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 Boo Weekley plans to divide his time between the PGA and European tours (Photo: Eddie Meeks). Some title sponsors’ contracts are set to expire this year, and the economy is showing no signs of rebounding. In mid-December, Finchem sent out a video to players imploring them to “add a tournament or two … to assist the tournaments that historically have weak fields.” A simple plea, but one that was partially trumped when Finchem made the following remarks about the European Tour’s new Race to Dubai prior to the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship: “We are supportive of our players who want to go play [in European Tour events]. We would just like to see them configure their schedule in a way that it doesn’t detract from field qualities, and we think in most cases that won’t be the case.” Don’t expect SoCal guys like Phil Mickelson and Anthony Kim to abort the Players Championship and play in the Italian Open in May, but the Race to Dubai’s lure for top Americans is inescapable — and its premise hurts the middling PGA Tour events Finchem is trying to enhance. The Race (formerly the Order of Merit) is a chance to qualify for a lucrative season-ending event in Dubai right before Thanksgiving that has a $10 million purse and a $10 million bonus pool for the season’s top-15 finishers. This is not a foil to the FedEx Cup. It’s only one event, not four, and it’s staged when the PGA Tour has already closed down shop for ‘09. Plus, there’s no convoluted points system. Cash is king. Even though the European Tour’s purses are still floor scraps compared to the PGA’s filet mignons, the chance to pocket about $3.7 million ($1.7 from the purse and $2 million from the pool) in one week is nothing to sneeze at — not to mention the potential for players to garner overseas appearance fees at events leading up to it. Almost all elite PGA Tour members play in seven Race to Dubai events without even blinking: the four majors and the three World Golf Championships. To qualify for Dubai, a player must compete in at least 12 European Tour events and finish among the top 60 money winners. What’s happened is that players like Kim and Camilo Villegas have joined the European Tour as affiliate members, paying a small fee and obtaining up to seven invitations for events in which they’re not already eligible. Other PGA Tour regulars planning for status on both circuits are Brandt Snedeker, Boo Weekley, Geoff Ogilvy and Vijay Singh. Possibly as a means to place more of a premium on the Race to Dubai and protect existing members, the European Tour increased the minimum number of tournaments for membership to 12 from 11. That jump probably won’t be much of a deterrent, especially if the early schedules of players like Kim and Weekley are any indication. Weekley bypassed the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic to enter the Qatar Masters, while Kim has committed to play in this month’s Malaysian Open, which is opposite the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Money isn’t necessarily the main motivation for guys who compete for millions whenever they tee it up in the U.S., but with the way the world is going, you can’t blame these guys for thinking about cash flow — or growing the game globally and cultural enrichment. “Why not put yourself in the place where you’ve got the opportunity of trying at least at both [the FedEx Cup and the Race to Dubai]? If you don’t succeed in one, at least you might have the opportunity to succeed in the other,” Weekley said. Said Kim, who has a home in La Quinta: “Although the PGA Tour is the best tour, I’d like to become a worldwide player. It’s important for me to go back to Asia and play … try to grow the game wherever it is.” And Snedeker, who said the following at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup last November: “The Race to Dubai is such a good opportunity for me being young and newly married, to see the world, be able to travel around and see all of these great places. That’s why I’m playing here, and I’ll play anywhere.” These guys aren’t abandoning the PGA Tour. Barring injury, they’ll still play in the minimum 15 events to maintain membership and endear themselves to fans at prominent non-majors like this month’s Northern Trust Open at Riviera, the Wachovia Championship and the Memorial. But it’s those other events, those “tournaments that historically have weak fields,” as Finchem noted, that become even more vulnerable. Last month’s star-deprived Hope was likely only the beginning. It’s not like the commish went out of his way to give PGA Tour members travelers’ checks for their voyages to European Tour events, but he said that big names trickling away from regular-season stops won’t be a big deal as long as it “doesn’t detract from field qualities.” Isn’t that what pursuing the Race to Dubai does to events with weak fields? The elite independent contractors of the PGA Tour are particular enough as it is with their schedules, and dividing time between the United States, Europe and Asia puts even more restriction on the number of weaker events they could enter to appease Finchem. Nobody — especially Finchem — can hold PGA Tour players hostage and demand they enter the Transitions Championship or RBC Canadian Open. But if the Race to Dubai illustrates anything, it’s that tour brass needs to do something more creative than sending out a video to members to ensure the circuit’s current model is sustainable. But, hey, at least Tiger Woods doesn’t plan on becoming a European Tour member any time soon. Eli Miller can be reached at emiller@churmmedia.com. |
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