PGA Tour banking on young guns for '11

PGA Tour banking on young guns for '11

Move over, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, and all you other golfing geezers. With the 2011 U.S. golf season weeks away, Woods winless, Lefty under the weather, and hot-shot Rickie Fowler hoisting the Rookie of the Year trophy, the PGA Tour has embarked on a marketing blitz to push the 20-somethings making their marks on fairways worldwide.

The first stage of the “New Breed” vs. The Establishment (Choose Your Side)” promo, which PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem made official Thursday, aired during last weekend’s Chevron World Challenge. The 40-second spot, dramatic music and all, purports to pit young guns Fowler, Dustin Johnson, Camilo Villegas, and Anthony Kim vs. Woods, Mickelson, Player of the Year Jim Furyk, and Steve Stricker, respectively.

The piece -- with the tagline “There comes a time when every generation must rise up. That time is now” -- is the start of a TV and print marketing plan “to better familiarize fans with up and coming stars,” according to Joel Schuchmann, the tour’s communications director. The tour wants fans to “‘pick sides’ and have favorite players above and beyond the Tigers and Phils of the world,” Schuchmann said.

Finchem wants to cash in on “the tremendous interest in young players coming up," the commissioner said during a season-ending conference call with reporters. "I've never...seen so much buzz and interest about rookies and young players creating exciting performances. Actually, it has led us to conclude that we really need to focus on that dynamic as we go into 2011."

The tour will spotlight other “new breeders,” including British Open winner Louis Oosthuizen, Travelers champ and big hitter Bubba Watson, and FedEx Cup contender Jason Day. The golfers who’ll grab the headlines will be those who show up week to week, including potential newcomers.

“Obviously, for this marketing plan to be successful,” Schuchmann noted, “the players have to do some positive things on the course in 2011.”

Nationwide Tour POY and PGA Tour rookie, 22-year-old Jamie Lovemark, could figure into what Schuchmann said would be a “nimble” advertising effort that will “adapt” to who’s hot and who’s not.

“If [Lovemark] or other up-and-comers win or make a splash early on, they would probably be added to the overall campaign,” Schuchmann added.

As for Europeans like wunderkind Rory McIlroy and others who will take their talents across the pond in 2011 -- don’t look for them in the tour’s adverts.

“While as a non-member [McIlroy] most likely won't be part of this campaign,” Schuchmann said, “we’re excited he will most likely play 10 [or] 11 times on the PGA TOUR next year and will add a great deal to our overall product during those weeks.”

Despite what seemed to be a bit of Tiger trashing, don’t get Finchem wrong. He knows that Woods remains the tour’s cash cow. One glance at the ratings from the Chevron’s final round could tell him that.

“[Tiger’s] overall presence as a player who is chasing big records and a perennial No. 1 player, now No. 2, is that he increases interest across the board in the sport, whether he's playing or not,” Finchem massively understated. “From a television perspective, Tiger...increases the audience.”

But, after weathering the first season with zero Woods’ victories in 14 years, Finchem needed some new glamour guys to fill the gaps when Tiger’s off his game. Looks like Fowler, Johnson, and other eager young tour players will be Finchem’s 2011 “It” boys.