Let’s get ALL of the world’s best golfers in 1 place for a big show

A lot of things pop into your mind while you’re driving — a car, not a three-wood. And one that has been lodged in my brain for the past couple of weeks is why don’t the men and women play a major on the same weekend as they do in tennis?

I know, I know, this isn’t a new idea. It is one that has probably been floated from time to time, but it never goes anywhere. People respond with a thousand reasons not to as opposed to the ones that point to a win-win for everyone.

To me, the event should be the U.S. Open. What better tournament to have the women and men competing at the same time in the national event every golfer would love to win at least once. Just ask Michelle Wie. Her resume would not be nearly as complete without capturing the country’s national title back in 2014 at Pinehurst.

Now, first of all, the logistics of having both played on the same weekend can be addressed by holding the men’s event all four days on the same course. You take the top 60 and ties for the men, and then wait for the women to pare it down to a similar number on a different course in town.

Tournaments play on multiple courses from time to time on the PGA Tour. Take the AT&T Pebble Beach Championship at the Monterey Peninsula as an example or the Humana Challenge in Palm Springs, Calif. Those two tournaments make it work. At the AT&T, everyone plays 36 holes at Pebble Beach, including the final round.

So, if you have about 144 golfers competing on the weekend, it is similar to a PGA event on the first two days before the cutdown. You send one group of men out first, then one group of women and keep alternating until you have everyone on the course. The women are competing against the women and the men vs. the men. This isn’t ABC’s old battle of the network stars. It’s two tournaments in one where the men tee it up from the tips and the women play from their own tees and then take it from there.

Imagine the kind of publicity the women would generate with so many eyes watching both tournaments being played out side by side. It’s the kind of exposure the LPGA could use without taking one ounce of attention away from the men.

Granted, there will be detractors to this idea, but don’t pay any attention to them. The prize money would be the same for both sides. Let’s pick $1.5 million for both winners with television and the two tours underwriting the costs. This is one week where both genders can play for the right to own a U.S. Open men’s or women’s trophy without worrying about how much money you are depositing in the bank. A national event like the U.S Open or U.S. Women’s Open should be thought of as a privilege to play in, not something to line your pocket book.

And it could be fun for everyone. I’m not saying all four majors should be linked like this. That probably isn’t practical. But let’s start with one over the next decade and then look at the positives and negatives, and figure out how to streamline without any television executives in the room. It’s time to quit letting the networks decide how the game is played and leave it to the players to make it work.

Tennis does it all the time. The other country club sport needs to follow suit.