Justin Thomas shakes a wedge in AT&T Pebble Beach pro-am.
Getty Images
Pebble Beach, Calif. – By about 3pm with local time on Thursday afternoon, almost everyone in Pebble Beach had commented on Justin Thomas’s explosives on January 21 on the founding of PGA Tour.
Well, everyone besides the author.
Thomas endured nine days of public silence after throwing a two -page bomb In the golf world last Tuesday asking players to shift their access to the media and facilitate access to the broadcast, an extension that included the first three days of AT&T Pebble Beach pro-am on the Monterey peninsula.
In a way, the silence was good: the open letter made Thomas’s thoughts on that issue unclear, while the general themes of the letter (opening up innovation, TV cooperation and entertainment) have been unpaid by those around sports for months. But in other ways, Thomas’s silence was curious. Clear as his message had been, there was much for the letter that we still didn’t know. Why did he decide to write it? Who, if anyone, were his coconuts in his sending? And why do I do it now?
On Thursday afternoon, Thomas reappeared for the first time from the Spyglass Hill course to Pebble Beach after a first round score of six under, good for two shots from the lead, but golf was not in everyone’s mind. After three days of uninterrupted comments about golf’s entertainment by other tour players, PGA Tour Overlords and almost for everyone else, it was time to speak.
“We felt like this meant much more coming from the players, or from a player than – no insult to staff – but staff,” he told the letter. “The tournament just needs much more to come from us.”
Thomas said he worked on paper with Max Homa, another member in PGA Tour’s subcommittee for tours, fans and sponsors. Subcommittee has been looking for ways to improve tour relationships with its entities to make money, and it did not take long for the group to make a more attractive telekastre was an easy way to income.
Thomas said that after drafting the original form of the letter, he shared his text with the PGA Tour’s executive team, which helped to refine some of his broadest points and “give him a magic”. Otherwise, the paper substance came directly from his mouth.
“No, (I’m not worried about PGA Tour),” he said. “I just want her to get better. There is only so long since we have Tiger, and he is definitely the greatest person in Golf forever, and maybe he will always be. Like everything, I just want it to get better. “
A concern under concerns about the decline in PGA Tour TV ratings and the Golf’s entertainment appeal has hanged on Pebble Beach for the second “signature event” of the 2025 season. Conference after the press conference in the early week was concentrated About golf battles in these departments, and broader efforts like TGL and Youtube that have either served or to oppose or underline those wars in recent months.
Of course, there is abundant space for disputes over the shape of an “engaging” telekasti. Some players, like Rory Mcilroy, suggested that the best way to give broadcasts a blow to the arm is to set a constantly interesting competitive product. But others, like Thomas, have suggested that in an ideal world, the most competitive tournaments would show better – and easier – Inclusion of the player.
“It is just communication. I know in the past, stuff I haven’t made is probably just because he knows his concern, “said Thomas.” Little is small things like, okay, if Golf Channel, whatever you want to do something during A heat around the range, we have it in a more convenient place. You’re ready. Just those small additions five to 10 minutes, they are added, and they reach the point where we do not want to do it because it is not because it is not effective. “
Thomas is one of some pro -players who has taken a bigger action in tour developments over the past few years – a change that coincides with Liv’s intervention in sports. The big champion twice was one of several players who received capital on the tournament for the first time last year as part of a $ 1.5 billion investment from the strategic sports group, making it a “player owner” on its tour at home.
In many ways, Thomas’s letter is why incentive shift from “PGA member” to “PGA Tour Owner” has been welcomed by so many business partners PGA Tour (including CBS Sports David Berson, who told Golf.com that ‘loved it’ Thomas letter). Thomas has gained a reputation to be open and well appreciated by his peers, but now the fruits of his language are ultimately served.
“I mean, look, it’s not like we will be 20 times (our watch on TV) within a year or so,” he said. “Hard hard to look a great look because there is nothing we can do that would have an extremely important impact very quickly. We have to be a little selfless and think about the future.”
PGA Tour says big changes are coming. Here’s what they understand
TV will testify to a steep challenge in the coming years for the tour as it wants for the rest of the TV business, which faces solid head from cord cutters that impede vision numbers. However, the success of TGL and Youtube suggests that Golf on TV is due to a refresh of some kind. This week, the tournament entered the quarrel, Announcement of a series of experiments To increase the telekastin and speed up the pace of play based on the results of a 50,000 people “Fan Forward” from autumn. As part of the experiments, the tour said he was thinking of changing the format of the tournament to match the game, trying the rangefinders during the competition and focusing on the various edits of his broadcasts to appeal to fans.
