What If PGA Tour Golf Was a Team Sport?

Yeah, maybe this was partially inspired by the Ryder Cup, but it was much more inspired by my favorite Sunday afternoon activity....watching football.

Football, in my opinion, is the ultimate team sport. Think about it. If just one single player doesn't do his job, the play is a waste. If one offensive lineman doesn't block...the QB is down. If a wide receiver, even though he's not even involved in the play, doesn't at least run his route, or block someone downfield, the play is busted. If a cornerback or safety doesn't cover their man, the other team is on their way to six. No other sport so heavily depends on the team as a whole.

Look at basketball - at any point, one or two players per team are just standing around doing nothing - sometimes they're not even on the same side of the court! Even worse is baseball. There are times when as many as eight players on the field at once are all just watching the action happen somewhere else. Maybe the players are a little more involved in hockey or soccer, but really....who cares?

Team sports are the most popular sports in the United States. Football, basketball, baseball and yes...even hockey. But what about golf? Why is golf not played in teams? At the high school level, golf is a team sport. At the college level, golf is a team sport. But at the pro level...outside of the Ryder Cup, it's all about the individual. I understand why it's a team sport in high school and college, but has anyone ever really considered the idea of pro team golf?

Would it add or detract from the sport? I myself don't see why it would take anything away. I mean, you're still seeing the individual golfer play, right? That aspect isn't affected at all. But what if, instead of getting behind one golfer, you could get behind a team? How would teams be broken up? Would there be a draft? Or would players be eligible for teams based on their home states? For instance, maybe Matt Kuchar leads a team of players from Florida against a team from South Carolina led by Dustin Johnson. The Florida Retirees vs. The South Carolina Beach Bums...or something like that. You know what I'm gettin' at.

I'm thinking that if this was a team sport, and each weekends tournament scores added up to something towards the end of the season...this could build up to a PGA Tour Super Bowl of sorts. Imagine the final weekend of the season being a foursome-on-foursome meeting between Jim Furyk's Pennsylvania team vs. Lefty's California squad. Sounds pretty OK.

I'm not saying every weekend tournament would have to be played as a team. Tournaments would still be setup as they are now. However, each golfers individual results would affect their teams cumulative score. And at the end of the season, the two best teams will face off.

I'll tell you three ways this could/would be beneficial to the tour. Number 1 - It makes every tournament mean more. Even the smaller, lesser followed events. Number 2 - It will get the big names to the current not-so-big venues. And number 3 - It would get all golfers playing more often. No more of this Tiger Woods and his only playing 12 events crap, while everyone else is playing 20+. I don't know about you, but this is beginning to sound OK!

Now I know that some of you are saying to yourself "But golf isn't supposed to be a team sport. You play golf against yourself. You try to beat the best you've done every time you play." You know what...shut up. I always hated that asinine comment and that's why I've never attempted to make that stupid argument and never will. That's just golfers trying to justify why their sport is better than another. I can make that same stupid argument for ANY athlete in ANY sport. If it was all about playing against yourself then there wouldn't be tournaments against other golfers! Of course you're trying to play your best round ever! Why wouldn't you?! Do you think Tom Brady goes out on the field every Sunday saying "I think I'll try to do just enough to get by this time. I don't want to do better than I did last week." Do you think Kobe Bryant says the same thing? How about Albert Pujols? See how stupid it sounds? But I digress.

Maybe this is an all around stupid idea. I don't know. But it's an idea anyway. I'm just trying to think of some ways to inject some life into an often times lifeless sport.

Anyone got a better idea?

Posted in: Albert Pujols,Dustin Johnson,golf stinks,golfstinks,Jim Furyk,Kobe Bryant,Matt Kuchar,PGA,PGA TOUR,phil mickelson,team sports,tiger woods,Tom Brady