FrankoSport
New
Greetings ...
Breathe in, folks! This is a long one!
We've heard arguments tossed back and forth by media commentators and fans alike about the Tiger Woods' 142 consecutive events in the money streak. Some, including the PGA Tour, call it the 142 consecutive cuts made streak.
The issue that gives everyone the most fits involves the word (or term) "cut".
Throw "cut" into the fire, and things really heat up. People ask "Is it 142 events, or just 111 events?" The 111 events in Woods' 142-event streak are those where there actually was a deliberate cutting down of the field.
In the case of the 25 no-cut limited field events (excluding the 6 match play affairs which I'll address later in this message), people cannot understand it when the PGA Tour says that a player who finishes all holes of play -AND- receives official money is credited "with a cut made".
Now here I agree with many who see it differently - that since there's no deliberate cutting down of the field, it's NOT a cut made. Rather, the player has simply completed all scheduled holes of play -AND- has received money deemed to be official by the PGA Tour.
OK, back to the Cut! What is it, exactly?
Well, for one thing, it is indeed the point in the tournament where the field is deliberately cut down, and those who "make the cut" go on to successfully finish the event, and get awarded with official money, while those that don't hit the road.
The cut is also one of three things that can prevent players from successfully finishing the tournament. The other two are disqualification, and a withdrawal during or between any one of the rounds in progess. NOTE: Withdrawing from an event BEFORE the first round of play even begins (sometimes called DNS - Did Not Start) does not count against a player, in so far as a consecutive events streak like Tiger's is concerned.
In-tournament withdrawals and disqualifications can certainly occur in full-field and no-cut Limited Field events alike, and such occurances would halt a consecutive events in the money streak. NOTE: the standard PGA Tour practice in recent years has been to give money to any player bowing out of almost any event in progrees (mainly limited field events), but such money awarded is always deemed as being UNOFFICIAL - and that's very important as I'll get to shortly.
As far as the Accenture Match Play events are concerned, it gets very dicey. A player must first be credited with participation in at least one match, whether it's a win or a loss. A player is allowed to withdraw from a match in progress by simply conceding the match - and that's the same as losing it outright, because a player losing a match either outright or by concession is guaranteed to receive official money.
Now comes the "Very Dicey" part of the Accenture Match Play equation. It is possible to be disqualified in match play, but my chief question here is - how does the PGA Tour treat such a DQ? Does the Tour treat the DQ simply as a match lost and award the loser with official money? Or, does the Tour treat the match play DQ the same as a DQ in stroke or stableford play events, where the player receives no official money - or maybe even no money period?
Ok, you can catch your breath now. Then we'll move on.
Now let's consider the phrase "Officially Completed" - What does that mean? My definition, at least for PGA Tour purposes, is this --
"A player is deemed to have officially completed a tournament when he has played all scheduled holes of competition (this includes rain-shortened events) -AND- has received money deemed to be official by the PGA Tour."
"A player shall not be credited as having officially completed a tournament if any one of the following occurs ---
(1) failure to survive the deliberate cutdown of the field
(2) withdrawing from the event at any point after the start of play, be it during a round in progress, or in between rounds.
(3) Disqualification."
NOTE: The deliberate cutdown of the field after the 3rd round of the PGA Tour's International Tournament (the Stableford event) doesn't count because that particular cut occurs following the cut after the 2nd round, plus the fact that players not getting past the third round still receive official money.
"If a player does not actually start in and play any hole(s) of the given event, it isn't counted against him - unless in the case of a disqualification for missing a scheduled first round tee time after failing to properly withdraw beforehand."
So, Tiger's 142-event streak is actually this - "Official Completion of 142 consecutive tournaments in which he actively participated in"
Or Simply, "142 Consecutive Officially Completed Events"
Trouble is (Oh No, Here It Comes) that, depending on the PGA Tour's treatment of a disqualification in the Accenture Match Play, the streak may actually be 136, not 142.
Reason I say this is that if the PGA Tour treats a match play DQ as merely a match lost and awards the loser official money, then that makes the Accenture Match Play the ONLY event where any player who is officially involved in at least one match will ALWAYS receive official money NO MATTER WHAT!
If that scenario is indeed the case (could someone please check?), then the term "Officially Completed" would not apply to the Accenture Match Play and therefore the event could not be counted as part of any consecutive "Officially Completed" events streak!
But until we hear from the PGA Tour about the issue of Match Play DQ's, for right now we'll just say that Tiger Woods has compiled a record of 142 consecutive Officially Completed events.
If you're happy now, then I'll officially complete this message - and cut on outa here!
Breathe in, folks! This is a long one!
We've heard arguments tossed back and forth by media commentators and fans alike about the Tiger Woods' 142 consecutive events in the money streak. Some, including the PGA Tour, call it the 142 consecutive cuts made streak.
The issue that gives everyone the most fits involves the word (or term) "cut".
Throw "cut" into the fire, and things really heat up. People ask "Is it 142 events, or just 111 events?" The 111 events in Woods' 142-event streak are those where there actually was a deliberate cutting down of the field.
In the case of the 25 no-cut limited field events (excluding the 6 match play affairs which I'll address later in this message), people cannot understand it when the PGA Tour says that a player who finishes all holes of play -AND- receives official money is credited "with a cut made".
Now here I agree with many who see it differently - that since there's no deliberate cutting down of the field, it's NOT a cut made. Rather, the player has simply completed all scheduled holes of play -AND- has received money deemed to be official by the PGA Tour.
OK, back to the Cut! What is it, exactly?
Well, for one thing, it is indeed the point in the tournament where the field is deliberately cut down, and those who "make the cut" go on to successfully finish the event, and get awarded with official money, while those that don't hit the road.
The cut is also one of three things that can prevent players from successfully finishing the tournament. The other two are disqualification, and a withdrawal during or between any one of the rounds in progess. NOTE: Withdrawing from an event BEFORE the first round of play even begins (sometimes called DNS - Did Not Start) does not count against a player, in so far as a consecutive events streak like Tiger's is concerned.
In-tournament withdrawals and disqualifications can certainly occur in full-field and no-cut Limited Field events alike, and such occurances would halt a consecutive events in the money streak. NOTE: the standard PGA Tour practice in recent years has been to give money to any player bowing out of almost any event in progrees (mainly limited field events), but such money awarded is always deemed as being UNOFFICIAL - and that's very important as I'll get to shortly.
As far as the Accenture Match Play events are concerned, it gets very dicey. A player must first be credited with participation in at least one match, whether it's a win or a loss. A player is allowed to withdraw from a match in progress by simply conceding the match - and that's the same as losing it outright, because a player losing a match either outright or by concession is guaranteed to receive official money.
Now comes the "Very Dicey" part of the Accenture Match Play equation. It is possible to be disqualified in match play, but my chief question here is - how does the PGA Tour treat such a DQ? Does the Tour treat the DQ simply as a match lost and award the loser with official money? Or, does the Tour treat the match play DQ the same as a DQ in stroke or stableford play events, where the player receives no official money - or maybe even no money period?
Ok, you can catch your breath now. Then we'll move on.
Now let's consider the phrase "Officially Completed" - What does that mean? My definition, at least for PGA Tour purposes, is this --
"A player is deemed to have officially completed a tournament when he has played all scheduled holes of competition (this includes rain-shortened events) -AND- has received money deemed to be official by the PGA Tour."
"A player shall not be credited as having officially completed a tournament if any one of the following occurs ---
(1) failure to survive the deliberate cutdown of the field
(2) withdrawing from the event at any point after the start of play, be it during a round in progress, or in between rounds.
(3) Disqualification."
NOTE: The deliberate cutdown of the field after the 3rd round of the PGA Tour's International Tournament (the Stableford event) doesn't count because that particular cut occurs following the cut after the 2nd round, plus the fact that players not getting past the third round still receive official money.
"If a player does not actually start in and play any hole(s) of the given event, it isn't counted against him - unless in the case of a disqualification for missing a scheduled first round tee time after failing to properly withdraw beforehand."
So, Tiger's 142-event streak is actually this - "Official Completion of 142 consecutive tournaments in which he actively participated in"
Or Simply, "142 Consecutive Officially Completed Events"
Trouble is (Oh No, Here It Comes) that, depending on the PGA Tour's treatment of a disqualification in the Accenture Match Play, the streak may actually be 136, not 142.
Reason I say this is that if the PGA Tour treats a match play DQ as merely a match lost and awards the loser official money, then that makes the Accenture Match Play the ONLY event where any player who is officially involved in at least one match will ALWAYS receive official money NO MATTER WHAT!
If that scenario is indeed the case (could someone please check?), then the term "Officially Completed" would not apply to the Accenture Match Play and therefore the event could not be counted as part of any consecutive "Officially Completed" events streak!
But until we hear from the PGA Tour about the issue of Match Play DQ's, for right now we'll just say that Tiger Woods has compiled a record of 142 consecutive Officially Completed events.
If you're happy now, then I'll officially complete this message - and cut on outa here!