The Primary Cut

Ninth installment of The Primary Cut – weekly insights from the world of golf player management and other golf-related industry and player news.

1. Take two pills and call me in the morning

In light of the fact that drug testing on the PGA Tour will start July 8, 2008 after the Tiger Woods-hosted AT&T National at Congressional outside of Washington D.C., players received the Tour’s anti-doping manual earlier this month. At over 40 pages the manual is no Mitchell Report, but its capaciousness still shocked some. “It’s unbelievable how thick this thing is,” Woods said after his pro-am round at this week’s Target World Challenge in Thousand Oaks, CA. “It’s a lot to get through. I haven’t gotten to the drug list yet.” The uber-ripped Woods (represented by Mark Steinberg of IMG) has been the staunchest supporter of the new measures. “I think it will help,” Woods said of drug testing. “I certainly don’t think it can hurt the game.” The manual is the first step in an extensive Tour education program that will last through next June. Tour players will be required to attend a drug policy meeting in January, and they (and their managers/agents) will have access to a 24-hour hotline for questions about various substances.

Some guys seem to get what’s going on. According to Jim Furyk, for example, one primary concern thus far among players relates to prescription drugs. Furyk (represented by Andrew Witlieb of Goal Marketing, LLC) said that one health agency sends players a list of every prescription they have had filled for the year, and that he plans to submit such a list of his own for inspection by the Tour. But others seem lost. Masters champion Zach Johnson, for instance, said he sent his manual straightaway to his trainer (and not to his agent, Brad Buffoni of SFX Golf), and that he “wasn’t even aware” there was a mandatory meeting in January.

In truth, this is one of many things professional golfers shouldn’t have to deal with off the course. Players should have sent said manuals immediately to their agents, who in turn should have read the materials word for word (twice), and then consulted with the player and/or the player’s personal trainer(s) in regards to possible question marks to raise with Tour staff well before the initial July testing date. Agents should also utilize the Tour hotline, and take a preemptive, ultra-cautionary approach to making 100% sure their clients are in complete and full compliance with the newfound standards. Because once testing starts, the Tour can test anywhere, and at anytime, without notice, even if it’s not at an actual tournament.
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2. 2008: The Year of Anna Rawson?

I have received a lot of emails pertaining to professional model and now conditional-LPGA player Anna Rawson. Rawson had three birdies in her final round of the LPGA’s Q-School at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla. last month, but bogeyed the final hole to miss being full exempt in 2008 by one shot. But not to fear. Rawson’s appeal is evident (I’m also impressed by her swing, which can be viewed here) and it is widely speculated (with some amount of certainty) that she will have no trouble filling her allotment of sponsors’ exemptions into those tournaments in ’08 to which she doesn’t otherwise qualify. But that’s not to belittle Rawson’s accomplishments on the course. Last year, for instance, Rawson placed second at the DB Ladies Swiss Open on the Ladies European Tour (LET). She graduated from USC in 2003, and then played a full season on the Duramed Futures Tour after turning pro in 2004 (she finished 29th on the money list) before heading to Europe after placing third in the 2005 LET Q School.

As evidenced by her web page, Rawson is already aligned with mega brands such as Gucci, Tom Ford and Coco Channel that are more prevalent on a Milan runway than they are on the red tee box (she is also sponsored by Titleist and TaylorMade). But that just underscores her marketing appeal. Rawson was named “The Most Popular Golfer” on the LET by GOLF Weekly readers, and she also earned the prestigious “Golf Babe of the Year 2007” award at Eindhovensche Golf in the Netherlands. She’s even graced the cover of Britain’s GolfPunk magazine. Rawson is currently managed by Anthony Rodriguez and is represented by her agent, Nick Kahn of ICM (International Creative Management) out of Los Angeles. And given the current marketing trend of LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens (the Tour’s new slogan is These Girls Rock!) to extenuate the chicness and youth of the Tour’s current crop of international stars, Rawson’s presence on the Tour (albeit conditional) comes at the perfect time: Bivens will soon begin negotiations for new television contracts to start in 2010, fresh off the heels of renegotiating a 300% increase in the Tour’s existing international television licensing rights fees (one of the main reasons Tour players will be playing for a record $58.8 million in total purse money in ’08).

There will be more LPGA talk, by the way, in a 2008 preview coming in next week’s Primary Cut.