Vijay - “Trash”

[caniac6]

I wonder if Davis Love was playing in a KF event, in order to give it a boost, would he get the same reaction as Vijay?

[RMGC_NV]

Wrong approach from Brady, but some of the responses here are completely void of perspective. Grammar shaming? Really? Some of you do realize that quite a few KFT players actually depended on their countries' stimulus/wage subsidy program to get through this shutdown period? This is an emotionally fueled response from someone worried about paying the bills. The available pool of sponsoship dollars are down significantly and the ripple effect of that is enourmous for the guys on the fringe. I'm eligible to go to the local food bank and grab some staples, but because I can also afford to buy groceries at the local supermarket I'll leave that outlet and supply available to those that depend on it to feed their family. This is a gross oversimplification of Brady's objection, but as I said this is an emotionally fueled response from someone that is concerned about paying the bills coming out of this lockdown. Poor form? Sure. Without merit? I don't think so.

[ghoul31]

VJ will bring much better ratings and attendance to the event

This will bring more money to all the players on the tour

It would be the only reason I would watch an event like this

[cgr]

It's like Schnell is admitting he's not as good a golfer as Vijay. He's not gonna get his tour card back with an attitude like that.

[cristphoto]

Good point. At this point the pros are looking to get in some actual competition to be ready to go. By the way Vijay is ranked 849 in the world, Schnell is 913. I believe there are also a couple more PGA Tour players in this tournament also - and they are higher in the world rankings. Nobody has a legitimate beef here. All fully within the rules.

[grm24]

There will be no spectators at the tournament.

[Shilgy]

Good find on the exemption. Hard for anyone to argue with facts. I am not sure why some keep bringing up Romo and sponsors exemptions when this has nothing to do with that.

[Creedo77]

not on tv, no fans allowed...

[Creedo77]

Including Vijay there are 7 PGA pros playing in the event, who currently aren't exempt into Colonial.

It happens every week in that regard, typically there are at least 5-6 players who aren't able to play the PGA event, so they play KFT.

Even if Vijay didn't play, another PGA pro would be eligible to play in his spot. Again, that player wouldn't be taking a place of another pro as its a PGA tour player category

[imakaveli]

Guy said sorry. Usually is better to let your clubs do the talking.https://twitter.com/brady_schnell/status/1258919360015392769?s=20

[ExTrumpet]

 

Sounds like PGA Tour or his people got a hold of him and told him to go practice and quit being a baby.

[bulls9999]

I'm getting a sense that Schnell is the 'turd'. Sometimes its better to think it out instead of running your mouth/fingers on the internet.

He can play whatever forum he's eligible to play in. And if a 35-yr old can't beat a 57 year old, then maybe the 57 yr old is more deserving to be there.

If you look at the ranks of the Kornferry, I'm sure you'll see other past PGATour players there. Are they not allowed to play?

[tiderider]

1) it isn't "shaming" when someone points out an obvious error in grammar

2) "paying" the bills is a result of his play on the KFT ... singh is damn near 60 and has a right, earned by his play on the pga tour, to play in this event ... Brady wants to pay the bills? ... play better ...

[Hawkeye77]

Nope, they'd be so excited they'd be catatonic and no story!

[rgk5]

53 wins for Casper and not great?

[Hawkeye77]

Yep, he apologized shortly after as well as I mentioned yesterday, but maybe the original and the first apology were deleted.

Totally wrong to personalize his frustrations by calling Vijay names and fueled by a lot of frustration I'm sure.

I'm usually the first to defend sponsor's exemptions (that's not what this is as some have posted) and don't believe anyone has a "spot" someone else eligible is cheating them out of by playing, but as much as I would defend Vijay's right to play the event, and he has the right, under the current circumstances I hope he doesn't just as a personal choice --- not helping attendance or sales, not really adding to the event and there is a reasonable point about whether he really "needs" to play that particular weekend. At the margins, the lack of tournaments the uncertainties of the schedule, etc. have put some serious pressure on a lot of pros at various levels and the old "get a job" refrain? ----- um, if you are living in an area of business shutdowns and ordered self-isolation those jobs aren't to be found, so some of that is a little ignorant. Tough times, stressful times.

Vijay seems like a nice guy based on what I've read about him, so didn't deserve being called out by someone who really doesn't know him. Schnell is a nice guy as well, just too easy to type when we are mad these days and a rant that back in my day would have maybe been heard by someone in the back yard can go all over the bloody world in a second. Think about that, blow your minds.

[Creedo77]

The only thing I have to comment on with your post is that even the 1st alternate that week who won't play if Vijay gets in, isn't getting his spot taken because of the order of merit with the PGA players on the KFT field.

Also, every KFT player this season is automatically guaranteed to be a member next season because of whats happened this year. That is unbelievable and unheard of but given the circumstances this season it was the right thing for the tour to do. So, there are going to be plenty of opportunities for players way down the alternate list for the next 18 months.

[Hawkeye77]

If Vijay doesn't play that means someone else will.

What may happen next year is great, but what is happening this year is the issue at hand.

[Creedo77]

And if he doesnt play, it'll be another PGA tour player who doesnt get into Colonial (thats what another pro told me).

It's not a matter of "may" the tour already announced a wrap around season so none of these players who are struggling this year have to go back to q school. Thats already about 10k they've saved themselves.

With a wrap around season already guaranteed some of these guys will be just fine only playing a portion of this season. Of course they'd like to improve their status, but again they're automatically guaranteed to be a tour member for next season, that means they're guaranteed a job. There is still plenty of chances to improve their priority ranking into next year, the tour guaranteeing that has never been done before.

I'll also add that the KFT has expanded field sizes for these upcoming events, so guys who would be 7th or even 8th out of every event will play events for at least these first 6/7 events

[ghoul31]

If there will be no spectators and it won't be on TV, why are they evening playing?

Where will the money come from to pay them?

 

[Creedo77]

The KFT is covering the cost of the two events in Florida as they were created a month ago, so no time to find sponsors.

States are reopening, so they are deeming it safe to restart the tour with proper testing/protocols etc.

Another thing I heard is that the tour has to restart on that June restart date for this year's fed ex cup contract to be fulfilled.

[aenemated]

I met Vijay at the event formerly known as the Greater Greensboro Open back in the mid 90s. My dad was a big customer of one of the sponsors, so we got tickets to go many times.

This particular time, it was me and my best golf buddy from HS that went. We were leaving because the day was pretty much over and to get back to where we parked, we had to walk by the range. There was ONE guy there hitting balls ... and it was Vijay. So we stopped for a bit and watched him hit. At some point, he turned around and waved and was like "Hey guys!" or whatever. We were kinda starstruck and walked up and just had a nice chat for a few minutes; got some good motivation for team golf after we told him we were on the same HS team.

Pretty cool for him to call out to a couple dorky 16 year olds watching him hit range balls. And ever since then, I've been a fan.

So, ya know, this rando can go fuck himself.

[Hawkeye77]

Right, like nothing happened ...... wrong.

And it is not at all a “guaranteed job” in any sense. Still depends on status, and all these guys with “status” aren’t getting in all the events. This season is lost, you don’t make it up later.

Nice the Tour is doing what it is doing but defending it to the point of ignoring reality?

Nobody is “just fine”.

 

 

[Hawkeye77]

 

Delete. Best to leave this one.

[RMGC_NV]

I'm fortunate to be a member at a club that has hosted half a dozen PGA tour events in the last 20 years. I've worked the range for many of those events. Following a long rain delay, on a Tuesday there were a ton of players out on the range warming up to resume their practice round. By the time Vijay got out to the range the only positions avilable were at each end of the hitting area. He didn't want to hit balls in those spots because of the angle of the tree lines. We have more than 18 holes at my club so Vijay proceeded to take two large mesh bags of balls to an unused hole adjacent to the range and from the tee box on that hole began to warm up and hit golf balls down that particular par 4. By the end of his session the tee box was torn up in a long horizontal strip which was about 2 feet tall by 4 feet wide, and we had 2 volunteers spending two hours to pick up all the balls by hand that he had hit. There is a reason he is a very polarizing figure on the Tour. But none of this colors my opinion about him in this particular situation. There is more at stake for these fringe tour players than eligibility and tournament earnings.

[MUNIGRIT]

He is definitely the most underappreciated player of all time.

[Creedo77]

Go ask some guys who have status this year that don't have to go through q school and see how big of a deal that is for them.

Like i said, they're going to be "guaranteed" a job because they'll have a tour to play on and be a member of. Having that means they have a place to better their status. That also means they won't have to go the avenue of trying to do q school for Canada/Latin America/China which are even more expensive to play on due to the travel. They don't get through there then they're stuck playing mini tours for the year or doing Monday qualifiers

This season isn't lost at all, in the end we'll have played 23 events. Our normal number of events is 28, so that isn't a huge gap.

You're talking to someone who has spent the last 2 years working on the tour, I know what this situation means to a lot of guys out there playing on it.

[Hawkeye77]

Who is in touch with "some guys" and out of touch with how it affects a lot more than some guys. Not all status is the same, not all guys are guaranteed spots in events, there are "members" and there are "members", and on and on. Sounds like your guy is in a good place, guys in the top 10 will be in a good place, many others will be but plenty others will still be playing Latin America and Monday qualifiers and losing out overall with how this has turned out. Not the Tour's fault, but acting like this is nothing or they'll have it better isn't realistic. Guess we'll know more in several months.

[Creedo77]

Players have social media, reach out to them and ask for yourself.

My point I'm making is that It's about being eligible to play as a member of the tour. Again, if you were to reach out to some pros on the KFT with conditional status and ask them if they'd rather go through 2 stages of q school and then final stage (so 12 rounds of golf) or be a guaranteed member of the tour the responses will be lop sided.

Sure, some of those guys will have to monday but those guys are beyond the 156 number for most events (meaning they havent played well when they've had the chance).

If you were around the game at the pro level, maybe you'd have a different opinion/view

[Hawkeye77]

Well aware of what it means, I don't have to caddie on KFT to understand it. And yep, "some" would, not the point, and Monday qualifying may disappear. Maybe some opportunities will be gained in hindsight, meanwhile opportunities clearly lost in the meantime - it actually affects people. Again, we'll see where it goes and we'll see what they add for events and how that shakes out, and how they handle 2021 and into 2022.