PGA Gets Ready for Fight as Fox Plans New Golf Tour

In a development certain to send shock waves through men’s professional golf, Fox Broadcasting said Tuesday it plans to co-sponsor a new golf tour in 1995. But PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said he won’t let any PGA professionals play in it.

Fox would co-sponsor the tour with Executive Sports, an event management firm in Delray Beach, Fla.

Fox reportedly plans to televise about eight tournaments in which 30 to 40 players would compete. Total prize money would be in excess of $25 million.

The 1994 PGA Tour encompassed 50 events with prize money of $82 million.

Fox spokesman Vince Wladika told the Associated Press that Executive Sports approached Fox with the new golf tour proposal.

Greg Norman, who has sought a world tour for golf’s top players for a long time, met with Executive Sports officials at Sherwood Country Club, where his Franklin Funds Shark Shootout will be played beginning Friday.

Norman, who did not return phone calls, is said to have called a players’ meeting Wednesday afternoon at Sherwood.

The PGA Tour earlier Tuesday released a statement by Finchem about the new Fox tour, even though there has been no official announcement of the tour’s creation.

Photocopies of Finchem’s statement were left in players’ lockers at Sherwood where the golfers played a practice round Tuesday.

In his statement, Finchem said the PGA Tour supports more international competition, but only if such projects meet certain rules: They must benefit golf, have the support of all golf organizations and be structured to help existing tours.

The way Finchem kept score, the game’s over.

“In our view, the proposal from Fox and Executive Sports, as we understand it, fails to meet any of these three criteria,” Finchem said in the statement.

Finchem also said that if the 1995 Fox tour is staged as planned, the PGA Tour will fulfill its network television agreements as well as its contracts with title sponsors and tournaments.

In other words, Finchem said the PGA Tour will provide players for 1995 tournaments and said he will do it, “by enforcing our television release and conflicting event regulations.”

The PGA Tour does not allow players in its membership to play in events that are played at the same time as its events.

The proposed golf tour would give Fox its third major sports property.

Fox outbid CBS for the rights to the NFL’S NFC package, agreeing to pay $1.58 billion over four years.

Fox also has an agreement to televise NHL games if the season begins.

David Hill, the president of Fox Sports, who could not be reached for comment Tuesday night, has previously expressed interest in also getting into the boxing business.