JACKSONVILLE, Florida (AP)—Each assemblage brought more acceptance to Curtis Strange. He was the prototypal U.S. PGA Tour contestant to earn $1 meg in a flavour in 1988, then he became the prototypal contestant in nearly a half-century to get the U.S. Open in consecutive years.
Success brought added perk, modify if it sounds confused today to name it with the others.
He was solicited to endeavor in the Skins Game.
“That was huge,” Strange said in a ring interview. “Remember, we didn’t endeavor for that kind of money backwards then. solon importantly, it was huge for everyone because of the exposure you got for two straight days. Careerwise, it meant you had arrived.”
The original Skins Game has left the American sports landscape, maybe for good.
Usually played this weekend, during the Thanksgiving holiday, there will not be a Skins Game for the prototypal instance since it started in 1983, when Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Tom technologist played in a made-for-TV sensation.
Will anyone notice that the Skins Game is gone?
Probably not.
U.S. broadcasting ratings were worthless terminal assemblage when K.J. Choi foiled a field that included Stephen Ames, Phil Mickelson and Fred Funk. Even when Tiger Woods played for the terminal instance in 2005, the ratings weren’t good.
The Skins Game was canceled when it forfeited its corporate sponsor, and Barry Frank, chief evilness chair of IMG Media, continues the search for another. Golf sponsorship is a tough delude these days.
It is easy to blessed the demise of the Skins Game on the players it attracted. The eld of Palmer, Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Fuzzy Zoeller and Fred Couples gave way to Fred Funk, Rocco Mediate and Brett Wetterich.
Golf became so flush that stars had little conceive to pay Thanksgiving in the Calif. desert with no indorse of a paycheck. Strange earned $200,000 for his second U.S. Open title in 1989. He won the Skins Game fivesome months later and made $265,000.
Prize money at the Skins Game remained $1 million. First accolade was more than that at 27 U.S. PGA Tour events terminal year.
“I don’t conceive it went wrong, it got bypassed,” said Alastair Johnston, vice chairman at IMG who delivered the Fab Four for the inaugural Skins Game. “When the money didn’t embellish competitive, when the confused flavour became overburdened, when sport was on broadcasting 52 weeks, it wasn’t something special. There was no saucer of distinction.”
Back in 1983, sport wasn’t televised after August, modify though there were eight more U.S. PGA Tour events to the modify of October. Then along came a unique event for quaternary superstars, with bounteous money up for grabs on every hole.
“The Skins Game had money at wager on every shot, and grouping were watching,” general said. “It was a very assorted event. There wasn’t a great player who didn’t endeavor in the Skins Game. You had advise guys always hunting for the scoop on who was feat to be in the Skins Game.”
It wasn’t long before the confused flavour became crowded—the Shark Shootout, the Kapalua International, the PGA Grand Slam, Diner’s Club Matches, Wendy’s 3-Tour Challenge, the Skills Challenge, modify something called the Tommy Bahama Challenge.
Cable networks started televising the irregular journeying circumstance on weekdays, and now The Golf Channel combines with networks to alter every quaternary life of every tournament. It’s a rare hebdomad when sport is not on TV.
Frank recalls the Skins Game effort TV ratings in the primeval life second only to the Masters. Not modify journeying events won by Woods get that kind of rating now. And the arrival of Woods brought TV contracts that quadrupled the prize money in a decade.
Not as some grouping were watching the Skins Game in the test years, and some might not realize it is gone.
All is not lost. If American fans poverty to check sport this weekend, they can see the World Cup in China on The Golf Channel. The Americans used to get the World Cup every the instance with teams that featured Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Nicklaus and Palmer, Trevino, Couples and solon Love III.
The Americans are represented this assemblage by Nick Watney and Evangelist Merrick.
Total accolade money is $5.5 million.
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