Fox gets caught in a storm
their rounds without any issue.
“It’s always a bit frustrating to have to come back and finish a round in the morning, but that’s golf, and something I will just have to deal with,” Fox said.
Play was halted shortly after Tiger Woods hit his second shot on the par5 eighth hole. He was three-under through seven holes and three-under for the tournament — seven behind Woodland.
Earlier in the day, Brooks Koepka and Charl Schwartzel shot 63 to tie a PGA Championship record. It was the first time two players had posted 63 on the same day at a major since Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf did in the opening round of the 1980 US Open at Baltusrol.
“It was fine. I’m three-under par, so I felt I was headed in the right direction,” Woods said. “Tomorrow is going to be a long day for a lot of us and try and get back at it early.” High Performance Sport New Zealand has proposed a restructure which could result in job losses and a revision of roles at the organisation.
Plans for a new framework were presented on August 1, and staff were given a period of what one source described as “10 days” to consult and respond.
A statement from HPSNZ said the changes were designed to “fine-tune their high-performance delivery in the lead-in to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games” and “strengthen relationships with National Sporting Organisations”.
The Herald on Sunday understands any eventual shakeup might affect managers who work directly with NSOs.
The HPSNZ was reported as having 41 employees on salaries of more than $100,000 in 2015.
Compare that to athletes in Olympic sports who receive annual taxable performance enhancement grants (PEGs) ranging from $60,000 for a gold medallist, to $30,000 for those ranked 9-12 in the world. That also allows them access to coaches, sports science, sports psychology, medicine, nutrition and physiotherapy.
Chief executive Michael Scott has instigated the proposal, now he has had time to assess the organisation after his January start.
Scott said the aim was to review “our athlete performance support and the role of our regional hubs”.
The news is the latest chapter in a tumultuous series of recent events within the sporting sector. A series of reviews are ongoing, and key staff such as cycling coach Anthony Peden, football coach Andreas Heraf and rowing high performance manager Alan Cotter have been high profile exits from their respective NSOs.
HPSNZ is also undergoing its own external review to assess the circumstances surrounding allegations Peden received identifiable documentation of athletes’ Rio Olympic debriefs. They were supposed to be conducted in confidence and collated anonymously. News on that is expected later this month.
HPSNZ is faced with reassessing the fundamental values of sport in this country and whether the desire for medals or tournament victories has trumped athlete well-being.
The two concepts are not necessarily mutually exclusive. The All Blacks and Black Caps appear to have settled on a collaborative approach which works. Leaders within rugby and cricket have maintained winning cultures of late. It’s worth noting they have player associations to negotiate with administrators.
Elsewhere, athlete voices are welling up like a New Zealand sporting version of an Arab Spring. Scott’s efforts, combined with the goodwill of his organisation, could be crucial to creating a more balanced sporting environment where talented athletes are not cast aside as collateral damage in the pursuit of gongs.
The revelation of a restructure comes after Sports Minister Grant Robertson rebutted a midweek Herald column claiming New Zealand sport is “fundamentally broken” because of an outdated HPSNZ funding model that “denies access to taxpayer dollars for those who do not achieve results in pinnacle events”.
Robertson took issue with that premise, but did concur with several of the points.
“The incidents at Cycling New Zealand and other concerns at the elite level do give us pause for thought as to the impact that a win-at-all-costs attitude is having on athlete welfare,” the minister wrote.
“We need to seriously consider how we balance the need to win with the health and wellbeing of our elite athletes.”
It’s always a bit frustrating to have to come back and finish a round in the morning, but that’s golf, and something I will just have to deal with. Ryan Fox