Courtesy: BBC
World class professional golfers have very busy schedules. The closer the golfer is to the top 10 - or to world number one - the busier the schedule.

And that necessitates planning tournament appearances months, if not years in advance. Which is why Ernie Els has been on his back foot this past week for his decision to miss the season-ending European Tour stop, the Volvo Masters in Spain.

A few players, led by Colin Montgomerie, have ripped into Els for his decision to play in the Singapore Open this week, instead of the Volvo at Valderama.

The South African had indicated following his victory at the World Match Play at Wentworth a few weeks ago that he was going to have to miss the Volvo Masters because he had already committed to Singapore, throwing his bid to win the Order of Merit effectively out the window.

In fact, Els had signed a three-year deal to play at the Singapore Open and this was the second year of his contractual obligation.

The problem, as Els sees it, has been created by the European Tour which knew the dates of the Singapore Open and knew Els and others had committed to play there this year before announcing dates for the Volvo Masters.

The Tour itself has kept relatively quiet about the affair, probably noting that a number of other big-hitters have given the Volvo a miss, too, including Angel Cabrera, Lee Westwood (still a big hitter in Europe), Michael Campbell and Vijay Singh to name a few. Tour chief, George O'Grady said he would speak to the players individually.

Monty loves the Volvo Masters - he hasn't missed it in 19 years. But he does love to stick his nose into things and root around, too.

The whole issue may seem like a tempest in a tea-pot but there are some serious ramifications, chiefly for the sponsors of both tournaments who, going head to head this week, have both lost out on top players in their events.

But rather than players pointing fingers at each other, they need to take a step back and realize they're all in the same boat; there are so many rich tournaments seeking top fields around the world, driven by high profile sponsors with a lot on the line, that these sorts of things are bound to happen.

It has turned out to be a scheduling snafu and appears to be nothing more than that. Sponsors and tour officials settle on tournament dates. The players agree to play or not to play.

The irony in this episode is that Els missed the cut by a stroke yesterday in Singapore.

End of story.