www.globalgolfpost.com
JULY 16, 2012
No, no, no, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson weren’t paid to play at The Greenbrier Classic. That would be an appearance
fee and appearance fees are against PGA
Tour rules. There are no appearance fees
on Tour, just ask the commissioner.
Yes, yes, it’s true that Woods and Mickelson received a reported $2.5 million or
more from Greenbrier owner Jim Justice
and, yes, it’s true that they both played in
the tournament, which is strictly coincidence, don’t you see.
In the 1950s, they called it payola, influential national disc jockeys who accepted
money and gifts from record companies
to play their songs on the radio to ensure
they would be big hits.
In Washington, they call it lobby-
ing, representatives of the business
community and special
interests who ply
congressmen
with money and
gifts in hopes of
securing influ-
ence and favorable
legislation.
In golf, they call
it appearance
fees, millions
of dollars given
by tournament
sponsors to the
game’s stars to
assure their event
has the best possible
field, which attracts
fans and increases television ratings,
which helps the advertisers, including the
title sponsors.
Payola was shut down and Jack
Abramoff was jailed for four years for
influence peddling. But appearance fees
have thrived in all parts of the world –
except in the U.S. And now that appears to
be changing.
Justice, owner of The Greenbrier
Resort and sponsor of The Greenbrier
Classic on the PGA Tour, wants a world-class field for his event, and he can’t be
blamed for that. So, he went out and got
himself one and there’s not much better
than Woods and Mickelson. You can’t get
PGA Tour players to walk across the street
without getting paid, much less fly the G4
to West-By-God-Virginia.
Justice opened his considerable checkbook and it has been reported that Woods
was paid $1.5 million or more, while Mickelson was paid $1 million for the second
straight year. But his contracts with Woods
and Mickelson said nothing about playing
in the tournament. They were “personal
service” contracts specifying that the
two players would be “ambassadors” for
The Greenbrier Resort, an arrangement
that skirts PGA Tour rules by the skinniest of margins. The decision to play in the
tournament was made by two consenting
adults, which is not against the law.
Justice is a billionaire, so a couple
of million here and there doesn’t do any
damage to his brokerage account. But the
precedent is surely frightening to those
who go to work each day at PGA Tour HQ.
Were Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson lured by
appearance money to play in The Greenbrier Classic?
