"The biggest effect I see is in account receivables, which are way out there."

The WSJ's Richard Gillis says that Greg Norman's business problems "are a sign that something is very wrong with the golf business," though that may be a bit of a stretch. Love the B-speak from the Shark though:

"The biggest effect I see is in account receivables, which are way out there," says Mr. Norman, referring to bills that remain unpaid by developers who have started projects and then run out of money as a direct result of the financial crisis.

And he offers this about the PGA Tour, even though I seem to recall he wanted to build a small world tour revolving around just a few stars:

"The PGA Tour put all their eggs in one basket," he says. "They built the tour around Tiger, sold the television contracts around Tiger, so it made the other players feel insignificant which is a sad way of doing business because they have a responsibility to all of their constituents. The PGA Tour is a one-man, one-vote operation and nobody is bigger than the game of golf. The exact same thing happened in basketball with Michael Jordan and look at the dead time that basketball went through when Jordan went."

Comments

[Smails]

What a blowhard--Accounts receivable--sounds way cool. the biggest issue is that people are closing golf courses, not opening them---duh.

Golf is suffering because all discretionary spending is suffering. Find me one tour player (other than Norman) who thinks he's not better off now, because of tiger, than before.

The NBA analogy is stupid. they have 30 odd teams in multiple markets. Golf sells one week and one market at a time. and name two players, away from the Bulls, other than Jordan that anybody cared about in the NBA of that era. I cant.

[thusgone]

i think he's right on the eggs in one basket point. i also don't think it's hypocritical or otherwise inconsistent with his world tour idea. when he proposed the new tour, it was as an entrepreneur looking to challenge the entrenched monopolist that is the pga tour. he was also set to be one of the favored few players to benefit. it seems to me that it made perfect sense for him to say that then and this now.

as for the accounts receivable point, i think it's just an opportunity to show off his word-a-day business vocabulary.

[Rohan]

If golf is to grow in the developing world then the high end course designers (like Norman) need to figure out how to work with lower design fees and importantly, lower development costs. I know a quality, recently developed course in India whose entire development cost was about the same as a high end designers fee!

[Ky Laffoon's Ghost]

"...a sign that something is very wrong with the golf business." Uh huh. Or in the local vernacular, "No sh*t, Sherlock."

For a diagnosis and a cure: The Future of Golf, Geoff Shackelford.

But that would require that the Masters of the Golf Universe (course owners, players, ruling bodies, equipment manufacturers) remake themselves into intelligent, non-greedy individuals and organizations able to see past the next quarter and even into the next decade. Never mind.

[James H.]

@Smails - point misser much?

Norman is correct on all counts as much as it pains his sneering interweb critics.

The World Tour with a Top 40 OWGR would be quite the opposite of the U.S. - Tiger -centric PGA Tour of today.
And all of those that have benefitted today would have likely benefitted from that World Tour with Tiger as a willing participant, should he have chosen to follow the money world-wide as he certainly did as young player.

[Chuck]

So Greg Norman really hates the "one-man tour" concept.

I can only presume that he much prefers the "ten-man tour" concept, for an international All-Star Tour that he tried to put together in an end-around maneuver against the PGA Tour, Inc., in the 1990's.

[keitht]

I don't really think accounts receivable is too terrible a bit of jargon. It has a useful meaning.

[dan]

Agree with KeithT, all business is cash flow and not getting paid is different than having synergy problems or visioneering.

I don't see what the tour could have done differently - Tiger and Phil are so much more interesting on camera than the vast majority of other players (and i'm a hugh fan of guys like Zach and Stricker) that they pull non golf watchers in en-mass.

The readers of this blog would like other players marketed, but we are the die hards that will watch golf no matter what for the next 10 years +...

[Steven T.]

His golf shirts are now available at Costco for about $20. These are the solid color ones. To me, it's a sign of getting cash inflow from a good account.

[Mulligan]

The analysis of a Tour that made the mistake of following Nike's lead in making a favored athlete into a money-machine "God" is right on. So many golf fans have been saying it for some time. Good to see that it finally is sinking in.

Golf is bigger then Tiger Woods.

[sir real]

Norman has been part of the problem. for years..a greedy bastard of the highest order. The game has always been a sport of the monied and business, but the hoards of jackels that piled into it, combined with equal zeal to profit by those that administer the game, find us where we are now.
Golf will be getting the financial gastric bypass and should emerge healthier for it!
I think Greg and Tiger should team up in a reality tv show on tuna fishing...these land sharks would certainly getting better ratings than Big Break XXX.

[Del the Funk]

Ky, you a socialist?

[Ky Laffoon's Ghost]

Now, Del, what would make you ask such a question? Because I referred to a fine book by our fearless leader? Come up with a good reason for asking and I'll answer it. BTW, your comment on Phil's little hissy fit was pretty darn subtle. Nice work (if you did intend irony, that is).

[Hawkeye]

Aw, c'mon, Ky. You know that we know that anybody who sees past the next quarter has got to be a socialist. Long-term planning is just Stalinesque, right?

[James H.]

Let's step back and look at that World Tour in the mid 90's

Norman - Aussie
Price - Africa
Els - Africa
Faldo - UK
DL3 - USA
Couples - USA


Just to name 6 - that covers not just several players but several continents..

Playing TOC, Royal Mel and others?


I don't see a downside other than the alleged death of the TWPGA Tour

[Press Agent]

For all the guys who can't seem to see the forest for the trees, what you have today is basically what Norman advocated for in his world tour ideas. Most of the interesting players are not from the United States and there are golf tournaments going on all around the world at any given time. More and more often there are more interesting tournaments with more interesting players going on simultaneously with PGA tour events and guess what? people tune in to the other tourneys. If sponsors were not caught in a contract they regret to sponsor the backwoods invitational on the PGA tour, they would be much happier to support one of a smaller number of "world tour" events that actually give them exposure. The sooner the pga tour dies, the sooner the world golf tour can take over as the rightful place for the best golfers in the world.

sir real - Fat Jack is just as bad perhaps worse than Norman.

A guy who runs a business selling photocopiers and has 2 employees has an accounts receivable, so surely a business like Normans which does hundreds of millions per year has an accounts receivable as well? or I guess the level of intellect around here would rather he just said " I ain't gettin paid"