Monty: Don’t Worry, the British Are Not Coming.

Ha! Even more PGA Tour snubbage!

Several weeks ago Lee Westwood declined an invite to be a PGA Tour member. A few weeks later Martin Kaymer followed suit. Two weeks ago, Rory McIlroy put the finishing touches on the European trifecta by not only declining to re-up for another season on the PGA Tour, he also admitted that he’s not all that thrilled about Pete Dye layouts and might bail on the Player’s Championship next season.

Leave it to Colin Montgomerie to chime in with a voice of reason on the matter. “This is the greatest time we’ve ever had so why the need to go to America the way it was five years ago? The need is not the same. If you’re talking world ranking points that these guys are after, the need doesn’t arise to go to America. There are more points available in Europe.” Monty went on to add, “I think it’s super that a number of them haven’t taken membership of the PGA Tour. It’s a very positive note for us all here in Europe.”

Okay, fair enough. It’s painfully evident that 6 of the world’s top 10 players are European. Indeed, the competitive cycle is clearly favoring the European Tour at the moment. I actually agree with him – outside of the major championships, what need really exists for the top European players to hop on a plane and spend several weeks away from their families, or their home tour? I followed a tweet on Twitter from Ian Poulter two days ago, and he tweeted that he was enjoying seeing his two children for the first time in 5 weeks. Imagine that – FIVE WEEKS… and he lives here in Florida!

I don’t blame these guys for wanting to stay home. They make more than enough money to justify their decisions to support their home tour.

And I might add that it’s difficult to look across the green at a player in a Ryder Cup match, a player that you’ve spent as much time with as your own family, and associate him as an “enemy” of sorts in a highly contested patriotic battle. Who knows – this European fervor might bring back some of the much-need drama and excitement that made the Ryder Cup the can’t-miss event of the year. We can only hope… But Medinah can’t come soon enough!

MONTY SPEAKS

 

 

 

Rory McIlroy Adds Name to Growing List of European Players to Snub PGA Tour

The PGA Tour used to be considered the world’s biggest stage in golf, and in most circles still is. And that’s saying a lot, especially considering that the PGA Tour schedule remains very active, not to mention increasingly lucrative, despite a global economy that continues to struggle untangling itself from the financial tailspin from a few years ago.

Indeed, Commissioner Tim Finchem has been very active behind the scenes shoring up the tour’s longstanding title sponsorship partners, as well as taking the lead in ushering in new ones. Only one tournament from this season will not be back next year – The Turning Stone Resort Classic. And that had more to do with scheduling than anything else. Overall, Finchem has meticulously navigated his tour through some of the choppiest financial waters that the tour has faced in decades, and done so amazingly well. Matter of fact, maybe too well…. as in running the risk of saturation.

A month or so back, the world’s top ranked player Lee Westwood wasted little time declining an invitation to join the PGA Tour on a full-time basis. Westwood cited family obligations first and foremost, but also admitted that he was a better fit for the European Tour overall. Then shortly after winning the PGA Championship, Martin Kaymer became eligible for PGA Tour membership as well, but Kaymer’s agent recently hinted that a rigid PGA Tour schedule wasn’t something that his player would look forward to… and would most likely follow Westwood’s lead in declining the offer and maintaining his allegiance to the European Tour. Then two weeks ago another ominous rumor was circulating that Rory McIlroy was considering doing an about-face on the PGA Tour next season, a rumor that came to fruition last week as the young Irishman announced he would be playing golf full-time on the European Tour in 2011.

Cause and Effect?

One could make a weak argument that the Ryder Cup has spurred this sudden sense of tour allegiance… Englishman Paul Casey was ranked well inside the top 10 in the golf world rankings this season, but was snubbed by Ryder Cup Captain Colin Montgomerie as one of his captain’s picks. Another Englishman – Justin Rose – had arguably one of the best seasons of his career this year, winning twice on the PGA Tour. But like Casey, Rose was overlooked as a potential pick to play in this year’s Ryder Cup. No offense to Miguel Angel Jimenez, but there was no logical reason for Monty picking the aging 46-yr-old over two of the season’s top European stars, other than the fact that Jimenez has remained one of the biggest loyalists of the European Tour throughout his entire career.

But the strongest argument to be made goes well beyond tour loyalty. What we effectively have now, especially with the infusion of the four World Golf Championships, is a global tour where the top stars can pick-and-choose to play in the biggest events of the season. And they can do so without running the risk of losing status on one particular tour, while at the same time accruing tons of prize money and world ranking points. This “double-dipping” has essentially enabled players from all over the globe to earn enough money playing in golf’s biggest 4-5 non-major events to maintain a comfortable existence back home on their own tours.

The fact that these three world-class players would forgo the opportunity to win $10 million in the season-long FedEx Cup Points Race leaves nothing to be said about just how good the money has become in professional golf. That’s something that Commissioner Finchem is going to have to come to grips with in the coming years, as we will begin to see fewer and fewer top stars in the game opting out of the PGA Tour Rat Race… at some point more money becomes the problem and not the solution.

I fear that we might already be there.

 

Monty and Pavin Issue Tweeting Ban During Ryder Cup

The things that former Ryder Cup captains like Jack Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin never had to put up with… back then, phones still had cords on them and a majority of mail still required postage stamps. Of course, compared to today, those were primitive times.

We’ve come a long way since then. Two decades ago, a shopper looking for an iPad would’ve most likely begun their search in the feminine hygiene aisle. And Blackberries were near the bananas in the produce department. But along came a fellow by the name of Bill Gates, and the world as we knew it would change seemingly overnight….

Two of professional golf’s more esteemed tweeting stalwarts, Stewart Cink and Ian Poulter, will certainly be impacted by the rule. Cink recently tweeted on his twitter account, “We’re finally off to Wales!! Won’t be tweeting until we get back. I guess I’ll have to pass the down time actually reading or something.” Poulter hasn’t said anything about the issue on his Twitter account, which leads me to believe that either (a)he’s not acknowledging it, or (b)he’s putting on his game face and will completely comply with the request from Captain Monty. As someone who follows both of these guys on Twitter myself, I can attest that they’re easily the two most active tweeters in pro golf, and it will be unusual to log in and see no comments from either of them over the weekend.

The esteemed 2008 Ryder Cup captain and noted Twitter newbie, Paul Azinger, tweeted Sunday on the decision to ban social networking sites from the players starting Friday as well. “U.S team will be better off without distraction and comments on twitter. If forced, bad idea. If it’s a consensus, good idea. Press will ask.” But, of course, Azinger will fill the tweeting void while they’re offline, as he has made it a point to say that he will be tweeting his perspective of things throughout the event. As someone who follows Zinger as well on Twitter, I can’t wait to get his tweets on things this weekend.

We live in a different time and place, it seems, and I’ve certainly become a party to it….

NO TWEETS ALLOWED