[JakaB]

The BBGE is proud to declare the Australian Masters has replaced the PGA Championship as one of the four tournaments recognized as a Major.   Details will follow...

[James Edwards]

John,

Cmon...Where are you going with this one?

[JakaB]

James,

Take a look at the golfing world as it exists today...competively and architecturally and ask yourself if it is good for the game to have three of the majors in the United States.....then ask yourself if a tournament that is interested in allowing local rules and easy set ups to protect the "embarrassment" of its participants at the expense of a great course is really a major tournament....then look at all the great possibilities of holding one of only four major tournaments in Australia on a rota of the great courses they possess and it is a slam dunk....The History of what is a major has changed over the years...and while the BBGE is but a small player in the golfing world....change...and specifically change for the better has to start somewhere.   The PGA will continue to be a nice little tournament for its members and invities...but really....shouldn't every great tournament in the world showcase the great amateurs of its day.   The PGA has run its course...sad but true..

[James Edwards]

John, I appreciate that.

But how many players would go from your side of the world?

Mickelson?

[TEPaul]

John B:

You're information is way off as usual. The news is nobody really cares about the pros anymore and so most all the majors are in question. The word on the street is the major that's actually going to replace one of the pro majors is the Westhampton G.C member/guest!

It's reputedly one of the biggest member/guests in the world and it's a hoot. I played in it one time and they told me it was the biggest member/guest in the world. To that my reply was "So What?", and they then told me the "so what" part was I was first off with a starting time of 5:47am!!!!!

[JakaB]

James,

I don't know the history of how The Masters became a major...but I am sure once the USGA and R&A jump on board with the BBGE in allowing exemptions to the winner of the Australian Masters similar to what is currently offered to the winners of the British Open and US Open the players will show up.   With the current melding of rules between the USGA and R&A where better could a championship be held on a neutral site than in Australia....The current PGA championship isn't being played by either of their rules....it is a natural fit..

[T_MacWood]

John
I'm not even sure the Australian Masters is considered a major in Australia...isn't the Australian Open the big event?

Will you be back on the PGA bandwagon when they bring the event to VN?

[A_Clay_Man]

JakaB's most hidden crux, is that embarassment quotient. Did Jean Vanderdoo doo suffer imeasurably? (other than I can't remember his name)

Pace shouldn't be a problem. Isn't there a rule for that?

Tom Paul- How lucky was that? Dawn patrol? I bet you were at the bar by 10.

[JakaB]

John
I'm not even sure the Australian Masters is considered a major in Australia...isn't the Australian Open the big event?

Not as of today...Tom..when I saw you had posted on this thread I thought you of all people would see the value of moving one of the majors out of the United States....When the PGA went from match play to stroke play it should have been a red flag....don't you agree it is time for a change and that a change is not without precedent..

[Marc Haring]

Wasn't it Palmer that decided on the four majors back in the 60's?

[A_Clay_Man]

or, lower the field to 64 (128 might be too much golf with 36 at least one day) and forget the practice rounds (these guys don't need practice) play match play, all week. Culminating in a two man Sunday, for all the gold.

[Mike Hendren]

.....then ask yourself if a tournament that is interested in allowing local rules and easy set ups to protect the "embarrassment" of its participants at the expense of a great course is really a major tournament....

Succinct and accurate.

BGGR

[T_MacWood]

I agree a change could be for the better...the PGA does lag behind the other three majors, but I don't believe the Australian Masters would be the answer. If I'm not mistaken the AM is played each year at Huntingdale, I prefer tournaments that move to different sites.

Going back to match play would stimulate interest IMO. Another idea, I know the event is put on by the PGA of America, but why not team up with the other international PGA organizations and move the event around the world?

[Tom_Doak]

John:

One problem with this is that they don't move around the Australian Masters ... they hold it every year at Huntingdale, which is not even one of the top ten courses in the Sand Belt.

Huntingdale is also the worst golf course ever to be listed in the GOLF Magazine top 100.  It was rated because more than half the panelists who rated it were also being paid big appearance money to play there.  It was a favorite of Greg Norman, because he won there multiple times.

[JakaB]

Tom,

I agree the tournament should be moved around to the great courses of Australia...that is part of the beauty of the idea...I like your idea of the PGA becoming the Professional Golfers Association and becoming a world wide entity as well....The BBGE is known for its flexibility when the good of the game is at stake.   I simply like the nomencature of having two Masters and two Opens for the four majors...the rest of the small details can be worked out in the coming months..

[A.G._Crockett]

The PGA the organization of club professionals, geared to keeping golfers happy.  Faced with a new course, and no backlog of tournament setups to draw on, they perhaps strayed in the opposite direction set up the course to make sure it was playable.  I would doubt that we will see the same setup this weekend.

Why compare the PGA to the other three?  Just enjoy the event for what it is.  Goodness knows, some of the finishes in recent years have been wonderful stuff.  Arguably, it is more enjoyable to watch the the U.S. Open, IF you can factor out the significance of the Open.  

[Dan Kelly]

the PGA does lag behind the other three majors...

I disagree.

Year after year after year, the PGA Championship has provided very, very entertaining golf competition -- many years, I think, the most entertaining golf competition of the year's majors. Guys come from behind! Guys make birdies and eagles! Guys take dead aim at flags!

How does the PGA lag? It lags in this way only, I think: It lags because it's not played at Augusta National, or on one of the great British links, or under the brutal USGA conditions.

Keep the PGA a major.

Add a major, or a would-be major -- on one of the great courses of Australia. I'm all for that!

[T_MacWood]

JK
I'm no expert on the history of the majors or even when majors became majors. My impression pre-Masters, the Western Open and maybe the Metropolitan Open were considered major events.

With you fondness for every thing French, I'm surprised you aren't promoting the French Open....or the French Masters.

[JakaB]

Tom,

That is redanman that likes everything French...give me a break..

[Kenny Lee Puckett]

The PGA TOUR already has a match-play event with WGC Accenture.  Going back to match-play for the PGA Championship will not happen for a variety of reasons:

1) On-site issues:  How can you spread out the crowd that the PGA draws over 2 groups on Sat and 1 group on Sunday?  Who would go if Shawn Micheel played mano-a-mano with Chad Campbell?  50% of the ticket holders.  The PGA Champ is big business on-site.

2) TV:  For reasons above with a less than marquee match-up.

3) This isn't tennis.  The Ford Australian Open gets virtually no coverage in the U.S., and that tournament is part of their slam.  Like it or not, the best players in the world compete here because of the $.  When even the Tour's best players won't compete more often, why fly to a far off place and compete on an unfamiliar course?  Not Jingoistic, just the way things are.

Not to denigrate Australia whose people started with nothing and have created a great nation with endearing personality, but proclaiming the Australian Masters a major won't get it done.  

If Australia wanted to capture the attention of the golfing world, put up a $10,000,000 match play event between Tiger, Ernie, Phil and Vijay, and you would probably get three of those four to come.  

Play it New Year's Eve weekend so that the players could come home through Hawaii and The Mercedes and you might have some interest.  Schedule it so that it does not conflict with the bowl games/parades and you might have an event worthy of Major note.

JWK

[T_MacWood]

My mistake...you're the fan of French-Canadians. Why not the Quebec Masters?

[JakaB]

Mr. Keever,

I didn't pull down your last post with a quote because I don't want it dirtying up my database....everything you mention is a direct result of why golf is in the mess it is today.   Perhaps in your world they could up the anti of the Battle of the Bridges and make it a major...or maybe whoever gets the best Nielson rating can be declared player of the year....What one thing that you said would improve the game of golf...not anyones pocketbook...the game...the enjoyment an activity that is becoming embarrassing to become associated with...Its getting to the point that golf attire is a disguise only to be worn on the course....When was the last time you pumped gas or went into eat in your shorts and logoed shirt with possibly even a nice pair of short socks and were proud of what you had been doing.....we need to take the game back from the very people that ruined yesterday....and the first step is for the people to identify what is major and what is just another common stop....you can do better.

[Dale_McCallon]

I actually pumped gas yesterday with my short socks on!

Seriously though, I don't think the PGA will ever lose its "major" status, but I do wonder why players from around the world go by what seems to be an Americanized format of 4 majors (and the 5th major, TPC).  Are there tournaments that a European might rather win than the PGA (maybe the Volvo Championship)?  If I was an Aussie, maybe I would rather win my country's own championship than the US Open.  I don't know the mentality of a pro golfer, so maybe the history and traditions of the 4 majors outweigh other factors, but it does seem like some players might not be as interested in the American majors.

[A.G._Crockett]

JBK,
With all due respect, maybe we ought to wait until the weekend is over before we decide how the PGA of America did this year in running their tournament.

Also, are you saying a club pros ruined yesterday?  It was their organization that setup the course, sure, but the bent grass collars, the wet weather in the Midwest, the wind dying down, etc., surely can't be laid at their feet, can it?

As far as taking back the game, my experience has been that the club pros are the good guys!  It's club members that are a------s!

Finally, if you want to "take back the game", then playing the PGA at a public-access course in the U.S. makes a lot better sense than playing a tournament down under at night (for us) in the winter (for us) at a course we'll never, ever see or play!

What do YOU want the PGA tournament to be, as opposed to what you obviously don't want it to be?

[RJ_Daley]

JakaB, I'm trying to remember back to what stimulated your proposal for an Aussie based Masters as a major.  Was it course set-up and presentation because the US PGA is cowtowing to the mentality of not making it too difficult.

If so, what do you have to say to Ernie Els tearing up the best Oz has to offer at Royal Melbourne?  Didn't he shoot something like 29 under?  You can't propose a switch in venues because you think another country or national tradition will better the US PGA and say you would like the course set up closer to the architects ideals (which I believe Royal Melbourne was) and then hope for a different result as to what the pros do with the course.  No one is going to buy into any Australian "Masters doctor" and agree with changing their masterpieces architecture to make it tougher for the pros and give them a stern test.  

Why not just have a Masters played with competition ball and be done with it.  There isn't a place on earth that is going to provide the competition and challenge that we seem to all be hoping for, merely by course set up or adjustment to architecture.  It is the damn ball, silly!

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