PGA Tour Officials Agree to Host 'The Barclays' at Bethpage Black

Events Scheduled for 2012 and 2016 Expected to Generate Millions in Revenue for New York State and Nassau County

New York State and the PGA TOUR have reached an agreement to take The Barclays, the first event of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, to Bethpage State Park's Black Course in 2012 and 2016.

Bethpage Black, in Farmingdale, became the first publicly owned and operated course to host the U.S. Open in 2002. It also hosted the 2009 U.S. Open. Bethpage Black was designed by famed golf course architect A.W. Tillinghast and opened in 1936 and will now host the first tournament in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.

The event, which is expected to generate millions of dollars in revenue for New York State and Nassau County, will be paid for entirely by the PGA – no taxpayer dollars will be used to subsidize The Barclays.

"The PGA TOUR's decision to hold the The Barclays at the scenic Bethpage Black golf course proves that New York's pristine golf courses are among the best in the nation," Governor Cuomo said today.

"We are committed to bringing world class events like the PGA TOUR and the prestige that comes with it back to New York. This will have a positive economic impact on Long Island and beyond, and New York looks forward to welcoming players and fans back to the Empire State."

New York State Parks Commissioner Rose Harvey said, "The Bethpage Black is an unforgettable place to both play and watch great golf. I'm grateful to Governor Cuomo and the PGA TOUR for the opportunity to host The Barclays golf tournament at Bethpage State Park, and to show again why our state park system is such a great asset to New York State."

In the early 1930s, the Bethpage Park Authority purchased the Lenox Hills Country Club and other adjacent properties to build what we now know as Bethpage State Park. Famed golf course architect A.W. Tillinghast was hired to design and oversee construction of three new golf courses (Black, Red and Blue) as well as modify the Lenox Hills Course which became the Green Course.

"This is a tremendous announcement for the PGA TOUR, The Barclays and for Bethpage," said PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem.

"This partnership will allow The Barclays to continue on its recent tradition of being contested at some of the best courses throughout New York and New Jersey. Fans and players alike will share in their excitement and anticipation of being a part of this event in 2012 and beyond."

About The Barclays

The Barclays has been a part of the PGA TOUR schedule since 1967 when Jack Nicklaus won the inaugural event at Westchester Country Club. Since that time, some of the greatest players in the game have earned the title including World Golf Hall of Fame members Arnold Palmer, Johnny Miller, Raymond Floyd, Seve Ballesteros, Hale Irwin, Curtis Strange and the new defending champion, Matt Kuchar, 2010 winner of The Barclays.

Many of the world's current top players have won the event as well, including two-time champions Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia, and four-time champion Vijay Singh. As the first of four events in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, The Barclays plays a leading role in the FedExCup, the season-long competition that is the centerpiece of the PGA TOUR season.

About the PGA TOUR

The PGA TOUR is the world's premier membership organization for touring professional golfers, co-sanctioning more than 100 tournaments on the PGA TOUR, Champions Tour and Nationwide Tour. The PGA TOUR's mission is to entertain and inspire its fans, deliver substantial value to its partners, create outlets for volunteers to give back, generate significant charitable and economic impact in communities in which it plays, and provide financial opportunities for TOUR players.

In 2011, the three Tours collectively have tournaments in 29 states and in 12 countries and territories outside of the United States. PGA TOUR tournaments are broadcast to approximately 500 million households in 224 countries and territories in 29 languages.

Virtually all tournaments are organized as non-profit organizations in order to maximize charitable giving. In 2010, tournaments on the three Tours generated more than $120 million for local charitable organizations, bringing the TOUR's all-time total of charitable contributions to more than $1.6 billion. The PGA TOUR's web site is PGATOUR.COM, the No. 1 site in golf, and the organization is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL.

Image courtesy of http://clipart-for-free.blogspot.com

EA Sports Prez Makes Right Call

Peter Moore, President of Electronic Arts (EA) Sports

Company Stands By Tiger Woods & New Game

It seems that at least one Tiger Woods sponsor agrees with The G-Man. In recent weeks, a number of corporate sponsors ran or distanced themselves from the golfing legend because of his admitted infidelity. I blasted them in a previous article, Tiger Woods: Protecting an Endangered Species, and explained why they were wrong to dump Woods in such an abrupt and callous fashion. Well, Peter Moore, President of Electronic Arts (EA Sports), has publicly announced that the company has decided to support Tiger Woods by moving forward with plans to release its new PGA Tour Online game, which prominently displays Woods’ name and image.

Moore issued the following comment on the company’s blog on January 4. “Our relationship with Tiger has always been rooted in golf. We didn't form a relationship with him so that he could act as an arm's length endorser. Far from it. We chose to partner with Tiger in 1997 because we saw him as the world's best, most talented and exciting golfer." Without question, Moore is a brilliant businessman whose balls are as big as his bank account.

Moore and the members of his Board of Directors took one hell of a risk in deciding to stick by Woods, and they all get major kudos from The G-Man for doing so. They placed the focus squarely on his athletic abilities and phenomenal contribution to the sport of golf. Brilliant decision! The sniveling cowards over at Accenture, AT&T and Proctor and Gamble sucked down that Jim Jones-media Kool-Aid, succumbed to the fear and ignorance that was generated within the New York Stock Exchange, and turned their back on man that also has an outstanding charitable record. Asshole decision! These guys couldn’t find their balls if they were carrying them in their briefcases.

Quite frankly, I hope the dorks choke on the Kool-Aid and their decision. They all will be very, very sorry. Remember this, folks. They pissed on Vanessa Williams’ Miss America crown when racy Penthouse photos of her surfaced back in 1984. She lost the crown and a number of potentially lucrative endorsements, but she rebounded from all the controversy and went on to earn Grammy, Emmy and Tony nominations. Mark my words. Tiger Woods will give an interview at some point, tee-off on all those who left him for dead, and eventually reclaim his status as a beloved humanitarian and the greatest golfer on the globe!

In closing, I just want to say something to many, not all, of the dickhead news directors at the major cable and network stations. Tiger Woods gets caught dipping his sand wedge in the grassy knoll and you provide 24-hour coverage; including interviews with the no-good, gold-digging she-devils that decided to come forward after all this time. Famed actor Charlie Sheen pulls a gun on his wife, threatens to “shoot the bitch” and it gets as much coverage as Regis Philbin in Atlantic City on New Year’s Eve!

What the hell is wrong with you ass-clowns? Oh, my bad! I just figured it out. Getting ass on the side takes precedence over extreme violence against women. Nice! They actually give you people journalism awards for this shit, too? I guess Sheen would’ve had to actually kill his wife in order to get as much coverage, if not more, as Tiger Woods got. Am I right? Don’t bother answering. I wouldn’t want to disturb you from mixing up some more of that nasty ass Kool-Aid that you’ve become so fond of.

This commentary was from the heart.....and…. From The G-Man.

Peter Moore Photo Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gamerscore/178715283/

Author: Gamerscoreblog

Permission: Uploaded under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License to flickr.com

Tiger Woods: Protecting an Endangered Species

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his New York Post publication
have been relentless in their effort to castrate Tiger Woods

Sponsors Wrong for Bailing On Golf Great!

People? People!!! Don’t act like you can’t hear me. It’s pretty hard to ignore The G-Man once he gets going. The United States of America is in a very, very bad state. I’m not referring to the recession, global warming or the war in Iraq or Afghanistan. I’m talking about the fact that we’ve become so goddamn transfixed by the lives of celebrities that we lose sight of the things that are vitally important. It’s absolutely incredible how callous, ignorant and insensitive we’re becoming as a nation, and I’ll bet our allies and enemies are having one hell of a laugh at our expense.

Everyone from the global media to fellow golfers has piled on Tiger Woods since admitting he cheated on his wife, and things only got worse after a bevy of skanks surfaced with claims that they also polished the legendary golfer’s “sand wedge”. Yes, I called them skanks because that’s just what the hell they are. Wake up, America! Don’t you find it odd that none of them had anything to say when they first hooked up with Woods or during the entire course of their alleged affairs? Oh, but the gold digging sluts slithered out of the woodwork once they saw an opportunity to shove the knife in his back, make money or get their 15-minutes of fame, didn’t they? Still, there were those who chastised Woods, abandoned him and kicked him when he was down. Tiger Woods messed up, big time, but he doesn't deserve to be raked over the coals.

These two-bit, money-grubbing banshees are more than deserving of the skank title, and the majority of people lusting for more information about Tiger’s indiscretions need to take a hard look in the mirror .…. so they can see the ugly staring back. They need to see how they’re being transformed into media zombies - whose thirst can only be quenched with the blood of a wounded Tiger. Well, for those of you who want to be saved from the hellish transformation, The G-Man has an antidote. It’s called the truth, and I’m about to shove the needle in even deeper!

Former basketball superstar Charles Barkley and filmmaker Spike Lee have publicly expressed concern for the safety of Woods. They believe all the negative media attention and lost endorsements could place the golfer in a suicidal state of mind. If it should come to this, heaven forbid, The G-Man would place all of the blame squarely on Rupert Murdoch and his toilet paper tabloid, “The New York Post”. Both have been relentless in their attempt to demean and castrate Woods. The proof is in the fact that they've lampooned him and the situation on every front cover since the story broke. In my humble opinion, Murdock and the Post editors are straight-up dicks! Yeah, I said it. Go ahead and sue my black ass.

I lost all respect for The Post when it published that despicable cartoon comparing President Obama to a chimp. The editorial staff's decision to publish a full-length photo of a 15-year-old girl as she lay bleeding on the sidewalk, after being struck in the head by a stray bullet, really pissed me off, too! To their credit, the New York Daily News published the same photo and only showed the facial expressions of the victim’s friends and relatives as they stood over her body. That is responsible journalism at its best! Now you have a pretty good idea as to why I only use the New York Post to wipe my ass.

There are two more things I want to say regarding the “Simpsonization” – as in O.J. Simpson - of Tiger Woods. There were pro-golfers who sought out the media in effort to bash Woods. They called him a phony, a liar and a con man. The G-Man doesn’t blame them. Hey, if I got my ass handed to me by Tiger Woods at every tournament I ever played in, I’d seek some form of revenge, too. Instead of bashing him like a bunch of little punks, they really need to shut the hell up! Lord knows, they all have probably done something in their lifetime to shame themselves and loved ones. The only difference is they were lucky not to have their dirt publicized. I want all of those pencil-necked golfing pros to do me a favor. Sit your plaid-Knickers-wearing, loud shirt sporting, 18-hole-playing asses down and suck on a bottle of Yoo-hoo! None of you are fit to carry Woods' golf shoes.

Secondly, the last time I checked, only one person was perfect enough to feed five thousand people with just fives loaves of bread and two small fish; turn water into wine and walk on water. No one on this planet is capable of such feats because we’re mere mortals. Moreover, as mere mortals, it is part of our DNA to fuck up every now and then. Why the hell do you think the term “I’m sorry” was invented? Hallmark and 1-800 FLOWERS have made billions from faithful and unfaithful people!

All of the advertisers that are bailing on Woods are publicly saying they want a perfect human being as their spokesperson. Excuse me!!!! You stuffed shirts at Accenture and other Fortune 500 companies can’t be that damn stupid; not when some of you may have cheated on your tax returns or banged your hot-ass secretary - like a screen door caught in a hurricane - on those extended business trips. Folks, did you hear the collective gasp of every well-to-do housewife in America that read the previous line? They're not stupid. They know what time it is. I'll go as far as to say that some of the execs that dumped Woods may have spent time in jail or did a stint in rehab. My point is everybody has skeletons lurking in the closet, so let’s not fool ourselves or treat Woods like he's the worst person on the planet.

Thanks to each corporate sponsor's asinine, knee-jerk reaction to the scandal, they lost sight of the fact that Woods has also done some major good through his charitable work and within the Professional Golfers Association. The sponsors and ad execs drank the nasty Kool-Aid that the Jim Jones media loves to serve up, and they ended up throwing the baby out with the bath water. They were wrong to do that. Tigers are fast becoming an endangered species all over the world, and given his rare and amazing contribution to the sport of golf, this Tiger, flaws and all, should also be preserved and protected.

Photo source: Rupert Murdoch - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 2007
Copyright World Economic Forum (www.weforum.org) swiss-image.ch

Author: worldeconomicforum at http://www.flickr.com

Permission: Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.0 License.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Lifestyle

Tiger Woods Is Latest Victim of "The Curse"

Every now and then, The G-Man gets knocked around like a big, fat piñata because of positions he’s taken or for slamming politicians and celebrities. Sometimes, I even got my feelings hurt. Yeah, right! The truth is the attacks never really bothered me because I was always confident that something would happen to validate the comments or vindicate me. Ladies and gentlemen, the current situation regarding legendary golfer Tiger Woods has vindicated me…. once again.

Woods, like so many other wealthy saps, has become the latest victim of what I refer to as “the curse” or “the three pees”. I had a great deal to say on the subject when I addressed it several months ago, and you can read the article by clicking on the following: http://fromthegman.blogspot.com/2009/07/power-prestige-and-pussy.html

Once details of the Woods incident started to emerge, I suddenly realized I wrote an article about Woods a number of years ago entitled “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Racists”. I pulled the article from my archives and was absolutely stunned because the article contained a dire prediction for Woods that has, unfortunately, come to pass. I have taken the liberty of posting the article below. Brace yourselves for a prediction that was made more than eight years ago.

“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Racist”

(Initially published in “The Wave of Long Island” – April of 2001)

Let’s hear it for Tiger Woods! In past years, this darling of the media has made all the right moves to become one of the most beloved superstars in the world of sports. I guess you could call him the Michael Jordan of golf. He has changed the game as we know it, and many say that he is just starting to reach his golfing potential. I’m not so sure about that, given his poor performance in recent competitions.

The fact that Woods has reached legendary status, while still in his youth, is a scary thought. However, there is something much more frightening within the world of golf, and I don’t think Tiger can be considered a true hero until he is willing to speak out against this ugly reality. Many of the major tournaments, like The Masters or The Bob Hope Classic, are often played on some of the most beautiful and breathtaking courses in the country. The lakes are crystal clear. The grass is emerald green. The sand is a sparkling yellow, and the people who are exclusive members are as white as the driven snow.

The sponsors and beneficiaries of these courses and clubs also tilt in favor of the Caucasian persuasion, and they have made it abundantly clear that no other groups are welcomed. This is the dirty little secret of the golfing world, and no one has every really addressed it in the cowardly American media. So, The G-man is going to tee-off on the subject. Four!!!!

There are a number of complaints and lawsuits on record that clearly illustrate how racism is alive and well throughout the golfing circuit. While most involve the smaller courses around the country, charges have been brought against clubs that have hosted major competitions in the past. The lawsuits, filed by the Anti-Defamation League and the NAACP, charged that certain clubs and organizations excluded Jews, Asians and African-Americans from becoming members. The suits also revealed the staggering percentage of white memberships versus minorities, which was somewhere in the area of 95 percent to a paltry 5 percent.

The most astonishing aspect about all this is the fact that many of the members staunchly defended their position to keep the clubs exclusively white. They claimed it was part of a tradition or some nonsense. Sadly, this is probably the sentiment of a good number of people who enjoy these so-called exclusive memberships. I am amazed at the level of hypocrisy with regard to the "acceptance" of Tiger Woods by the golfing world.

I watched the spectators cheer wildly, most of them white, when he sank the putt to capture his first Masters trophy. I could not help asking myself, "Why do they embrace him so easily and deny others of color an opportunity to ever play on their courses?" Is it the fact that he is successful? Is it the fact that he has made millions and could possibly to become the first billionaire in the world of sports? Is it because he is the product of an interracial union, which gives them this silly notion that he really isn’t black? Is it because he exclusively dated white women, married a Swede, or dyes his hair blond on occasion? If it is the money and status, then that’s a bunch of crap because there are plenty of Jews, Asians and African-Americans who have both and they still aren’t allowed access.

I am not "hating" on Tiger Woods. I’m proud of his accomplishments, and he is an outstanding role model for young people all over the world. However, I take issue with the fact that he has chosen to ignore an aspect of golf that is so painfully obvious for many inside and outside of the sport. He has all the praise and accolades that he could ever obtain in life, but he would be a true hero and leader if he simply came out and addressed this issue. Imagine the impact it would have on society if he said something like the following:

"While I have managed to break new ground and records in the sport of golf, there are those who have been excluded from the game, and they have not had an opportunity to develop their full potential as golfers in the pro and amateur circuits. This cannot continue, and I ask that people in all facets of the golfing circuit work to insure that this practice is halted."

Granted, his words may fall on deaf ears, and he may even lose a number of endorsement deals, but to hell with that! At the very least, a light would be shed on a very serious problem within the sport he has literally transformed.

Finally, I would like to offer an additional piece of advice to Tiger Woods. As quickly as you have been embraced by the white masses, more specifically the white media, you must remember that they will turn on you just as quickly if you allow yourself to become "Simpsonized". There are some striking similarities between you and O.J., and you could find yourself in the role of villain if you’re not careful.

People started out worshipping O.J. too, but the minute he jacked up it was all over! Don’t let success, fame, fortune and hype destroy you like it did O.J. You are much higher on the fame, respect and status meter than "The Juice", but that only means that you will fall faster and harder than he ever did the minute something negative or extremely controversial impacts your life; such as allegations that you beat your former girlfriends or being accused of rape by a beauty pageant contestant. Don’t ever forget why you got into the game or where you came from. If you remain true to yourself, you will never stray off course.

Looks like I nailed it, again, didn’t I? Tiger Woods has given new meaning to the term "sinking the putt".

Tiger Woods Photo Source: Originally posted to Flickr as "Tiger Woods"

Author: User Keith Allison on Flickr

Permission: Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.0