I learned something about the PGA Tour this week that is somewhat disturbing to me. I mentioned a few weeks ago here at my blog that I invented two new improvements to two of the most important clubs in your golf bag in 1991 and 1992, the putter and the driver.
At that time all I had to do to introduce my golf equipment to the tour players was to request a manufacturers' representative badge from the PGA Tour, and they sent me one. I could then show up at tour events, on all three tours at the time (PGA, Senior, and LPGA) and set up my golf bag on the range or the putting green, and let the tour players try them.
Johnny Miller in 1991 used my Probe driver, and knew it was better than any other driver in existence. He advised me, "Pete, just walk up to any tour player on the driving range and ask him if he would be interested in trying a new driver that would keep the ball in the air for 2 and 1/2 seconds longer and carry 30 yards farther than any other driver. They will try the Probe, and they will like it, but after that it is up to you if they end up playing it. Most of them will ask you how much money you will pay them to play your driver. If they are more interested in performance, they will play the Probe, but most of these guys are spoiled by the big companies, who pay millions of dollars to name players to get them to play their clubs!"
Johnny was absolutely correct, so I spent most of my time on the Senior Tour in 1991 and 1992, because most of those guys were more interested in performance than in endorsement money.
As you may remember, two weeks ago I mentioned that I wanted to let Phil Mickelson try my center-shafted, inverted-shafted Probe 20/20 putter, so he would make more short breaking putts, which has been his weakness for years. So I emailed the PGA Tour and asked for a manufacturer's rep tour badge. Their response to me was a shocker!
They said they no longer allow manufacturer's reps to introduce new equipment to tour players, on any of the tours. A manufacturer must already have one or more tour players signed to an endorsement contract, and playing your product, before they can get a tour badge to get access to his player(s)!
What a shock that was to me, because it is now apparent the PGA Tour itself is behind the dishonesty that exists in the golf equipment industry and its endorsement money paid to tour pros in this day and age.
I wonder what percentage of the public, the avid golf fans who pay the entry fees at tour events and make those events possible, believes that their favorite tour pro plays his golf equipment because it is the best equipment available? Most viewers probably believe their favorite tour players uses equipment that he feels is the best equipment! The public is obviously dead wrong!
That reminds me of the movie ROLLERBALL that came out in the late 1960s. Remember that movie? Athletic competition was no longer between countries, but corporations. Professional golfers no longer play for themselves, but for the golf equipment companies that have prostitutionalized the sport! Whoever has the most money to pay the top named tour pros to play their equipment will convince the public to buy their golf equipment!
Is there any honesty and integrity in golf anymore? It is a game that is supposed to teach us those qualities, supplied by equipment manufacturers that do not know the meaning of those words!
I, for one, choose the remember better times.
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