had to go to extremely early tee times recently because of wet weather. You may recall them setting up lights for the players with the earliest of tee times.

Smart tournaments make adjustments as needed. The USGA used to only have players start at the 1st tee and it was patently silly with players going off close to 4:00 PM even during the longest of days in June. Now the US Openm allows players to play off both tees.

The point is a simple one -- you don't jeopardize a major championship with a Monday finish if at all possible. How bout you accept the fact that simply moving up the tee times to 2:00 PM would have been the least thing the PGA of America could have done?

[peter_p]

Akron is predicted for a 40% chance of thunderstorms on Saturday, starting at 1 pm. They are using split tees with the last players off at 9:10 EDT. Did CBS learn a lesson? Is there a difference working with PGA vs PGA Tour? Does it matter if it is Saturday vs Sunday? Just questions for which I don;t have answer.

[JESII]

Thanks Peter for that update.

That is a decision the PGA of America could never afford to make.

I wonder if we can determine the difference in both viewing audience and advertising revenue based on the round being played on tape delay at its standard time.

"Does it matter if it is Saturday vs Sunday?"

I would think they (the PGA Tour) are more likely to do this on a Sunday than a Saturday due to the opportunity to finish a Saturday round Sunday morning. So that's interesting to me.

I know this for sure, whether or not I tune in at 4pm will depend on the leaderboard when they finish their round at 1:30 pm. I can assure the PGA Tour and CBS would not want to hear that.

[A.G._Crockett]

Akron is predicted for a 40% chance of thunderstorms on Saturday, starting at 1 pm. They are using split tees with the last players off at 9:10 EDT. Did CBS learn a lesson? Is there a difference working with PGA vs PGA Tour? Does it matter if it is Saturday vs Sunday? Just questions for which I don;t have answer.

According to the new issue of Golf World, the PGA Tour routinely moves tee times up, goes to threesomes, and uses split tees even on the weekends in cases with a forecast like Baltusrol last Sunday.  I would assume, therefore, that the difference is NOT CBS learning something, but the PGA not knowing.

[JESII]

JES II:

Understand this -- there is no perfect solution. I said that upteeeeen posts ago.

EXACTLY, WHY NOT HOPE FOR THE BEST INSTEAD OF HEDGING YOUR BET WHEN YOU ONLY HAVE ONE CHANCE PER YEAR?

What I said is to follow what the PGA Tour does when inclement weather threatens.
As I asked before, does the PGA Tour do this for their "major", The Players?

Moving up tee times would provide MORE OPTIONS UNDER THAT LOGIC, MOVING UP THE TEE TIMES THREE HOURS WOULD PROVIDE EVEN MORE OPTIONS, WOULD YOU SUPPORT THAT PLAN? END THE TOURNAMENT AT 3:45PM it would mean not having to run everything on the tighest of time tables as a 3:00 PM tee time does. You need to come out of the clouds with this delusional thinking that everything could have been done (playoff included) with the start times originally decided upon for the Sunday final round. That is sheer nonsense and you know it. I SUPPOSE MY BOLD PRINT A FEW POSTS AGO THAT GOT YOU SO HOT AND BOTHERED WAS ALSO ILLEGIBLE. DO IT ON PAPER, 3PM TEE OFF, 7 PM FINISH (AT THE LATEST), 710PM START PLAYOFF, 750PM FINISH PLAYOFF. PRETTY CLEAR AND EASY REALLY.

Another thing -- just because other events don't follow the sensible actions of the PGA Tour doesn't make them smarter. The Masters had to go to extremely early tee times recently because of wet weather. You may recall them setting up lights for the players with the earliest of tee times. INTERESTING APPROACH ON THIS, SO NOW THE PGA AND MASTERS DIRECTORS ARE UNINTELLIGENT. YOU'RE REALLY STRENGTHENING YOUR POSITION WITH STATEMENTS LIKE THAT.

Smart tournaments make adjustments as needed. The USGA used to only have players start at the 1st tee and it was patently silly with players going off close to 4:00 PM even during the longest of days in June. Now the US Openm allows players to play off both tees.WOULD YOU ARGUE THAT THIS IS BETTER FOR THE PLAYERS AS WELL? HOW ABOUT THE FANS? HOW DOES THIS IMPROVE YOUR LIFE?

The point is a simple one -- you don't jeopardize a major championship with a Monday finish if at all possible. How bout you accept the fact that simply moving up the tee times to 2:00 PM would have been the least thing the PGA of America could have done? I DID ACCEPT THIS SEVERAL POSTS AGO IF YOU SHOW ME WHO IS GOING TO MAKE UP THE FINANCIAL DIFFERENCE TO BOTH THE PGA AND CBS. THEY'RE THE ONLY ONES WITH ACTUAL CHIPS IN THE GAME, SO WHY WOULD THEY NOT HOPE FOR A BEST CASE SCENARIO?

[Matt_Ward]

JES II:

Be sure to contact Tom MacWood -- the master of tap dancing -- because you show no desire to apply common sense to this discussion.

Let me point this out again ...

Major championships run by the folks at Augusta (starting with lights being added to the practice range) and the USGA (having players go off both tees to avoid the near 4:00 PM start times in years past) are clear statements that both events are fully aware that keeping the event moving and on time line for a Sunday finish is a must. Both organizations made decisions over the years to accomodate the players when fading sunlight or issues directly related to play have happened.

Why the PGA chose -- that's the right word -- they CHOSE to ignore the clear warning signals with an inane 3:00 PM start is hard to ignore -- except for you.

Forgive me -- but this nonsense of "hedging you bet" is preposterous. You move things (tee times) in a fluid fashion. The facts govern the options and the PGA of America ignored them. There would have been no impact on the financials if the tee times were moved up no less than an hour. Do yourself a huge favor and read Ron Sirak's column in the current issue of Golf World -- the won with Phil on the cover. There are a whole host of other columns with the same opinions. I guess everyone of them -- but YOU -- is incorrect.

The PGA Tour has moved tee times in the Players Championship -- their personal showcase event. If it can be done on Tour routinely -- why the problem with the PGA? The Players Championship has even scheduled 36 hole finishes with the TPC in order to get all play finished by Sunday.

Let me point out that this idea in trying to milk the clock for increased viewrship is a risky play. I am fully aware of the desire to get higher ratings but you don't jeopardize the actual event with such a silly and ill-conceived plan of attack relating to the order of play and tee times. The end result is having a championship conducted in a manner befitting the title being contested for. Just remember the PGA need only see the tapes of Tiger's win in '02 at the US Open at Bethpage -- the man won the event with minutes to spare on daylight. That was simply inexcusable then and now with this year's event at Baltusrol.

You jokingly say that tee times could have been moved up several hours -- I never said that. I did say that moving up things at least ONE HOUR would have been able to settle the issue for all involved and avoid the dreaded Monday finish.

Let me finish with your incessant need for the "financials." A Monday finish meant increased costs to the PGA for security, parking and all the other related activities that go with adding another day to the event -- finishing Sunday would have ADDED to their overall botton line. Let me also point out that TV time for Monday meant a further reduction in viewership -- having the event conclude on Sunday -- which could have been done -- is where the bulk of viewership was (note the 20% increase in viewership for this year's PGA when compared to the '04 event.



 

[Jim Nugent]

This week´s NEC tournament gives us some contrast with how last week´s PGA might have gone.  Bad weather was predicted for Saturday´s round at Firestone.  So the PGA Tour moved up tee times, played threesomes, and sent players off both 1st and tenth tees.  

Here is how the PGA Tour describes it...

 •Due to expected inclement weather in the area on Saturday afternoon, the tee times for the third round have been moved up to 7:20 a.m. ET, while the last tee time will be 9:10 a.m. ET. Players will be grouped in threesomes off of both the first and 10th tees. Television coverage on CBS will be tape-delayed on Saturday.

•The WGC-NEC Invitational is the 17th tournament this year to be affected by weather in some form or fashion causing delays or earlier starts.

15 tournaments suffered delays and/or earlier starts this year before the PGA.  Clearly the concept of planning for bad weather is common.  Would be eager to know all the financial issues, that maybe explain why the PGA gave itself no wriggle room last Sunday.  

[JESII]

Sure am glad I get to see these Thursday highlights this afternoon. I wish they had played todays round yesterday because this weather was threatening.  

Matt,

The Masters and Players examples were not used in anticipation of inclement weather, they were trying to catch up from prior delays. There is a huge difference there, but I assume you already thought of that.

In a recent post you stated that "there would have been no impact on the financials if the tee times had been moved up by less than one hour". What is the impact? Do you have even an educated estimate? If you have no idea why would you say that? If you do have a good idea, please tell me because I have been asking that for a few days now and you keep ducking the question as though it's a ridiculous notion.

The other problem with your position is the negotiating leverage the PGA Tour carries as opposed to the PGA of America. How many events does CBS carry for the PGA Tour? Do you think that comes into play in the contract talks? The Tour and its network carriers know that there will good weeks and bad and in the end they come up with a position. Not as attractive "financially" for the Tour as if Tiger were on the leaderboard every week, but also not as attractive to CBS as if each event cost them (to pay licensing fees to the Tour) as much as the B.C. Open might. In this I am discussing purely the deal between the Tour and the networks.

The PGA has one and a half events to hang their contracts (and therefore much of their revenue) on, why would they risk some percentage of that revenue on speculative weather? Remember, weather is very unpredictable, noone knows how long each storm will last, so why would you abandon your own personal best case scenario on speculation?

p.s. why would your position not support moving the tee times as early as possible instead of just one hour? Is it because you posted this thread Monday or Tuesday and by then it was clear One hour would have been enough? Maybe you should re-title the thread THE MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK.

[JESII]

Saturday's play suspended until Sunday!

Last tee time today was 9:10.

Unpredictable!

[Jim Nugent]

Saturday's play suspended until Sunday!

Last tee time today was 9:10.

Unpredictable!

And if they had NOT moved play up?  We´d be looking at another Monday finish this week too.  Still could happen, of course.  But at least they have the chance now to finish on Sunday.   As they would have at Baltusrol, had they started play an hour earlier.  

Other than possible financial issues -- which we´ve really only speculated on so far -- the decision at the PGA was clearly a poor one.  

[JESII]

Jim,

Thanks for the input, but if not for the financial issues this is not a conversation. Matt's initial post completely ignored any financial ramifications for moving tee times up one hour and my counter was that the financials must be considered (if there is a difference (which we can only assume because why else would every event schedule a 7pm finish)), along with the facty that weather is to unpredictable to speculate about and you would be just as safe by planning for the best.

If it can be illustrated to me that the financial difference between finishing at 5:30 or 6:00 pm is negligible as it compares to finishing at 7:00pm I would concede 100% that it was a bad decision to keep tee times as they were set.

The other argument that a platoff, if needed, would not be able to commence due to darkness (if there were no delays) is way off base and really just grasping at straws.

My comments on immediate prior post to this were meant to illustrate what can very easily happen if you decide to try completing play Sunday (only this circumstance was on Saturday). Who wins today?

[Matt_Ward]

JES II:

Wake up man.

I always weighed the financials -- it's you who ignored them. The PGA of America had to pay a good sum of $$ for the next day -- ditto the return of volunteers, players, etc, etc. The actual telecast would have benefited greatly if the event concluded on time and the PGA could have accomplished that in simply moving up the tee times and repairing as needed.

The PGA Tour does this routinely -- see what they did at the NEC event this past weekend.

You keep barking about financials but you don't seem to realize that a Monday finish -- especially for a major championship is akin to having the party going full blast and then turning the lights out before the climax. The ratings on a Monday morning finish were no where near what Sunday provided.

You say that the mentioning of the playoff argument is "grasping at straws." Rubbish. The playoff needs to be calculated into the time factor for the event itself. The PGA of America failed to do that because they provided themselves no wiggle room whatsoever. No solution is 100% perfect but you continue the silly defense of a 3:00 PM start time for the final group.

That's inane and if you were sensible enough and man enough to admit it we could move on. Simply retyping the same blather and restating it over and over again doesn't address the common sense approach the PGA Tour takes in such matters and one the PGA of America should do in future Championships from this point forward.

End of story.

[JESII]

Matt,

I did not, until now, realize you only posted this thread in order to bitch about the Monday finish. So sorry  .

I understand that a Monday finish is the worst case scenario, no question, and never said it wasn't. You seem to think I am saying it is not, I'm not. What I'm saying is that there is a cost to playing an hour earlier on Sunday. I do not know the cost, but I can assure you there is one or else why would every televised event schedule that time slot for their finish.

My position is that hindsight is 20/20 and that looking at it on Saturday evening and seeing the potential for inclement weather put the PGA in a position to either take a risk or take a loss. The trouble with your argument to tee off one hour earlier is that in "taking that loss" you still have the risk of weather and a possible Monday finish.

I've been trying to explain to you why they kept the 3pm start, not defending the fact that it blew up in their face.

A couple of things you say alarm me because I've devoted time to this conversation and I hate to waste time with someone that doesn't pay attention. First, you say "The playoff needs to be calculated into the time factor for the event itself." Really, do you actually think they need to plan on finishing their scheduled golf an hour prior to the end of network coverage? Interesting concept, why don't you run that past some of your media buddies, then duck  .  Second, you said "The PGA Tour does this routinely -- see what they did at the NEC event this past weekend." I did see what happened this weekend. How did that work out? Saturday they teed off at 9am and still did not finish, they had to finish Sunday morning. Imagine it were Sunday.

You will get one concession from me, and I've and stated this position all along. If you can illustrate the actual financial difference in television revenue on Sunday evening between finishing at 6 and at 7 and it is negligible then the PGA made a bad decision. Otherwise, they made the only decision they could considering the speculative nature of predicting inclement weather.

Is there any chance you can determine the financials?

[Jim Nugent]

Matt,

I did not, until now, realize you only posted this thread in order to bitch about the Monday finish. So sorry  .

I understand that a Monday finish is the worst case scenario, no question, and never said it wasn't. You seem to think I am saying it is not, I'm not. What I'm saying is that there is a cost to playing an hour earlier on Sunday. I do not know the cost, but I can assure you there is one or else why would every televised event schedule that time slot for their finish.

My position is that hindsight is 20/20 and that looking at it on Saturday evening and seeing the potential for inclement weather put the PGA in a position to either take a risk or take a loss. The trouble with your argument to tee off one hour earlier is that in "taking that loss" you still have the risk of weather and a possible Monday finish.

I've been trying to explain to you why they kept the 3pm start, not defending the fact that it blew up in their face.

A couple of things you say alarm me because I've devoted time to this conversation and I hate to waste time with someone that doesn't pay attention. First, you say "The playoff needs to be calculated into the time factor for the event itself." Really, do you actually think they need to plan on finishing their scheduled golf an hour prior to the end of network coverage? Interesting concept, why don't you run that past some of your media buddies, then duck  .  Second, you said "The PGA Tour does this routinely -- see what they did at the NEC event this past weekend." I did see what happened this weekend. How did that work out? Saturday they teed off at 9am and still did not finish, they had to finish Sunday morning. Imagine it were Sunday.

You will get one concession from me, and I've and stated this position all along. If you can illustrate the actual financial difference in television revenue on Sunday evening between finishing at 6 and at 7 and it is negligible then the PGA made a bad decision. Otherwise, they made the only decision they could considering the speculative nature of predicting inclement weather.

Is there any chance you can determine the financials?

So far the argument has been qualitative.  I too would like to see hard numbers.  My bet is that JES is right: the PGA would lose money from the network if they moved up the start of the round.  

Whether or not that is so, the 3pm start cut things awfully thin, even given perfect weather.  Seems likely that the PGA dug itself into a hole.  Schedule earlier and get less revenue.  Schedule later and risk not completing the round.  

Until we see some real numbers this is mostly an exercise in rhetoric.

[Matt_Ward]

Jim / JES II:

Here's what you both fail to understand -- the PGA Tour routinely does what I have suggested and the financials for them work out just fine.

The Tour understands that competitive golf  / time lines needs to have some connection to the players, sponsors and the actual events themselves.

The PGA of America was out-to-lunch on the idea that the last tee time could be 3:00 PM and NOTHING COULD OR WOULD GO WRONG that would allow all players to finish PLUS have the time to conduct a three-hole minimum playoff. For anyone to say that moving up things at least one hour would not have made a difference is the height of stupidity.

The forecasts were right on target and mind you the PGA Tour routinely understand the pressing demands of its TV partners but it never fails to minimize the importance in not losing your Sunday audience with a Monday finish.

JES II --

One last thing -- at least the PGA Tour took an action to deal with the weather forecasts. Folks in the media -- including the fans who purchase the tickets -- understand there is no perfect solution -- but they do commend the actions of an organization that is aware such as the PGA Tour. That's something the PGA of America failed to recognize cementing a 3:00 PM tee time which will only lend itself to more problems than one can reasonably handle.

[JESII]

Jim / JES II:

Here's what you both fail to understand -- the PGA Tour routinely does what I have suggested and the financials for them work out just fine. Because they have 40 or more events per year there is more wiggle room. The PGA has two.

The Tour understands that competitive golf  / time lines needs to have some connection to the players, sponsors and the actual events themselves.

The PGA of America was out-to-lunch on the idea that the last tee time could be 3:00 PM and NOTHING COULD OR WOULD GO WRONG that would allow all players to finish PLUS have the time to conduct a three-hole minimum playoff. For anyone to say that moving up things at least one hour would not have made a difference is the height of stupidity. Who said that? What I've said is that in this case your argument works because as a monday morning quarterback, an hour is all you would have needed. Oh no, unless there a playoff would have been required Sunday evening. So sorry.

The forecasts were right on target and mind you the PGA Tour routinely understand the pressing demands of its TV partners but it never fails to minimize the importance in not losing your Sunday audience with a Monday finish. I have no evidence on this, but yesterday's coverage sure seemed like a tape delay to me due to the rapid frequency of many of their sequences. Would you consider that honest if it were the case. Whose best interest is that in?

JES II --

One last thing -- at least the PGA Tour took an action to deal with the weather forecasts. Folks in the media -- including the fans who purchase the tickets -- understand there is no perfect solution -- but they do commend the actions of an organization that is aware such as the PGA Tour. That's something the PGA of America failed to recognize cementing a 3:00 PM tee time which will only lend itself to more problems than one can reasonably handle. There is only one problem here Matt, and it is weather. The PGA took the stance that it was to unpredictable to make significant adjustments for so they held firm. It blew up in their faces, but it certainly does not warrant you coming on here screeching about it for a week. If you're calling these people stupid, you're way out of line and if you don't think the "financials" played the leading role in the decision you're very narrow-minded.

Did you see how apologetic the CBS guys were when they came back live on the air on Saturday (around 4 or 430pm)? They almost acted as though they had tried to sneak something past the audience and got caught. Admittedly it was announced, and I knew, it was tape delayed but Nantz certainly was a bit regretful.

[Matt_Ward]

JES II:

What does taking proactive steps have to do with how many or few events you have? The PGA of America has two huge cash cows in the PGA Championship and the Ryder Cup -- clearly finishing up events on schedule can be done -- the solutions are self evident.

Again -- you blow smoke where a simple adjustment would have likely been all that is necessary.

Your like the wolf who huffs and puffs but can't seem to get this through the space between your ears -- a reasonable alternative was available -- the PGA simply ignored it because of a proported concrete tee time protocol. Allowing things to slide to Monday only lessened the pot of $$ for all concerned.

The coverage of the NEC on Sunday was live to my knowledge. The speed of the sequences that you alledge is nothing more than you "grasping for straws."

There is no "Monday morning QBing" on my part. Making adjustments is the sign of taking positive action. Hunkering down and not making any adjustment is simply cavalier at best and outright idiocy at worst. The PGA of America could have made the slightest of adjustments knowing full well that the idea that "scattered storms" were much mroe prevalent and it's something no less than the Weather Channel repeated often on Saturday leading into Sunday.

The botton line is this -- you can repeat the silly arguments you've been making but you know full well that reasonable options could and should have been taken. You can throw all the BS and tap dance scenarios you want but the idea that one could complete all the activities that needed to be completed before 8:00 PM given a 3:00 PM tee time is sheer lunacy on your part and that of the PGA of America.

[JESII]

Matt,

Lets make this easy:

Why are tournaments scheduled to finish at 7pm eastern almost every week?

Breathe easy and count to ten, you can do it.

[Matt_Ward]

JES II:

Breathe even easier and repeat after me -- if repeated weather forecasts call for severe thunderstorms and damging winds and they expect such conditons to arrive at 5-7 PM in your given location -- what do you do?

Geeze, I forgot -- you would do what the PGA of America did -- simply ignore the obvious and plod on. How silly.

One other thing -- the PGA Tour makes adjustments and you can't argue your way out of that one. You know it -- so do yourself a favor and admit that other proactive remedies could have been added as needed for the Sunday final round at Baltusrol.

A 7:00 PM finish only works if everything happens in a clockwork manner and you simply ignore the ramifications of a three-hole playoff. Take off the blinders and see the issues with a grain of reality and common sense. I presume you do have such capacity. Forgive me for being presumptious on that front.

[HamiltonBHearst]

Did you ever notice that all the raters "access seekers" bitch the most about these tournaments?

[Jim Nugent]

Does anyone know if the starting time for any major has ever been moved up?  Off the top of my head I can´t think of any.

Matt: obviously the PGA did not leave itself any margin of error.  They may not have had enough time to get in a playoff, even without weather delays.  I agree with you 100% up to here.  You may be right, too, on the financial issues, but you haven´t made your case there.  I think you need hard numbers to back up what you say.  Analogies to the PGA Tour don´t cut it.  I´m real interested to see a complete breakdown of the costs and revenues  involved.  

[Matt_Ward]

Jim:

If you need the specific financials then contact CEO Jim Awtrey at the PGA of America in Palm Beach, FL.

The PGA of America did state (Kerry Haigh said this at the Sunday press conference when play was suspended for the day) that an extra day would mean more $$ out of the Association's pocket for the extra day in regards to the use of the facility, security, maintenance and other assorted categories.

Keep this in mind Jim -- ratings Sunday for the event were up 20% from the previous year. That is a fact. In addition, it would behoove the PGA to finish on the time in order to reap the benefits of the increased viewrship rather than allowing the event to slide into Monday.

If the event had finished a bit early -- the tournament presentation ceremony plus extended interviews with the key players could easily fill in the extra time as needed.

The 3:00 PM start cannot work when you reach August in the NY metro area. With no wiggle room the probabilities against finishing were all but certain to be defeated. Given the magnitude of the event it's hard to imagine what the PGA of America is thinking with such a late tee time. The Association, in conjunction with the club, did a superb job in all other aspects for the event. All but the issue of start times on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. No less than champion Phil Mickelson raised the issue right after the 3rd round.