A Facelift for the Skins Game

The Skins Game may very well be the most overanalyzed event in golf, coming as it does at a time of year when all the so-called “serious” tournaments have concluded and everybody is kicking back and deciding just how much “fun” The Skins Game “ought” to be.
 
In one corner stand the critics who insist The Skins Game represents everything that is bad about golf and that the concept has long since outlived its usefulness (if indeed, there was anything useful about it to begin with).
 
Those critics need to chill.
 
There will come a day, however, when The Skins Game will run its course. It’s a made for TV event. And all television shows - even “Seinfeld” - end some time.
 
My personal opinion on all of this is that The Skins Game is relatively healthy, if not thriving. I also believe that change would not be a bad thing.
 
But first let’s “grandfather” Fred Couples into this thing for as long as he wants to participate. Couples has played in 11 Skins games and won more than $3 million in the process.
 
He is laid back. The Skins Game is laid back. For that matter, Couples may be the best player in the month of November in the history of golf.
 
Annika Sorenstam didn’t win a skin last weekend in California. But I think her presence is important to the event. Or at least the presence of a woman is important. I’d hate to see The Skins Game 10 years from no, without Michelle Wie. I do, however, think the women in The Skins Game, deserve a break from the teeing ground.
 
It’s no shame for Sorenstam to have to admit that she can’t keep up off the tee with the likes of Couples, Tiger Woods and Adam Scott. Having to hit 7-woods and 4-irons into baked greens is an unfair disadvantage when you’re playing against opponents hoisting wedges to the same tucked pins.
 
Sorenstam is more dominant on her tour than any player in the world today. She belongs at The Skins Game and she has earned the right to a level playing field. If she or Wie wants to play on the PGA Tour, they must hit it from the same tees. The Skins Game, however, is a different animal.