Joy of Golf: European Tour must stand firm

Joy Chakravarty 07:18 29/10/2015
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  • Lucky to be in Hong Kong: Ian Poulter.

    A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the Rory McIlroy situation with the European Tour, and I thought it was correct that they allowed their star player keep his Race to Dubai ranking despite not playing the mandatory number of events, which is 13.

    Then came the Ian Poulter issue, where he needed to get special favours to ensure he kept his European Tour membership by getting a last-minute entry into the Hong Kong Open, where American Rich Beem had to be asked to give up his sponsor’s exemption to ensure a tee time for the Ryder Cup talisman.

    In either case, if the Tour had decided to play it by the letter of the law, both McIlroy and Poulter would have been ineligible for the 2016 Ryder Cup in Hazeltine.

    You have got to be European Tour members first to be eligible for the team, and to remain a member of the Tour, you have got to play 13 events during the season.

    While I think the Tour was right in helping both McIlroy and Poulter, there are two things that they need to watch out for – one is to make sure it is not only the stars who are being looked after, and secondly, not to change the mandatory number of events to be played in a season just because a couple of star players aren’t able to make time to play 13 events.

    What really would have been a more appropriate gesture from the Tour was if they had announced that because of the McIlroy situation, the top-111 players from the Race to Dubai rankings after the Hong Kong Open would retain their cards for the 2016 season.

    In normal course, the top-110 players do so. That would have been fair on both McIlroy, and England’s Ben Evans, who was 111th at the end of the regular season.

    It so happens that Evans actually got into the top-110 following the decision of Brooks Koepka to give up his European Tour membership. The American, who has had a standout season, is also not defending his Turkish Airlines Open crown this week, and wants to concentrate on the PGA Tour.

    In which case, Seve Benson, who was 112th after Hong Kong, should have been the lucky player. To show largesse on your star players and not care for the rank and file does look reflect well on the Tour.

    Then there is the debate of how many events should be considered mandatory for membership eligibility. Really, 13 is an eminently gettable number for any player. Let’s not forget that this includes the four majors and the four World Golf Championship events, which they would have played regardless. That means, they have to make time for five more tournaments. 

    Now, if you play three out of the four Final Series events, given the prize money, the bonus pool, the guaranteed prize money, the ease of travel (two straight weeks in Shanghai out of four), that leaves you with just two more events to fit into your schedule. That could be the BMW PGA Championship, or your home Open, or the Scottish Open the week before the Open Championship, or any of the many tournaments where an appearance fee is paid.

    If the Tour bows down and reduces the number of mandatory events, it would be nothing less than pandering to the whims and fancies of the stars. They would just be unfair to the fans and sponsors of the majority of tournaments that form an important part of the Tour.

    Loving the wrap around

    Not many of the top stars line up to play the first few events of the PGA Tour’s wrap around season, except for this week’s CIMB Classic in Malaysia and next week’s WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, but I am really loving the drama the first two tournaments have provided.

    The Frys.com Open was lucky to have been graced by McIlroy and Justin Rose – but they had to commit to it because of taking special permission from the PGA Tour in 2012 to play the Turkish Airlines Match Play, when it wasn’t a part of the European Tour schedule and just an exhibition event.

    Emiliano Grillo wins Frys.com Open.

    And yet, the fact that two rookies have won the first two events of the season should give great joy to true followers of the game.

    Both Emiliano Grillo (Frys.com) and Smylie Kaufman (Shriners) were sensational in their wins and they are great for the game.

    Not many rookies can lay claim to the fact that they were able to beat McIlroy and Rose in a tournament like Grillo did, and not many can close with a 61 on Sunday two hours before the final group came in, and see their score remain untouched as happened with Kaufman.

    Quote of the Week

    “I’m not going to keep a guy from losing all his status and not be eligible for the Ryder Cup. So I stepped aside. I didn’t think twice about it or ask for huge demands… Now if he wants to give me one of his red Ferraris for Christmas… not that I’m asking for one” – Rich Beem on why he gave up his sponsors exemption for Ian Poulter.

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