Daily Golf Briefs Daily Pulse for February 22, 2012
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Web Street Golf Daily Pulse
VOLUME 3, NUMBER 37
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
ANY IDEA WHO SAID THIS?“I don't drink a lot, anyway, to be perfectly honest. But I just felt like stopping altogether. After Christmas I was trying to lose weight. There's a lot of calories in alcohol. So it was the easiest place to cut it out for starters.”
BRAIN TEASER: Has the #1 seed ever lost to the 64th seed in the history of the Accenture Match Play Championship?
SIGNED, SEALED AND DELIVERED: It would seem the PGA TOUR is immune to the economic challenges and pressures being experienced in other industries. It has managed to maintain its sponsors during these challenging times and today put the icing on the cake. The PGA TOUR and FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) announced a five-year sponsorship extension of the FedExCup, effective 2013 through 2017. The FedExCup will continue to offer $35 million in total bonus money to players based on their finish in the points standings, including $10 million to the winner. Beginning in 2013, the four-tournament PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup will be officially called the FedExCup Playoffs.
“We are thrilled that FedEx has had such a positive experience with the FedExCup and will continue its sponsorship through 2017,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem. “The FedExCup offers our fans more ways to engage in our sport and get excited about our players week in and week out.” Michael Glenn, executive vice president of Market Development at FedEx, remarked, “The FedExCup has been a very effective way for FedEx to engage in the community and reach our customers over the last five years. One of the most significant dividends of our FedExCup commitment has been that it allows us to support national and local charities, such as the St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital through the FedEx St. Jude Classic, in a very hands-on manner.”
THE WORLD IS YOUR PLAYGROUND: GolfTEC, a company that specializes in golf improvement, announced plans today to expand into Asia with as many as 140 new centers opening in Japan and Korea. The new international centers are part of a multi-year growth program that also includes plans to grow aggressively in the U.S. and Canada with 30 new openings planned for 2012, and to hire as many as 200 new coaches. GolfTEC estimates that its coaches will have given nearly 4 million lessons by the end of 2012, since the company was founded in 1995.
In Japan, master franchisee GDO (Golf Digest Online Inc.) anticipates opening its first GolfTEC improvement centers in the first half of this year. The long-range plan for Japan projects the opening of as many as 100 centers in the future. GDO, is believed to be the largest online golf portal with 1.9 million registered members. GDO, founded in 2000 by Mike Ishizaka and headquartered in Tokyo, operates the largest online golf shop, as well as the top online golf media and online tee time booking services.
“Most of the work comes in the first few years,” explains GolfTEC President and CEO Joe Assell. “We have to locate vendors and have all our software and manuals translated. But once that’s done we can scale up pretty quickly.”
In South Korea, where it is estimated that 20% of the 50 million residents play golf, plans are to open as many as five new centers in the next three years, steadily adding locations until a minimum of 40 centers are in operation. The franchisee is GolfTEC Korea, run by a team of native Korean and Korean-American businesspeople, including local CEOs and former U.S. military officers who were also GolfTEC students. In Canada, there are two GolfTEC sites opened, with plans of six more this year and the inauguration of 40 new centers steadily over the next decade.
“We are looking to hire American professionals interested in going to Japan or Korea. We employ PGA-certified instructors worldwide and are proud to be one of the few companies hiring more PGA professionals at a time when the golf industry is struggling,” Assell said.
“Our plans both immediately and over the long term are for significant growth,” Assell says. “We are committed to opening more centers as well as buying back select franchises to increase our corporate-owned presence. We love the business and want to own more of it. Furthermore, we want to add one new country each year. We are definitely going to grow internationally and are actively looking for overseas partners.”
THINK PINK! With his all-pink PING G20 driver, Bubba Watson is currently ranked #1 on the PGA Tour in average driving distance at 315.5 yards. At last week’s Northern Trust Open he led the field, averaging 325 yards off the tee. More important to Watson, 35 of his drives traveled 300 yards or farther. That means to date he has raised $41,200 from his equipment sponsor PING as part of his effort to raise $1 million for charities this PGA Tour season.
In addition to a $10,000 upfront contribution, PING is supporting “Bubba & Friends Drive to a Million” by donating $300 for every drive he hits 300 yards or more (up to 300 drives) in 2012. PING’s fundraising event is called, “Bubba Long in Pink. Driven by PING.” All funds raised will go to Phoenix-area charities, chosen by PING with Bubba’s support. On the season, nearly 62% of Watson’s drives have traveled 300-plus yards, the highest percentage on the PGA Tour. He’s in the field this week at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, Feb. 22-26, outside Tucson, Ariz.
WEB GEMS:
WHAT’S COOKIN’? Charl Schwartzel made history last April when he became the first player ever to win the Masters by making birdies on the final four holes, and he would like to make even bolder history this year. He wants to turn the stately Champions Dinner into a cook-it-yourself barbecue. READ MORE>>>
EXCEPTION TO THE RULE: “A lot of young players don’t want to speak to the media but I never, ever turned down an interview, whether it was good or bad, and athletes have to realize the importance of the media. You are representing a lot of companies who are signing you up because they want to get coverage. There is such an abundance of money in sports and in the western world there is a sense of entitlement, which is coming to an end with the world’s economy like this. Everyone is in for a rude awakening.” READ MORE>>>
SHOW ME THE MONEY: No one is quick to embrace change until money is involved.
That’s one reason the Players Advisory Council gave its blessing last week to the concept of the Nationwide Tour being the primary path to the big leagues, PGA Tour cards being awarded in a three-tournament series and a new season starting in October instead of January. READ MORE>>>
EQUAL TIME: "Hopefully golf will also be good for the Olympics. I feel like we have a responsibility because the Olympics is an incredible global showcase so we are feeling the pressure to do it right." READ MORE>>>
ANSWERS: Lee Westwood said, “I don't drink a lot, anyway, to be perfectly honest. But I just felt like stopping altogether. After Christmas I was trying to lose weight. There's a lot of calories in alcohol. So it was the easiest place to cut it out for starters.” Westwood added he stopped drinking on January 8th and weighs about 91 kilos or 200 lbs. He’s lost 6 kilos or just over 13 lbs. He added, “Then of course you pick up an OBE from the queen at Buckingham Palace, and you have to have a couple of glasses of champagne at lunch afterwards and at night, and the night before. But apart from that, I'm sort of back on being off of it.”
The No. 64 seed has defeated the No. 1 overall seed twice in the 13-year history of the Accenture Match Play Championship, most recently in 2010 when England’s Ross McGowan defeated American Steve Stricker. In 2002, Australian Peter O’Malley defeated Tiger Woods.
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