Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 30, 1994 TAG: 9411300074
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Tim Finchem, the PGA commissioner, said Tuesday he will enforce the ``conflicting events'' rules requiring players to obtain his permission to play in outside events, and he said the PGA would go to court to defend those rules.
Under those rules, anyone playing in a World Tour event without Finchem's permission would be suspended from the PGA Tour. And Finchem made it clear he is not about to give his permission.
``If a new tour becomes a reality in 1995 or thereafter, our members will have to decide whether they want to continue to play on the PGA Tour or play on a new tour,'' the commissioner said.
The player most immediately affected would be Greg Norman, a founding member of the World Tour and the second-leading money winner on the PGA Tour in 1994.
``This is not dissimilar from the decision professional athletes in other sports were forced to make when competing leagues were formed,'' Finchem said.
Norman, who was in his native Australia, was not immediately available for comment.
Finchem also said the tour would defend the critical rules - rules now under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission - that allow it to restrict its members' participation in outside events.
The tour's regulations require members to obtain a formal release from the commissioner to compete in conflicting events.
``We are aware that, in the near future, the staff at the FTC may request the FTC commissioners to initiate formal proceedings aimed at eliminating these rules,'' Finchem said. ``We intend to do what is necessary to preserve these rules. If required, we welcome the opportunity to defend their reasonableness in administrative and judicial proceedings, although we recognize that such a process may take four or five years.''
by CNB