Yesterday, I had the opportunity to speak at length with Teague Michael Egan, who was rather receptive to speaking to me on the record.  After letting the media talk for the past week or so, Egan was ready to tell his story.  Egan was home for the Thanksgiving holiday, and was not taking a break from trying to build his company, 1st Round.  In fact, he was headed to Pine Crest High School, one of the two high schools in South Florida that he attended prior to enrolling at USC.  Pine Crest has an exceptionally talented basketball program; University of Kentucky freshman Brandon Knight is a graduate of Pine Crest.  Later that day, Egan planned on visiting St. Thomas Aquinas, the second South Florida high school he attended.  He was on the school’s golf and track team; St. Thomas is known nationwide as having one of, if not the, toughest football programs.

Egan was born on July 6, 1988, making him 22-years-young at the date of this article being published.  I believe that Egan felt comfortable speaking with me, as I had also started my own sports agency at the age of 22, as an undergraduate at the University of Florida.  The following contains the parts of our discussion that have not yet been mentioned.

Darren Heitner: Why did you transfer from Pine Crest to St. Thomas Aquinas in high school?

Teague Egan: I transfered from Pine Crest to St. Thomas Aquinas in my Junior Year.  My brother [Riley Egan] wanted to transfer because St. Thomas had a much better track team, which ended up winning the state championship after the transfer.  I was and still am very close with my brother, and I wanted to go where he went.  My brother runs the Pictures Division of 1st Round.

Heitner: What gave you the idea to start 1st Round?

Egan: I was in between businesses.  I had started a couple businesses in high school and college.  These were big business ideas.  I felt like like I was over my head, though.  I had just pledged a fraternity called Phi Psi.  Sterling Brewster was in my pledge class; he became a partner in 1st Round.  A couple of football players also pledged the same fraternity.  Daniel Harper, Everson Griffen (drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the 4th round, but Egan referenced him as a projected 1st round pick), Spencer Spiegel, and Jordan Campbell all pledged with me.  I became great friends with Everson, Daniel, and Jordan.

In the Spring of Sophomore year, I went to Jordan and said that should start a business.  I came up with the name “1st Round” because a lot of my boys were going to be drafted in the 1st Round, and I thought it was cool.  I grew up with signed helmets, footballs, and jerseys all over my room.  I played 5 sports in high school.  I had season tickets to the Heat and Dolphins.  I loved sports.

I started throwing parties with Jordan.  We went head-to-head with 28th Street Entertainment (Egan stated that this was USC’s top nightlife promotion group).  We threw an entire party for free, but negotiated a huge percentage of the bar.  We provided free transportation to club, free admission, and blew 28th Street out of the water.  The party was packed with hundreds of kids from USC, UCLA, and LMU.  We lost money on the party, but 1st Round Entertainment was officially established.  I was busy throwing parties, having great times with friends, and had an “in” with all the cutest girls.  All of Jordan’s friends on the USC football team started coming to my parties as well.

That summer, I was up on Nantucket Island on the beach hanging out on the 4th of July.  One of the guys I brought out to the beach was the best freestyle rapper I knew.  It suddenly hit me that that I wanted to start a record label.  At the time, I was questioning the success of 1st Round Entertainment, because I was throwing fun parties, but losing money.  But I  had a good name.  I started the record label and signed Sam Adams (the freestyler who accompanied him to the beach).

I first named my record label “Lazy Boy Records.”  I decided to change it, though, and make all of my companies reflect the 1st Round Brand.  I made the decision to do so after reading a book about branding that was written by Richard Branson.  I liked the whole “Virgin” idea and keeping everything under the same brand.  In the near future, I will be doing a management deal with Lady Gaga’s management, for Sam Adams.

Anyway, when Jordan transferred to Louisville, we started the sports agency.  The division is far bigger than negotiating 3% for the athletes we represent.  We want the sports division to be the next Nike.  We don’t want to just deal with contract negotiation.  Instead, we want to manufacture merchandise and apparel.  I structured 1st Round after Nike.  Nike has the swoosh, 1st Round has the wings; easily identifiable.  The slogan is also based after Nike.  Theirs – “Just Do It” vs. ours – “Go Higher” – everyone can identify and relate to it.

Heitner: But it does seem like you also want to represent athletes, no?

Egan: I officially became certified by the NFLPA on October 1, 2010.  My Nike goal is down the road.  I want 1st Round to be a “full service sports franchise.”  The word “agent” has such a negative connotation.  We will provide anything the athlete can want.  I want to do a lot of athlete branding.

Heitner: What is the make-up of your company?

Egan: I structured my company with 6 different divisions.  Each division has a different President.  I also incorporated the “crossover effect,” where each division can help out the others.   Sports, records, pictures, entertainment (parties, but I eventually plan to own restaurants, clubs, entertainment venues), capital, and philanthropic.

Heitner: Tell me a little more about your capital division.

Egan: This division began based on my and my dad’s background.  I have has several investments in many fields, stocks and bonds (he says that Apple is his biggest holding), money in BlackRock, global allocation funds.  The main area that I am looking at is venture capital and investments into small, upcoming businesses that have huge potential for growth.

Heitner: What are your thoughts on what has been written about you thus far?

Egan: What I have done is almost revolutionary. I have gone into unchartered waters. I am one of, if not the youngest certified agent, and I am an undergraduate student at a university.  Everything that has happened is absolutely ridiculous.  It is such a unique situation.  The rules are in place to prevent people like Cam Newton from getting $180,000 or Reggie Bush from having houses bought for his parents, not to prevent students from getting rides in golf carts from other students.  They try to stress “student” coming before “athlete” in almost everything.  If you want to claim that, then I am a “student” first and then an “agent”.  Call me a “student-agent.”

Heitner: People are calling out the NFLPA for granting you certification while you are a still a student.  What do you have to say about that?

Egan: Athletes should be able to have whoever they want represent them, as long as the person has experience and capability to represent properly. The fact that I am a student should not prevent me from representing an athlete. If a student has sufficient negotiating experience that meets the qualifications the NFLPA deems acceptable, there is no reason he should be denied.  I am a born negotiator.  I have a lot of negotiating experience.

Heitner: What about the criticism regarding Jordan Campbell, a current student-athlete, being a part of your organization?

Egan: Jordan never actually signed the LLC documents.  I believed that it was a bad idea and a potential conflict.  I am going to wait until after his eligibility to make him an official partner.

Heitner: What is your plan for 1st Round Sports in the immediate future? Are you going to wait until the criticism subsides before you go out and recruit players?

Egan: Now that this all happened, I have to watch myself and stay within the rules even tighter, but I am not going to sit back.  The #1 thing was to make sure that my friends did not get hurt.  Now that they are back and reinstated, I feel free to talk with the media.  I will be putting the golf cart up on Ebay and will have some of the proceeds go back to USC Football.  I am looking at baseball and basketball on top of football, and already represent an MMA fighter (Ryan McMahon) and have connections to the UFC.

Heitner: What about the threat of getting in trouble for rules violations?

Egan: Rides to clubs, free entry to clubs, and golf rides around campus were given to everybody.  There was no special treatment being given to athletes.

Heitner: What kind of advice would you like to give people who dream of becoming sports agents?

Egan: It’s all about relationships.  How is anyone supposed to be a sports agent if he is not friends with the athletes and is some random 30 or 40 year old guy?  It is all about trust.  I have amazing relationships with the guys.  They know and trust me.  It’s not the grades you make, it’s the hands you shake.

Interview With The Agent: Teague Egan from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

One of the UCLA Bruins that Luchs signed was Jamir Miller.  Miller was the #10 overall pick in the 1994 NFL Draft.  Not surprisingly, Miller was one of the few players named in the popular Sports Illustrated piece, who declined to comment on Luchs’ allegations.  Luchs claims that Miller accepted money before signing a representation agreement.

I am not surprised with Miller’s silence, since the same Jamir Miller was once a part of the five members on the NFLPA Committee on Agent Regulations and Discipline (CARD).  As mentioned last week, the NFLPA has the power to take action against agents right now through CARD and the NFLPA Regulations Governing Contract Advisors.

CARD has the ability to revoke or suspend an agent’s Certification.  Was it a conflict of interest for Miller to have been a member of CARD if it is found that he did take money from the type of agent that CARD is supposed to find and kick out of its club?  I say “did”, because Miller is no longer a member of CARD.  In fact, it seems that he has moved on to launch a line of potato chips called “Crave”.

If Jamir Miller Was On The Take, Does It Hurt NFLPA CARD’s Image? from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

On paper, Renardo Sidney looks like a star…The next big thing.  ESPNU has the McDonald’s All-American power forward from Fairfax High School ranked as the #7 player in the country.  A 2007 Sports Illustrated article even predicted Sidney to be the first pick in the 2010 NBA Draft.  In the last few weeks, this high school phenom hit some roadblocks in his path to becoming an NBA powerhouse.  Recruited heavily by UCLA and USC, the 6’9”, 265 pound forward had verbally committed to accepting a scholarship to play for USC, but towards the end of April, both schools pulled out from recruiting Sidney.  After the two California schools backed out of the race, Sidney signed a letter of intent with Mississippi State, possibly the only other recruiter offering anything at that point.

Anonymous sources at both UCLA and USC told the L.A. Times that they did not want to take the risk of attracting NCAA scrutiny because of sketchy issues with his family and camp.  The family moved several times to upscale homes while Renardo was in high school, despite purportedly having a limited income.  Sonny Vaccaro, a name familiar in the basketball world, admitted to financing the family’s move to the Los Angeles area.  At the time, Sonny was still working for Reebok, but now is no longer with Reebok or in a favorable position with the Sidney family.  Renardo’s AAU team, which happens to be coached by Renardo Sr., also raised some questions.  The team was given some financial backing by Reebok and current Reebok rep Chris Rivers, but the overall financial situation of the team added to the list of concerns.  Perhaps the most troubling issue was the rumor that Renardo Sidney Sr. was expecting some compensation for his son’s services.

While most of the claims against the Sidney family have yet to be substantiated, they’ve caused a lot of problems for the young player.  The Sidneys hired Alabama-based sports attorney Donald Jackson to help them through these troubling times.  No stranger to dealing with athlete controversies, Jackson has denied the existence of any wrong doing or NCAA violation by Renardo or his father.  In fact, he claims that USC and UCLA didn’t stop recruiting Sidney, but that the high school star notified them first of his intent to sign with Mississippi State.  I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Jackson at a Sports Law conference several months ago, and he seemed like a pretty stand up guy.  My personal feelings aside, the veteran attorney has had years of experience in dealing with these sorts of controversies, and is well prepared to give due diligence to Sidney’s problems.  Mississippi State is also being extremely careful in dealing with the Sidney situation.  After the young hoops star committed to attending the university, the school retained sports attorney Mike Glazier who has aided several other schools during NCAA investigations.  Glazier currently leads the Collegiate Sports Practice Group at the Kansas office of law firm Bond, Schoeneck & King, LLP.

Renardo will enroll at Mississippi State in July, just a few weeks after graduating high school.  Assuming he doesn’t run into any eligibility problems, this young man could make Mississippi State a contender in the SEC and possibly the NCAA tournament.  Will he be a one-and-done, or allow his skills to develop thoroughly under Coach Rick Stansbury? Either way, UCLA and USC might be missing out on a great opportunity if this controversy turns out to be nothing.  I watched Sidney’s Fairfax High School play on ESPN2 several months back and this kid is dynamite.  In an 86-47 victory over San Diego High School and Jeremy Tyler, Sidney put up 28 points and 10 rebounds.  He’s been compared to players like Kevin Garnett and Chris Webber.  If he plays his cards right he could become an NBA great in the future.

The Curious Case of Renardo Sidney from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Meanwhile, there’s a bevy of behind the scenes information about the course set-up at Torrey Pines. Pebble Beach may have more history, but in terms of sheer beauty, much if not all of Torrey comes pretty darn close to its more renowned neighbor up north (see hole #3, pictured).

Geoff Shackelford blogs that “not only is the South Course immaculate, [but] it’s much, much more firm than last month when it was pretty swampy, particularly on the bermuda approaches and greens.” That said, Thomas Bonk over at the L.A. Times claims that “inconsistency in the rough is the early word.”

Who would know better than Woods, who finally put his knee to the test by playing a morning practice round earlier this week–his first round at Torrey Pines since winning the Buick earlier in the year (see Shackelford’s linked piece above). Woods’ game plan, according to swing coach Hank Haney, is articulated here. He’s also listed as 7:4, per this sports book. Given his long lay off, I’ll take the field on this one. That said, getting the chance to show up Mickelson may be enough to shake the rust off sooner rather than later and propel him into weekend contention. But I just don’t feel comfortable with picking Tiger given his long absence from competition. A lot of people are worried about his driver, but I think his putting may be the weak link. Tiger is the best putter in the world (by far), but even he is prone to bouts of inconsistency. Had he had a few rounds at the Memorial to work out the kinks in his stroke, I’d pick him in a heartbeat. Because he didn’t, I’ll take the field, and specifically, at 30:1, Justin Rose.

Also, keep an eye out next week for Golfobserver.com’s Sal Johnson’s U.S. Open breakdown, especially if you’re a fantasy or betting rube. No one comes close to breaking down a tournament beforehand like Sal does.

Sal has a more cynical take on Torrey than do I:

“Torrey Pines is very charming, but lets face it, a lot of money has been poured into the course, not because it’s a hidden gem like Bethpage, but because of its location and the fact that the size of the property makes for a financial bonanza for the USGA.” And he too has played the course beforehand: “After playing the course, I can see what [USGA head oc competition Mike] Davis and the USGA are trying to do. They want to be fair with the length of the fairways with three different lengths of rough, a first and a second cut that are manageable along with a third that — assuming the ball is found — all you will be able to do is advance it back into the fairway, which will make par a near impossibility. As for the greens, they will be very quick and even though they were soft for us on a cool, foggy day during media day, I can see the potential of them getting rock hard. Still, with the speed and firmness, the lack of undulation could mean more putts made at this U.S. Open than any other.”

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Interesting story on Greg Nared and the one year anniversary of the infamous Ginn Open “Rule 88″ fiasco involving then client Michelle Wie. Nared, you’ll remember, repped Wie back when he was VP of Golf at William Morris Agency. But last October he became the second agent in as many years to part ways with Wie. He resurfaced later after starting his own company, the Greg Nared Agency, and taking on former USC phenom Nicole Castrale (who ironically won the Ginn event) as his first golf client. Nared, by the way, is looking to expand his golf division (his two other clients are freestyle skiers). I’m only a call or email away, Greg…

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Peter Webb once mentioned that he’s driven to find the next Tiger Woods. Well, that’s easier said than done. But history has shown us that a great professional golfer tends to emerge once every ten years, meaning that since Tiger’s grand entrance back in ’96-’97, we should have had one by now. Except we don’t. And don’t give me this Adam Scott drivel. I said ‘great golfer,’ not great Burberry spokesman. I’m talking the kind of player whom we can reasonably project will win multiple majors, all while looking the last great one right in the eye while doing it (a la Jack, 1962, or Watson, 1977).

Anthony Kim? Maybe. In fact, SI’s Damon Hack thinks A.K. is “ready for takeoff.” But how about Rickie Fowler? The 19-year old certainly has had a great week so far following a (for him) disappointing finish in the NCAA’s (although his last round was stellar, when everyone else was hacking and limping). Fowler lost in a playoff Monday at sectional qualifying for Torrey Pines, but was named the first alternate and got in the field when former PGA champion Shaun Micheel withdrew. He’s also the favorite at this week’s Sunnehanna (the kickoff to the summer season of elite amateur golf). Fowler was the Golf Coaches Association of America’s Freshman of the Year and a first-team All-American this past season at Oklahoma State. And last month he was awarded the Ben Hogan Award, presented annually to the top men’s NCAA Division I, II or III, NAIA or junior college golfer, taking into account all collegiate and amateur competitions during the last 12 months. Fowler is the first frosh to have won the prestigious award.

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Wake Forest standout Webb Simpson made his pro debut this week at the St. Jude, and also signed with former Demon Deacon-player-turned-agent Thomas Parker of the Players Advisory Group. Parker apparently has known Simpson since he was a child, probably played some golf with him over the years, and helped to show him the ropes at Wake. Naturally their relationship has now blossomed into a professional one as well. Simpson is as a polished a player to have come out of the collegiate ranks in quite awhile. Through sponsors exemptions this fall and summer, he’ll be trying to earn enough money so that he can skip out on the fun time at season’s end known as Q School. Is he ready to take the next step? Meanwhile, Parker, who also manages Tim Clark and Charles Howell III, has a nice little stable of clients going.

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Props to UCLA senior Kevin Chappell for hanging in there down the stretch, getting his Tom Watson on with that chip-in on 17 for bogey, and then sticking a great approach on 18 to help UCLA win its first national title in a couple of decades by one stroke over arch rivals Stanford and by two over USC. Ryan Herrington wrote a nice piece detailing Chappell’s story, and how the miraculous chip was the emotional culmination of a season wracked with personal grief. Chappell, by the way, turns pro after the Palmer Cup this summer.

Herrington also weighed in on the NCAA’s 72-hours later, and talks about the end of the championship’s stroke-play format. Looks like golf can turn to brackets a bit faster than, say, college football.

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If you haven’t been keeping up to date with the LPGA, you’re not alone. That said, now is the time to pay attention, writes Ron Sirak. Beginning with last week’s Ginn, the Tour is in the midst of a nine-tournament stretch that includes three major championships and seven purses of at least $2 million, including the $3.1 million U.S. Women’s Open and the $3 million Evian Masters. Per usual, watch out for world’s number one Lorena Ochoa. The 26-year-old Mexican star withdrew from last week’s Ginn Tribute to visit her ailing uncle in Mexico (who died last Thursday) and has already won $1.8 million this year.

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Here’s my unofficial, official Top 10 list of graduating seniors (with their final year scoring average) ready to turn pro (i.e., in need of an agent). Strike Simpson off that list, as he’s already signed. Anyone who knows of the status of the other nine wins a prize. I will say that the two Euros (Sjoholm, Blixt) may indeed have the most upside, IMHO.

1. Kevin Chappell, UCLA – 70.89
2. Joel Sjoholm, Georgia St. – 70.824
3. Troy Merritt, Boise St. – 69.53
4. Michael Thompson, Alabama – 71.39
5. Webb Simpson, Wake Forest – 70.90
6. Jonas Blixt, Florida St. – 71.33
7. Ryan Spears, Wichita St. – 71.26
8. Aaron Goldberg, San Diego St. – 71.66
9. Rob Grube, Stanford – 72.24
10. Chris Baker, Iowa State – 71.66

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The world’s top strength and conditioning experts for golf will gather from October 16-19, 2008 in Anaheim, Calif. at the 3rd Annual World Golf Fitness Summit, hosted by Titleist Performance Institute cofounders Dave Phillips and Dr. Greg Rose. The three-day seminar will focus on the growing discipline of golf specific fitness, and will include over 50 speakers from 10 different countries. No word yet on whether Camilo Villegas will demonstrate how to do concentration curls, or if Gary Player will lecture on the differences between HGH and creatine monohydrate.

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I’ve never heard of Second Skin, but apparently I should have (it is one of Canada’s top golf apparel and outerwear brands). Moreover, the brand will be well represented at the 2008 U.S. Open Championship at Torrey Pines when play begins June 12. Mike Weir, who wears his own label licensed through Second Skin, and four members of the “Hollas” team (a specific Second Skin collection) including Rory Sabbatini, Dean Wilson, Jon Mills and David Hearn, will all be teeing it up at the Open. Sabbatini, the newest member to the Hollas Team, will be sporting authentic U.S. Military licensed camouflage shirts designed by Hollas especially for the tournament. Wearing the military style shirts is part of Sabbatini’s ongoing effort to bring attention to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund and raise much needed money for it’s benefit. The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, a non-profit organization, has provided close to $60 million in support of military personnel lost in service to our nation, and for severely wounded military personnel and veterans.

The Primary Cut – U.S. Open Edition from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

It’s well known that the vast majority of PGA Tour players are rank-and-file Republicans. Or at the very “worst,” closet independents. Over the years, some players have been more vocal than others about their political leanings. No one will ever forget in 1993, for example, when Ryder Cup team member Paul Azinger (this year’s U.S. captain) initially refused to attend a pre-match invitation to the White House from President Bill Clinton before the team flew to England. While part of Azinger’s problem was supposedly Clinton’s proposed tax increase for high-income wage earners, it later came out that his real beef centered around the fact that the President had dodged the Vietnam draft.

It’s no surprise, therefore, that informal polls on Tour driving ranges so far have John McCain with a comfortable popularity lead. But Tiger Woods, for one, divulged recently in Dubai that he may be leaning towards Democratic candidate Barack Obama, believing him to be an “inspiration.” Over at Chris Lewis’ blog you can read the entirety of Tiger’s press conference response.

Speaking of Woods and Obama, Golfworld’s Jaime Diaz compares ‘Obamamania’ to pre-1997 Tigermania, when “Woods was still mostly promise, although there was a certainty and presence and sense of destiny to the young man, the kind Obama increasingly has demonstrated in his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. Both manias reflect an America willing to trust its gut more than its head. But tellingly, with Woods there was no second-guessing, and the same seems to be true with Obama.” In the same vain, SI’s Michael Bamberger wonders whether Woods, “simply by conducting his business the way he does, [has] helped make the country more tolerant?”

Ironically, some think that Tiger may be destined for the political stage himself. When his AT&T tournament chose the D.C. located Congressional as its annual venue, “Woods revived speculation that, someday, he might carry his popularity and success into the political arena, following the paths of such athletes turned lawmakers as Democrat Bill Bradley and Republican Jack Kemp.” Hey, even Wood’s late father, Earl, thought as much. In 1996, Woods predicted to Sports Illustrated that his son’s reach would extend well beyond golf: “Tiger will do more than any other man in history to change the course of humanity,” he surmised.

A Tiger presidency would be interesting, as would the “race” to be Tiger’s running mate. You’d have to think either “Stevie” (caddie Steve Williams) and/or “Steiney” (IMG agent Mark Steinberg) would have the inside track.

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The New Chairman: Zach Johnson

Tour players had another election on their minds recently, and at the end of the day, it was Zach Johnson who earned the mandate. Masters champion, and Titleist ambassador, Johnson defeated Brett Quigley and Rich Beem for the role of chairman of the Players Advisory Council. The election means Johnson will move up to the policy board next year. Johnson is represented by SFX Golf’s Brad Buffoni.

As Tim Rosaforte explains, “PGA Tour members rely on the Player Advisory Council (PAC) and the PGA Tour Policy Board to represent them on issues involving [commissioner Tim] Finchem and his staff. The PAC, a 16-player committee, serves as a filter to the policy board, which is comprised of four players (Stewart Cink, Brad Faxon, Joe Ogilvie and David Toms) and four volunteer independent directors, all of whom are among the nation’s most prominent businessmen and one member from the PGA of America. The latter includes Hearst Corporation president Vic Ganzi, who has replaced retiring Richard Ferris of United Airlines as chairman; Ed Whitacre, the former chairman and CEO of AT&T; and financial executives John McCoy of Bank One and Ken Thompson of Wachovia. The PGA of America director is Brian Whitcomb, the association’s president. The Player directors are consulted but have little input in the appointment of independent directors. This nine-man council sits at the right hand of Finchem and governs the tour.

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A PGA Players’ Union?

Even with the presence of the PAC and the policy board, there have been grumblings recently—mainly in relation to the Tour’s newly adopted drug policy—that players’ voices are being drowned out, or even outright ignored by Finchem. As I blogged last week, the phrase “collective bargaining” is now even being tossed around on Tour driving ranges.

With that in mind, Golfweek reports that All-Pro Sports & Entertainment Principal Peter Schaffer “has been dialing his agent brethren in an effort to form the PGA Tour’s equivalent of the [NFLPA], with the NFLPA willing to bankroll the venture in the early stages.”

Schaffer, who represents PGA Tour member Jonathan Kaye and “more than a dozen current and former NFL players … has been calling in an effort to lure a reputable, highly ranked player to battle the drug issue.” One agent contacted by Schaffer quipped, “It’s the same reason why any union would try to get people involved in other unions — to help with their own negotiations. Let’s say the golfers unionize and they get a perk from the PGA Tour they don’t have in the NFL or NHL. The NFLPA can then go back and say, ‘Hey, we want this, too, or we’re walking.’ It’s kind of like the way the mob unionized in the ’60s.”

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FedEx Adjustments

As expected, the PGA Tour has already adjusted its FedEx Cup points system. The changes will allegedly allow for more leaderboard movement during the playoffs.

The policy board passed a number of measures during a meeting this past week at the Honda Classic. There will be two changes to the FedEx Cup points structure. One, the 144 players who qualify for the Cup will have their point gaps narrowed. For example, the gap between first and second will now be 500 points, down from 1,000 last year, with smaller proportional gaps down to 144. Also, players will receive 2,000 more points in each playoff finish position, which it is hoped will result in more player movement between events. The Tour estimates the changes would have doubled the number of players mathematically capable of winning the FedEx Cup during last year’s finale at the Tour Championship.

Other changes announced this week: the field for the Children’s Miracle Network Classic was reduced from 132 to 128 to accommodate daylight hours for the early November tournament. The Memorial was expanded from 105 to 120 players as part of the Tour’s goal to keep at least 120 players in limited-field events. The Frys.com Open, a Fall Series event staged in Scottsdale from ‘07-09, will move to a course in San Jose called The Institute that is owned by San Jose-based Fry’s. The invitational event will be called The Institute Championship.

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Another Golf Channel Gaffe

Between Dottie Pepper’s Solheim hiccup, Kelly Tilghman’s unadvised attempt to put Don Imus to shame, and now Nick Faldo’s blatant pimping of TaylorMade, you wonder whether or not Tim Finchem is regretting the 15-year deal the Tour inked last year for the Golf Channel to become the exclusive cable television home for the PGA Tour.

During the morning 18 of last Sunday’s Accenture WGC match play final between Tiger Woods and Stewart Cink (both Swoosh sponsored), Faldo, once a hawker of Nike himself, went out of his way to prop up the TaylorMade golf ball while denigrating Nike’s ball as being one only for “certain players with high skill levels.” Specifically, Faldo referred to the test results in Golf Magazine’s February cover story “Revealed: The Best Ball For You!” that showed that under launch conditions meant to replicate the swing of the average player (90-mph swing speed, 13.75-degree launch angle, 2,900 rpm) the TaylorMade TP Black produced 259.1 yards of carry and roll compared with 239.1 yards for the Nike One Platinum. Faldo then said that the Nike ball “fell out of the sky.”

Faldo’s seemingly off-the-cuff remarks came right on the heels of the announcement of the beginning of a long-term relationship with the TaylorMade-adidas Golf Company in a role that will touch on marketing, product innovation and creation, product testing, player evaluation and more. Ironically, Nike equipment has now been bashed not only for being inferior (see Phil Mickelson’s comments a few years back), but also for being so advanced that only a select few should bother using it. So which is it? No comment yet from Tiger, and don’t expect one.

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No More Tabasco, Please

According to various reports, Woody Austin will no longer be wearing his trademark, colorful, scenic Tabasco shirts this year. Rather, the company that makes the hot sauce (The McIlhenny Company) grew tired of the “media ripping my shirts,” Austin said. “They said it was too much of a negative on their brand.”

Austin, for one, claims that he never understood all the critiques from the “fashion police” in the first place, and thought that the bright colors showed off his personality.

“How can I be so bad off?” Austin said. “I’m not the one showing up in lavender purple pants and I don’t show up with giant white belts and burgundy colored shirts and Fedora hats. I don’t show up with a tie. I don’t understand how a fun, colorful shirt is so bad as opposed to all that.”

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Other News

* Indianapolis Colts Owner Jim Irsay has signed a deal to sponsor LPGA Tour player Becky Lucidi, who will display the Colts’ logo on her golf bag, shirt and visor (Colts). The Indianapolis Star’s Mike Chappell reports that Irsay will “pick up the tab for all of Lucidi’s overhead expenses: travel, accommodations, meals.” Irsay publicist Myra Borshoff Cook: “That basically allows Becky to concentrate fully on the tour. She doesn’t have to worry about her week-to-week expenses.”

* Globalization advocate Thomas Friedman argues that the world is flat. So too, it seems, is the LPGA Tour, as evidenced by the influx of Asians in particular (primarily from women’s golf crazed South Korea), and also a world rankings list that starts off Mexico, Sweden, Norway and Australia, before finally hitting the U.S. (Paula Creamer). Geoff Shackelford blogs on Tour commissioner and “Brand Lady” Carolyn Bivens’ reponse to this relatively newfound phenomenon.

* Three of Golf Digest’s Campus Insider Ryan Herrington’s weekly Top 5 men’s collegiate teams are from the SEC (Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia), although the deepest team in the country (and my favorite to win the NCAA) is still the second-ranked UCLA Bruins, whose JV (blue) squad would probably rank in the Top 20 by itself.

* In an event where only 13 players finished under par, the world’s number one ranked female Lorena Ochoa opened with rounds of 66, 65 and 69 to take an eight-stroke lead over Annika Sorenstam and Paula Creamer, cruising to a Tiger-like eleven-stroke victory in the HSBC Women’s Champions in Singapore this past weekend. Ochoa (pictured) missed a chance to break Cindy Mackey’s 72-hole LPGA record for margin of victory of 14, but topped her own mark of 10 in the 2006 Tournament of Champions. For more on the HSBC tournament, and other LPGA news, check out Hound Dog’s impressive, in-depth LPGA blog.

* As part of a clothing deal with Reebok, 2003 British Open champion Ben Curtis wears the NFL colors of the local team in whichever town he’s playing. Thus, this past week Curtis was appropriately clad in a Miami Dolphins shirt and visor, as PGA National is about an hour north of the Dolphins’ home field. Curtis was recruited to IMG by Jay Danzi, who later was wriggled away by Wasserman Media Group to head its golf division. But thus far Curtis has remained under IMG’s representation.

* Over at Gaylord Sports Management in Scottsdale, the client list continues to grow. Last month alone Gaylord signed John Riegger (PGA Tour player), Charlotte Mayorkas (LPGA Tour) and Byron Smith (2007 Canadian Tour Player of the Year) to exclusive representation agreements.

* If there’s one thing you look for in an up and coming golfer, its consistent and marked improvement. Australia’s Matt Jones, an Arizona State graduate and Imani Sports client (through its CEO Chris Murray) since 2001, certainly fits the bill. Heading into this weekend the Tour rookie was 6-for-6 in cuts this season, with four finishes in the top 30. After spending roughly five seasons on the Nationwide Tour from 2002-2007, including last season when he finished runner-up four times (the Tour record is five) the 27-year old Jones took center stage this weekend as he battled for his first PGA victory on one of The Tour’s toughest weekly stops at PGA National. Announcers Roger Maltbie and Johnny Miller each rightfully praised Jones for his solid fundamentals and professional demeanor, and it will be interesting to see if Jones can validate his strong play (he finished the event T5) in the weeks and months to come.

* Golf and sportswear designer Linda Hipp announced that her company, LIJA, has selected nine elite LPGA, Futures and Ladies European Tour players to join its unique new sponsorship initiative for 2008 — the Tour Style Leaders program. Based on a variety of factors — including previous performance and on-course style, as well as a brief essay on how golf has impacted their lives — the nine professionals chosen to participate are Marisa Baena, Courtney Erdman, Jennifer Greggain, Jimin Kang, Leta Lindley, Brenda McLarnon, Jane Park, Georgina Simpson and Christina Kim, who partnered with the brand last season. As Style Leaders, each woman will receive an expansive selection of LIJA products to wear on- and off-course throughout the 2008 season, including an array of tops, bottoms, sweaters, outerwear and accessories.

* Fresh off of her Octagon to IMG switch, Natalie Gulbis has redesigned her website. According to the people at thegolfblog.com, “the site was designed by the Tenth Floor and looks really sharp. They have a video section, but just one cool compilation video so far. Natalie’s blog is still there, but no new entries yet.”

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