This Week on the Soaps
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.
I have symapthy with Ernie Els’ plight and feel the European Tour needs to be more flexible to allow golfers participate in other events without ruining their prospects of Order of Merit glory. Players need to maximise their incomes throught their career. However the European Tour will probably not be too worried given the thrilling climax at Valderrama where the only real winner from this debate is Justin Rose who took full advantage of Els’ absence to win.
Yes, it was certainly a balls-up on someone’s part. Of course, we don’t know the whole story. Perhaps the Volvo Masters organizers had no choice but to hold the season ender when they did. Perhaps the Euro Tour knew all along that Els had a conflict with the Volvo. Frankly, you’re right, the European Tour isn’t too upset given how things turned out.
I only hope Els is receiving an enormous amount of money to play in Singapore. Imagine how tough it must have been to turn down the chance of winning the Order of Merit after his great season.
It is a common problem affecting many of the world’s top golfers. How sad for Els that he was struck down with food poisoning in Singapore and missed the cut. I would back him to hit back strongly and take the 2008 Tour Order of Merit. Hopefully there will not be any clashes of dates next year. He is tied in to the Singapore Open again so he could need to have it tied up by then.