SPOTY Did Golf Dirty but NFL Did Dirtier: Tragic Story Behind Changing PGA Tour’s Longtime Tradition

There is a popular saying that golf is a gentleman’s game. Golfers behave with a sense of camaraderie and fellowship. Shaking hands before and after the round is a mutual sign of respect, visible at all PGA Tour events. While golfers treat each other respectfully, the BBC’s SPOTY has become notorious for disrespecting the sport. SPOTY rarely even considers golfers as nominees, which in a way can be said to be their choice. But another entity has done golf more dirty than the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year.

The NFL has disrupted a long-running tradition in golf. A tradition that has been in practice for over 70 years! Let us dive deeper to find out how the NFL disrupted the golf fraternity.

The NFL has altered a long-time PGA Tour tradition

Yes, the statement may come off as surprising, but the NFL has actually damaged golf more than SPOTY! And the reason for that is the disruption they have caused to the PGA Tour event, the Farmers Insurance Open. Every event on the PGAT has a tradition of starting on the fourth day of the week and ending on the last, that is Thursday and Sunday.

However, the Farmers Insurance Open is the only PGA Tour event that starts on a Wednesday and has a Saturday finish. The reason for the erratic timing of this event is all thanks to the changes made to the NFL season in 2022. For many years, the Farmers Insurance Open was held between the week off of the conference championship games and the Super Bowl.

But the NFL decided to expand its regular season to 17 games, pushing the entire schedule forward by a week. This, unfortunately, led to the erratic timing of the Farmers Insurance Open, which continues to date. This year too, the tournament will start on Wednesday (Jan 24) and conclude on Saturday (Jan 27).

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The erratic timing of the event caused by the NFL has been debated a lot by the fans. However, some fans consider the treatment from SPOTY to be worse. Let’s look into how SPOTY has earned the anger of fans.

Unfair treatment by SPOTY towards golf

The BBC has become an eyesore for golf fans, and they have their reasons. The BBC has not screened any events at all in 2023 and concluded their association with the Masters too. Furthermore, they have sidelined golfers from the running of SPOTY for multiple years.

In its 69 years of running, SPOTY has crowned only two golfers as winners: Dai Rees in 1957 and Sir Nick Faldo in 1989. Now it looks like pro players are also starting to clap back. PGA Tour pro Rory McIlroy, who was nominated last year for SPOTY, said, “Whenever I saw the results, I forgot I was nominated. So that’s how much I think about it.”

Who do you think has done golf more dirty—the NFL or the BBC’s SPOTY? Let us know in the comments section below.

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