PGA Tour commish Tim Finchem sent out a memo back in November. It was about Steve Elkington, the 1995 PGA Championship winner, asking tournament officials to remember Elkington when thinking of giving out sponsors invitation.
It was a nice gesture. That is, unless you are one of the other thousand or so golfers trying to get into tournaments via sponsors exemptions, and didn't get a similar letter.
Let me introduce you to Tim Herron (who's got more steps than Britney) and David Duval, a man you might remember from earlier this decade.
"I think it's out of line," said David Duval, the former British Open champion who has conditional status on tour this year. "It never crossed my mind to ask Tim to do that for me."
"That's terrible of the tour," Herron said. "The tour needs to be unbiased and treat everyone the same. That's like a slap in the face. Nothing against Steve Elkington. But the tour is supposed to represent the players as a whole, and not just one player."
With all due respect to Finchem and Elkington, it is pretty messed up. You have guys all over the world trying to write their way into tournaments, and some (like these three) have more of case than others. So, when the PGA Tour commissioner takes your side, you are obviously a leg up on the field.
Finchem says that Elkington has always been a "tournament favorite for his work with the sponsors," which I can only imagine has never been an endorsement said about Duval, but come on, you can't do this to these guys.
I'm assuming the next time someone needs a similar memo, Finchem will quickly hide whatever letterhead is sitting on his desk.
1 comment:
It was an idiotic move because now more players will want help and believe me, they will ask now.
Finch better nip this in the bud or else he will be in more trouble down the road
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