Rob over at Sandbox8.com put together these 2 awesome videos that give us a glimpse of life on the Ping Tour Van.

As you might have noticed from my posts these past few weeks, I really like seeing the competition for tour cards in the fall. In some ways I think that it’s more compelling to see guys struggling to stay in the top 125 or 150, than compete for a top 10 world rankings spot.

This article on golfweek.com got me thinking.  Failure on the PGA Tour is more lucrative than expected.  In fact, in 2009 the top 125 cut-off was $681,631.  Most people would kill to make that kind of money in a single year.  But in 2010, Troy Merritt, who landed at 125 on the money list, made $786,977, an increase of $105k over last year.

What explains the jump in earnings at the lower end of the PGA tour money list?  The total prize money increased slightly (by about $1.4m) but that’s not enough to skew these numbers.  The big differences, in fact, were Tiger, Phil, and Steve Stricker.

Tiger was the primary factor in this increase.  In 2009, he won $10.5m.  In 2010, he won $1.3m.In 2009, Phil won $5.3m.  In 2010, his winnings fell to $3.8m.  And in 2009, Stricker won $6.3m, falling to $4.2 in 2010.  That’s a total of $12.9m in winnings ($9.2 from Tiger alone) that these 3 left on the table for everybody else.

Theoretically this drop off in winnings by 2009′s top 3 players should have created a void for others to step up and dramatically increase their winnings.  But for the most part, nobody did.  Tiger, Phil, and Stricker all won more in 2009 than the 2010 money leader, Matt Kuchar.

In fact, it’s a really interesting exercise to assume that the money left on the table was distributed evenly among the remaining players in the top 125.  If you take that $12.9m and divide it by 122, you end up with $105k.  Exactly the increase in winnings for the 125 spot on the money list.

Now obviously Troy Merritt had a great finish to the 2010 season, winning the Kodak Challenge, which had nothing to do with Tiger.  But when he’s putting together his Christmas gift list this year, he shouldn’t forget about Tiger.  After all, nothing says “Thanks for the $100k” like a pajamagram.

PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem w/ his Golden Goose, Tiger Woods

We all know that the Euros got the best of our last encounter at the Ryder Cup. I thought we were going to have to wait 2 years to see a rematch, but the PGA and European Tours are giving us a bit of a rematch less than 2 months later. Over the last few weeks there have been a series of escalating actions/reactions that have the potential to create dramatic lasting impacts on the landscape of professional golf.

If you haven’t been following everything too closely, here’s a quick rundown of what’s been going on:

• Non-American players win 3 out of 4 majors this year (Graeme McDowell – N. Ireland, Louis Oosthuizen – S. Africa, Martin Kaymer – Germany)
• Paul Casey and Justin Rose are left off of the Euro Ryder Cup team by Colin Montgomery (at least in part due to the fact that they play primarily in the US)
• Europe barely wins the Ryder Cup
• Lee Westwood takes over the #1 ranking from Tiger
• Anthony Kim is denied a medical exemption to keep his European Tour Card:  He only played 7 events but was 48th on the money list
• Rory McIlroy & Martin Kaymer decide not to be PGA Tour members for 2011 (Westwood said “no” as well but that was already expected).  They don’t like the FedEx cup format (who can blame them?)
• PGA Tour waves a big stick, threatening to limit PGA Tour events for McIlroy for the next 5 years if he drops membership
• Ian Poulter suggests he may have to rethink his tour membership choice

So where does that leave us?  We have the top professional golf tour in the world getting involved in a standoff with some of the best golfers in the world.  Ultimately I suspect that cooler heads will prevail and the desire to make money will allow all of the involved parties to reach agreements that keep everybody happy.

McIlroy may or may not follow through with dropping his tour membership.  But even if he does, the Tour will likely come up with a way to allow him to play all of the big events (like they do with Westwood).  Poulter will keep his Tour card.  The money in the US is too good and who wants to move from Florida to England?

What will be the impact on the PGA Tour?  Not much.  The Tour needs players more than they need the tour, but a few European players walking away isn’t going to have a dramatic impact on sponsors/attendance.  And if the money keeps flowing, not much will change.  If we get really lucky, this might cause some proactive thinkers at the tour offices to think about how the FedEx Cup could be revamped to be more understandable for the fans and less taxing on the players.  I’m not holding my breath though.

At the end of the day, the PGA Tour is still where the best golf in the world is being played and the biggest checks are being cashed.  That’s not going to change anytime soon.  However, we’re seeing the emergence of the European and Asian tours as legitimate alternatives rather than stepping stones.  We now have more opportunities to see great golf being played all over the world.  And to me, that’s never a bad thing.

(image: Flickr/Keith Allison)

The PGA tour has put together a great little primer on the basics of Q-School.  If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a 3-stage (with a pre-qualifier) tournament that determines where pro golfers will be plying their trade next season.  Will they spend another season on the mini-tours, step up to the Nationwide Tour, or make it to the big show of the PGA Tour?

Stage 1 started this week and includes some notable players:

Q. Who are some of the notable players entered in the first stage?
A. There are several players with family ties to notable golfers. Among them are Jay Haas Jr. (whose brother Bill won twice on the PGA TOUR this year and father Jay has won 23 times on the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour);Mike Perez (whose brother is veteran Pat Perez  Boyd Summerhays (whose uncle Bruce Summerhays plays the Champions Tour); Manuel Villegas (whose brother is three-time TOUR champ Camilo Villegas); Patrick Damron(whose brother Robert Damron is a past TOUR winner); Josh McCumber (whose uncle is veteran TOUR and Champions Tour pro Mark McCumber); Mario Tiziani (who is the brother-in-law of Steve Stricker); and Sam Saunders (whose grandfather is Arnold Palmer). Other players to watch include double heart-transplant survivorErik Compton; former U.S. Amateur champ Danny Lee; Virginia Tech’s Drew Weaver, who won the 2007 British Amateur; Todd Demsey, who overcame a brain tumor to play professional golf; and Kevin Hall, who would be the first deaf golfer to play on the PGA TOUR.

What an ending! It seems like the Fall Series has had some of the most dramatic and entertaining finishes of the entire season. With an ace on the 204-yard 17th hole (the 4th hole of a 3-man playoff), Jonathan Byrd grabs his first win on tour and secures his tour card for the next 2 seasons.

Players on the move:

Obviously Jonathan Byrd tops this list. He had been sitting at 117 on the money list. Inside the top 125 but close enough to make him sweat it out these last few weeks. He now has an extra $775k in the bank and his tour card for the next 2 years. He’ll also get to play in the season opening event at Kapalua (which is about to have a title sponsor switch from SBS to Hyndai).

With a T8, Aaron Baddeley jumped 10 spots to safety at 110 on the money list.  Kevin Sutherland made a similar move from 121 to 115.  That should give him some breathing room for the season finale down in Orlando in a few weeks.  And Woody Austin moved up two spots to 123.

The other players moving up in the list were all outside the top 125.  Michael Connell moved from 137 to 129.  Richard S Johnson moved from 143 to 131.  And George McNiell moved from 141 to 133.  These guys are all capable of getting inside the top 125 with good play at the season finale so keep an eye on them.

Players falling behind:

Just about everybody else fell into this category this week.  A lot of guys near the 125 mark missed the cut or didn’t play this week causing them to slide a few spots.  Ben Curtis and Jeff Maggert both dropped 5 spots to 117 and 118 with missed cuts.  Joe Durant didn’t play and fell 6 spots to 120.  Troy Merritt made the cut but only cashed a $10k check and fell 3 spots to 121.

On the Bubble:

Briny Baird is now the man on the bubble after moving up a spot from 127 to 126.  He’s a hell of a ball striker and given the rash of eagles lately, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he had one or more at Orlando to get inside the top 125.  Aaron Price, last week’s man on the bubble missed the cut.  Luckily, he only dropped a spot to 127, so he’s still very much in the hunt.

We’re now down to the last event of the year.  Unfortunately we have to wait for it until Nov 11.  I can’t imagine that many of the guys fighting for their 2011 tour card are going to have a relaxing break.  But it should give them some time to practice and focus on the task at hand.  It should also make for some great golf as we close out the 2010 season.

Unfortunately, I have to leave the Viking Classic today and head back to NC.  Bill Haas is sitting on his first 54-hole lead.  Will he be able to hold on for his 2nd PGA tour victory?  I wouldn’t bet against him, but he’ll be facing some stiff competition from Michael Allen, Nathan Green, and Brendon de Jonge, who are all 4 strokes back.

Also keep an eye on Chris Stroud and Jonathan Byrd.  They’re currently at 125 and 130 on the money list and sitting in T6 and T10, respectively.  Solid finishes could go a long way towards securing their cards for next season.  I’m going to leave you all with a few pics from this weekend.  Click the continue link below to see them.

They match - isn't that cute?

Today at the Viking Classic, literally no other golfer had a gallery larger than a dozen people or so.  There were more volunteers than spectators on some holes.  Contrast that to John Daly, who was followed by throngs of people everywhere he went.  I was taking some pictures on the range before lunch when he walked up near where I was standing.  Within 30 seconds 50+ people that had gathered to watch him hit balls.

I took the picture above on the 13th fairway at the Viking.  I’m not exaggerating when I state that virtually no other golfer had more than 10-12 people in their gallery.  In order to spot Daly on the course, you just needed to look for the crowd.

As the tour struggles to keep viewership numbers up, you can expect to continue to see Daly walking tour fairways, regardless of whether or not he has a tour card.

2010 vs 2009 PGA Tour Stats (through Sep 20)

There’s a great forum thread over on Golfwrx, discussing the impact of the new groove rule.  Basically, the USGA implemented the new groove rule to “protect” the game from “bomb and gouge”.  As you can see from the chart above, there has been absolutely no impact on the game.  Other than our pocketbooks that is.  And from the title of this post, you can guess what my take on the issue is.

The USGA has implemented a worthless rule that has not had any impact on the alleged “problem”.  Players are hitting it just as close to the pin and scoring just as well (even better!) from the rough as they were last year with the now banned grooves.  Scoring averages have stayed the same, as has average driving distance and driving accuracy.  The rule change has had virtually no impact on the PGA tour.

To make matters worse, the groove rule harms most golfers.  The 99.999% of golfers who could use v-grooves the most, will no longer be able to buy them after this year.  Moreover, this rule creates a bifurcation of equipment between amateurs and professionals.  The existing clubs are legal for most amateurs until 2024, but if you want to play at a USGA high level amateur event starting in 2014, you have to go buy a new set of clubs.  The only people benefiting from this new rule are the equipment manufacturers.

So what’s next on the USGA’s agenda?  Repealing this ill-conceived rule?  Of course not.  They’re going to rollback the ball.  Because what 99.999% of golfers need is a ball that flies 20 yards shorter off the driver.  If the goal is to protect par at professional golf events, then grow the rough higher, make the fairways narrower, and cut the greens short.  Simple changes in course prep have a far greater impact on scoring than equipment changes.

I dropped my USGA membership last year after the groove rule was implemented.  Until they pull their heads out of their asses, I will not be renewing my membership.  The USGA should be focusing on how to grow the game of golf, not how to make it harder to play for the vast majority of golfers.