The PGA Tour swooped in to stifle the best part of the Tiger vs. Phil match

We will probably never get a full account of how the sausage was made, but the Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson match went from a nebulous enterprise to an operation you wish you knew less about as more details emerged Thanksgiving week. When it was first announced to the public, details were scant. We had no time, date, venue, cost, or idea who was running and organizing it. Those details were all slow to drip out over the fall and it was never clear just who the ultimate authority was pulling the strings for this piece of sports entertainment.

Then we got this piece from Golf Digest’s Dave Shedloski last week. It’s full of behind-the-scenes reporting on where this show originated and how it was then filtered into the final product. There were Hollywood talent agency execs involved, Hollywood producers involved, TV execs involved, sports management execs from multiple sides involved, and PGA Tour execs involved, among who knows how many others.

We were getting a fuller picture as the tee time approached. There were a lot of people making a lot of money with strong opinions that had their hands in this thing and it was concerning to say the least. When you keep adding more and more voices in the room, you hit a tipping point where restrictions and riders are added and the promise of the original idea is watered down to mush.

That’s what The Match often felt like on Friday — everyone trying to make sure their piece was said or their interest was protected. There were too many voices making too many requests and a frustrating, if not infuriating detail the morning after illuminates this point perfectly. Here’s Rex Hoggard of Golf Channel with a nugget tucked into his game story:

Some of that had to do with the limited number of “challenges” each player was allowed to offer. Sources close to the event said that was dictated by the PGA Tour, which limited the duo to just four side bets, which totaled $800,000 and went to various charities.

This is outrageous. The Tour should have no such authority on this outside game that’s not an official PGA Tour event. And if they do, they shouldn’t ruin and restrict what felt like one of the most appealing aspects at the start of the day.

The side bets and side challenges were arguably the most important way this event would distinguish itself. Tiger and Phil’s own money was allegedly put up for the side bets, as opposed to the $9 million sponsor-funded purse. This was supposed to be less a golf event and more a gambling event with some shots mixed in at a manufactured fantasyland of a golf course in the Vegas desert.

Mickelson said the side bets would get into seven figures and even into the $2 million range. It sounded tasty — constant and perhaps reckless side bets, maybe multiple bets on just one shot and multiple bets on single holes. It would be a peek into how these guys play when there are no mics or cameras and it was all their own money. Except we also had a broadcast there armed with technology that we were told would incorporate real-time odds and percentages on the likely outcomes of these bets. This felt like it could be a real glimpse into the future of golf broadcasting and one very easy way The Match could stand out and entertain. With no commercials and just two players on the course, we needed frequent side action and the banter it would provoke to fill the air space.

Instead we got a dull and often incomprehensible mess of side action. The broadcast did little to clarify the running tally. The bets were few and far between, coming nowhere close to the seven-figure ranges Phil hyped. What was supposed to be a feature became a frustration.

And it appears it was the PGA Tour, the organization running a glut of events that made the potential of this experiment appealing, that swooped in and stifled it. There were way too many people involved in The Match. Simple things turned complicated and creativity constrained. Tiger and Phil redeemed it with golf that, while not good, was competitive over the final two hours. The Match was not a failure but it could have been so much more with fewer voices in the room.