Could a shorter Champions Tour schedule make the old guys relevant?
Do me a favor - for the next few seconds, think really hard about the last time you sat down and watch a full Champions Tour event. No, not the entire three or four days, but one day, full telecast, from start to finish.
It probably has been a while. Nothing really gets the blood flowing for sports fans like 50-year-old millionaires competing against each other for a purse that is just going to help their retirement.
Now, I know what you're thinking. "Great, another rant about something that isn't as popular as it could be," but that isn't it. I like the Champions Tour. I like that it gives older professional another shot at competition, and keeps them in the news well into their 60s. I love that Lee Trevino once called it golf's ultimate mulligan, and seeing guys like Fred Couples do what he did this year is exciting and fun for all of us.
But, you aren't watching it. Admit it, and when something isn't getting the viewers you hope for, it might be time for a change.
This weekend the Charles Schwab Cup Championship concluded the Champions Tour schedule, marking the 27th event of the season. 27!
What the tour needs is something to distinguish itself from the PGA and LPGA Tours. The FedEx Cup is something the PGA Tour has tried, and while I am not the biggest fan of it at all, it at least gives the PGA Tour something different at the end of the season. Why doesn't the Champions Tour think about something like this?
Here is my idea for the Champions Tour. Make the season 15 tournaments, with all the majors and everything coming in the first 13 events. When the 13th tournament ends, players get ranked, similar to college football or March Madness, and you start playing two weeks of double elimination match play. If you lose twice, you're out, and the last man standing wins some Contender Cup Sponsored by Cialis or something.
It's just something different, and would give golf a "knocked out" feel to it that we don't see in this sport, and it might make us pay attention to the old guys once again.
