Vince India and Jake Saiano are Collateral Damage for the PGA Tour

The ugly truth about the PGA Tour’s partnership with online sportsbooks is that they already knew their players would break the rules before signing the deal. Any notion to the contrary would be an insult to their intelligence, which is saying a lot for the Tour.

When news broke that pro golfers Vince India and Jake Staiano — two players on the Korn Ferry Tour — were suspended from competition for betting on golf matches, none of us were surprised. Not because of the players themselves, mind you; but rather knowing it was just a matter of time before someone got caught.

It also doesn’t matter that the two players weren’t placing bets on their own performance, instead choosing to place wagers on events in which they were not participating. The PGA Tour’s assertion that the “integrity of the game” must be protected — while noble in theory — simply did not apply in either instance for India or Staiano.

They were simply fans, just like you and me, betting on a sport they enjoyed watching. But alas, that also doesn’t matter.

We can all guess how the rest of this situation will unfold. Vince India has already posted an apology on his social media while Staiano shared his side of the story on Ryan French’s Any Given Monday podcast. This has become standard operating procedure in the world of social media and professional athletes making mistakes: post an apology, maybe appear on a podcast or TV show, and the news cycle will move on.

Meanwhile, the PGA Tour (and any other major sporting league that partners with an online sportsbook) will go about business unscathed. The sponsorship checks will clear, Tour athletes will appear in commercials and ads for the sportsbooks, and millions of gamblers will place bets every minute of the day.

Make no mistake: the players in this case are collateral damage that the Tour has already accounted for during their decision-making process. Just as we have seen in other professional sport leagues, athletes have a tendency to remind us of how human they actually are. None of us are immune to temptation no matter what front we put up to onlookers.

India and Staiano are not without blame, either. There is a vast list of other sports that either player could have placed a bet on and instead they chose to knowingly break a rule by betting on their sport. In the grand scheme of things, the PGA Tour’s Integrity Program isn’t all that difficult to uphold and abide by. Simply put: they screwed up and now have to face the consequences.

Still, there’s something to be said about mild entrapment here. What exactly did the Tour expect to happen after partnering with the likes of DraftKings, FanDuel and other sportsbooks? We live in the age of having mini casinos in our pockets at all times, making it easier than ever to participate in a vice (state legalities notwithstanding). As I mentioned on Dan Hauser’s Victory Over Vices podcast this week, this is as if the PGA Tour was sponsored by hot stoves but forbids players from touching their stoves.

“Do as I say, not as I do” seems to be the lay of the land when it comes to the PGA Tour’s kingdom. Players run the risk of portraying behavior unbecoming of a professional where the severity of punishment may or may not fit the crime. We are in a reality where players accused of domestic violence serve suspensions shorter than those who place bets on exhibition matches. It’s as nonsensical and sad as it can be, yet we are forced to accept it as truth.

Furthermore, there is no chance the Tour will put safeguards in place to prevent its players from participating in an activity that is not federally illegal. How could they? The mere insinuation of such action is almost as crazy as assuming players won’t find a way to gamble anyway. People are gonna people.

During the most tumultuous time in the PGA Tour’s history, the crossroads to determine its future position on business and righting perceived wrongs is already in the rearview mirror. Jay Monahan’s Tour has chosen his path, and it is paved in fool’s gold built with profit boosts and bonus bets. His players are not being asked to walk with him, but rather pushed to the adjacent ditch as we all move forward to an unknown future.