- A deal was struck between the LPGA and the PGA of America this week to change the LPGA Championship to the Women's PGA Championship. The deal not only brings in the PGA's organizing team, but also, with the help of sponsor KPMG, increases the purse of the tournament to $3.5 million, a $1.25 million increase. The changes will take place in 2015, making this year the final year of the Wegman's LPGA Championship. The PGA has announced intentions to move the tournament to different areas, which means the annual stop on Rochester is now no longer a tradition for the tournament, which seems to upset a lot of people. There is a tradition there that many people wished to uphold. You know what else was a tradition on the LPGA Tour? Low prize money and few opportunities to play for the best players in the world. Times are changing, and the money is coming back to the Tour, and while there may be some sentimental people out there who hate some of these changes, understand that the most important people in this equation are the players, and they are getting paid far more now than they were just ten years ago. Any time I hear a tournament getting a prize boost, even if it's to the detriment of a long standing tradition, I consider it a victory. There are also a few people who seem upset by the fact that there will no longer be a tournament called the "LPGA Championship", but that doesn't bother me in the least. Almost every tournament on the LPGA Tour has the name "LPGA" somewhere in the official title. That doesn't happen on the PGA Tour. It's not called the "PGA Sony Open." Everyone is going to be hesitant about this change until 2015, and when they realize the PGA of America actually knows what they are doing (most of the time), they will be completely on board.
- To their credit, the LPGA did release a very nice statement towards the people of Rochester. There is a reason they have a PR department and I sit behind a computer and never speak to anyone.
- Tiger Woods withdrew from the US Open this week in a move that should shock absolutely no one.
- The PGA Tour announced today that they still have no idea what they are doing when it comes to this Web.com Finals thing, as they made some pretty drastic changes halfway through their season that puts more weight on the regular season performances. Instead of handing out 25 cards from the regular season and 25 cards based on the finals, the changes will put both together, as players get to carry their money over to the finals and the combined money makes up the priority ranking for the following season. This means the reverse of what happened last year - instead of those who played regularly on the Web.com Tour being at a disadvantage, it is now those who fell outside the top 125 on the FedEx Cup list that are at a disadvantage.
- This is what passes as good journalism over at the Golf Channel these days.
- Congratulations to the Alabama Crimson Tide as they won their second straight men's NCAA golf championship this week. Last week, the Duke Blue Devils won their sixth national championship in D1 women's golf.
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