VOLVO WORLD MATCHPLAY

With only three weeks left to the start of the tournament at the Finca Cortesin course, the list of players who have confirmed their entry still doesn’t include any of the North American players who have qualified through their PGA ranking or other criteria, with the notable exception of Anthony Kim.
As things stand, there may be no Tiger Woods, no Phil Mickleson etc., even though the event carries a signigicant amount of  prize money (otherwise known as ranking points), which could prove crucial in qualifying for the Race to Dubai, the new version of the European Tour’s Order of Merit.  Could it be that they are more attracted to the far east, where there are three big money tournaments?  The first of these, the Singapore Open ($5M) co-incides with the Volvo World Matchplay, and is followed by WGC-HSBC Champions Tournament in Shanghai ($7M) and then the Hong Kong Open ($2.5M). 

As all four events are sanctioned or co-sanctioned by the European Tour, therefore qualifying for world ranking points, it’s obvious that a serious scheduling cock-up could deprive Finca Cortesin of some of the world’s best golfers in their major event.

This is not to say that the field will be weakened, as the field will include most of Europe’s finest, as well as the leading golfers from Asia, Africa, Australia and South America.  Indeed, the European Tour has shot itself in the foot by allowing so many world events and Majors to count toward world ranking and to qualify for membership of the European Tour.  Thus the Americans have no need to play in other European Tour events.  Look for a significant change next year, as new ways are sought to coax the insular Americans away from the comfort of their home, not to mention the rich pickings to be found there.  One result of this action may be that the Americans will require non-Americans to commit to more PGA tournaments, providing the top Europeans with the nigh-on impossible challenge of trying to play in enough events to qualify for tours on both sides of the Atlantic.  Greg Norman was years ahead of his time when he proposed an official World Tour ten years ago, but it could now prove to be the ideal solution to a problem that won’t go away.

Tags: Finca Cortesin, Finca Cortesin Golf, PGA, Volvo, Volvo Master, Volvo World Matchplay