-OT- Golf's new FedEx Cup.

[CharlestonBuckeye]

144 players qualify for a season ending playoff?  And you thought the NBA and NHL let everybody and their brother into postseason.

And this "drama" will unfold when football is in full swing?

Can you say FLOP?

[PThomas]

and the idiots did away with the Western Open name...man, even if you decide to move the tournament around, you could keep the name

it WAS the 2nd oldest tournament in the country

talk about doing anything for money...Mr. Finchem should be quite ashamed of himself

[John Kavanaugh]

144 players is great if it adds drama on who makes the top 125.  A guy who practices at our club is right on the cusp so naturally we are all pulling for him.

Mr. T if you are going to insult someone why not just call him Mr. F until you too use your real name.

[JR Potts]

Is it the world's top 144 or is it the PGA's top 144?  And do Fed-Ex points carry over?  

Despite these unknowns (to me), I think this is a tragic decision for two reasons:
1) As a lifelong Chicagoian, I will forever miss the Western.
2) I think this puts a lot of the young, struggling players at a huge disadvantage.  (Which dovetails into my other argument that they should count Q-School earnings as official money for the next year.)

[PThomas]

144 players is great if it adds drama on who makes the top 125.  A guy who practices at our club is right on the cusp so naturally we are all pulling for him.

Mr. T if you are going to insult someone why not just call him Mr. F until you too use your real name.

oh John you are getting quite tiresome, we've been thru this before

of course you would know all about insulting people...

[Glenn Spencer]

What? No more Western Open? This is a sham. How can they do this? What is it going to be called exactly? I was excited to see the 'Western' going to Crooked Stick, but now this? This is deplorable!!! The people at the WGA are the best, they deserve better than this.

[PThomas]

believe it's the BMW Championship Glenn

[John Kavanaugh]

144 players is great if it adds drama on who makes the top 125.  A guy who practices at our club is right on the cusp so naturally we are all pulling for him.

Mr. T if you are going to insult someone why not just call him Mr. F until you too use your real name.

oh John you are getting quite tiresome, we've been thru this before

of course you would know all about insulting people...

No...You never explained why you are the only person logged in at any one time who is not posting under his or her name.  I don't care if all you are doing his hawking access but when you start insulting good people like Mr. Finchem (a man who has dedicated his life to the good of the game) I just ask you do it out in the open.  Please...just post under your real name in the future...

[PThomas]

144 players is great if it adds drama on who makes the top 125.  A guy who practices at our club is right on the cusp so naturally we are all pulling for him.

Mr. T if you are going to insult someone why not just call him Mr. F until you too use your real name.

oh John you are getting quite tiresome, we've been thru this before

of course you would know all about insulting people...

No...You never explained why you are the only person logged in at any one time who is not posting under his or her name.  I don't care if all you are doing his hawking access but when you start insulting good people like Mr. Finchem (a man who has dedicated his life to the good of the game) I just ask you do it out in the open.  Please...just post under your real name in the future...

"Hawking access" your stupid comments are truly annoying

I think it's idiotic that the tour doesn't want to call it the Western Open anymore...if you disagree that's your right

since when have you become the self-appointed conscience of GCA John?

and for you of all people to do that....

I'm done wasting my time responding to you

[Glenn Spencer]

believe it's the BMW Championship Glenn

Is the WGA still going to be involved or what? If not, bye-bye Tiger. No more Western Am exemptions goes without saying, I guess. The tour sucks and so does Finchem. What has he done that is so great without Norman and Woods holding his hand? Oh, I forgot he has managed to lose a few sponsors each and every year. There is a reason the majors are the majors and that is because the tour is not involved in any of them. This is a complete disgrace.

[John Kavanaugh]

Here is a link to the so called name change...Before you guys start calling everyone idiots you might want to rethink why you will miss the Cialis Western Open....ED (not the horse) will not be missed.  It is a great change and good for golf in the MidWest..

http://sports.aol.com/news/articles/_a/western-open-will-get-new-name-in-2007/n20060626132509990011?cid=616

[Glenn Spencer]

Thanks for the link, but I don't see what that changes. 2012 and that professional comment from that thread about Scioto makes me wonder.

[Tim_Cronin]

The Western Open is still the WGA's tournament, as much as any tournament on the PGA Tour is the local group's tournament. But the Tour has a gun to every group's head and in this case, it pulled the trigger.
The official (what the TV guys with guns to their heads will have to say) name will be BMW Championship, but the 2007 edition will still be the 104th Western Open, even if the traditional name's not on the title.
Alas, no sponsor exemptions (not even for the Western Am winner), which shows how the WGA is getting this pushed upon them.
Not to toot my horn, but there's more under my byline at www.dailysouthtown.com on Thursday. (I don't want to retype it all.)
And let's not be too kind to Tim Finchem, who makes several million a year dedicating himself to running the players association and increasing his players' bankrolls. He's no fan of Cog Hill, which is a big reason why the Western will bounce in and out of Lemont -- at least until this deal runs out and the WGA, which didn't want this to become a traveling show, can anchor it once again.
The upcoming Western could be very interesting. It has a great field (five of the top six in the world ranking, missing only Goosen, plus Love, Daly and O'Meara), and I'd think some players might actually say something interesting, if only off the record, about the wholesale changes.

[PThomas]

thanks for the info Tim!

[Glenn Spencer]

Thanks Tim, that was a pretty good explanation of what is obviously a very confusing and stupid situation. The WGA is getting bullied and that is a damn shame. The 104th Western Open presented by BMW. What is wrong with that? You can't have this situation where it has two different names or whatever.

[tlavin]

I'll feel a little nostalgic for the loss of the name, but c'est la vie.  BMW is a great sponsor and we won't have to endure the hard-on commercials.  I am surprised that the PGA Tour doesn't want to come to Chicago every year, given the size of the market, but Indy and St. Louis are certainly worthy hosts.  The switch to September will be difficult for ratings, but the golf will be great, because the September conditions are hard and fast. Here's my only real beef about this tournament: the purpose of the event is principally to fund the Evans Scholars Foundation, for caddie scholarships and they play the event at Cog Hill, an overrated bog of a golf course that doesn't even have caddies!  The tournament should be moved to a private club in Chicago with a tradition of supporting the Foundation.  There are at least a couple that would be a better test of golf than Cog.

[Glenn Spencer]

I'll feel a little nostalgic for the loss of the name, but c'est la vie.  BMW is a great sponsor and we won't have to endure the hard-on commercials.  I am surprised that the PGA Tour doesn't want to come to Chicago every year, given the size of the market, but Indy and St. Louis are certainly worthy hosts.  The switch to September will be difficult for ratings, but the golf will be great, because the September conditions are hard and fast. Here's my only real beef about this tournament: the purpose of the event is principally to fund the Evans Scholars Foundation, for caddie scholarships and they play the event at Cog Hill, an overrated bog of a golf course that doesn't even have caddies!  The tournament should be moved to a private club in Chicago with a tradition of supporting the Foundation.  There are at least a couple that would be a better test of golf than Cog.

I totally agree for the most part about the course having caddies and being private and being in Chicago. I think that is how it is supposed to be. The place I differ, is keeping it in Chicago at one site or just in Chicago. The Western Junior has always traveled and the Western Am used to and so did the Western Open. The thought of going to a new course each year is just terrific and I think it will really elevate this championship or would have if they left the name alone. Crooked Stick will be such a wonderful host and am guessing that they will find a great one for 2012. The beauty of the WGA is that it is not the USGA and they can play the Western BMW at great golf courses and not worry too much about what scores are going to be shot by the professionals. This brings in a whole other type of  course than the USGA does. The WGA brings in the possibility of courses like Scioto, Wolf Run, Harvester, Erin Hills, Milwaukee, Cherry Hills. The list is endless, there are so many courses that are willing to take a tournament for a year, as opposed to a contract.

[PThomas]

trying to look at the bright side, this is a golden opportunity for the LPGA to come back to CHicago...but the way staff has been resigning from that group there might not be anyone left to work on it

[SL_Solow]

I too will miss the Western Open name.  The only positive that has not been mentioned is that the Evans Scholar Foundation remains the charitable beneficiary and the new sponsor has contracted for a significant increase in the donation to the Foundation.  Thus while the WGA is understandably unhappy about the name change, it is delighted by the increased benefit to the Evans Scholarships.

[Glenn Spencer]

2012- It is going to Hazeltine according to Jeff Rude of Golfweek.

[Tim_Cronin]

Evans Scholars: The PGA Tour guaranteed the WGA that it will make at least $2.1 million annually for the ESF, what the Western Open returned in 2005. Insiders say that if everything breaks right, that could double, which is great. (I have not yet found out specifically how much of BMW's budget -- supposedly $10 million-plus -- is earmarked for the ESF.)
Hazeltine National: No contract yet, but since it's a 2012 tournament, there's no rush.
Post-2012 (end of the six-year deal): There's no talk at all. Scoito would be unlikely, because Columbus has a little tournament of its own, but I'd think Cleveland/Toledo (Canterbury/Inverness) would be possible if the rotation continues.
Terry Lavin, funny how you mention (I think correctly) that the move will be "difficult for ratings." The whole idea is to boost the ratings (compared to year/s earlier for the same week) to make the new TV deal worth it to CBS/NBC.
By the way, Cog Hill drains very well and does have a caddie program. Not large like a Beverly/Olympia Fields/Medinah, but it's there for those who want to take part in it. A former CH caddie got her start in the golf biz that way.

[Chris Kane]

Mr. Finchem (a man who has dedicated his life to the good of the game)

You're not serious are you?

[Jay Flemma]

Paul is right, BMW recently announced a deal with the PGA to call  tournament the BMW Something or other...this announcement came across my desk as a sports and IP/ent lawyer two days ago:

"German automotive giant BMW yesterday announced a six-year partnership agreement with the PGA Tour and the U.S. Western Golf Association (WGA) to create the BMW Championship.

The new BMW Championship will be third of four PGA Tour "play-off tournaments" forming the season ending "race for the cup" that culminates the new FedExCup competition that debuts in 2007.

Jan-Christiaan Koenders, director, BMW brand communications, said: “The partnership reinforces BMW's global three pillar sports marketing strategy. The strategy includes partnership agreements with the US America's Cup sailing team, BMW Oracle Racing, the BMW Sauber F1 Team and now the prestigious PGA Tour.”

I'll miss the Western Open name too.

[John Kavanaugh]

Mr. Finchem (a man who has dedicated his life to the good of the game)

You're not serious are you?

Yes...Sure, I'm not a golf fan and have only been to one PGA event in my life (Western Open at Butler National 24 years ago this weekend on my honeymoon) and have not seen any evidence that Mr. Finchem has any motivation beyond what is good for the game and its fans.  It is in his own best interest to do so...

[Geoffrey Childs]

I liked Shel and Terry's replies.

Chicago as a large market probably should have a yearly event but what great shakes to the sports scene will it make if a tournament left Chicago, New York or LA?  Not a whole lot.

We see small events like the BC Open making a huge difference in the smaller local communities.  That tournament is struggling currently due to weather and being canceled I think after this year. I'm happy to see the (former) Western Open returning to system where other communities have a chance to host a big event.  It was like that in the past I believe. It could make a big impact (charaties, employment etc.) in smaller markets. Good on them.  

What's in a name anyway?  If the Evan's Scholarships are still supported that is what counts.  If smaller markets can get excited and benefit their communities that is great.

If s sponsor like BMW wants to put big bucks into making this happen then good on them.