The Golf Watch

Sparse galleries at Riviera, Dubai worrisome

I'll admit it.  I'm worried.

As I watched the Dubai Desert Classic and Northern Trust Open this weekend, I couldn't help but notice how small the galleries were. 

Let's start with Dubai.  The event arguably had a much stronger field than the Northern Trust.  With a leaderboard that had names like Westwood, McIlroy, Kaymer, Jimenez and even Tom Watson, you would expect strong crowds.

But watching the event on television, it was clear that turnout was poor.  The reports that I have read indicate that the real estate slump likely effected turnout, but also the lack of a Tiger Woods appearance. 

Either way, the European Tour has put a lot of faith in that area and the Race to Dubai. They might have to reconsider. 

And that leads us to the Northern Trust, which drew the short straw in having to compete with Super Bowl weekend. 

That, combined with hiked ticket prices and Phil Mickelson's name disappearing from the front page of the leaderboard, led to Mayakoba Classic-like crowds. 

Why would a tournament sponsor like Northern Trust, or Omega in Dubai, want to renew their sponsorship when the ratings are poor and no one shows up?

As much as I love the Steve Stricker story and his strong character, we need better storylines moving forward. 

Revealing public radio series on Dubai

I recommend checking out the embedded podcast below for the first part of an informative two-part series being aired on NPR's Marketplace about the realities of the Dubai economy. (22:02-27:00)

Why Dubai might be a bad place to invest in golf...

One of John Strege's latest postings notes how much bad publicity the Dubai area has received in the last week.

Thanks to Ryan Ballengee at Waggle Room for acknowledging my post about this topic last week. 

European Tour and Tiger should rethink Dubai

Israeli tennis sensation Shahar Peer was denied a visa to play in a tennis tournament this week in Dubai.  The issue has sparked a great deal of controversy and has caused the Women's Tennis Association to reconsider playing a Tour event there.

With the inaugural Race to Dubai and a course design from Tiger Woods on the way, should we begin to reconsider our golfing ties to the area?  I am already hearing some members of the media, both in the United States and Europe (i.e. John Hawkins), express some concern over the region and a potential Ryder Cup hosting. 

No Scots left in top-100

The big news out of the world ranking department was Sergio Garcia's jump to a career-high third as a result of his win in Europe this past weekend.  But as Mike Aitken of The Scotsman points out, this week's ranking is siginificant for an entirely different reason--there are no Scottish golfers left in the top-100...

While a good deal has changed in the golfing world over the subsequent 22-and-a-half years, until now the home of golf always felt reasonably confident of representation among the sport's elite. At least that was the case until yesterday.  The latest international survey of the game's leading lights was notable mainly for a conspicuous absence of tartan – the lack of any Scottish professional from the top 100 for the first time since the rankings began.

Alastair Forsyth's slip from 98th to 102nd, in tandem with Colin Montgomerie's continuing slide to 114th place, has left Scotland without representation at the highest level.

Race to Dubai--a threat?

For the second year in a row, the FedEx Cup was a disappointment, and there is already talk that the inaugural Race to Dubai--a year long points race on the European Tour--will be seen as serious competition.  Jim Moriaty wrote in the October 3 edition of Golf World:

It's only a matter of time before PGA Tour players follow the money--and that time could be now.

The European Tour announced earlier today that in order to be a member, a player has to compete in 12 events.  This means that the likes of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will only have to play in approximately five more events outside of the country in order to qualify for the Race (counting the four majors, and three WGC events).  John Huggan takes this perspective on the Golf Observer:

As George O’Grady of the European Tour and David Spencer of Leisurecorp outlined their plans for the upcoming “Race to Dubai” that will climax with the multi-multi-million dollar “Dubai World Championship” next November, even the hard of hearing could discern the distant knocking of Tim Finchem’s knees.

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Never mind the present economic crisis, problems for the PGA Tour continue to mount. Having given up what he saw as a losing battle with the media and ratings juggernaut that is the NFL and virtually surrendered two months of the calendar year when he came up with the nonsense that is the Fed-Ex Cup (or ‘Finchem’s Folly” as some like to call it), the PGA Tour’s biggest cheese has surely watched with growing trepidation at the plan devised by the European Tour and its Arab partners, one with the potential to do much long-term damage to his organisation’s current pre-eminence.

Time will tell what happens between the two budding systems.  My bet is that this will not have a big impact on the PGA Tour.  Some of the bigger European players like Justin Rose and Ian Poulter might choose to play more in Europe because of this, but the big draws like Woods and Mickelson will make the American tour their number one priority. 

BMW and Colonial in the same week...what do you do?

This week separates the casual golf fan from the die-hard.  It separates the men and women from the boys and girls.  Two tournaments going head-to-head--the BMW PGA Championship on the European Tour and the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial on the PGA Tour.  Both have such a rich history and stand-out fields.  Fortunately, I and most others can nestle ourselves on the couch and watch the BMW in the morning on The Golf Channel, and the Crowne Plaza on CBS in the afternoon.

But Bob Harig of ESPN.com analyzes the dilemma that the upper echelon players are facing this year when deciding which tournament to play...

On one side of the Atlantic, there is a historic tournament that dates to 1946 and has forever been linked to its five-time champion, Ben Hogan.

On the other side, there is another important tournament that dates to 1955 and is the European Tour's biggest event outside of a major championship.

Both take place this week, presenting a dilemma for the world's elite players -- especially those who are members of both the PGA and European tours.

How do you choose?

Luckily, we, the golf watchers, have control.

Choi and Harrington commit to first European Tour golf tournament in South Korea

For the first time in European Tour history, a golf tournament will be played in South Korea, and Padraig Harrington and K.J. Choi have committed to play in the event, according to a CNN.com article.  The Ballantines Championship is a $2.9 million event and will be played from March 13-16.  Harrington and Choi's committment is a big step for a tournament that needs to get off to a strong start to ensure that the European Tour will come back in the future.  Both players are ranked in the top-10 in the world. 

European Tour tries to keep up with PGA

It is clear that European Tour officials were upset that there wasn't a stronger field at the season ending Volvo Masters.  After all, Ernie Els was the number one player in the Order of Merit standings heading into the final week of the year, but didn't show up for the tournament, due to a prior committment in Asia.  Yesterday, the European Tour took action, announcing that in 2009, there will be a new year long points race called the "Race to Dubai," replacing the European Tour's Order of Merit.  Players will compete year-long to get into the top-60 in the Race to Dubai in order to play in the final event of the year, the Dubai World Championship.  The tournament will have a $10 million purse, making it the richest tournament in the history of professional golf.  "I think it sends a message to certain other partners in the world that we mean business and we’re here to stay," said European Tour Executive Director George O'Grady. In addition to the season ending tournament, players finishing in the top-15 in earnings for the year will share a bonus pool of $10 million.