So, Tim Finchem, the man who rode the Tiger Woods wave and somehow kept the PGA Tour's tax-exempt status humming while execs jetted around on private planes, is now wrestling with Alzheimer's. You have to wonder if all those years of poker-faced dealings in Washington finally caught up with him in a way no golf tournament ever could.
His wife, Holly, hit the nail on the head, comparing what Alzheimer's does to the brain to what ALS does to the body. It’s a grim comparison, sure, but spot-on. Finchem, the lawyer who could spin a press conference answer that managed to say a whole lot of nothing, is now facing questions he can't weasel out of with a well-placed "synergy" or "stakeholder engagement."
During his watch, he somehow kept Augusta National in the host club fold, even after they finally let women swing a club. Apparently, some traditions, like non-profits that can afford to pay their top brass millions, are just more sacred than others. And let’s not forget him wrangling the Tour and the USGA against the PGA of America on anchored putting. Was it strategic genius, or just a knack for knowing which way the wind was blowing before anyone else?
He and Holly did drop a cool $13 million on PGA Tour charities. A generous sum, I guess, especially when you remember the kind of dough that rolled in during his tenure. It’s almost heartwarming, like watching someone buff the chrome on a yacht while the hull's taking on water.
This whole story surfaces after a career spent navigating some seriously murky waters. Reporters couldn't get a straight answer from him back then, and now, well, the answers are even more elusive. It’s a jarring reminder that even for the folks who seem to have all the angles covered, life still has a way of lobbing a wild pitch. Usually, it’s a shank into the pines, but this time, it's a lot more personal.