PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan felt it was time for the organization to take on a new look and feel. The Tour is in the first weeks of pushing its new slogan “Live Under Par,” which the property hopes “takes the sport to the next level.”
The Tour’s moniker for the last two decades – “These Guys Are Good” — was the longest running campaign in all of professional sports. It’s a decision that didn’t come lightly for the organization. Why change now? And what does “Live Under Par” mean?
What do you think of the slogan? Vote now:
“In today’s day and age, it gave an opportunity to pivot and move in a different direction,” Monahan said at the ’18 CAA World Congress of Sports. “We don’t have to stage a photo shoot for this. It’s real. It’s authentic. It’s what our players are doing, day in and day out. And we’re excited to see it develop naturally.”
In the United States, there is a huge marketing campaign behind the slogan, and it is rooted in the Tour’s desire for its fans and players to engage. The Tour relaxed its cell phone and social media ban at events and wants fans and players to experience the great golf moment together. Cell phones and pictures, once grounds for ejection from the tournament, now are the tools that the Tour encourages to get fans inside the ropes. Tour players have become social media darlings in recent years on tour, and even Masters winner Patrick Reed is into it, wearing the green jacket in Times Square with the new slogan.
Not everyone is happy with the change. For those in Europe, there is a sense of bewilderment at the new moniker.
What’s this #liveunderpar rubbish from the @PGATOUR ? Clearly they don’t know that being under par in the UK means you feel like crap!!! Someone’s been paid to come up with that!!
— Lee Westwood (@WestwoodLee) April 11, 2018
Golf writer Lorne Rubenstein explains that disconnect. The term under par has negative connotations off the course in Europe.
1. Re @pgatour‘s #liveunderpar, from my chapter Speaking of Golf: The Language of the Game in my 1990 book Links: “But what about the divergent meanings of ‘under par?’ The meaning of the term in golf seems the only obvious example of the phrase being used positively.”
— Lorne Rubenstein (@lornerubenstein) April 11, 2018
2. “The phrase “under par” is an example of what linguists refer to as language crossing groups. The golfer on the course means something different from somebody off the course, where the situational demands change.”
— Lorne Rubenstein (@lornerubenstein) April 11, 2018
The reactions from fans are mixed. Some have taken to #LiveUnderPar to share their golf exploits at events and on their own golf adventures. Others have taken to social media to criticize.
One thing is certain, Live Under Par is generating a response. It’s still too early to determine if it hit the mark.
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