By: Matthew Weatherby
The PGA Tour continues to try to grow its game through different events in an attempt to capture different audiences’ eyes. The fact of the matter a lot of their younger audience either doesn’t care to sit down and watch a full round of golf or doesn’t have the attention span to. The Tour has actually had some very good ideas. Things like partnering with content creators, bringing back the Skins game, and, most recently, the Golf Channel Games. So what’s the problem then?
PGA Tour’s Failure
THEY REFUSE TO MARKET THE EVENTS.
I mean, not entirely. They have done a better job of marketing the Creator Classics they’ve hosted. But the other two I mentioned have been marketing failures on the Tour’s part. I barely saw anything regarding the Skins game, and had I not been following Xander Schauffele, I might not have even heard about it.
The same now goes for TONIGHT’s Golf Channel games. I have heard very little about this event. Again, had it not been for my following Scottie and Rory on social media, I might not have known about the event. They just have not done an effective enough job of getting these events on people’s radars.
I think the most frustrating part is that they have successfully marketed some of these different events. Most notably, Capital One’s The Match. They have the ability to market things, but often it feels like they almost don’t want to bother people. They market through the players and some through their social channels, but it is simply not enough. So what have they done right with the Golf Channel Games?
What the PGA Tour got Right
The matchups and scheduling of this event could not have been more perfect. These are other aspects of what makes the marketing failure so confusing is that they nailed almost every other aspect of this thing.
For reference, the scheduling is perfect. The NBA Cup was played last night, and there are zero nationally televised NBA games on tonight. The NFL doesn’t have a game tonight, but they do tomorrow. College Football has two bowl games that feature 4 group of 5 schools, so not exactly the kind of thing that will draw a national audience. No big time College Basketball matchups. Pretty much the only competition the Golf Channel Games have to compete against is a full NHL slate.
The Matchups are as follows. Rory McIlroy captains a team that includes Shane Lowry, Haotong Li, and Ryder Cup Captain Luke Donald. Scottie Scheffler captains a team consisting of Sam Burns, Luke Clanton, and Ryder Cup Captain Keegan Bradley.
There is a similar structure in the lineups, but I’ll address that in the storylines.
Rising Stars
Each lineup has one. For McIlroy’s team, it is Haotong Li who really came onto the scene at this year’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush, where he came in T-4 and instantly became a fan favorite. He was a part of the Final pairing on Sunday with Scottie Scheffler. Li’s personality really showed in the post-round interview, where he was all smiles and shared some experiences he had with Scheffler throughout the week.
Luke Clanton is the rising star on Scheffler’s team. Clanton earned full PGA Tour status last year while he was still a senior at Florida State, skipping Q-School and the Korn Ferry Tour. Clanton is more well-known than Li, as the PGA Tour did a pretty effective job of marketing him last season. He has also made some appearances on YouTube golf, appearing on channels such as Bob Does Sports and GoodGood.
1 vs 2 and Ryder Cup Captains
Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy are the PGA Tour’s two biggest attractions since Tiger is injured and hasn’t been competitive in a while. It is a rivalry that the PGA Tour has pushed, not based on hatred but born from success. McIlroy won 3 times on the Tour this year, including completing the Career Grand Slam at the Masters. While Scheffler won 6 times this year, including the Open Championship and the PGA Championship. Those wins bring Scheffler within a U.S. Open title of the Career Grand Slam.
Both Great seasons and Scheffler won the Jack Nicklaus Player of the Year award for the 4th straight season 2 days ago. But McIlroy bested Scheffler when Team Europe won away with this year’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black. Teams that were Captained by Luke Donald for Team Europe and Keegan Bradley for Team USA.
Now, behind the stars of their Ryder Cup Teams Donald and Bradley will square off again, this time a little more relaxed, and they will both actually have a club in their hands. This year’s Ryder Cup got heated at times, so it will be interesting to watch the dynamic between the two captains
The Best Friends
Probably the least notable piece of these lineups. That is with no disrespect to Sam Burns or Shane Lowry, but that is the role they were both cast for. Shane is most well known outside of his golf game for his friendship with McIlroy, and the same goes for Burns with Scheffler.
But they are both excellent golfers and bring us back to those Ryder Cup ties that the PGA Tour is obviously leaning on. As both Burns and Lowry were a part of the Ryder Cup teams at Bethpage Black. Shane will probably be a bit more of a personality for the Golf Channel Games, but both will provide stellar golf, with Sam Burns being the best putter on the PGA Tour last year.
The Format
The teams will compete in 5 different challenges. With those being:
Timed Drive Competition
Timed Short Game Competition
Fourteen Club Challenge
Timed Shootout
Captains Challenge
Did you notice a theme? This is an event that is tailored to a younger audience whose primary form of entertainment is short-form. Yet they still missed the mark at marketing to their target audience.
The Golf Channel Games are Tonight Wednesday, December 17th, at 7:30 pm
You can find them on USA Network and the Golf Channel.
