In an interview at Doral, Tiger Woods has said that the PGA Tour should have fewer events.

“It would be more exciting for the fans, and I’m sure the sponsors and TV and everybody if we did play more often together,” Woods said. “The only way you could do that is if we shortened the season.”

I have a few thoughts on this (in no particular order):

A shorter season would the top players at the expense of the rest of the field. The top guys can then make more (the ad and sponsorship money will be compressed into fewer events) by working a cupcake schedule.

While it’s true that there are a dozen or so events that don’t have a lot of starpower (Milwaukee, B.C., Honda, John Deere, etc.), they don’t seem to mind. The communities support those events, and the players that show seem to appreciate them. As long as the local organizers are making money, what’s the harm.

Similarly, while the Tour is touting its billion dollars in charitable donations, the real losers in fewer events will be the local charities.

The free market should determine how many events there are. If there are truly too many events, some of them will become defunct for lack of profits.

Television doesn’t seem to think there’s too much golf. Look at how many made-for-television silly season events there are.

Vijay would no longer be able to pad his statistics by playing in tournaments where the other members of the top ten are taking a vacation.

If they cut it back to 30 events, then Tiger (on his 15 event schedule) would be able to say he played in half the Tour’s events. That would help him in his battle againt Vijay.

It’s kind of ego-maniacal for Tiger to call for fewer matches just because he doesn’t want to play more. The Tour does not exist to satisfy Mr. Woods. What he’s saying is that if he and (presumably) Phil or Ernie are not available, then the event is not worth playing.

I can’t see players ranked 20+ supporting this.

I wonder if television viewers will loose interest when the same five or six guys win every tournament.?

It would be good to see more events where the top guys are going head to head.

More on Tiger’s thoughts here.

In 1958, Arnold Palmer was the PGA Tour money leader, with $42,000 in winnings. This year, Vijay Singh has won a little over a million in just two tournaments. Meanwhile, Tiger Woods is poised to become a $4 BILLION dollar man.

How fast has the tour grown? Just sixteen years ago, the purse total for the season was $41 million. That’s topped by this year’s first eight tournaments alone.

Of course, tournaments aren’t the only—or even the major—component of the golf industry. A 2002 study found that the “golf economy” (the value of all golf goods and services) in that year was worth $62 billion. Compare that the movie industry’s $57 billion. That’s bigger than the Gross Domestic Product of Peru, Romania, Ukraine or Morocco.

As much as I love golf, I find these numbers astounding. To think that we consume enough golf to keep an entire country going for year. Wow.

The PGA talent pool is deeper than ever, according to this article at PGA dot Com. Given that, we may not see another nine or ten tournament winner for some time. Or a multiple majors winner, for that matter.

The deep talent pool also may explain why Tiger Woods has not had the success that he had in years past. I think that his play in his “Tiger Slam” years may be the reason for this glut of great players. He shocked some veteran tour players out of their complacency, and inspired a younger generation. While he may never match Nicklaus’ majors total, he may be ultimately be remembered for sparking a renaissance in the game.

The Golf Blogger is a very unhappy camper right now, because it appears as though his Christmas Wish -- 18 holes on Christmas Day -- is not going to come true. The Polar Express has driven through town, driving temperatures down to the single digits.

My wife, the Ski Bum, tells me that my Christmas Wish was unreasonable, and that I should just join her and the kids on the slopes.

I refuse, and even though the club is technically open, the Golf Blogger is NOT going outside.

We had an indian summer last weekend, but it's now officially time for winter golf in Michigan. There were flurries in the air Thursday night, and the club is now closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

But that doesn't stop me from playing. Next week, I'll post some reviews of the things I use while playing in November and December in the Great White North.