News sources are reporting that ABC is out of the negotiations for the new PGA Tour contract. The network apparently was unwilling to pay what the Tour is demanding.

That leaves CBS and NBC.  Golfworld is reporting that NBC will double the number of tournaments that it shows in 2007, with two additional West Coast events and three of four of the events that comprise the end of the new Fedex Cup. 

The article doesn’t say so, but I think that there’s also the possibility that a cable network will pick up some more events. A few years ago, it was unthinkable that ABC would surrender Monday Night Football, or that the NFL would move to a cable-only channel. But there we are.

I know that there are those who can’t stand the USA Network coverage, but I have enjoyed them. Its a good chance to see play that I otherwise would miss. And their broadcasts are a lot better than OLN’s hockey coverage.

ABC still has 16 tournaments for this year, and the British Open through 2009. Its unlikely that they will keep a golf staff for that one event, so you can expect a new venue there, too.

Overall, I think its interesting that ABC is divesting itself of sporting events—once the crown jewel of network television. Of course, Monday Night Football has gone to its sibling, ESPN, but that’s not quite the same.  And ABC has not yet given up on the NBA. But could that be next?

GolfWorld has created a new forumla for golf statistics fans: Total Putting.

The new stat includes putts per GIR, birdie-conversion percentage, one-putt percentage and two measured-putt stats—percentage of putts made from four-to-eight feet and percentage of putts made from 15-20 feet.

And the winner is .... (drum roll)

Ben Crane

Ben Crane?

Not Mr. Woods?

Nope. Woods is sixth.

And when you look at the list, you’ve got to start to question the “putt for dough” part of the mantra. The Top Ten are:  Ben Crane, Joe Ogilvie, Bob Heintz, Steve Stricker, Brenden Pappas, Tiger Woods, Arjun Atwal, Aaron Baddeley, José Maria Olazábal, and Billy Andrade.

AP Writer Doug Ferguson has a nice collection of outtakes from last year’s tour.

Legendary golfer Seve Ballesteros apparently will make just his second appearance since 2003 at the Dubai Desert Classic in February. His last was at the 2005 Madrid Open, where he failed to make the cut.

I’m hoping that he’s not just showing up for the money. There would be nothing sadder than seeing the old swashbuckler performing like a trained seal for the entertainment of the oil shieks.

On the calendar, the Mercedes Championship is the season opener. But it looks now as if only three of the top ten players in the world will be in attendance. Woods, Mickelson, Goosen and Harrington have taken a pass. Els, Scott, Montgomerie and DiMarco are not eligible because they didn’t win in 2005. That leaves Singh, Garcia and Furyk as the biggest names in the field.

Not much of an opener, that.

I was just taking a look at the 2006 PGA Tour schedule and had a bit of a shock when I realized that it starts the week after next—the season opening Mercedes Championship is Jan. 5 - 8.

Didn’t the season just end? It seems like only yesterday that I was watching the 2005 season’s end trying to figure out who was going to squeeze under the bar on the money list.

Maybe Tiger, et. al are right. Maybe the season is too long.

Anyhow, the complete 2006 schedule is below:

After a long and successful run, the PGA is abandoning its “These Guys Are Good” Advertising campaign.

In its place, they will run a series called “The Professor.” In it,

a mock professor describing fictitious clinical scenarios of various life obstacles that are also realities that both TOUR players and recreational golfers can relate to, such as man’s inner demons and the forces of nature.

In one of the ads, “Pressure Seeker,” the professor describes a person who derives satisfaction from extreme pressure situations. While most people succumb to pressure, TOUR players are the best in the world at coping with it. The professor suggests these type of individuals, even when dealing with extreme situations, can often appear “cool as a cucumber.”

In “Fan-a-mania,” the professor talks about golf’s unique form of fan obsession, where otherwise normal people turn into obsessive fans, “...following their favorite sports heroes around for days at a time.” Their behavior is characterized by “spontaneous outbursts, awestruck looks and uncontrollable clapping.”

I’m not convinced.  I actually liked the “These Guys Are Good” campaign. The best of them were pretty funny—such as the one where the player (I can’t remember which one), played the shot off his roof, down the drain and onto the hole on his practice green.

But these professor ads don’t sound at all appealing.

I hope, for the PGA’s sake, that the ads are better than they sound.