Maybe it’s the fact that we pay more attention to them, but it seems withdrawals on the PGA Tour are reaching epidemic proportions. Three marquee names took early exits from the BMW Championship last week.
Keegan Bradley became conflicted with a ruling decision and withdrew on Saturday morning. Jason Day was forced to leave early when his back prevented him from playing. After posting a six-over-par 76 on Friday, Phil Mickelson shot himself out of any chance to make the Tour Championship and decided to take his Callaways and go home.
After a season that began with such promise with a win at the WGC-Accenture Match Play, Day has battled injuries all season. First his thumb and now a bad back put him on the bench.
Keegan Bradley took a drop from an embedded lie on Thursday at the 18th hole, but found out later that he may have not been entitled to the free drop.
He was cleared of any wrongdoing by rules official Slugger White, but Bradley felt it best to withdraw and avoid any conflict with other players. His withdrawal caused him to fall outside the Top 30 and miss the Tour Championship, a move which cost him at least $300,000.
After playing two major championships, the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and two FedEx Cup playoff events in just seven weeks, the 44-year-old Mickelson was just plain tired.
From a PR Standpoint, Mickelson did not handle his withdrawal very well. It was almost as if he were making a statement to the PGA Tour, as he has been wont to do over the years.
Because the PGA of America requested a week’s separation between the FedEX Cup Tour Championship and the Ryder Cup this year, there was not the normal one-week break in the FedEx Cup playoff series.
PGA Tour Commissioner, Tim Finchem, said in his “State of the Tour” address on Tuesday that would not happen again. There will be a break in the FedEx Cup playoffs either after the second or third week in the coming years.
It’s a long season, but so is 16 NFL football games, 84 NBA basketball games or 162 MLB baseball games. 41 regular season PGA Tour events plus 4 FedEx Cup playoff events is a lot of golf.
The problem being, there is no fall break anymore. The season begins in early October, immediately after the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup, with 6 events that count toward next season’s FedEx Cup points.
The compression of big purse events from the Open Championship in July to the Tour Championship at the end of the FedEx Cup Playoffs is very tiring and a strain on the players this time of the year.
The money is so huge, $67 million is up for grabs over four weeks in the FedEx Cup playoffs, players have to put themselves into position to maximize their percentage of that number.
The total purse available on the PGA Tour in 2014 was over $335 million. A player never knows when his last swing will come or a hot streak will start. They are forced to push their bodies to the maximum to earn every dollar possible.
That is really no different than it has ever been for any professional athlete.
The image of Mickey Mantle hobbling around on crippled knees the last couple years he played, trying to get every last game out of his weary body or Willie Mays and even Michael Jordan playing longer than they should come to mind.
Few professional athletes leave the game on their own terms, age, injury, quicker faster and younger athletes take their place or their body just refuses to perform at a level that will allow them to be competitive.
We are witnessing the aging of two of golf’s greatest competitors, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, right before our eyes.
It’s not pretty, but it is the survival of the jungle.
In addition to “Father Time,” Mickelson is dealing with psoriatic arthritis. Woods will be 38 at the end of December with a surgically repaired back and the knees of a 60-year-old.
After a five-win season last year, everyone expected him contend in the majors this year.
Corporate sponsors continue to wave big dollars under the nose of PGA Tour officials and it’s the tour’s job to use that money and hold tournaments for their members.
PGA Tour Commissioner Finchem reminded everyone that players are independent contractors and can set their own schedule.
They don’t have to play every week.
We have seen Woods play an abbreviated schedule for years. Steve Stricker trimmed his playing this year and Bruce Lietzke did it to perfection in the 80’s.
The only mandate on the PGA Tour is a requirement to enter 15 events in a calendar year. That should not be too difficult in a 45-tournament schedule.
The real problem is the constant travel, corporate sponsor requirements, and the massive amount of money available. Six-million-dollar purses are the norm with $8 million each for the four FedEx cup playoff events and $10 million this year for the Players and the PGA Championship. Let’s not forget the $35 million FedEx Cup bonus pool that gets split among the top-150 in the points list.
The break before the Frys.Com Open at the beginning of October is more of a TV timeout rather than a break.
European players even travel around the world in November and December to maximize their earnings on the Race to Dubai.
Luke Donald and Rory McIlroy won money titles on both the European and PGA Tours in a single season and we saw Henrik Stenson win both the FedEx Cup and the Race to Dubai last year.
Bigger, stronger and faster athletes are able to swing the club harder, which places more stress on joints and muscle. Tendons and ligaments are strained to keep everything in place and without proper rest and nutrition the body breaks down.
Golf courses are longer requiring fuller swings and today’s hi-tech equipment responds better at higher swing speeds.
Golf course superintendents cut the rough higher to protect par at their course, but create even more problems for hands, wrists and shoulder when players try to hack their way out of the thick stuff.
All of these issues add to a vicious cycle. This is not a problem with a definitive answer.
The fact is, the responsibility falls back to the athlete who must maintain maximum fitness through training and nutrition, as well as, get proper rest and pay more attention to his schedule.
As golfers struggle to maintain a healthy body and a sharp mind, we will probably see more withdrawals, when nothing is on the line.
We as fans should not even give it a second thought. The athlete is only doing what is best for himself and his family.
To hear more on this issue listen to the discussion on the Back 9 Report.