Els hits out at the Americans
2006-02-08 09:00
Florida - Ernie Els, who has been playing golf around the globe since he was 14, is among those who wonder if the World Golf Championships is guilty of false advertising.
"It's a bit crazy," Els said. "Why call them World Championships if they're going to be played in the same place all the time? World Golf Championships are meant to promote the game all over the globe."
The idea behind this series was to bring together the best players in the world.
A year before it started, US PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said he wanted "to see this World Golf Championship flag raised in all the major golf markets in the world over time, and we think we have enough events now that we can effectively do that."
Starting next year, the flag will be raised over the major golf markets of Tucson, Arizona; Miami; and Akron, Ohio.
But the Big Easy can rest easy.
Planning on an Asian version
Finchem said this week officials are working on a new World Golf Championship in Asia to be played as early as the autumn of 2007.
Among the details to be sorted out are whether it counts toward official money, a tricky manoeuvre since Finchem is still trying to figure out points for the US tour's new FedEx Cup competition that ends in September next year.
"We're in the planning process," Finchem said.
"We would like to play a full-fledged World Golf Championship in the autumn in Asia. It's premature to say where, but our intent is to do something next year."
This might be the only avenue Finchem has to Asia, a market he covets.
The PGA European Tour planted its flag in Asian soil 14 years ago when the Johnnie Walker Classic was staged in Bangkok.
US PGA Tour tried to bully its way
For the last five years, the European season has started in the previous autumn in Asia, and this year there are more tournaments in China than England.
The US PGA Tour tried to bully its way into Asia two years ago when it held a silly-season event in South Korea during November. It ran opposite an Asian Tour event that week, which didn't sit well with those executives.
Global golf is expanding rapidly, and with that comes growing pains. It has not reached a level of "turf wars," although cooperation among the six major tours around the world has never been more crucial.
Europe has plenty of questions too
"We've been going through a transition phase for a few years," Finchem said.
"We have Europe trying to find more playing opportunities for its members, sanctioning tournaments here and there, picking up half of their playing opportunities for members. It raises as many questions as there are answers."
Europe has plenty of questions, too, starting with the Americanised version of the World Golf Championships.
"We are obviously not very comfortable with the fact that all of them are played in the United States," said European tour chief George O'Grady, who will meet with Finchem in the next few months.
O'Grady also plans an informal chat with some of his players, and there will be more than 20 of them in California for the Accenture Match Play Championship in two weeks.
- AP